Friday the 13th, Part 3, 3-D DVD: Review By Brian Gallagher

It's pretty rare that I watch a movie twice before reviewing it. While being a DVD reviewer can technically afford a critic that luxury, I still normally don't have the time nor the inclination to watch a flick twice before I hammer out a review. Friday the 13th Part 3 - which with this new Deluxe Edition is shown in the 3-D version that was shown theatrically - is a rare exception, but sadly, nothing really changed the second time around... and that's definitely not a good thing for this underwhelming flick.

I decided to watch it twice because I watched it in the 3-D version (they include two pairs of 3-D glasses in the packaging) first and found it quite distracting and not really as cool as I'd hoped it would be. A hefty majority of the 3-D material we're given here is incredibly arbitrary, from a yo-yo going up and down near one of the girl's faces to a bunch of popcorn kernels flying out of the pan, to a juggling contest and even a joint being passed in a van. While they do utilize the format nicely during a few kills and just plain chair-jumper moments, they use the 3-D in the flick, basically, just to use it. I'm sure back in 1982, in a packed theater, people would be diving out of the way of some of these things... but in 2009, watching it at home doesn't have nearly the same effect. They do show they know how to use this technology in a spooky way, but for some reason they just don't do it enough. I guess it's easier to come up with boring ideas for 3-D than actual ideas that would scare someone. I also either had trouble adjusting my eyes to the glasses, or was surprised at how annoying it was unless I had the glasses just right, so I decided to put the review on hold for a day and watch the film again in the 2-D version. While the nuisance of 3-D was gone, though, many other nuisances remained.

This one takes place at a cabin, presumably somewhere near Camp Crystal Lake but we never really know. Of course, it revolves around a group of young friends who go up to the cabin to get away for the weekend. The group is pretty much the same as groups past, but they throw in a pot-smoking couple, Chuck (David Katims) and Chilli (Rachel Howard). They switch out the outspoken girl with the pregnant, involved girl, Debbie (Tracie Savage) and her beau Andy (Jeffrey Rogers), and, of course, there's still the goofball with Shelly (Larry Zemer), but they make this character a little more interesting as he's set up with the lovely Vera (Catherine Parks) on a blind date for the weekend. And, of course, there's the hot, vulnerable one Chris (Dana Kimmell) and her possible flame Rick (Paul Kratka). They tweak it just a little bit as well with Chris having never returned to her old house in two years... after she was attacked by a man with a hideous face... So yeah, you can pretty much guess what happens here, and that's the damn shame of this.

While I was annoyed with how much they just kept snagging things from the first movie in the second, I wouldn't think they'd do it THREE TIMES I A ROW, but, alas, they do. One of the reasons I watched it again in 2-D was because I thought I missed the big moment where Jason gets the mask... only to realize that there isn't such a moment, and one minute Shelly has it and the next, Jason does. The mask completes the evolution of Jason Voorhes and from that point forward, he appears in pretty much the same fashion in the other flicks. For something as iconic as that mask, I guess I was hoping for some sort of cool scene where he discovers the mask, but apparently they undervalued that aspect to the nth degree. Thankfully, I know from my set visit of the remake, they DO have an origin story behind the mask for the new film, so we'll have to see how that turns out. They even snag Kevin Bacon's kill in the first one, almost to a T, and, of course, the big ending is pretty much the same as the first two. Three for three... as it were. This is also the third writer out of three films, Martin Kitrosser on here and it seems that the early marching orders was to keep it almost all the same, but add your own personal tidbits... as long as they didn't mess with this structure that they beat to death. What's weird about this is that they almost seem to think they can get away with it by changing the slightest of things throughout, but really just ending up in the exact same place as the first two. It's like running the same play in football for three straight plays, only you use three different running backs. Maybe by sticking with this formula so rigidly, anticipating that we'll think something will change, but giving us the exact same thing, they think they're throwing us a curveball, when in reality (2009 reality, anyway), it just comes off as lazy, sloppy filmmaking.

One of the bright spots here is actually the acting. While I dug Adrienne King and Amy Steel in the first two, ironically, Dana Kimmell gives the best performances of the first three leading ladies. She has a lot of beauty and a lot of vulnerability, with a few dashes of coy humor thrown in and then, when we finally get into the real horror parts, she displays one hell of a scream and is the most convincingly terrified actress of the first three flicks. I also rather enjoyed the Shelly character and Larry Zemer's portrayal of him because he had this constant need to "impress" which meant for him pretending to be dead or some sort of killer. His character added a lot of red herrings to the plot and it brought this Cry Wolf thing to the movie as well. The others are serviceable in their performances, but nothing really outstanding comes from any of the other performances.

Steve Miner directs again here and it really would've been more effective direction if they wouldn't have gone with the 3-D, because he does display again that he has the chops to direct a horror movie, but it seemed he just got caught up with the "craze" of 3-D and seemed adamant to throw in little bits of the technology whenever possible. One of the most blatant examples of this is a scene where they cut right to a kid on a street holding a baseball bat that appears to be jutting out towards you. Miner also seems to hold these 3-D shots way too long, to hammer home the point that this is really "coming at you" when it probably would've been much scarier to have quick little flashes of stuff jutting out towards the audience. Actually, I think it's just that now this sort of 3-D technology is dated and just doesn't have the same sort of spook factor that it did back in 1982. Miner does show he can be an effective horror director here, as he did in the second one... but he just got distracted with 3-D along the way.

Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D isn't as scary as I hoped it would be. They use this format more as a gimmick than as an actual means to scare, most of the time, and it ends up just distracting you from the fact that this is really the same film as the first two, with a few more tweaks here and there.

Sadly, all we get is a Theatrical Trailer. I suppose having the movie in 3-D and with 3-D glasses included is special, but after such solid helpings of extras on the first two, I'm surprised there isn't more here. Oh well.

The film is presented in the widescreen format, enhanced for 16x9 televisions

The sound is handled through the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound format.

Pretty much the same as the first two. The front has the silhouette of the killer but, this time, he's brandishing a cleaver. The back is pretty much the same with some pics from the flick, a big notice (in lieu of no special features) that says this includes a 3-D version of the film with two pairs of 3-D glasses, and then there's the billing block and tech specs. Pretty standard, really.

Two big things change here from the first two films. One, Jason gets the mask, and two, the film is in 3-D. It's just too bad they emphasized 3-D more than the mask and, essentially, didn't change the film at all from the first two.