Friday the 13th Part 3
a novel by Michael Avallone
Ah the world of movie novelizations. Back in the 80s these were super common, it seemed every movie got one, even slashers! Some of these can pull in big bucks these days, especially Halloween (1978) and the original Friday the 13th. I happened to get my hands on a affordable copy of Friday the 13th Part 3.
With novelizations, they come out around the same time as the film. The books are based on the original script, so they often have many differences from the rewritten script that plays out on screen. This novel is no exception. Most of the characters have the same name, aside from Rick (film) being named Derek (book). Why this was changed, I’ll never understand. Most of the differences lie with scenes and description of the characters.
Shelly of course is present in this, who doesn’t love the chubby practical joker that acts out to be noticed by the girls? In the book he’s described to have gross greasy hair and they speak heavily on the fact that he’s overweight. While in the movie he has a “jew fro” (to quote Seth Rogen, whom strikes a slight resemblence to Shelly) and I’d say he’s more chubby than fat. Chris, played by the beautiful Dana Kimmell in the film is a striking brunette, but in the book she’s described as a blonde, which is somewhat of a rarity in the slasher genre. One thing I find kind of odd with this is how many times the author uses Vera’s full name of Vera Sanchez. I suppose he really wanted to strike home the fact that she’s of Mexican descent. Also he goes into great detail about how attractive Vera is. While I totally agree, I think Vera is the most stunningly beautiful woman in the entire series, it gets a bit excessive at times. The character of Vera in the film was much more than a angelic face, she had depth, she had a cool personality and found some pity in Shelly.
Now one big thing, in the book that really had me surprised. Jason laughs! It says numerous times that Jason laughs after killing. No time in the entire 12 movie series does Jason Voorhees make much of a sound aside from grunting and groaning, let alone laugh. I was genuinely shocked at that. The kills are much of the same from the film though, aside from the old slob at the store, his death is given more detail and time. Also Loco from the biker gang is also black like Fox and Ali, interesting.
The writing in this is pretty solid. This isn’t the first movie novelization I’ve read, I have read License to Drive, Karate Kid, and Halloween III previously. The novelization of Halloween III is beautifully written and highly suggested. It is also the cheapest of the slashers in paperback so grab that one! Sometimes this book has some rather obscure and “big” words that reach much beyond the scope of what you would imagine a Friday the 13th novel to have. An example of an interesting line in the book:
“A wide gravel parking area fronted the place, leading out to the state highway which ran past its bucolic facade.”
I like to pride myself on having an expansive vocabulary and most books I read I can understand all the verbiage used. Bucolic? Had to look that one up! Bucolic: relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life. Interesting, I suppose. I never thought in a million years that I’d learn a new word from a slasher movie novelization. The author while having a great way with words, did a passable job building suspense. Halloween III did a tremendous job of capturing that! Jason seems to meander around a lot in this, theres less stalking than you’d expect from Mr Voorhees.
The alternate ending with a surprise Jason, decapitating Chris.
In the interest of keeping this relatively short, the ending has the original ending that was changed before release. The latest bluray set by Scream Factory had the storyboards of it. Chris fights Jason off and ends up chopping his head off with a schythe. The then goes back to the cabin and falls asleep. She wakes up with a doctor and cop helping her. They don’t seem to believe her so she sneaks outside and looks in the barn where she finds severed limbs. Once she finds them she runs inside to tell the cop, and Jason opens the door and chops her head off with a machete. This of course is a dream and everything is ok.
This was an enjoyable read for sure but not the best novelization I have read. Copies of this can run around $50 to $70, hopefully if you’re interested you can get one cheaper like I did. It is worth a read if you love the franchise and are interested in a different take on part 3. I give the book an B+.
