Revisiting Friday the 13th part 3 for the first time in many years, I can say that it is a heck of a wild ride. There's little of the suspenseful buildup of the first two movies. Instead, F13p3 gets the train rolling just as soon as you're seated and have your popcorn situated.

This entry really codifies the series' formula: introduce a van load of teens (or thereabouts) of varying levels of annoyingness, get them to camp, get them stoned or screwing, and get them dead. And, of course, do it with Jason in his glorious hockey mask, which makes its debut here. As soon as he has it on, it feels like the movie hits a stride that elevates not only this one, but the rest of the series and even the slasher genre as a whole.

The gore level is really amped up this time around, with hand-walking Andy's body as a pile of gristly pulp, Ali losing a hand, eyes being squeezed out, and so on. It's wonderful.

The only downside is the goofy 3D shots, some of which are fun in 2D anyway, and some of which are very dumb. I tried watching the red/blue 3D version on the blu ray and my eyes couldn't take it for more than about five minutes. Maybe someday we'll get a modern style post-conversion 3D version for use with modern 3D tv technology. In the meantime, just watch this one in 2D and ignore the fishing line and aluminum poles that are so very visibly supporting the special effects in the high definition version.