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Friday the 13th, Part 3 3-D (Deluxe Edition) - horror DVD review
FRIDAY THE 13TH, PART 3 3-D
(DELUXE EDITION)
Rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America curledupdvd.com rating: 2 stars
Actors: Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, Nick Savage, Rachel Howard, Tracie Savage, David Katims
Director: Steve Miner   Distributor: Paramount
DVD release: 03 February 2009   Runtime: 95 minutes (1 disc)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, 3D, Widescreen, NTSC
DVD features: Audio tracks (5.1 Dolby Surround - English; Mono - English, French, Spanish), Subtitles (English, French, Portugese, Spanish), 2 pairs of 3-D glasses, 3-D and 2-D versions of feature, Original Theatrical Trailer

In writing this review for Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D, I should probably waste as little time as possible on the plot - if it sounds unfamiliar to you, then you've probably never seen a slasher movie before in your life. For those uninitiated with the series, here goes:
  1. A group of horny teenagers move into an abandoned summer camp.
  2. They get killed one by one by a lunatic, until
  3. one virginal heroine is left, who somehow
  4. turns into a cross between MacGyver and the bionic woman and seemingly kills off the lunatic until
  5. there is one last scare that implies that the killer is still out there. The end - or is it? Wha-ha-ha-ha!
In other words, Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D is just about as generic as a slasher film can get. Therefore, time is better spent focusing on the major pluses and minuses of the film.

Major plus: the 3D is outstanding! Each DVD comes with two pairs of 3D glasses and offers the movie both in regular format and 3D format. I took a chance watching the 3D version of the film, and I could not believe how well it worked. Objects such as a TV antenna, a wooden pole, a yoyo, a canoe and (heh-heh) an eyeball literally burst off of the screen and definitely kept me watching.

Major minus: it's good the 3D worked so well, because the movie itself is atrocious, even worse than Part 2 and nowhere near as effective as the original. Not only is the plot generic and mostly scare-free, but the attempted jump-scare at the end simply falls flat. It's too much of an attempt to recreate the jump-scare from the first one, as well as senseless and ridiculous (even for a Friday the 13th movie).

The main negative, though, is that the acting is beyond bad. The lead heroine's big scene, where she emotes and acts traumatized over an event in her past, nearly had me laughing out loud. Furthermore, the male lead has all the charm and acting chops of a bag of hammers. I should also point out the older camper doing a really, really bad Tommy Chong impression.

However, there is one memorable character among the victims, that being Shelley (Larry Zerner). He is best described as a wet sack of flour with a Brillo pad taped to the top. He also happens to run like an eight-year-old girl. His signature line is "I just want people to like me." Seriously, he is so pathetic that he could go on record as being Jason's one mercy kill.

But Shelley has a permanent place in the hearts of Jason fans everywhere for this reason: it is from him that Jason gets the infamous hockey mask. Shelley is wearing it during one of his failed pranks and eventually "loses" it to Jason after they finally meet.

In short, if you are going to buy this DVD, watch the 3D version only, for the 3D effects are outstanding. Unfortunately, unless you are a Friday the 13th freak, the 3D is the only reason to watch this movie, as the movie itself is pretty lame.

Extras:
The only extra on this DVD is the trailer. Perhaps having both the regular and 3D version on the same disc used up all the memory.
 
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reviewed by Trent Daniel
   
         
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