6. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Jason goes 3D and picks up his signature hockey mask in Steve Miner’s 1982 installment in the series, though the 3D is used as a gimmick first and foremost (whoaaaa, a snake strikes at the camera! Whaaaat, watch out for that flying yo-yo!) and the hockey mask feels a bit like an afterthought, considering its future pop-culture importance.
There’s no summer camp in this one—just a lake house and a group of kids, including a girl (Dana Kimmell) still traumatized from a Jason attack some years prior, and a punky trio of motorcyclists who accidentally stumble into the maniac’s line of fire. While the Friday formula had already been pretty firmly established by the time of this third film—which takes place immediately following the second film—there’s enough quirk here to break up Jason’s string of kills, like Larry Zerner’s endearing performance as practical joker Shelly, the disco theme music, a victim paging through a blood-splattered copy of Fangoria shortly before her demise, and some of the goofier special effects, including the genius use of 3D to propel a popped-out eyeball toward the audience.
