A Look Back At Crushed Head Death Scene Of Rick In Friday The 13th Part 3
There were several ideas on how to create the effect of Jason crushing Rick's head and having his eye fly towards the camera. Compressed air and a metal rod were the first two ideas, but neither worked on camera as controlling the eyeball's direction with air was unattainable and the metal rod would show up on film. The final idea that would be used to execute the death involved a small thin wire.
A dummy head was created for Rick whereas latex skin, a wig and clothing were used to dress the prop head. For the death scene, effects man Douglas White ran a jerkline through the eye socket of the prop head to the back of the eyeball. As Jason Voorhees actor Richard Brooker began to crush Rick's head, White pulled on a lever which caused the skull to collapse. At that exact moment, effects artist Martin Becker pulled the eyeball from the socket using the wire and sent it directly to the target between the dual lenses used for 3-D which, given the angle, would keep the wire hidden from the camera.
Rick's death indeed is one of the highlight moments of the series and deserves it's place in the Friday The 13th Hall of Fame!
