Hey, I was wondering if any of you lovely people had heard of a ground-breaking new technology known as “three dimensional” or more commonly called “3-D?” It came about some thirty or so years ago and has since made a comeback but newer advancements have made it much cooler.
I checked out the remake of My Bloody Valentine in 3-D about a month ago. The film itself was overly cheesy but incredibly awesome in this format. The new glasses are almost like sunglasses. There are no red and blue lenses to give everything a freakish tint and screw with your vision. Things honestly seem like they are coming right at your face and ready to take your head off. You will not get any of that coolness in this DVD release of Friday the 13th Part 3: 3-D.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is almost unnecessary to tell you the plot here as we once again get a group of camp counselors who want to take their chances by heading to Camp Crystal Lake and trying to make something of it. Their main intentions though are goofing off and having sex which is just the prescription needed to their untimely deaths at the place they wished to resurrect. Your hero and mine, Mr. Jason Voorhees, is back though to make sure that no one’s plans go through as scheduled and neither do their lives.
Part 3 in this series will surely be the stopping point for those that aren’t crazed horror fans like me because the repetitive nature is surely going to turn them off. Kids heading to the camp and end up killed is only something some people can take so much of. Well, those that leave the franchise now are going to miss out on some true storyline turns because new lasting characters are introduced soon and Jason even steers away from Camp Crystal Lake and heads out into other venues for his murder sprees. I’m not saying Jason in Manhattan or other such places makes the films any better but at least it is a little variety.
Perhaps the greatest thing that this film is known for is introducing us to the hockey mask that Jason would wear as a staple for his personality and appearance. Maybe we can give this film credit for at least that and say that one of Jason’s victims amounted to something before being bumped off because he did steal the mask from one of their bags. Other then seeing him in the hockey mask for the first time; Jason does his same old stuff and kills all those that stand in his way or even far out of his way. It’s a fun time to be had by all if you’re not thinking too much, but I can honestly see this as a stopping point for the non Crystal Lake freaks.
Our three dimensional hero/villain is shown in a 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and the 2-D version has been improved upon a tad bit from previous releases with some touch-ups throughout so that is always good. Moving onto the 3D version and we have some problems. From a fanboy aspect and a kid that grew up in the eighties; it’s pretty damn cool. The old red and blue glasses that give the film a nostalgic feel really make for a throwback experience. But if we’re going from a technical standpoint then be prepared to be disappointed. The newer 3D technologies squash the older methods and make the red and blue glasses obsolete since the film was cool back then but always a tad too purple for my tastes. It’s fun and all, but gets to be a little annoying at times.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and like the other new releases for the first two films, not much is done with anything but really the central speaker. Still, all is heard nicely.
Theatrical Trailer
Maybe we are supposed to be lead to believe that the 3-D glasses are the “special feature” because otherwise we sure get robbed here. Nothing else is thrown in except for the theatrical trailer and that just blows on so many levels. How can that be all we get here? Ok, so the films do tend to get worse as the franchise goes along but all of them are still mindless fun waiting to be had. Getting this old school horror flick in 3-D is a bonus and awesome to check out but may not be entirely worth the extra dough you’ll shell out especially if you own one of the previous releases. And for those that don’t have a copy of Part 3 yet; well, you’re going to have to purchase two probably because the previous release had some good extras like an audio commentary but this one comes in 3-D! Torn between two lovers? Let Jason rip them apart for you.
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Paramount presents Friday The 13th Part 3: 3-D. Directed by: Steve Miner. Starring: Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, Richard Brooker. Written by: Martin Kitrosser & Carol Watson. Running time: 95 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: February 3, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
