3. Friday The 13th Part III

Guess what currently resurgent cinematic gimmick the filmmakers decided to employ for the series' third outing? No, not Smell-O-Vision.

Yes, 3D, back during its brief run in the '80s, was rolled out for Friday The 13th Part III in 1982.

The film, however, began with a recap of events in Part 2, requiring a title card warning viewers of the 3D version that the first few minutes were not in the format, and that it would begin with the credits.

Steve Miner returned to the director's chair for the film, which added the one defining image of the series  - Jason wore a hockey mask for the first time. Weirdly, though, this is also the only film in the series where no one says the name "Jason" besides the stock footage from the second pic.

Miner also planned the movie to mirror some scenes in Sean Cunningham's original - a couple of kills are brutally similar.

But the film - which takes place first one, then two days after the events of the second outing - is technically set on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th, which means the title is incorrect. But who's counting? For the first time, one of the movies was actually released on Friday 13th.

Unlike the earlier entries, this film required substantial set building, with the house, barn and even the lake all purpose built for the shoot. Unfortunately, the lake wasn't properly sealed, leading to water draining out into the surrounding soil during the first week.

Despite that, Miner had clearly learned some lessons from his first stab at directing - he picked a man (Richard Brooker) who could actually pull off all the Jason scenes, even if it required him to wear foam padding to bulk up his lanky six-foot-three frame.

But he stuck to one trademark - he ended up having to edit the footage slightly to avoid yet another X rating.

And while he couldn't convince Amy Steel to reprise her role as Ginny (though she's in the archive footage and is mentioned later), he did score one casting coup, with Larry Zerner hired after getting spotted handing out adverts for a different horror film and asked if he wanted to star in one.

The film proved to be a big success, earning even more than part two, with $36.7 million in tickets sold during its first run.

Despite plans for the story to end Jason's murderous run - he's presumed killed at the end - the box office bonanza all but signaled that he'd be back…

Next: Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter