A group of college students go to a cabin in the woods by a lake, smoke weed, have premarital sex, and then are killed by machete-wielding and hockey-mask-wearing Jason Voorhees.
My first big compliment… I like that they worked 3-D into the third movie; I always appreciate a good pun lol.
For a movie that was made when Reaganomics was “new,” the 3-D feels modern and is very impressive in certain shots. It’s never Avatar level, but it certainly had its moments, like this one part where the characters are putting hay in the barn and some of the hay particles fly off, and you can see them like floating in the air for a little bit. It’s a really cool effect that helps you feel immersed… not to mention some of the kills that little jump out at you. If I’m seeing a slasher film, I’m appreciating that I feel like I’m about to get murdered as well lol.
If you took the Friday the 13th formula and tropes the series is known for (teens going into the woods, smoking dope, pulling pranks on each other, having premarital sex) and you distilled it down to its basic and pure form… That’s what Part III feels like. So if the idea of a “disfigured hermit killing vacationing teens because they came into his woods to smoke the devil’s lettuce” isn’t your cup of tea, this movie isn’t going to do much to change your mind lol. However, if you like slasher movies, this has a lot of solid scares and a fun atmosphere for an entertaining watch. Not to mention it’s interesting to see this from a historical point of view because it’s where the franchise really hit its stride and defined its hallmarks.
The characters are fine; none of them are unlikable, but there are one or two that I found interesting (shout out to Chris and Shelly), but honestly a lot of the characters feel underwritten and more like types just to be killed off by Jason later… Now the kills are very impressive (shout out to Tom Savini’s great makeup work), just don’t set your expectations to expect any deep character work.
Here’s an odd thing the movie never addresses: so there’s a group of eight people in the cast going vacationing, all about college age, I would say… Except there’s this couple who must be about 10 to 15 years older than the others, who look like the burnout hippie history teacher that the gang invited along with his “old lady” because he could supply some good dope. I mean, they’re kind of funny and cute in a cooky sort of way. I just wish I had an explanation why Cheech and Chong are hanging around college kids lol.
Like I said earlier, the kills are impressive and very well detailed/authentic feeling. My favorite is probably the arrow on the dock; the way they made it come out at you in 3-D was pretty impressive.
I quite enjoyed Richard Brooker as Jason in the film. The way he played Jason all stiff, slightly fidgety, and never doing anything calmly, always like jerking and throwing his body to really give Jason a wild animal feel, I always found effective and a fun take on the character, definitely a standoutJason.
As far as final girls go, Chris is a solid entry in the series. She’s not the most well-written, but the actress brings a lot of sass and charisma to the role that elevates what’s on the page to feel like a more rounded character. And while she has a few “what are you doing? Quit being dumb, or you’re going to die” moments, overall I found her to be a very effective and enjoyable lead to face off against Jason.
I loved the atmosphere in this movie, mainly because it’s a lazy Saturday vibe in the bright sunny woods by the lake, perfect relaxing weather, so it’s not hard to sell me on it, but I did like how they were able to make something so cozy also intimidating, a creepy time, so big points for you there, flick. lol
The second half is a little slower than the first, mainly because this is when Jason starts picking off people one by one, and it gets a little repetitive, and the pacing slows down a little, but nothing that really takes away from the movie; it’s just something I noticed personally. Plus, there were a couple of story beats that I thought pushed the limits of believability, but no plot holes or anything.
I like the ending. It’s the type of ambiguous spooky stuff that I really enjoy.
I give Friday the 13th Part III four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It’s like the McDonald’s of slasher movies; you know exactly what you’re going to get going in, and if you’re in the right mood, it’s really going to hit the spot and be a machete… cut above the rest 😂
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