Hoop-tober 2015 bonus film 13

Although certainly not winning any awards for either the acting or the script, nor for some of the creakier special effects, Friday the 13th Part 3 shows a knowledge of its audience by aiming to deliver what fans of this genre want and expect, whilst paying homage to scenes in the first two entries of the series and knowingly nodding to the viewer with a shot of a Tom Savini article in Fangoria.

By 1982 the slasher formula was becoming etched in stone, only to be beaten to death over the ensuing years. After beginning with the end of the previous film - the exact point at which logic and expectations of plot/character consistency need to be abandoned - we are introduced to a group of teenagers who we then spend time with, whilst they and us experience fake-jump scares. How much I enjoy these types of films can depend on how much the teenagers annoy me; thankfully, very little here. After this (actually - before!), deaths start happening, not particularly graphically to begin with before becoming more explicit, creative and gore-laden as the picture continues. We are eventually left with a final girl vs monster ending, leading to (hopefully) a big finish and possible final jump-scare. Throughout all this, there will be occasional female nudity, although in the case of this film it is very sparing.

The film faithfully adheres to this formula, and is successfully gripping throughout. The big moments are, obviously, the death scenes and these are sufficiently gruesome. What lets the film down for me is the ending, which has a good final jump-scare but then.. nothing much. After a thoroughly entertaining ninety minutes, the film just passes to the credits. No Jason rising, no hand from the grave. Still, that cannot take away what came before; whilst not breaking any new ground, Friday the 13th Part 3 is a thoroughly entertaining example of the slasher genre.

(Watched in standard 2D, so I cannot comment on the effectiveness of the 3D gimmick)