FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1982)

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1982)

DIR: STEVE MINER

SYNOPSIS:

Having survived the wounds sustained in PART 2, JASON takes refuge at a cabin near CRYSTAL LAKE. As a new group of co-eds arrive for their vacation, JASON once again goes out on the stab…

REVIEW:

It’s all change for PART 3 of the franchise as JASON gets himself a new look and HARRY MANFREDINI creates HORROR-DISCO during the trippy title sequence.

If PART 2 was the first draft for how you think of a typical camp-slasher, PART 3 sets it in stone. Sure, this is the first part of the franchise where JASON dons his famous hockey mask, but it’s also the part where he changes out of his country bumpkin denim dungarees and into what I always call his “work clothes”. Never mind that JASON lifts his new duds from HAROLD, a man around a foot shorter and 285lbs heavier, this is, in theory, the same shit he’ll wear from now until JASON X; and I’d wager strongly that HAROLD’s wife never imagined that her husband’s clothes would one day be going into space when she hung them on the line to dry.

PART 3 is also notable for; a) being the first instalment in the franchise to feature zany, comic-relief scenes rather than pinning all of its efforts to manufacture levity solely on the appearance of the huckster/prankster character (in this movie’s case, SHELLEY, the emotionally disabled, socially awkward, human Mongoose), b) having marginally (and I mean MARGINALLY) better 3-D effects than JAWS 3, and c) the addition of this…fucking really weird JASON sexual assault sub-plot which appears during a confusing, semi-coherent flashback sequence. Thank God they dropped that shit like a hot potato before it got any grosser.

PART 3 is a solid addition to the franchise which features some wicked kills, some disturbing and creepy moments, and one of the best soundtracks of the entire run. Oh, and also fuck SHELLEY. Don’t defend that asshole.

RATING: 🪓🪓🪓🪓