Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas? Are the slasher film rules true?
Friday the 13th Part III (1982) is a sequel to Part 1 and Part 2 (pretty obvious, huh?) but is it, too, going to follow the slasher film rules?
The following may include spoilers for
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Rule #1 - There Will Be A Warning...
Edna was watching news stories about the events of Part 2, so she was warned. Her husband Harold maybe not.Chris was attacked by Jason at this location two years prior. That's a pretty clear warning.
They see Edna and Harold's body bags, but then that doesn't really warn of anything.
But to top it all off a replacement crazy old man (since Crazy Ralph died in Part 2). With an eyeball.
Debbie is topless getting into bed and in the shower. That's about it. For Friday the 13th, a film series known for it's naked nubile females, this film with its extra deaths seem to think that it's just the murders everyone wants to see.
Rule #3 - Death Will Be A Punishment For...
The first 5 attacks are pretty random, the main group fall into the young and sexually active set, but they are in no way camp counselors so Jason's MO has mostly disappeared.
B: NUDITY - Debbie is shown nude. Andy is theoretically nude in some scenes.
D: DRUGS - Chuck & Chili are stoners and Vera and Andy have some too. Shelly seems to be against it, Debbie refuses due to pregnancy and Chris because she's driving. All die but Chris.
F: CRIME - Looking past being bikies and being mean, Ali, Fox & Loco were going to burn down the barn as revenge.
F: CRIME - Looking past being bikies and being mean, Ali, Fox & Loco were going to burn down the barn as revenge.
G: BEING AN ANNOYING/BEING A COWARD/BEING A SLEEZY GUY - Shelly is an annoying prankster. Edna and Harold are pretty annoying, especially Edna.
H: BYSTANDERS - Edna and Harold would count. Maybe the bikies if they weren't criminals.
Rule #4 - Never Go...
B: UPSTAIRS - Andy and Debbie die upstairs, but aren't chased there. Chili goes upstairs looking for everyone, she doesn't get chased up there or killed upstairs, but it does allow Jason the time to get a poker to kill her with. Eventually Chris is chased upstairs and has to fall from a window to escape. She does survive, though.
C: FOR A SHOWER - Debbie has a shower and there are some fake-outs, but she isn't killed. Until immediately after.
D: OUTBUILDINGS - All three bikers are killed in the barn as is Shelly. (Chuck spends some time in it prior). Chris flees to the barn and survives.
F: ANYWHERE ALONE - Most are alone when killed, specifically, Chuck didn't want to go into the basement alone and Chris wanted to go with Rick.
D: OUTBUILDINGS - All three bikers are killed in the barn as is Shelly. (Chuck spends some time in it prior). Chris flees to the barn and survives.
F: ANYWHERE ALONE - Most are alone when killed, specifically, Chuck didn't want to go into the basement alone and Chris wanted to go with Rick.
Rule #5 - Order of Death...
 |
| First on screen - first to die. |
B: THE BLACK MAN DIES FIRST - Ali, the biker (black man) is the last killed. However he is attacked early, just seems to survive. Fox (black woman) is killed really early, but not first due Edna & Harold. Vera seems to be meant to be Hispanic and is the first of the group killed. (Mostly Fail)
C: THE STONER: Chuck & Chili certainly. Killed late (Fail)
D: THE BIMBO - Debbie, fairly late. All about the sex and wondering around the house naked. Then again, she did seem to be in a stable relationship with the father of her unborn child. (Fail).
E: NERDY/FUNNY GUY - Shelly. Well, tries to be funny. Dies Late, but the first of the main attack, just real slow at dying. (Pass-ish)
E: NERDY/FUNNY GUY - Shelly. Well, tries to be funny. Dies Late, but the first of the main attack, just real slow at dying. (Pass-ish)
F: MACHO JERK - Ali, Fox & Loco yeah, all three, even the woman, live with it. I'll put Andy here, too. (Pass)
G: STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER - Vera wasn't too strong. She did come along to hook up with a random guy, but I'm not ready to call her a bimbo.
I: THE SENSITIVE GUY - Rick. Although he starts out a little boorish, he settles down. Second last killed. (Pass) However he doesn't die bravely protecting the final girl.
G: STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER - Vera wasn't too strong. She did come along to hook up with a random guy, but I'm not ready to call her a bimbo.
I: THE SENSITIVE GUY - Rick. Although he starts out a little boorish, he settles down. Second last killed. (Pass) However he doesn't die bravely protecting the final girl.
J: ANIMALS & CHILDREN - No animals or children. However, Debbie is killed while pregnant. (NA).
K: THE FINAL GIRL - Chris. Survives. (Pass)
K: THE FINAL GIRL - Chris. Survives. (Pass)
Order of Death:
1. (10) Harold [A]
2. (11) Edna [?]
3. (12) Fox [B, F]
4. (13) Loco [F]
* Ali attacked, but not killed.
* Shelly attacked, took some time to die.
5. (14) Vera Sanchez [G]
6. (15) Andy [F]
7. (16) Debbie [D]
8. (17) Chuck [C]
9. (18) Shelly [E]
10. (19) Chili [C]
11. (19) Rick [I]
12. (20) Ali [B, F]5. (14) Vera Sanchez [G]
6. (15) Andy [F]
7. (16) Debbie [D]
8. (17) Chuck [C]
9. (18) Shelly [E]
10. (19) Chili [C]
11. (19) Rick [I]
Rule #6 - Especially When They Are Most Needed, The Following Things Cannot Be Relied On…
B: LIGHTING: Jason plays with it to lure someone into the cellar. Then death by electrocution finishes the lights completely.
C: VEHICULAR TRANSPORT - Even when there isn't chasing, Rick's already damaged car gets a flat battery. When the final chase occurs, the van seems fine (few problems with keys and starting) until the siphoning of gas by the bikers catches up on her. But, she has a reserve tank.
E: THE AUTHORITIES – They have a large presence at the beginning of the film and obviously didn't find Jason.
G: ESCAPE ROUTES - The reserve tank doesn't help when she's broken down on a bridge that the van causes to fall apart. (The police must have moved the van and fixed this later to get their vehicles in).
Rule #7 - The Final Girl
Chris.
B: GIRL - Yes.
C: MASCULINE - Usually dresses in unisex clothes - shorts and a loose shirt. And Chris is a unisex name (leading towards masculine.)
D: WELL DRAWN - She has a really confusing and annoying backstory.
E: VIRGINAL & INNOCENT - Virginity status unknown, she pushes Rick away mostly as a reaction with her encounter with Jason previously. However, before that encounter she had been out late with Rick and got in a fight with her parents over it. Rick certainly expects to rekindle a sexual relationship with her. Then there's the encounter with Jason, it seems like something happened there (and was originally written as a rape.) Certainly, in the film she doesn't get involved in the sexing. She avoids the drugs, too, due to being the driver.
F: WILL BE REBORN - It is truly so, although she is reborn into someone who seems to narrate her life.
Rule #8 - The Killer has a connection to...
B: THE FINAL GIRL - The above mentioned previous encounter.
D: OTHER VICTIMS - No known connection.
E: FEMININITY - Jason? Nah.
F: SPECIFIC LOOK - Jason finally gets his trademark hockey mask just before Vera's death.
G: WEAPON - The machete is still his go-to weapon, but once again just uses whatever comes to hand to kill, including just his hands for his final kill - squeezing someone's head until is was crush in a display of super-human strength.
G: WEAPON - The machete is still his go-to weapon, but once again just uses whatever comes to hand to kill, including just his hands for his final kill - squeezing someone's head until is was crush in a display of super-human strength.
Rule #9 - Evil Never Dies...
A: ALWAYS KILL THE BAD GUY TWICE - Chris hangs Jason. It doesn't take.
B: THE BAD GUY LIVES ON - She finally puts an axe in his head, and imagines he survived.
C: EVIL IS IMMORTAL - Jason displayed super strength and his injuries from the previous film seem to have disappeared, but he isn't immortal. Yet. Chris also imagined that Pamela Vorhees was still alive.
Rule #10 - The Sequel Will Be Bigger/More Formulaic
The third in the series. It is set the day after Part 2.
A: THEY WILL FOLLOW THE RULES MORE - On a simplistic scale, it is about the same as Part 1, and slightly worse then Part 2.
B: THEY WILL BE MORE FORMULAIC - The camp counselor thing is gone completely. Killing young people remains, but there were a bunch of really random kills. Jason does gain his hockey mask.
C: THERE WILL BE MORE T&A - About as much boobs as the first, but no guy's butt. Significantly less female nudity than Part 2.
D: MORE AND BIGGER DEATHS - A lot more deaths and they tend to be a little bigger.
A: THEY WILL FOLLOW THE RULES MORE - On a simplistic scale, it is about the same as Part 1, and slightly worse then Part 2.
B: THEY WILL BE MORE FORMULAIC - The camp counselor thing is gone completely. Killing young people remains, but there were a bunch of really random kills. Jason does gain his hockey mask.
C: THERE WILL BE MORE T&A - About as much boobs as the first, but no guy's butt. Significantly less female nudity than Part 2.
D: MORE AND BIGGER DEATHS - A lot more deaths and they tend to be a little bigger.
The film is a little lost and mixed up, with long assumed dead characters reappearing, but it does follow or partially follow all the rules.
The following rules were followed: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8.
The following rules were partially followed: 4, 5, 9, 10.
~ DUG.
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