Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982)

Friday the 13th Part 3

Paramount Pictures

Directed By: Steve Miner

Release Date: August 13, 1982

Runtime: 1hr, 35 min

I'm going to go on record here and say that Friday the 13th Part 3 is probably my favorite F13 movie of all time.  It's not that it doesn't have flaws, but more so that it hits all the elements needed for a good slasher film, had a fear factor built into it, and leaves you feeling disturbed afterwards.  The film picks up extra points for being in 3D, introducing the now iconic hockey mask we have come to know our anti-hero by, and for being one of the original films in the series before the "Zombie Jason" transformation.

Plot:

The movies starts off showcasing the final moments of Part 2.  Paul and Ginny take on Jason inside his shack in the woods near Crystal Lake, and we see them overpower him before escaping.  Nothing shows their later encounter, but we do see Jason getting up from his attack, and preparing to resume business as usual.

Kicking off Part 3, we meet the owners and shopkeepers of a small grocery store around Crystal Lake.  Harold is an older person who has really let himself go.  He is constantly being nagged about his shortcomings (and probably rightfully so) by his wife Edna.  As we follow along with them on this night, we see them become the first victims of Jason as he emerges from the incident at the Packanack Lodge Camp.

This leads into us meeting the teenagers of the film.  Chris, Andy, Debbie, and Shelly are packed up in Chris' van, and are on their way to pick up Vera.  Vera and Shelly are being set up on a blind date.  As they approach the house, Shelly begins his usually prankster ways, as Vera quarrels with her mom and shows disappointment at the revelation of Shelly being her "date" for the weekend.  We are also introduced to Chuck and Chili in a moment of panic.  The van appears to have caught fire, but instead we meet our Cheech and Chong followers ripping some bong action in the back of the van.

As they get closer to Higgins Haven, the group sees some police and medic action at the previously mentioned grocery store, and encounter a homeless man talking crazy, and showing off an eyeball he found ripped out of an animal's socket.  Everyone gets an uneasy feeling to start off.

Once they arrive at Higgins Haven, most of the teens head down to the water to relax, and enjoy the outdoors.  Chris heads inside where she gets surprised by Rick, who chose to spend the weekend with her as opposed to with a more popular girl, and help her recover from her previous time at the cabin.

After a Shelly prank, Vera and Shelly borrow Rick's car to head off to the nearby convenience store for food and supplies.  When they go to pay, they are harassed by a motorcycle gang.  Shelly decides to get revenge by plowing into their bikes with Rick's car.  This caused the leader, Ali, to smash the windshield, and cause more damage.  After damaging their bikes further, Shelly speeds off, much to Ali's anger.

Back at the cabin, Rick is disappointed to see the condition of his car, and the lack of care Shelly and Vera show for it.  He announces to Chris that he is leaving.  After some pleading, they decide to drive out somewhere into the woods to catch up and talk.

As the movie continues, Jason arrives at the camp, and slowly begins stalking all the teenagers, using the barn as a base to stay hidden.  The motorcycle gang then shows up to burn the barn, but one by one they become victims to the hidden Jason.

As we get to know the crew more and more, Shelly pulls off another elaborate prank involving a speargun and a hockey mask.  This angers Vera, and causes her to push him away so she can have some space to think.  Shelly ventures into the barn assuming Chuck and Chili are in there.

Slowly but surely, all the teenagers are eliminated one-by-one and Jason steals Shelly's hockey mask to create his now iconic look.

Rick and Chris are shown deep in the woods, and Chris has an emotional break-down as she recalls her last trip to Higgins Haven and her attack from Jason in the woods.  Rick consoles her, and after discovering his car battery had died, they begin the hike back in the windy night to the cabin.

After a few more kills, we see Rick and Chris return to the cabin and notice something is up when everything is eerily quiet.  After getting separated while looking around, Rick is caught and killed by Jason.  Chris then takes on Jason throughout the house as she slowly discovers more and more of the bodies of her friends scattered around the house.  After narrowly escaping from the top story window, she runs around for a bit evading and scoring some offense on Jason.

This all leads up to a grand finale in the barn where after an assist from the suddenly resurrected Ali, Chris knocks Jason out once and for all with an Ax.

Next we see Chris head out to Crystal Lake with a row boat, and float out to the middle similar to the way Alice did in Part 1.  As morning comes, she awakes to Jason's bloody face clawing for her from the upstairs window.  She panics and begins rowing away as Jason blows the door off the cabin and stares at her.  Suddenly, he is gone, and everything goes quiet.  Then out of nowhere, Mrs. Voorhees leaps out of the lake, and pulls Chris underwater in a homage to the original F13 movie.

In the end, we see a mentally unhinged Chris being lead out of the cabin by police and medic crews where she screams, laughs hysterically, and cries over the events she just experienced.  We close on a shot on the calming water of Crystal Lake as the movie fades to black.

Characters:

The characters in this one are pretty good for what is needed.  Don't bother with the acting, as some of the lines feel as though they were just reading off card, and not actually becoming these people.  As Chris and the others are picking up their friends in the beginning, you know that feeling.  Riding along with friends, and picking each other up to go have fun for the weekend.

Harold - Owner and Shopkeeper of a grocery/cafe in the Crystal Lake area.  He is a sloppy person who is constantly reprimanded by his wife Edna.  He has a love for animals and a passion for food.

Edna - Frustrated wife of Harold, and co-owner of the grocery/cafe in Crystal Lake.  She does a good majority of work around the house and the shop, and is disappointed that Harold doesn't help out more.  She enjoys knitting as she watches the nightly news.

Chris - The main teenage character whose family owns the Higgins Haven property.  She is returning to Crystal Lake after a few years away due to being attack by Jason in the woods.

Debbie - Chris' friend and Andy's girlfriend.  She is carefree, and youthful.  She is newly pregnant, and is looking forward to spending a relaxing weekend with Andy and their friends.

Andy - Debbie's boyfriend, and Shelly's roommate.  He's out to have some fun with friends at the lake.

Shelly - Socially awkward roommate of Andy, and Vera's blind date.  Shelly is a notorious prankster who pulls jokes on people in an effort to get them to like him.  They typically backfire as he takes them a bit too far.

Vera - Chris' friend and Shelly's blind date for the weekend.  She is your typical teenager who bickers with her parents, and enjoys having fun and going out with friends.

Chuck - Chili's boyfriend and stoner pal.  He enjoys smoking up constantly, carries some pre-rolled cigarettes with him at all times, and is a stereotypical hippie.  He is easily startled, and has fear of darkness and loud noises.

Chili - Chuck's girlfriend and stoner pal.  She is the more adventurous of the two, and is always trying to get Chuck to check out new things when they aren't smoking up.

Rick - Chris' date for the weekend.  He is a farm boy who is out to have some fun for the weekend helping Chris readjust to her return to the lake by making it as comfortable as possible.

Fox - Female biker who shows a very assertive attitude, and causes confrontation wherever she goes.  She is easily distracted when left to wander.

Loco - Tough-acting punk of the motorcycle gang.  He is rarely without a cigarette, and shows off leather, ripped shirts, some tattoos, and a gruff voice.

Ali - Leader of the motorcycle gang who is a fighter, and forcibly get his way.

Bryan's Thoughts:

The film gives great tones of nostalgia, and paints dark clouds of what could have been.  Chris returning to Higgins Haven for the first time since her attack, and just taking it all back in shows a different sort of reminiscing that we would have today.  Chris's memories are of a 1950s cabin somewhere in the woods along Crystal Lake.  The memories we would have today of say a 1980s cabin (roughly the same proportionate timing) would be a lot different because we wouldn't necessarily have a detached outhouse, or a barn containing some of the older tools of decades past.  We see our characters entertaining themselves by juggling by firelight, taking a walk around the lake, exploring the barn and other parts of the area.  In the day and age where technology has more or less conquered the majority of our spare time, this is a refreshing look back at how people passed spare time back in the day.  All the while, there is a killer hidden throughout most of the film, and not until the latter half does he really start to make his mark.  We see some pretty violent and gory scenery, but the part that stands out in my mind is towards the end where we see a very windy night at Higgins Haven.  Chris and Rick show up and comment on the unusually subdued sound.  The cabin itself looks creepy in the dark, let alone the fact that we the viewers know that the once lively place is now a very cold, lonely, abandon house, where the youthful souls have now passed on from their unfortunate demises, and just like all the relics in the house, all that remains are the memories from their bygone days.  Shelly's box of pranks and props sits closed somewhere in his room, never to be reopened with the same passion and creativity for humor that only his mind could conjure.  Just like his life, the show is now cut short.  Vera's mother will soon be unconsolable.  The fact that she couldn't stop her daughter from riding off to the place that would hold her final moments by the lake.  Debbie and Andy, while receiving the more grisly deaths, get a grey-lining sort of send-off in that they die as somewhat of a family departing this world together with the revelation of Debbie's pregnancy early in the movie.  Rick's car sits abandon somewhere in the woods, either to be sold off as junk, or repaired and recycled to another driver.  Chuck and Chili's deaths probably had the pain softened by their endless barrage of weed.  Even the motorcycle gang shows some intense thought.  Fox shows a child-like wonder in her final moments, swinging and excitedly sounding off on the rope swing.  Loco never had much going for him, and gets offed pretty quickly.  Ali shows a fighter's resilience, but even he cannot overpower Jason.  Lastly, Chris, who the horrors of Higgins Haven in 1984, now permanently etched in her memory, replace any positive moments she ever had there.  The psychological damage she now endures is the true terror we take away from Part 3.  That's what makes this movie the most horrifying of all the F13 movies.

Trivia:

- Tom Savani's Fangoria article makes an appearance right before Debbie's murder.

- Jason steals Shelly's hockey mask after their violent encounter in the barn, and has retained the same look since then.

- The movie is the 2nd day of a 3-day killing spree for Jason (following Part 2, and preceding The Final Chapter)

Overall:

This was the last of the original movies I saw growing up.  Personally, I feel like I unintentionally saved the best one for last.  The iconic moments, setting, and overall tone of the film make it one of the better entries in the recycled format of the series.  As good as Part 2 was, this was the first real Jason movie to me.  To that, it shall remain highly recommended.