Friday the 13th Part III: Review By Vamp

Well, as you know by now, the "Friday the 13th" series was the one that sparked the interest in horror/slasher films for me. The first one remains to this day, for me anyway, the best of my series. It's been a while since I've watched them all, so going through them like this has been a fun experience, remembering everything. So far, the original has been my favorite, too. The sequel, aptly dubbed "Friday the 13th Part 2," was great, don't get me wrong, but in terms of comparison with it's predecessor, it was slightly disappointing. Good, compared to what I remember of the later contributions in the series, but, as I said, when you compare it with the original, it was slightly disappointing. However, it offered an excellent look for Jason to begin with: the gunny sack with an eyehole. Personally, I always thought that that was a slightly creepier look for Jason, than his Hockey Mask, but I do prefer to see the behemoth wearing the goalie gear. After Jason made his debut in "Friday the 13th Part 2" as a killer, he returned in every other sequel. This is the movie where we finally witness the birth of Jason's Hockey Mask, and the herald of terror for many campers who go out to Crystal Lake. That was my favorite part of this movie, finally completing Jason. Not only was this the birth of Jason's Hockey Mask... it was also the birth of Jason's most famous choice of weapon. Many of you know that Pamela Voorhees, in the original "Friday the 13th" used a machete in the ending scene. However, throughout "Friday the 13th Part 2," Jason's main choice of weapon was an axe. In many ways, I see his transformation of weaponry as an evolution that went with the mask. Many know the gunny-sack-masked Jason as wielding the axe, but when you see the hockey-masked Jason, you think of him carrying the machete. In many ways, "Friday the 13th Part III" was the evolution of Jason into the mega-killer that we know him as, and I really like that fact of the movie.

Steve Miner, whom many remember was the director of "Friday the 13th Part 2," returns to his directorial chair in this film. As I mentioned in my last film, Miner was also the director of two of my other favorite movies: "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" and "Lake Placid." In this movie his directorial skills, in my opinion, are not really at an all time high. While he manages some interesting angles for some of the different kills, as well as equally interesting filters for some of the kills, it seems that his heart wasn't with this one as much as it was with "Friday the 13th Part 2," and I don't know if I'm the only one that got that feeling or not, but it's definitely there. He does a pretty good job, don't get me wrong, however, compared to the previous two installments, the movie falls short a little bit. I don't know if this fact caused him to not return to the series or not, since I'm not that sure of the story. He does do a decent job, and makes a pretty fun movie. Now, I'm not only blaming Mr. Miner for this because there are new writers introduced to this installment of the "Friday the 13th" series. First of all, we have our screenplay writers: Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson, who base their story, of course, off of the characters that were created by Victor Miller and Ron Kurz. As well as our two new writers previously mentioned, there was one who was not credited in the movie, and that is Petru Pepescu. All of these writers make a good movie for the "Friday the 13th" series, however, the story was a little sketchy. They don't really go over what happened to Chris, except in a brief overly acted flashback. Also, they create some... erm... interesting characters... But you don't really feel for any of them. I mean, for a couple of spots, you're like, "Oh, poor kid," but it wasn't the same kind of reaction that you had for Alice and Ginny in the previous two films. They make a good and fun story for the series, and it definitely still feels like a "Friday the 13th" movie, it just could have been done a little better in some spots.

The visuals of this movie, are where they continued their excellent job. As always, they are done very well. This one offered something new in respects of the killer. For this one, you really see Jason throughout the film without seeing it from his point-of-view. Granted, in the beginning before he so valiantly comes into owning his legendary hockey mask, they don't show you his face, but you see the body as it jumps out for the kill, and executes it as such. This is a little less mysterious and creepy than the first two were with their, "Oh my God, who is the killer?!" Type filming, however, people knew who the killer was after watching the opening scene, so there was really no point in hiding that fact, which I applaud them for. They didn't try and keep it that way, and it worked nicely for the film. That is another thing that I really liked about it; the fact that they didn't try and trick you into thinking it was a different person. They knew that the audiences weren't stupid. The next visual of course, would be Jason. You don't see his face, as usual, until the end, but it shows you enough of Jason from "Friday the 13th Part 2," so you know he wore the bag before he gets up and leaves his ending spot from said movie. With the hockey mask, those of us fans who saw it after the series initial birth in 1980, and knew Jason most for his hockey mask, felt a sense of completion, and it's not hard to know why, as Jason looks as kick ass as ever in his ever-present hockey mask. I'm not sure what the feeling was for fans who were watching it, and used to his gunny-sack-mask, but for me, as I said, it was the sense of completion. I liked that a lot. The blood in this one, looked the same as the blood they used in the original "Friday the 13th" movie, which for a movie from 1980, was very realistic looking, and I definitely give them credit for doing well with that again. The kills were also done in some new and fun ways. The most memorable kill that I have for this movie, would most definitely be the death of Andy, who while walking into a hallway on his hands, had his entire lower half cleaved in half. It was very gruesome, when you get a good look at the damage, and it's my most notable one of the movie. While Jason's face looks different in this one, it's still pretty gruesome, and I'll leave it alone for those who haven't seen this one yet, so that they get the surprise. I'll just say that it looks kind of fakish, but it's still pretty horrifying... ESPECIALLY for a movie from 1982. So the visuals department was definitely one of the best parts of the movie.

Alright, so I've touched on the storyline for this movie a bit already in my review, but here I plan to go more in depth on my thoughts of it. The story, for a "Friday the 13th" movie, definitely fits with the rest in the series, and offers an interesting twist on things. While I like the whole premise of a girl returning to a place from her past that holds some... deep issues within her, so that she may face those issues, I wish that they would have gone a little more in depth on just what exactly those issues WERE. Don't get me wrong, you get an explanation about halfway through the film, it's just not really the best way they could have gone through things. The story, as I just said is fun. They're on vacation, and this vacation means a lot more to one girl than it does to the others. While the female lead of this movie, Chris, definitely cuts it as a heroine, she doesn't deliver the prowess that Alice and Ginny had, and that kind of takes from it. I know that seems a vague reference, but when you watch for the first time, or rewatch them I guess, you'll understand what I mean. She's the heroine of the movie, no doubt, and she shows her strength, don't get me wrong... It's just that she doesn't seem as strong as the past two were. She's strong... Has to be to make it through Jason's rampage... But it's a more mellow strong than the last two. Maybe it's just the actress, though, I'm not exactly sure, but when you watch it, you'll know what I mean. The story could have gone a LOT better, however, it had some more likeable and relatable characters. You felt sorry for some of the characters as they went through the movie, but is that enough? Most especially among these characters is Shelly, who you're supposed to feel sorry for, since he's the nerd who nobody really understands, but you're so annoyed by the character, that it's hard to really feel sorry for him. The story overall, ranks as one of the higher points in this series, but it could have been done a little better.

The movie starts out at the exact ending of "Friday the 13th Part 2," with Ginny and Paul facing up against one gunny-sack-masked Jason Voorhees, and "killing" him. After it cuts from that part, we see Jason get up, and head out of the building slowly as ever. From here Jason heads to a nearby store/home, where he finds a new set of clothes, and some kills to keep him occupied, as he interrupts a white trash man named Harold (Played by Steve Susskind of "Sandman") and his cranky wife, Edna (Played by Cheri Maugans in her only major movie role). After gruesomely getting Harold, and following it up with Edna, Jason heads out, since he really only came for the clothes, the kills were just a bonus. We then cut to a van full of teenagers who are obviously headed for some fun. The team consists of Chris (Played by Dana Kimmell of "Sweet 16"), Andy (Played by Jeffrey Rogers of the made-for-TV-movie, "Young Hearts"), Debbie (Played by Tracie Savage of "The Devil and Max Devlin"), Shelly (Played by Larry Zerner of "Hadley's Rebellion"), Chili (Played by Rachel Howard of "Deep Space"), and Chuck (Played by David Katims of "The Invisible Kid," in a minor role). The group make a stop, and Andy, Chris and Debbie get out and head up to a house, where they are clearly going to go and get another member for their group. Andy, on the way out, tells Shelly that he needs to come, since this is the date that he got him. Shelly says to just bring her to him, and the couple leave. As they are leaving, we see a figure stalking after them holding up a knife, and wearing a strange mask. As he reaches them, he stabs the knife into Andy's back. However, we find it's a trick knife, used by Shelly to play a prank on them. Andy yells at Shelly, and tells him to stop being such a jerk all the time. They head up to the door, and knock. A woman answers the door, and tells the kids that Vera (Played by Catherine Parks of "Weekend at Bernie's") will NOT be attending, and she turns around and slams the door. The kids stand there stunned, when they here shouting, and Vera emerges from the house. She tells them that it's nothing, really, and asks who her date is. When she finds out that it is Shelly, she is clearly disappointed with the results. They head out, and start talking with each other, but as they turn and see the van, they see smoke emerging from it. They rush to the scene, intent to put out any fire that may have been started, only to find Chuck and Chili hitting the bongs together and giggling to themselves. They all head out, and soon arrive at the campground where they'll be staying. Chris emerges from the van with everyone, but instead of grabbing their stuff, the others head down to the creek that is near them for some swimming. They ask if Chris is coming, but she declines, and takes her stuff into the house. As she enters the house, someone grabs her, and slaps a hand over her mouth pulling her to them. However, she finds out that it is just her boyfriend, Rick (Played by Paul Kratka of "The Day the Came Back"), she admonishes him, but they chat about how they can finally spend some time with each other, though it won't be alone. As she heads out to get the stuff, he helps. She finds Shelly in the truck, and asks why he wasn't with the others. He tells her that he's too fat to skinny dip, and heads inside. Soon, he pulls another stunt, staging his fake death, and really pissing everyone off. Soon Vera is fuming, and she leaves. Shelly soon follows her, and begs her to take him with her. She goes off without him, but stops, letting him in. They head to a store, where they buy some groceries, and unfortunately tangle with a group of bikers; Fox (Played by Gloria Charles of "European Vacation," in a minor role), Ali (Played by Nick Savage of "Cold Steel"), and Loco (Played by Kevin O'Brien of "Warlock"), who mess with them a bit. As Vera and Shelly leave the store and get into their car, Ali steps out. Shelly, who took over the driver's seat, accidentally backs into Fox, Ali, and Loco's bikes, and so Ali starts busting the windshield. Shelly gets pissed, and heads back, nearly running Ali over, and smashing his wheel. They head back to the camp, and get the groceries put away. Soon, the gang of bikers return to wreak havoc, and proceed to siphon the kid's van's gas, and scatter it in the barn, obviously with intent to set it on fire. However, they run into trouble, as Jason Voorhees (Played by Richard Brooker of "Deathstalker") shows up and begins to kill them off, unknowingly saving the day. Soon, Chris and Rick decide to head off and have some alone time, leaving the others at the cabin to do what they please, even coming into acquaintance with his hockey mask. When Chris and Rick return, they find themselves against a foe that they can't even begin to UNDERSTAND, as Jason stalks after them, to quench the rage within him. The Actors and Actresses in this movie do relatively good with their parts in the movie. They don't do well enough to make you feel sorry for them, even though there is that slight twinge that makes you want to yell, "LOOK OUT!" They get down each person's characteristics pretty well, and offer up the right emotions, feelings, and worries that each of them may have. They could have done a better job with the casting on this movie, but for the most part they did pretty good.

All in all, this was a pretty good "Friday the 13th" movie. While it falls short in a few of the categories, most notably it's characters, it excells in others, such as the visuals. It's not the best of the series, but it is DEFINITELY not the worst of the series, either. The Director of this movie, who returns from the previous, "Friday the 13th Part 2," does a relatively good job with this installment. While he seems to lack the conviction he had in "Friday the 13th Part 2," he manages to get his point across, while only losing a small fraction of that same conviction. DEFINITELY a pretty good job on the Directing of this movie. The Writers of this movie are new to the series, and their style of story was also slightly new. They do an alright job at weaving a story, however, their characters, whether it was the fault of the actors, or of the writers, didn't come across to me as characters I should feel sorry for, though you do feel sorry for them, just because of the situaation they've been thrust into. DEFINITELY an alright job on the Writing of this movie. The Visuals of this movie were definitely done very well, as was the case with both the original "Friday the 13th" and it's sequel, "Friday the 13th Part 2." We finally get Jason Voorhees with his hockey mask, and that is an excellent and spooky visual because today, we all know Jason for his ever-present hockey mask. They also do right with new and inventive kills. DEFINITELY a great job with the Visuals of this movie. The Storyline of this movie, while an interesting one, kind of left something to be desired. Not something HUGE, mind you, you just feel like you should know more about what happened to Chris in her past, other that she survived an encounter with Jason Voorhees. So it's a good Storyline, it's just that a couple things could have been added to make it a little more thorough with Chris's past. DEFINITELYa pretty good job on the Storyline of the movie. The Acting ties everything together. All of the Actors and Actresses involved in this movie, deliver performances that are PRETTY Convincing, PRETTY Believable, and PRETTY Realistic, however they deliver performances as characters that you have a hard time FEELING FOR, or, and though you probably wouldn't be able to anyway, RELATE TO on ANY levels. DEFINITELY an alright job on the Casting for this movie. So if you were a fan of the original "Friday the 13th" and it's sequel, "Friday the 13th Part 2," and haven't yet seen this one, then I'd definitely recommend it. I'm almost POSITIVE that you will not get entirely disappointed with it. I know I didn't!!!!!

THIS CONCLUDES PART 3 IN MY REVIEW SERIES FOR THE "FRIDAY THE 13TH" SERIES!!!!! STAY TUNED FOR PART 4, "FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!!!"