Friday the 13th Part III (1982) – By Baron Craze

Every horror fan knows of the Friday the 13th franchise, each film, every kill, some perhaps are a little more detailed than others, but in Part 1 we had both the legend and mother, then the stalker was unleashed in part two and by the release of part three, we had the infamous and iconic look of Jason, forever marked and embrace by legions of fans, some who even tattoo it on their bodies. Paramount Pictures looked at the box office track record, and figured obviously to embark on another movie, which made a lot on limited budgets, the first two movies’ combined budgets tallied about $1.8 million hence they gave more money this time around; because those projects earned an estimated $62 million, and this film would gross a respectful $36 million. A nifty little note, Jason took his revenge on the film that wrongfully dispatched The Thing [1982], that right E.T. lost its number one position after 10 weeks to this movie, though that flick would return to the top-ranked by the following week, it would find itself again knocked down Amityville: The Possession [1982] on September 24th. While it was released in 1982 and presented in 3-D, it didn’t always work necessary correctly, the reason for it, the studio believed there was no way the audience would tune in for a repeat of the similar story of more dead teen hikers and camp counselors therefore need something more advantageous for them. They clearly didn’t understanding the fans’ interest, nor the slasher subgenre models, though to be fair there was no social media to assist them in their decision-making.

First, the decision was where to start, namely, they invited Steve Miner to return to head the project, who had a laid-back approach to filmmaking, his focus was more on the actors, though would handle the conflicts and issues with complete understanding and professionalism of a seasoned pro; though more on this later, he was truly interested in the creative process. When it came to understanding that the project was to be in 3-D he thought of the classic House of Wax [1953] and yet was concerned as he recalled the issues it caused one of his favorite directors, Alfred Hitchcock on his movie Dial M for Murder [1954], however, the opportunity was still another rung on his budding career. Then using a screenplay first from Carol Watson and then Martin Kitrosser, producer Frank Mancuso Jr. (April Fool’s Day [1986]), found it a tad complex and for a workable screenplay, had hired Petru Popescu to do an uncredited rewrite, however in the early stages of casting there was nothing truly defined except for a fake title “Crystal Japan” which is a David Bowie song, and a moved from Connecticut to California, mainly because of the expensive equipment and close to the studio’s base of operations. The first initial draft was to involve Amy Steel at a psychotic hospital, recovering and in at school setting; however, she declines to reprise her role, a decision she later regretted.

Steve Susskind frustrated with 3D process

Shh… don’t mention it to anyone but it’s actually Saturday the 14th, (no not the movie from 1981 of the same title), anyway, we start with a customary recap from the previous film, which is good as it only proceeded this flick by 16-months, but we learn that there were two survivors due to a news broadcast. The story opens with Jason lumbering about, and the killing of a disgusting shopkeeper Harold (Steve Susskind (House [1985])) and his annoying wife Edna (Cheri Maugans), who gets a knitting needle shoved through the back of her head and out her mouth, no more excessive nagging. Then enter into the main plot Chris (Dana Kimmell (Sweet Sixteen [1983])) and her friends who are heading to Higgins Haven a lakeside cabin with a barn belonging to her family for many years.

The Hippie Couple

Therefore, it is a mixed bag of a group first, strangely enough, an older hippie couple Chuck and Chili (David Katims and Rachel Howard) possible reference to cultural stoner icons Cheech & Chong, Andy (Jeffrey Rogers) and his pregnant girlfriend Debbie (Tracie Savage), they stop to pick up Vera (Catherine Parks), a side we have a brief introduction with her mother Mrs. Sanchez which is done more/less to establish her background for a crude stereotype remark later on in the film. Lastly, there Andy’s lonesome but oddball friend Shelly (Larry Zerner (All Creatures Were Stirring [2018])) a chubby-loner type with a fascination for ghoulish gags.

Along their journey they pass by the convenience store the remains of the first victims, before meeting a new doomsayer, Abel (David Wiley) though not as colorful as Crazy Ralph, it’s just nice to have this nod to the memorable role to issue the dire warning of fear and horrible eye prop. The film would boast more cast members or future body count fodder, for example, Chris’ boyfriend Rick (Paul Kratka) and three-member biker gang Ali, Fox, and Loco. As the scenes progress, we have certain couples pairing and Shelley finds rejection once more, but he scares Vera, while fans are often torn over his character, which the actor was told to just be himself, he’s ideally responsible for giving Jason his iconic mask, and speaking of him, his name is not uttered one time throughout the movie.

Alas, Jason appears on screen killing Vera, wearing his new mask and strangely walks back to the cabin in a ho-hum manner to encounter Chuck with a toss into a fuse panel (something we’ll see in other films of the series) it‘s here that Shelley reappears to Chili with his slit throat, and the dies in doorway. Chris, namely his encounter with Jason a suggested sexual assault, however, this was a great controversy between the actress and the director, and therefore the matter left more in a confusing muddle memory rather than explicitly stated. As some fans do note, they rather not have that as part of Jason’s background, as he is more of a mindless killer, which is exactly how Miner saw the character and expressed that sentiment to Brooker, when asked about his motivation. It’s heavily rumored that Kimmell was strong in her character convictions and depiction of screen, with how she was portrayed, a tad like how Neve Campbell’s (Scream [1996]) Sidney mentioned in during the film concerning women. Alas when Chris doesn’t have a romantic interlude with Rick, she gets to see a fly through a window (can anyone say hey that’s from part 1). The major change was to the main character Jason, the filmmakers wanted a taller more menacing figure, enter Richard Brooker, a former trapeze artist, with experience in many aspects of filmmaking and a respectful individual who had the solid reputation of looking out for his cast members and friends at conventions. His availability was due to the fact that Steve Dash, refused to pay for his own airfare to play Jason again (didn’t reprise his role once again).

Miner deploys two techniques used by other famous directors namely Spielberg and Hitchcock, first by showing Jason more in shadows and not his face, this was due to that no one ideally liked the constructed layered design, it was almost in frustration to find something better that wearing a white pillowcase. The studio also wanted to escape the infamous look this appearance had a man, in the woods stalking people wearing a white ‘hood’ enough said, image that connotation today – wow. Therefore, a few of the crew were big hockey fans and wham it was chosen, even continuity it was a tad confusing, however no one is really watching these films for the seamless storylines (more this in a moment). Hence the method of showing him from the waist down was similar of that Jaws [1975] not giving the ‘beast’ full display. The usage of a Hitchcock technique also used when Andy while doing a handstand is given a version of both a circumcision and how to perform a new split (nothing as graphic like those of modern-day horror flicks Bone Tomahawk [2015] or Terrifier [2016]. If you see the scene below it is shot view up through plex-glass, this very similar to Hitchcock’s film The Lodger [1927] where a killer paces the floor but is actually show walking on glass.

Oh, did you catch the homage to Psycho [1960] when Debbie was in the shower, framed in a very similar manner to Alfred’s design, with Andy filling the void to the left of her when in the shower. Classic!

Her kill was almost copy of when Jack dies in Friday the 13th [1980], though nice touch of her reading Fangoria (sort of – the cover was to issue 13 (ah see the tie-in) and the article on Godzilla she stops at is issue #1.

So, about Shelley, he has this small case which he says contains his whole world a nod to Lon Chaney, but the curious part is that he brought a spear gun or he found it at the cabin, strange item to find); a scuba-suit and two masks, obviously no but again no one is really paying attention to these goofy elements. The film contains a good amount of bloodshed, though battles would ensue thanks to MPAA, but the movie would still contain murder of a pregnant woman even though she clearly in the first trimester and wisely before her death avoided drinking beer. This dearly loved location, had many visitors, of which some were definitely unauthorized and their activities from taking a few snapshots, to filming fan films, adult exploits, other macabre endeavors, but in 2005 a group of fans in a drunken state of bliss started a fire in the fake chimney and resulted it being destroyed, they were later caught, too bad the legend of Jason doesn’t really exist.

Oh, so about the crew, it was not your typical gang of individuals many have recalled the bunch was a bit unruly however some were assigned the duties of shooting at the curious but highly dangerous rattlesnakes which seemed upset at the intruders to their home. Wouldn’t you be too? Anyway, it wasn’t the only part of nature upset with the filmmakers, there were swarms of bees that had to be dealt with, and an infestation of mosquitos in the man-made lake during the end sequence which could make any individual feel they we all “Doomed!” Associate producer Peter Schindler was eventually placed in charge of the crew to handle all problems and situations arising from their frustrations with the set, the camera to personal conflicts with actors, i.e., lack pf precision perfect line shots for the 3D effects.

The film carried over two other aspects, one from the first Friday movie; the dream sequence involving the rotting corpse of ‘Mother’ rising up from the lake to snatch Chris, this is done echo the First Jason (Ari Lehman) which is also something borrow from Carrie [1976].

Real Mom vs Re-Imagined Mother

However, the second aspect is still a trick deployed from Phantom of the Opera [1925], the shocking moment of revealing the monster’s true look, a disgust for the audience to witness.

Per Smoking Zombie Films, who did a documentary for Part 3, noted the revelation of an alternate ending to the film with Chris being decapitated by unmasked, and the reason it wasn’t used was because of the unsavory appeal of Jason’s face, simply if he looked better, she might not have been driven away in hysterias.

One would be remiss if they didn’t note the recognizable theme song to the which absolutely displays a fun attribute to the film, a disco meets extra funk from composer Harry Manfredini with additional credit to Michael Zager; it’s so well remembered that often found included on Halloween holiday playlists.

As for the 3D experience, it was a steep learning curve, from accidents occurring on set due to unexpected weight and awkward movement of the camera on dolly tracks, to several retakes and repositioning because of the alignment for 3D effects. Cinematographer Gerald Feil, noted that it was new techniques and technology with no time to provide for test shots, this also led to another issue, namely the lightning required for the 3D camera needed a lot of brightness, which works against a horror film, taking away from potential frights. In post-production and during the marketing phases it resulted in additional costs for the studio because of the rarity of 3D-equipped theaters in the past demanded that 3D films only play on a limited number of screens; nevertheless, Paramount worked with several theaters to aid them in obtaining the proper equipment and the working of it.

Therefore, where does this leave us, well if you are fan of either the subgenre of slashers or more importantly of the franchise of Friday the 13th horror flicks, then it seems most have ranked them or at least chosen their favorites, from the series, some even have narrowed down by the brutalization of the killings; regardless there’s only appeal to selected audiences. Others likely nitpick the film, finding issues with lack of storyline, unbelievable characters with wafer-thin portrayals, however they are indeed missing the b-movie camp (no pun intended) and cheese factors associated with these flicks. Hence, even without a true scare factor, weak attempts at jump scenes, substituting some form of suspense it becomes an ideal treat for the fans that grew up with the franchise to always return to and reminiscence about those early 1980s years.