Movie Review: Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

Synopsis: Two years after surviving an attack by Jason Voorhees, Chris Higgins returns to her family's cabin near Crystal Lake with her friends. She believes the man who attacked her is dead. But, Jason is alive and ready to kill again.

Who's in it? The movie stars Dana KimmellRichard Brooker, Gloria Charles, David Katims and Rachel Howard.

Review: My wife and I came across this film on one of our movie channels last night and, since it had been a while since either of us had watched any of the Friday the 13th movies, we decided to watch it after the kids went to bed. Because it had been some time since I last seen any of these films, I really couldn't remember anything about this movie or the two films that preceded it. But, as it turns out, it was actually pretty good.

I love horror movies. But, I also have two major pet peeves about most of them. I've found the majority of horror films either take too long to get started and/or focus more on gratuitous nudity and sex than the actual horror part. I'm pleased to say that was not the case with this film.

Even though it does take a little bit before Jason (Brooker) starts stalking Chris (Kimmell) and her friends, the filmmakers avoid an early lull by letting him warm up on some of the other locals. I personally think this is something more horror movies should do. And, even though there was some sex (there usually is), it wasn't the primary focus of the film and, at minimum, didn't distract from the main plot.

One other thing I found I liked about this movie is many of Jason's intended victims made an effort to fight back. As I've said in the past, horror movies are only as good as the victims and it is much easier to respect and care about a character that at least attempts to stop the bad guy than one that is killed as he/she is running or hiding.

That being said, some characters in this movie were definitely better than others. The one character, Shelley (Larry Zerner) was kind of annoying, especially when he kept faking his death (something that predictably led to people not believing he was dead when Jason finally kills him). And, while that bike gang was obviously intended to give Jason a few extra bodies, I was a little disappointed the members weren't given a little more depth.

Also, much like other 3D movies from this time, the film seems to make a little too much of an effort to give the viewer 3D effects, something that did distract from the film, in my opinion at least. A good example of this was the scene with the Yo-yo that seemed to drag on for much longer than it needed to. Even though I didn't watch this movie in 3D, it was definitely one aspect of it I didn't enjoy.

Final Opinion: There are a couple things I didn't like about this film. But, overall, I thought it was a good movie that had plenty of action and was fun to watch. I would recommend it as a result.

My Grade: B

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