13 Things You Didn't Know About Friday 13th Part III

13. The 3D Was Considered More Important Than Script Or Acting

The law of diminishing returns is at its cruellest when it comes to entries in a slasher franchise. There’s only so many ways that the same killer can murder the same array of stock teenagers from central casting, after all.

Paramount thought they’d cracked audience burn out with Friday The 13th Part 3, however. The solution was in the title: take advantage of the very recent resurgence in 3D in the cinema.

But 3D wasn’t just about sending a bag full of cardboard sunglasses to theatres. It required intricate staging and lighting, and even more intricate blocking and choreography, all structured by insanely meticulous planning. With this in mind, everything else about Part 3 - script, casting, music, the works - all played second fiddle to one thing: making sure the 3D worked properly.

David Katims, who played Chuck (electrocuted by being shoved into a fusebox) was pretty blunt about the production’s priorities:

"The writing and the acting didn't matter at all. I don't imagine any of us really feel like this was the crowning glory of our talent. I hope not..."

Screenwriter Petru Popescu, who was brought in to provide an uncredited script polish to add some menace, was even less inclined to mince words:

"I went to some of the casting sessions and I saw that there were boys and girls who gave good readings and those who gave bad readings, but it didn't matter…”