Film Review: Friday The 13th Part 3 - Jason Lacks 3D Punch
I was not fortunate enough to see Friday the 13th Part 3 in theaters in 1982 as I was not old enough to even sneak in at the time. However, I did watch it enough times on VHS to memorize every line in the film. Over the years, I have come to appreciate its place in the series and also the significance of the birth of the hockey mask as part of legacy of the series. Quite frankly, however, Part 3 is a very poor movie.
Very recently, I was able to see the film in 3D as it was intended and was impressed, technically. The 3D is effective and works very well in certain scenes, but there is little else left to really ooh and awe at. Yes, Jason is brutal in this film, but the lack of realistic violence is astonishing. Jason hanging people by pitchforks from the rafters or crushing a man's skull until an eyeball flies out? The later films in the series that featured a zombie Jason can be looked past as more supernatural. However, Jason in the earlier films is supposed to be human. In my mind, Jason is portrayed as more of a Joke in this film as are all of the characters.
You almost get the sense that Part 3 is a parody of the previous two films as Director Steve Miner has decided on his second go-around to just camp it up while focusing almost all of his energy on the 3D process. The film should have had more redeeming qualities within the genre with some semblence of tension created or more graphic detail of the killings showing up in the final cut. In the end, horribly written characters, bad acting and a general lack of good filmmaking make this one of the poorer entries in the series.
If not for the iconic hockey mask being unearthed or the hip 3D implementation on film, this would have been completely forgotten amongst the fans.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Machetes
Review By: David Branson
Very recently, I was able to see the film in 3D as it was intended and was impressed, technically. The 3D is effective and works very well in certain scenes, but there is little else left to really ooh and awe at. Yes, Jason is brutal in this film, but the lack of realistic violence is astonishing. Jason hanging people by pitchforks from the rafters or crushing a man's skull until an eyeball flies out? The later films in the series that featured a zombie Jason can be looked past as more supernatural. However, Jason in the earlier films is supposed to be human. In my mind, Jason is portrayed as more of a Joke in this film as are all of the characters.
You almost get the sense that Part 3 is a parody of the previous two films as Director Steve Miner has decided on his second go-around to just camp it up while focusing almost all of his energy on the 3D process. The film should have had more redeeming qualities within the genre with some semblence of tension created or more graphic detail of the killings showing up in the final cut. In the end, horribly written characters, bad acting and a general lack of good filmmaking make this one of the poorer entries in the series.
If not for the iconic hockey mask being unearthed or the hip 3D implementation on film, this would have been completely forgotten amongst the fans.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Machetes
Review By: David Branson
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