Review of Friday the 13th Part III (1982) by Michael M — 23 Jun 2017

I have to be honest, a lot of these Friday the 13th movies (especially the earlier ones) sort of blend together in my head. There's details like the first one being Jason's mom instead of Jason, or how this is the first movie where he has his iconic hockey mask, but in terms of details like characters, setting, and even deaths, they all sort of merge.

The Friday the 13th movies definitely have a formula, and in a post Cabin in the Woods world, it's extremely noticeable. Having said that, this is sort of part of the fun. You could probably make a bingo card out of the tropes present here, but spotting them all makes for a chuckle.

You don't go to this movies for high art, you go to them for fun trash, and in that regard it mostly delivers. There's a few tropes that do kind of annoy me, chief among them being the long time we spend with a couple of side characters early on who only exist to serve as Jason's appetizer before he gets to our main cast.

There are also a couple noticeable cuts away from the more violent moments that must have been made to avoid NC-17, and in a movie like this that's kind of annoying. Other than that though, you know what you're getting here.

It's not one of Jason's best outings, but not one his worst either. I liked the nods to the first film and how it tried to bring things full circle, but other than that this is mostly a standard Jason outing.

If you're into this sort of thing, it's fun enough.