Ahhhh, the 80s. The last time before now when 3-D came into vogue and the third installment of every franchise was made in good ole headache-inducing anaglyphic 3-D. In 1982, it was Jason Voorhees’ turn. This adds an extra layer of comedy to watching it in standard presentation, as characters go to great lengths to poke things at the camera lens.
Apparently, although Jason was dead at the end of Part II, he got better, since he is back, as we see in an early scene where he attacks the mom-and-pop owners of a small store. Meanwhile back at Crystal Lake, a group of friends have gathered for a weekend because one of the group, Chris, was attacked by a mysterious man in the woods two years earlier. They bring her back either to confront her fears or maybe just to fuck with her. Included in the group is a total loser named Shelley, who likes playing jokes and generally annoys the hell out of everybody. It’s a mystery why they would let him tag along, but as we will see, he has a greater purpose than the rest.
First, Shelley and Vera go into town, where they have an altercation with the smallest and most gender and ethnically diverse biker gang in history (black guy, black girl, white guy). The gang follows them back to the camp to wreak some fairly lame mayhem, and to up the body count. But they don’t get the chance to get even with Shelley, who assumes his important place in the Friday the 13th pantheon when he is killed in the woods by Jason, who takes his…hockey mask. That’s right, this is the part where the iconic image of the hockey-mask wearing killer first appears.
Blood and body parts fly, and the bikers and campers are eliminated one by one, until the filmmakers steal the ending of the first movie and Jason goes to his final rest. Or…..does he?
We not only get the hockey mask for the first time in this episode, but Jason is beginning to evolve towards the supernatural. He has more strength than a normal human (as seen in the scene where he crushes a guys head until his eyeball pops out (for a 3-D effect). He also has the power of being instantly adept with all forms of weapons, including knife throwing and firing a speargun. Although it’s doubtful that Jason has had much opportunity to do any deep-sea diving, he is able to fire a speargun across the lake right through a girl’s eye. This movie is really hard on the eyes. {rim-shot}
Nothing in Part III will particularly surprise use, but if you like slasher films, it’s certainly good enough. Supposedly, it’s about to be re-issued in 3-D, which I will have to check out.
3 comments:
Anaglyph? Really? I'd forgive myself misremembering the specific experience of this movie, but I saw several later 3-D movies as well and all were polarized. I don't recall having to see anaglyph 3-D in a theater until Freddy's Dead, and that was a terrible enough experience that I've - despite having an enduring love of 3-D - skipped all of the 3-D movies released until the recent advance of digital 3-D made the return of polarized 3-D practical in wide release again.
I did see a '70s porno in anaglyph 3-D since then and it was likewise not very workable, although the faded color print made the effect kind of weak.
The possibility I was wrong about it being in anaglyph is +/- 99%. My memory is bad enough, it's a wonder I can find my way home every day.
I find myself oddly fascinated by the idea of watching a porn movie in 3-D.
I know mine is about the same these days, so I understand.
I, too, was fascinated by the idea of 3-D porn... Frankly, the experience of supposedly seeing one did little to alleviate it. Mostly, I just want to see one in decent condition with decent 3-D... and maybe not wait as long between my last beer and the start of the movie.
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