Friday the 13th Part III

The film opens with the end of Part 2 replayed, then picks up right after it. Jason, badly hurt from Ginny's machete and unmasked, comes to a lakefront store looking for a change of clothes. The owners, Harold and Edna, are at home there. Edna watches a TV news report about the murders, showing survivor Ginny Field. Harold comes running inside to use the bathroom and is killed with a meat cleaver to the chest. When Edna hears noises and goes looking, Jason stabs her through the back of the head with one of her own knitting needles.

Chris Higgins drives a van full of friends to Higgins Haven, her old family home on Crystal Lake. She brings pregnant Debbie and her boyfriend Andy, stoners Chuck and Chili, prankster Shelly, and Vera, Shelly's blind date, who does not return his feelings. On the way, police cars pass them heading to the store murders, and a man named Abel warns them to turn back. At the house they meet Chris's boyfriend, Rick.

Shelly and Vera go to a convenience store and get into a fight with a biker gang: Ali, Fox and Loco. Shelly knocks their motorcycles over with the car. The bikers smash the car's window with a chain, and Shelly goes back and knocks a bike down again, which impresses Vera. That night the bikers show up at Higgins Haven to get even. They siphon gas from the van and plan to burn down the barn. Jason, who has been hiding in the barn, kills Fox and Loco with pitchforks and beats Ali unconscious.

Chris and Rick walk into the woods. She tells him why she left Crystal Lake: two years earlier she was attacked in these woods by a deformed man, and she came back to face that fear. She does not clearly remember what happened.

Back at the house, Shelly keeps pulling gags, including faking his own death with a trick axe. After Vera turns him down, he scares her with a hockey mask and then wanders off to the barn. Later Vera goes to the dock to get Shelly's wallet out of the water. A figure in Shelly's hockey mask walks toward her carrying Shelly's speargun. At first she thinks it is Shelly. Then she sees he is taller and dressed differently, and he fires the spear into her eye. Jason has taken the mask.

Jason moves through the house. Andy is walking on his hands when Jason slices him with a machete. Debbie finishes a shower and lies down in a hammock, then looks up and sees Andy's body wedged in the rafters. Jason, below the hammock, drives a knife up through it and through her chest. When the power goes out, Chuck goes to the basement to check the fuse box, and Jason throws him into it and electrocutes him. Shelly staggers into the house with his throat slit. Chili thinks it is another joke until he falls dead. She finds the others, runs downstairs and is killed with a hot fireplace poker.

Rick's car breaks down, and he and Chris walk back to a dark, torn-up house. Rick goes outside to look around. Jason grabs him and crushes his skull in his hands until one eye pops out. Jason throws Rick's body through a window and comes after Chris. She runs for the van, which is almost out of gas, and gets it moving until it gets stuck on a broken bridge.

Chris hides in the barn. She hits Jason over the head with a shovel and hangs him with a noose. He comes to and pulls his mask up to free himself from the rope, and Chris sees his face. He is the man who attacked her two years before. Ali wakes up and attacks Jason, who cuts off his hand and hacks him to death with a machete. The distraction gives Chris time to drive an axe into Jason's head. He staggers toward her and falls.

Chris pushes a canoe out onto the lake and falls asleep in it. She dreams that Jason, without his mask, comes running at her from the house and then vanishes, and that Pamela Voorhees' rotted corpse, head back on, rises from the water and pulls her under. In the morning police arrive and lead a traumatized Chris away. In the barn, Jason's body still lies on the floor, seemingly dead.

Story notes

• Immediately after Part 2, Jason reaches the Higgins Haven area near Crystal Lake and attacks Chris Higgins, her friends and a group of bikers during a weekend getaway.

Release facts

• Domestic: $36,690,067 (opening weekend $9,406,522; includes $2,108,548 from a May 13, 1983 re-release)

Paramount spent $3 million promoting the film and opened it on Friday, August 13, 1982, on 1,079 screens. It was the first 3-D movie ever given a wide domestic release. Of those screens, 813 could show 3-D, and the rest were drive-ins that could not. The seven-week lens conversion cost about $2 million, the same as the film's negative cost. Paramount also held meetings in New York and London in September 1982 to prepare foreign theaters and made a training video for projectionists.

The film grossed $9,406,522 its opening weekend, beating the horror opening record set by the first film. It was the first film to knock E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial out of the top spot. It finished with $36.7 million domestically, 21st for 1982, the second biggest horror film that year after Poltergeist, the tenth biggest R-rated film and the sixth biggest opening of the year. At about 11.8 million tickets it is third in franchise attendance, behind only the 1980 film and Freddy vs. Jason. A May 13, 1983 re-release added $2,108,548. It opened in Argentina on October 28, 1982, France in February 1983 and Sweden in April 1985.

Critics were mostly negative. Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a mixed review. She liked Kimmell, Savage, Rogers and Parks, called it the most professional of the recent 3-D movies and thought it beat the first two films, but said the gimmick wore off fast. Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times said it was so bad it made the first two look good. Variety called it terrible but liked the yo-yo and popcorn gags. TV Guide gave it one star out of five. Ted Mahar of The Oregonian called it a factory-made product.

Richard Schickel of Time had fun with it and said Rick's flying eyeball alone was worth the price of the glasses. Gene Siskel praised the 3-D and the slow build but objected to the way the camera lingers on the women before they die.

Rotten Tomatoes lists 14 percent positive from 29 critics as of June 2025. Metacritic gives it 30 out of 100 from 7 critics, and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B minus. Jason was nominated for AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains in 2003. The hockey mask became the image the whole franchise is known for.

A January 1983 Los Angeles Times item said the film broke even and earned about $40 million in its first run. Marks Polarized's revenue from making the 3-D glasses was big enough to spark a fight over control of the company.

Press and marketing

• Theatrical key-art / poster campaign reference: IMP Awards — Friday the 13th Part III poster archive.

Cast

Crew

Production

Early story ideas continued Ginny from Part 2. One had her locked up in a psychiatric hospital where Jason finds her and kills the staff and patients. Another had her learning self-defense and going back to college, finding Paul's corpse in her dorm and going after Jason with Ted Bowen. Amy Steel said the producers really wanted her but only had an outline, and between her agents and other work she did not come back.

Ron Kurz was offered the script and turned it down. The husband-and-wife team of Martin Kitrosser, script supervisor on the first two films, and Carol Watson wrote the first draft. Paramount brought in Petru Popescu to make it more sinister. His changes shaped the final film, but he got no credit. The script called for Jason to cover his face with a mask to replace the sack.

Popescu later said the cast was picked for looks, not talent, and did not match his idea of the characters. Miner cast Dana Kimmell after hearing about her work in the slasher Sweet Sixteen, which she made with Bo Hopkins and Susan Strasberg. Tracie Savage, a former child actor, got the Debbie role through her agent. Casting directors spotted Larry Zerner walking down a street and offered him Shelly. British stuntman Richard Brooker was cast as Jason.

Martin Jay Sadoff, who knew producer Frank Mancuso Jr., pitched shooting in 3-D. Georgetown Productions, which made the first two films, agreed with Paramount in January 1982 to shoot it in 3-D, though Georgetown got no screen credit. It was Paramount's first 3-D film since Jivaro in 1954. Paramount leased two 3-Depix cameras from Marks Polarized Corporation while executive Al Lo Presti spent about a year researching a projection lens system Paramount could own. The 3-D technology cost about $15 million to develop.

Sadoff said Miner and Mancuso cared more about the tight schedule than the 3-D, and Paramount warned it would not release the film if the effects looked stupid. Forbes reported that Gale Weaver of Sirius II Corp. visited the set after hearing Mancuso worry that bad projection lenses would block a wide release. In about two weeks, Weaver built a prototype lens that fit almost any projector, and Paramount paid Sirius II $1 million to make them.

Marks Polarized sued Paramount for $25 million, claiming the studio was monopolizing 3-D exhibition gear and giving discounts to theaters that leased Paramount's lenses. Paramount agreed to the on-screen credit Filmed utilizing the Marks 3-Depix Converter, but the court would not force it to change equipment. In 1985 Stereovision International filed its own restraint-of-trade suit, and Paramount won in 1986.

Filming ran from March to May 1982 at the Valuzet Movie Ranch in Saugus, California, making this the first film in the series shot away from the East Coast. The house, barn and lake were built for the film. The house stood until it burned down in 2006. The grocery store scenes were shot at a small market in Green Valley, California.

The new 3-D lenses made setups slow, sometimes hours per shot, with many takes to get the effects right. Larry Zerner recalled that performances mostly did not matter. After ten takes of throwing a wallet at the lens, the direction got a lot ruder. Tracie Savage said the only priority was making the 3-D work.

The hockey mask came from a lighting check. Sadoff, a hockey fan, handed Miner a Detroit Red Wings goaltender mask. Miner loved it but it was too small, so makeup effects director Doug White enlarged it using a VacuForm process and made a new mold. Art director Terry Ballard added the red triangles, punched new holes and changed the markings so it no longer matched the original.

A filmed alternate ending had Chris run into Jason outside the house and get beheaded. Behind-the-scenes photos supplied by Billy Kirkus show slates, rehearsals and effects prep for it.

Photographs supplied by Billy Kirkus document the filmed alternate ending in which Chris encounters Jason outside the cabin and is decapitated; the archive includes slates, rehearsals and practical-effect preparation.

Filming locations

• Valuzet Movie Ranch, Saugus, California: Higgins Haven: the house, barn, lake and dock, all built for the film
• Small market in Green Valley, California: Convenience store where Shelly and Vera meet the bikers
• The film was shot at Valuzet Movie Ranch in Saugus, California from March through May 1982, making it the first series entry primarily shot away from the East Coast.
• The house, barn and lake were custom-built for the production at Valuzet; the grocery-store material was filmed at a small market in Green Valley, California.

Effects and makeup

Make-Up Effects Labs, run by Douglas J. White, Allan A. Apone and Frank Carrisosa, designed the effects. Kills were staged toward the camera for 3-D, such as Vera's spear and Rick's eye flying at the audience. Janet Maslin also noted yo-yos, popcorn and snakes coming out of the screen.

Richard Brooker wore two Jason makeups. For shots with the hockey mask off, a full makeup of about 11 separate appliances took around six hours to apply. For shots with the mask on, a simple one-piece slip-on head covered his head but left his face open. Both were modeled on Savini's young Jason from the first film, not Carl Fullerton's bearded Part 2 look.

Surviving photos of Brooker's makeup sessions show his lifecast, a dental piece, and early Jason head designs that were changed before the final look.

Larry Zerner's makeup session photos show the blood tube running under his throat appliance for Shelly's death reveal.

Richard Schickel of Time singled out Rick's eyeball popping out and seeming to sail over the audience's heads.

Carol Clover counted fourteen murder sequences, and the film has been called one of the most violent in the series. Longer cuts of several kills were trimmed for the rating, including more blood from Edna's mouth, Vera's spear entering her eye on screen, Andy's leg and stomach being cut, blood spray on Debbie, and the poker entering Chili's stomach.

Richard Brooker’s unmasked Jason used a multi-piece prosthetic system of roughly eleven appliances that could take about six hours to apply; a simpler slip-on head mask was used beneath the hockey mask.

The production’s 3-D photography required extended setups and repeated takes designed around objects, weapons and bodies projecting toward the camera.

The surviving makeup photographs document Richard Brooker’s lifecasting, dental appliance and Stan Winston’s original Jason head designs before the final screen appearance was revised.

Props and costumes

The hockey mask started as a Detroit Red Wings goaltender mask from Martin Jay Sadoff, then Doug White enlarged it from a new VacuForm mold, and Terry Ballard painted on the red triangles and changed the holes. This is the mask's first appearance in the series.

Shelly's fake axe for his prank was mounted on a headband hidden by his hair. Tom Spina Designs documented the original prop and built a display case for it.

After killing Shelly, Jason takes his hockey mask and his speargun.

Chuck's striped shirt worn by David Katims has been screen-matched and sold through Propstore with a certificate of authenticity.

The Harvard Film Archive holds 26 stills, a pressbook, two text documents, two mini posters and three lobby cards for the film in the Lothar and Eva Just Film Stills Collection.

Jason’s signature hockey mask originated when 3-D supervisor Martin Sadoff supplied a Detroit Red Wings goaltender mask for a lighting test. Makeup-effects director Doug White enlarged it with VacuForm and made a new mold; art director Terry Ballard added the red triangles and altered the holes/markings.

Shelly’s prank axe was mounted to a wearable headband concealed by hair. Tom Spina Designs documented the original prop before and after mounting it in a custom display.

Production artifacts

Scripts and documents

The killers

Deaths

Harold Hockett

Played by

Steve Susskind

How

Meat cleaver to the chest

Where

Bathroom at the lakefront store

By

Jason Voorhees

Edna Hockett

Played by

Cheri Maugans

How

Stabbed through the back of the head with her knitting needle

Where

Inside the lakefront store

By

Jason Voorhees

Fox

Played by

Gloria Charles

How

Impaled with a pitchfork

Where

Barn at Higgins Haven

By

Jason Voorhees

Loco

Played by

Kevin O'Brien

How

Impaled with a pitchfork

Where

Barn loft at Higgins Haven

By

Jason Voorhees

Shelly Finkelstein

Played by

Larry Zerner

How

Throat slit; he stumbles back to the house and dies

Where

Barn area, dies in the house

By

Jason Voorhees

Vera Sanchez

Played by

Catherine Parks

How

Speargun shot through the eye

Where

Dock at Higgins Haven

By

Jason Voorhees

Andy Beltrami

Played by

Jeffrey Rogers

How

Split with a machete while walking on his hands

Where

Upstairs hallway

By

Jason Voorhees

Debbie Klein

Played by

Tracie Savage

How

Knife pushed up through the hammock into her chest

Where

Hammock inside the house

By

Jason Voorhees

Chuck Garth

Played by

David Katims

How

Thrown into the fuse box and electrocuted

Where

Basement

By

Jason Voorhees

Chili Jachson

Played by

Rachel Howard

How

Red-hot fireplace poker through the stomach

Where

Inside the house

By

Jason Voorhees

Rick Bombay

Played by

Paul Kratka

How

Skull crushed by Jason's hands, eye pops out; body thrown through a window

Where

Outside the house

By

Jason Voorhees

Ali

Played by

Nick Savage

How

Hand cut off and hacked with a machete

Where

Barn

By

Jason Voorhees

Harry Manfredini scored his third film in a row.

The opening title theme is a disco track written by Manfredini and Michael Zager, produced by Zager and Ed Newmark and credited to a made-up band called Hot Ice. Manfredini said it became popular in disco and gay clubs.

1982: Gramavision Records LP of selected cues from the first three films.

January 13, 2012: La-La Land Records limited 6-CD box set of the first six scores, sold out in under 24 hours.

2015: Waxwork Records deluxe double LP with a 3-D lenticular cover and colored vinyl, with artwork that uses the unused alternate ending.

2017: La-La Land Records 2-CD set pairing Part 2 and Part 3, using the 2012 master.

October 10, 2023: La-La Land Records The Ultimate Cut, remastered from the original tapes with unused cues and the extended opening theme titled Rock Bottom.

• Waxwork Records deluxe double-LP complete Part III soundtrack with 3-D lenticular cover, colored vinyl and artwork incorporating the lost deleted final-scene concept.

Home Media

• 1983: first Paramount Home Entertainment VHS (2-D), plus CED Videodisc, LaserDisc and Betamax editions.
• Fall 1988: Paramount VHS reissue.
• September 28, 1994: Paramount VHS reissue.
• October 17, 2000: first Paramount DVD, 2-D only.
• 2004: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan DVD box set of the first eight films. The Part III disc has a commentary moderated by Peter M. Bracke with Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, Larry Zerner and Richard Brooker.
• February 3, 2009: Paramount 3-D Deluxe Edition DVD with an improved 2.35:1 anamorphic 2-D transfer, an anaglyph 3-D version with two pairs of red and blue glasses, a new 5.1 mix plus mono, and only the trailer as an extra. The 2004 commentary was dropped.
• June 2009: Deluxe Edition Blu-ray with both 2-D and 3-D versions and two pairs of 3-D glasses shaped like Jason's mask.
• 2011: 4-disc DVD collection with the first, second and fourth films.
• 2013: Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection Blu-ray set.
• 2018: Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection Blu-ray set.
• October 13, 2020: Scream Factory Friday the 13th Collection Deluxe Edition, Disc 4: new 4K scans for both 2-D and 3-D, a Blu-ray 3-D version for 3-D TVs, restored mono, the commentary with Kimmell, Zerner, Kratka and Brooker, Fresh Cuts: 3-D Terror, Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part 3, trailers, TV and radio spots, and still galleries.

• Friday the 13th Part 3 (3-D) novelization by Michael Avallone, published in 1982 to go with the film's release.
• Friday the 13th Part III novelization by Simon Hawke, Signet, 1988.
• NECA Ultimate Part 3 Jason 7-inch scale figure.
• Sideshow Collectibles Jason Voorhees Premium Format Figure: Legend of Crystal Lake, based on Part III, with an exclusive unmasked head and speargun hand.
• Sideshow Collectibles Jason Voorhees 12-inch sixth scale figure based on the Part III hockey mask look.
• Paramount 3-D glasses shaped like Jason's mask, packed with the 2009 Blu-ray.
• NECA Ultimate Part 3 Jason 7-inch-scale figure, based on the first hockey-mask appearance.

Books and publishing

The catalog

Trailers & clips

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Effects

Props

Production Art