13 Things You Didn't Know About Friday 13th Part III
2. ...Although There Were Actually Several Different Endings
Friday The 13th Part 3 was first conceived as the finale to the Voorhees story, and the original ending written for the trilogy saw Chris decapitate Jason with a farmer’s sickle, bringing the ghoulish tale full circle. However, the film’s producers demurred, probably because they were already looking ahead to a fourth film regardless (and decapitation is so final).
This led to them brainstorming a new ending, in which the roles were reversed - Jason surprises Chris and cuts off her head. This one was actually shot, but never cut together: stills of the footage are online, if you know where to look.
This coda was intended as part of a dream sequence after Chris has defeated Jason: but in the end, they went with the inexplicable canoe ride and double-fakeout iteration of that sequence, as described above.
However, yet another idea for the ending saw head biker Ali survive his earlier savage beating and surprise Jason as he was about to kill Chris. In that version, Ali actually lives - the two of them get away, but when the authorities arrive they find no trace of Jason…
Here you can see the interfering hand of a studio thinking of long term money-making rather than creative filmmaking, something that would plague the series from here on in.