Friday the 13th Part III (Hor-RIFF-ic Productions)

Film Year:  1982
Genre:  Horror
Director:  Steve Miner
Starring:  Shelly and his beloved hockey mask, 3D objects COMIN' RIGHT FOR US!

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

This third Friday actually takes place on a Saturday.  You see, it's the day after the last movie and Jason's still alive.  There are a group of horny teenagers staying at a farmhouse not far from Crystal Lake and this understandably pisses him off.  After using some bikers as a slaughter appetizer, Jason murders the group one by one once again, one of which gives him his trademark hockey mask.

I think if you were to ask me, outside of Freddy vs. Jason, what Friday the 13th film was my "favorite" (favorite being a relative term), I'd probably point to this one first (or the reboot film, which is arguably the least poorly made one at the very least).  Oddly enough in Friday fandom this one doesn't seem to be held in very high regard.  I can't attest to what they would prefer this movie to be because I think I've proven myself to be very, very outside of that fandom, so I can only speak for what I respond to in this movie.

But while Friday the 13th Part III is a step down in style (as much as I dog those first two films, the down and dirty look of them works for them) I'd argue that the less serious tone of "Oh what the hell, these movies don't have a story, LETZ GET NUTZ!" makes Friday III more of a fun film for me.  It has no pretensions to it.  I doesn't smugly present a half-assed twist like the first film.  While it's a hollow retread like the second, there's more effort into being made a ride.  Characters are goofier, and there is even a small attempt at developing them.  Obviously this can't happen in a Friday the 13th movie so the offenders are promptly killed.

The film was originally filmed in 3D and while I haven't seen a 3D version, I imagine it didn't play much better.  Like most 80's 3D films the pop effects look horridly fake and the picture is ugly and smeared.  At least in the meaningless 3D resurgence of the 2010's films had better picture quality.  These 80's attempts are just hard to watch.

The Riff

Hor-RIFF-ic Productions is game for redemption after the last Friday failed to make much of an impression.  Part III is a bit of a bounce back for Greg, Erin, and Satan, which has a smoother joke run in it.  The first fifteen minutes of it is probably the highlight, with some better riffing for the previous film offered and a solid intro scene where Jason stalks a bickering married couple.

Once the main cast is introduced, there's a mild decline in humor, but it stays pretty funny for the most part.  There are a few misfires, prominently I don't think the Droopy Dog voice they adopt works very well paired with the Shelly character.  They also ride on poo jokes a bit, though to be fair the film gives them multiple dirty bathroom scenes and leaves itself wide open for them.

Overall I laughed quite a bit and smiled my way through this one.  The characters give them a little more personality to work with (...some of them anyway...) which leads to solid gags involving pregnancy cravings, annoying Shelly antics, and the wackiest motorcycle gang in the history of film.  Friday III is a pretty good offering for this riffing group.

Good