13 Things You Didn't Know About Friday The 13th Part III
6. The Dial M For Murder Connection
When the decision was made to take the 3D route with Friday the 13th Part III, this was at the time that writer Petru Popescu was brought into the fold to do some uncredited script rewrites.
As Popescu himself admits, he was unfamiliar with the 3D horror pictures of the 1950s, and thus director Steve Miner took Petru to a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. A major fan of that movie - and Hitchcock in general, of course - Miner thought that tense crime thriller would be the perfect introduction to the 3D concept for Popescu.
The obvious side note here, is Dial M for Murder only had a couple of screenings in 3D upon its 1954 release, with audiences only taking interest in the film when it started showing in standard 2D.
Before deciding on doing a 3D horror movie with Friday the 13th Part III, the minds at Paramount had actually contemplated taking that approach with the Star Trek film franchise. Ultimately, it was decided that 3D would be more "fun" in a horror setting.