Friday the 13th 3D (also known as 'Friday the 13th Part 3' or Friday the 13th: The Trial of Jason Voorhees) is a 1982 slasher film and the third entry in the Friday the 13th franchise, directed by Steve Miner. Originally released in 3-D, it is the first film to feature antagonist Jason Voorhees wearing his signature hockey mask, which has become a trademark of both the character and franchise, as well an icon in American cinema and horror films in general. As a direct sequel to Friday The 13th (1980) and Friday The 13th: The Return of Jason Voorhees (1981), the film follows a group of co-eds on vacation at a house on Crystal Lake, where Jason Voorhees has taken refuge upon killing the only living witness to his previous crimes.
When first released, the film was intended to end the series as a trilogy. However unlike its sequel Friday the 13th: The Death of Jason Voorhees (1986) and the later film, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Friday the 13th 3D did not include a moniker in its title to indicate it as such.
Despite poor reviews from critics, Friday the 13th Part 3D was released to commercial financial success, bringing in over $36.6 million at the domestic box office on a budget of $2.5 million. The film was the first to remove E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) from the number-one box office spot and became the second highest-grossing horror film of 1982, behind Poltergeist. The film has also obtained a cult following within recent years, with many fans celebrating the introduction of the hockey mask, the over-the-top characters, use of 3-D, and disco soundtrack. Jason's look in this film, which varies greatly from its predecessor, became the look to which the character was modeled after in later incarnations.
Plot[]
Picking up one day after the events in the previous film, Jason, severely injured after his encounter with Ginny Field has been captured by the police. Under arrest, he is imprisoned and upon healing, four months later, awaits trial for his crimes. Despite the efforts of Sheriff Parks to get the Federal Authorities to consider Jason a more dangerous risk, Jason escapes after killing his court appointed attorney.
Jason momentarily flees the town of Fairfield, but returns back to Crystal Lake, upon discovering the location of Ginny Field, who has been under FBI protection since the trial started. Unconcerned about his case, but wishing revenge on the girl who escaped him, Jason quickly overwlems her security detail and kills Ginny. The only surviving FBI agent, Elizabeth Marcus, wounds him in the process of his escape.
Jason flees to a nearby house (Higgin's Haven) and hides in the barn to recuperate and prepare a return to the campgrounds he now considers home. At the same time, Chris Higgins returns to her family's property for the first time in two years, following a traumatic event. With her is her best friend Debbie, who is also pregnant. Her boyfriend Andy. Stoners Chuck and Chili, prankster Shelley and his love interest Vera, who does not reciprocate his feelings. Finally Jesse and her three year old daughter Alexis. When they get there, they meet Chris' boyfriend Rick, who agrees to give his and her relationship a slow revival.
Shelley and Vera inadvertently come afoul with a biker gang; Ali, Loco and Fox at the local store. After being humiliated, Shelley stands up for himself by running over their motorcycles, impressing Vera, but not changing her opinion of him as a romantic interest. Rick loses his temper after seeing the window of his Volkswagen Beetle smashed in and leaves with Chris.
Meanwhile, Jason still hiding in the barn, deals with the bikers who show up to siphon their gas with the intention of burning down the barn to get even. Jason kills Loco and Fox with pitchforks, then he bludgeons Ali into unconsciousness. As night falls, Jason dons a hockey mask he steals from Shelley (who wanders into the barn after a prank Shelly pulls on Vera) and shoots Vera's eye out with a harpoon gun. He moves into the house where he kills Andy by bisecting him as he walks on his hands, then Debbie by stabbing her through the hammock she is laying on. He turns off the power in the house, prompting Chili to send Chuck down to check on the power. Jason throws Chuck into the electric box and kills him, severing power to the house. Shelley appears to Chili with a slashed neck, but she ignores him, thinking he's pulling a prank and he dies. She discovers Shelley is dead, then discovers her friends' bodies upstairs. As she tries to escape, Jason kills her by impaling her with a red hot fireplace poker.
The last people alive in the house, Jesse and Alexis, are oddly spared because Jason sees them in a different light. Jesse is a mother and Jason won't harm either her or Alexis. He throws them the keys to her car and she flees.
Meanwhile Agent Marcus is trying to lead a search party to locate Jason, but finds interference from her superiors. Turning to Sheriff Parks, they comb the areas hes known to be in, including the old Voorhees house. Overlooking Higgin's Haven due to its close proximity to the safe house, they miss the opportunity to catch Jason quickly. Jesse and Alexis make it to town and she reveals Jason's location to the police. They immediately set off to Higgin's Haven.
Since Rick's car has died from engine failure, they have to walk back to the Haven, which they find in disarray. Rick steps out to search the grounds, but Jason grabs him just beside the cabin. As Chris calls out to him from the front door, Jason holds him back just out of sight and keeps one hand held over his mouth. With no response from Rick, Chris goes back inside, leaving his life in Jason's hands. Jason uses his bare hands to crush his skull.
Then, he throws his body through the window, terrorizing Chris. She runs as Jason tries to attack her. She discovers Debbie's body, and narrowly escapes the house and tries to escape in her van, which breaks down after having been siphoned by Ali and the others. She makes her way to the barn where she tries to hide and is attacked again by Jason, she lures Jason up to the loft and sends him through the window, hanging him, but he keeps coming, much to Chris' horror.
The repeated attacks take their toll on both individuals to the point that Jason's face is so scarred from Chris' acts that he can no longer pursue her. Having come to the conclusion that Jason is not attempting to escape, Parks and Marcus arrive in time to apprehend him, badly injuring Jason by striking him with their truck.
Later, police are escorting a clearly disturbed and hysterical Chris from Higgins Haven, and Marcus goes to visit the equally disturbed Jason who has been interned at the Unger Institute for Mental Health. After being told that his mind is so far gone by this point, its unlikely Jason will ever be released.
Cast[]
- Thomas Trenton as Jason Voorhees
- Bruce Greenwood as Sheriff William Parks
- Dana Kimmell as Chris Higgins
- Paul Kratka as Rick
- Tracie Savage as Debbie
- Jeffrey Rogers as Andy
- Catherine Parks as Vera Sanchez
- Larry Zerner as Shelly
- as Jesse
- David Katims as Chuck
- Rachel Howard as Chili
- Amy Steel as Ginny Field
- Julie Michaels as FBI Agent Elizabeth Marcus
- Nick Savage as Ali
- Gloria Charles as Fox
- Kevin O'Brien as Loco
- Perla Walter as Mrs. Sanchez
- David Wiley as Abel
- Steve Daskawisz (also known as Steve Dash) appears as Jason (during flashback from Part 2)
- Betsy Palmer appears as Mrs. Voorhees (during flashback from Part 2)
- John Furey as Paul Holt (during a flashback from Part 2)
Production[]
Jason's original hockey mask was molded from a 1950s hockey mask, and would become a staple for the character for the rest of the series.
When the time came for a part 3, Trenton had already an idea on what he wanted to do. He gave the film a definitive ending, but chose to not kill off Jason in case the film's success prompted another sequel.
Early on in the sequel's planning, the uncomfortable burlap sack was rejected as a mask and Trenton simply wrote "mask" in the script and give the production crew a chance to figure out what would work best. What no one knew at the time was that the mask chosen would become a trademark for the character, and one instantly recognizable in popular culture in the years to come.
During production, Steve Miner called for a lighting check, but none of the effects crew wanted to apply any make-up for the light check, so they decided to just throw a mask on Trenton. Martin Jay Sadoff, the film's 3-D effects supervisor, kept a bag with him full of hockey gear, as he was a hockey fan, and he pulled out a Detroit Red Wings goaltender mask for the test. Miner and Trenton loved the mask, but during test shots it was deemed too small. Using a technique called VacuForm, Doug White enlarged the mask and created a new mold to work with. After White finished the molds, Terry Ballard placed the new red triangles on the mask to give it a unique appearance. Holes would be punched into the mask, and the markings were altered, making it different from Sadoff's mask.
There were two prosthetic face masks created for Trenton to wear underneath the hockey mask. One mask was composed of approximately 11 different appliances, and took about six hours to apply to Trenton's face; this mask was used for scenes where the hockey mask was removed. In the scenes where the hockey mask is over the face, a simple head mask was created. This one piece mask would simply slip on over Trenton's head, exposing his face but not the rest of his head.
This was the first Paramount Pictures film produced in 3-D since 1954. The film was shot with the Arrivision "over and under" 3-D camera, the same that was used with Jaws 3-D. It was also the first film in the series to be presented in Dolby Stereo upon its theatrical release.
Some of the deaths in the film were edited in order to avoid an "X" rating, including: Andy's death, which showed his right leg being cut off and his stomach being torn open; Vera's death was cut of bloodshed and her subsequent reaction (this was cut for supposedly looking "too good"); Chili's impalement with the red-hot poker was cut of steaming blood hitting the floor; Debbie's original death showed blood spraying across her chest and face.
Music[]
For Part 3, Manfredini only returned to score the first and last reels of the film because he was busy with a Broadway production. Jack Tillar pieced together portions of the score from the first two films to fill the remaining time for Part 3, while Michael Zagar composed an opening and closing theme. Manfredini and Zagar met at the latter′s apartment, where Zagar rescored the original opening theme using a disco beat.
Upon the release of the third film in 1982, Gramavision Records released a LP album of selected pieces of Manfredini's scores from the first three Friday the 13th films.
On January 13, 2012, La-La Land Records released a limited edition 6-CD boxset containing Manfredini's scores from the first six films. It sold out in less than 24 hours.
Reaction[]
Box office[]
The film opened in 1,079 theaters in 3-D taking in $9,406,522 its opening weekend. Domestically, the film made a grand total of $26,690,067. It placed number 21 on the list of the top grossing films of 1982, facing strong competition from other high-profile horror releases such as Poltergeist, Creepshow, The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Visiting Hours, Amityville II: The Possession, Silent Rage, The Beast Within, Cat People and Venom.
As of 2014, it still stands as the eighth highest grossing film in the Friday the 13th series. The movie also stands as the tenth highest-grossing R-rated film of 1982, the second-highest grossing horror film of 1982, the sixth largest box office opening of 1982, and adjusted for inflation it is the ninth highest-grossing slasher film of all time.
Critical response[]
Friday the 13th Part III received generally negative reviews from critics upon its theatrical release. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 14% of 22 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 3.5 out of 10.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the a mediocre review stating that it "would be a little better than Part I or Part II even without 3-D." In continuing to compare the film to its predecessors, Maslin commented that "it's a little more adept at teasing the audience." The entertainment-trade magazine Variety provided a general consensus stating, "Friday the 13th was dreadful and took in more than $17 million. Friday the 13th Part 2 was just as bad and took in more than $10 million. Friday the 13th Part III is terrible, too." The magazine added, "There are some dandy 3-D sequences, however, of a yo-yo going up and down and popcorn popping."
For his appearance in the film, Jason Voorhees was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains as one of the Top 50 Villains.
Home media[]
Friday the 13th: 3D was first made available on home video on VHS, Betamax, Capacitance Electronic Disc, and LaserDisc and later on DVD, with the film presented only in 2D form. There was also a VHD release for Japan (Part IV and Part V would follow).
The 3-D version of the film was eventually released as a part of the film's DVD "Deluxe Edition" on February 3, 2009. The "Deluxe Edition" and eventual Blu-ray release include both the 2D and 3-D versions of the film, as well as two pairs of blue and red 3-D glasses designed to look like Jason's mask.