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Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
2019 | Crime, Documentary
This Emmy award winning 3 parter plays like a long movie when watched back to back, which is exactly what I did back in November. It was the first of a full week of watching nothing but True Crime Docs, as it sparked the idea of looking out for the very best ones out there, several of which have made this list. I have rarely felt more tense or uneasy watching anything, ever. I knew the subject matter wasn’t going to be easy, and the apprehension / genuine fear it gave me going in was palpable. It helped, if that is the right word, that I knew absolutely nothing of what to expect. As the talking heads started piecing together their hunt for a guy with a penchant for animal cruelty, posting videos online that may or may not have been a hoax, I was drawn in to such a degree that at one point I believe I was literally on the edge of my seat.

I swayed from thinking the entire thing might be a mockumentary and everything in it made up, to being so horrified by the creepy voyeuristic element that I almost had to turn it off several times. I found it astonishing to think that all the details of this case were real, and the more we found out about the criminal behind it all, the more it made my skin crawl… the interesting thing being that the minute it was finished I craved more of the same and ended up making a list of what others were saying were the best ones! Even reflecting dispassionately that the interviews given by the gang of internet pet-loving vigilantes that helped crack the case are uneven and highly forced, I can’t help admiring how this was put together. In terms of tension building and shock value it has to be one of the best examples to date of how to keep the audience entirely gripped.
  
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
1982 | Horror
Disclaimer: I still like this film, in the same way I like the whole franchise for better or worse, but man, Part III is a struggle to get through at times.

The main issue is the pacing and dialogue. I always found Part 2 Jason to be pretty intimidating, almost like a feral animal, but this time around, he's sneaking about Higgin's Haven, causing all kinds of hijinks and skulking in the distance. Leave that shit to Michael Myers and give me the Jason that's an unstoppable bull in a china shop!
This approach to Jason means that there is a ludicrous number of fake out scares in the first half of the film. It becomes trying pretty quickly.
The script is absolutely piss poor, no two ways about it - although I do appreciate the more frequent attempts at humour than what came before. Some of the characters are memorable in their own way - Shelley and Fox to name a couple, but none of the characters are developed much - watching the special features, it was made clear that the use of 3D and the increased technical issues that came with it took up most of the attention whilst filming - a classic case of actors doing the best with what they were given, which wasn't much in this instance!

Although all of this ensures that the end product doesn't begin to touch the first two in terms of quality, there are still some positives of course. This was the entry that gave Jason his iconic hockey mask for starters, and the make up work done on actor Richard Brooker is impressive even today. The practical work put into the films many death scenes is easy to appreciate, and the overall look of the film is pure 80s slasher, which is never a bad thing.

It's not the best film in the series, and certainly not the worst, and if you like slashers as much as I do, then there's definitely something for you here, even if the end result feels a bit aimless.