I'm gonna find ya
I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha
- Blondie
I had a string of luck with Friday the 13th Part 1 and 2, both of them pretty good slashers in their own right. So, is Friday the 13th Part 3 just as good? The answer is no. It's not that's it horrible, mind you. It's that it's just not as good.
The movie starts off with 10 minutes of paddin- I mean, 10 minutes of footage from part 2, then continues with 10 more minutes of filler where an unpleasant couple who have nothing to do with the movie are offed. But after all that we finally get to the main characters which include Final Girl Chris - a pretty nondescript brunette and her friends which include yet another horny couple, a stoner couple, loveable pudgy loser Shelly and his blind date Vera. Along the way they meet up with Chris's 45-year old looking love interest Rick, a trio of up-to-no-good bikers, and of course Jason.
I didn't remember much of this movie from when I originally saw it and after watching it, I really still don't remember much. Chris and her friends are a completely boring lot and you don't really get a feel for most of the characters, save Shelly, who is pretty memorable in that you want to punch him and hug him at the same time. And then there's Jason. No offense to Richard Brooker who played him this time around, but Jason seemed a little 'lacking' in this one. The whole "mountain man" thing is gone and this Jason is kind of skinny, not nearly as hulking or threatening as he should be. In fact, he's not even that much of a presence until the end of the movie. However, I will say this, this Jason seems to have the "look" of Jason down, from his clothes to his hockey mask which he gets in Part 3 courtesy of Shelly who has a small magic box that contains several costume elements. Jason finds the mask, puts it on and an icon is born. So it ain't all bad.
Another problem with the movie is the 3D gimmick. Now granted I couldn't get my hands on a 3D copy but it doesn't really matter. While it would appear that Jason and his penchant for killing with assorted tools would work well in 3D (and I bet it did) the movie makers unwisely decided that everything should revolve around 3D. Therefore the actors move in unnatural way and things are shoved randomly towards the screen, most of which have NOTHING to do with Jason. Just how scary is popcorn? Laundry? Apples? Oranges? Bales of Hay? How about Yo-Yo's? Considerable time was spent filming these in 3D. What a waste when you could just have Jason jumping out at ya with a machete.
Then there's Chris and the tale of her first encounter with Jason. You see it appears that while in high school, she ran away from her home one night into the deep woods and Jason attacked her with a knife. She fought him off, he dragged her back and she "passed out." The next day she was in her own room.
Wait. WHAT?
Are we supposed to believe that Jason attacked a young girl, had her, but didn't kill her because ... well that's the problem. WHY wouldn't he kill her? Was it because she was too pretty? Was Jason just sleepy and tired that night? Did his grinchy heart grow 3 sizes bigger? It's the stupidest story in the entire franchise and that's saying something. Oh and to hear her tell it. Well, let's just say there's a DVD bonus extra on the second disk of the documentary His Name is Jason that consists of fans making fun of her "acting" in the tale. So there you go.
The chase scene at the end between Chris and Jason almost ALMOST makes up for the entire movie but it's not enough to save it because by then we've already forgotten most of the movie. That and the nonsensical dream ending (how did Jason's Mom get her head back and how would Chris even know her?) doesn't make this Friday the 13th a date to remember. Except the disco theme song. Dammit, I like the disco theme song.
Favorite Moments (may contain spoilers):
- Mike's famous handstand kill and that machete going right down the middle. Ouch!
- Jason putting on his mask for the first time and deciding he quite likes it.
- Rick's ultra-fake looking head squishing scene and the eyeball popping out with a very very thick wire attached. Couldn't they have tried a little harder?
- Momma Voorhees coming out of the water in the dream sequence. I have to admit, even though it didn't make sense, it was still funny.
- The lakehouse was built specifically for the movie and stayed in the same location until a fan burned it down when he tried to start a fire in the artificial fireplace.
- Larry Zerner (Shelly) was discovered working in a movie theater when he was asked to audition for the movie.
- The 2nd Assistant Director Marilyn Poucher played Jason's Mom in this movie.
- The movie takes place on Saturday the 14th, the day after the events of Part 2.
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