Friday the 13th is here! What a gloomy rainy day it is too….just as it was set during the original movie. To properly acknowledge the arrival of the film’s namesake date, I am posting a review of possibly the most influential entry (and also the last to not feature a catchy tagline such as Final Chapter, Jason Lives, etc) of the whole series….Part 3.
Part 3 basically made Jason the way we all know him today for one single obvious reason; the hockey mask. In a previous post I mentioned that the series would not have lasted anywhere near as long as it had if he continued to wear the wheat sack over his head. It was menacing for one movie, but that image would not have sustained the endless onslaught of sequels that were churned out. As with other movies of its kind, the mask wasn’t intended or written in the script. I believe some kind of mask was needed, and some crew member just happened to be a hockey player with his gear on hand at the set. Its remarkable actually to think that if you were just to show a picture of a hockey mask to a non-hockey fan…..the first thing they would probably think of is Jason. Even hockey enthusiasts might actually think of Jason first.
Back in 1982 when this was released, I didn’t even know that movies like this existed. At 8 years old, my parents were taking me to movies like E.T. or whatever Disney release was out that year. That was really all I knew. Speaking of E.T., this was the first film to bump that lovable alien out of the number one spot during its run.
The other obvious distinction of Part 3 (as with so many “part 3” movies in the early 80’s), of course is the 3D feature. I cant recall whether that made the admission ticket more expensive back then as it does with today’s 3D movies. The quality was no where near what 3D is today and I guess for that reason, movie goers grew weary of the gimmick quickly. Beyond the early 80s, I cant think of any examples which featured 3D, whereas more recently it seems there has been a much longer run since ’09 or ’10 Im guessing. Somewhere I have this movie on dvd or blu ray complete with 2 pairs of cheap cardboard glasses.
As with the other Friday posts, I referenced the characters. They are even more flamboyant than ever, and possibly more than any other F13. They range from nerdy, druggie, badass and sexy of course. It was kind of all over the place with characters…..even introducing a 3-man biker gang to be killed off.
Lastly, besides the film introducing Jason’s iconic hockey mask, it also features possibly the most iconic scene in the whole series: Jason falling out of a barn with a rope around his neck. We see flashbacks to this in later entries.
Happy Friday the 13th everyone!
Leave a Reply