Friday the 13th Part III[a] is a 1982 American slasher film directed by Steve Miner, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., and starring Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, and Richard Brooker.

Set directly after the events of the previous films, the plot follows a teenage girl (Kimmell) and her friends who go on a trip to a house near Crystal Lake where an injured Jason Voorhees (Brooker) has taken refuge until re-emerging for another killing spree.

The film marks the first appearance of Jason's signature hockey mask, which has since become a trademark of both the character and the franchise, as well as an icon in American cinema and the horror genre in general.

The original storyline was supposed to focus on a post-traumatic Ginny Field who began learning self-defense and returned to college after surviving her ordeal in the previous film.

After the events of the second film, a badly injured and unmasked Jason Voorhees goes to a lakefront store for a change of clothes.

The gang includes pregnant Debbie, her boyfriend Andy, prankster Shelly, his blind date Vera (who does not reciprocate his feelings), and stoners Chuck and Chili.

After running into a man named Abel, who warns them to turn back, the gang meets Chris' boyfriend, Rick, at their destination.

Chili finds a dying Shelly with a slashed throat believing it is a joke at first, and Jason impales her with a hot fire poker.

Rick steps outside to search the grounds, but Jason grabs him and crushes his skull with his bare hands, making one of his eyes pop out of its socket.

However, she runs out of time and the wheel falls through the bridge, prompting Chris to enter the barn to hide, only for Jason to attack again.

He regains consciousness and temporarily removes his mask to free himself from the noose, which causes Chris to recognize him as the same man who attacked her two years prior.

Chris has a nightmare of an unmasked Jason running towards her from the house before disappearing, which then cuts to the decomposing body of Pamela Voorhees, with her head attached, emerging from the lake to pull her in.

Initially, one of the earlier drafts for Part III was Ginny (Amy Steel) from the previous film being sent to a psychiatric hospital and confined there.

[9] Husband-and-wife screenwriting duo Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson instead were hired to write the screenplay for Part III, completing the first draft.

[9] Dana Kimmel was cast in the lead role of Chris Higgins after Miner had become aware of her involvement in Sweet Sixteen, another slasher film she had appeared in with Bo Hopkins and Susan Strasberg.

[1] According to a September 1982 issue of Forbes magazine, Sirius II Corp. owner Gale Weaver visited the set of Friday the 13th Part III, reportedly over producer Frank Mancuso, Jr.'s worries that faulty projection lenses at cinemas would prevent the film from having a wide theatrical release.

[9] Additional photography for the film's grocery store scenes took place at a small market in Green Valley, California.

Using a technique called VacuForm, makeup effects director Doug White enlarged the mask and created a new mold to work with.

After White finished the molds, art director Terry Ballard placed new red triangles on the mask to give it a unique appearance.

[21] A disco theme was also included in the film, co-written by Manfredini and Michael Zager, who shared a credit with a fictional band called Hot Ice.

[9] The theme was included on releases of the film's soundtrack, and according to Manfredini, became popular at disco and gay clubs at the time.

[20] On January 13, 2012, La-La Land Records released a limited edition 6-CD boxset containing Manfredini's scores from the first six films.

[31] The 3-D version of the film was eventually released on DVD by Paramount in February 2009, and included two pairs of cyan and red 3-D glasses.

[3] It placed number 21 on the list of the top-grossing films of 1982, facing strong competition from other high-profile horror releases such as Poltergeist, Creepshow, The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Slumber Party Massacre, X-ray, Visiting Hours, Amityville II: The Possession, The Beast Within, Cat People and Venom.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Jason may solidify his iconic wardrobe in this entry, but Friday the 13th Part 3 lacks any other distinguishing features, relying on a tired formula of stab and repeat.

Eventually, the novelty wears off, and what remains is the now-familiar spectacle of nice, dumb kids being lopped, chopped and perforated.

The way the eyeball of one of Jason's victims pops out of his skull and seems to sail over the audience's head is alone worth buying a ticket and putting on funny glasses.

"[43] Gene Siskel praised the film's "impressive" 3-D effects, particularly in the opening credits, also noting its slowburn approach, as the "heavy-duty slaughter doesn't come until one hour into the film," but criticized it for "lingering over the impending deaths of the young women, who are stalked by the camera so we find ourselves in the revolting position of stalking them too.

"[45] Similarly, TV Guide awarded the film one out of five stars, writing that it "exploits precisely the same formula plot as its predecessors, though the gore is a bit deemphasized, with the special-effects crew concentrating on the nicely done 3-D depth work for a change.

"[49] Friday the 13th Part III has been most noted for its introduction of villain Jason's hockey mask disguise, which was replicated in the following numerous sequels and became an iconic image in American cinema and the horror genre.