It’s pretty much common knowledge by now that the final moments of Friday the 13th Part 3 didn’t go down as originally planned. Rather than Chris Higgins having a dream about Mrs. Voorhees’ dead corpse attacking her, she was initially going to have a nightmare sequence involving Jason, and in fact the alternate scene was filmed.
Unfortunately, it appears that the footage does not exist in any form so we’ll likely never get to see the ending that almost was. In it Jason decapitates Chris with his machete, much the same way his beloved mother was murdered in the original film.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the original ending is that Jason’s face was going to look completely different in it, stuntman Richard Brooker wearing an appliance designed by the late Stan Winston. When the original ending was cut from the film, the look of Jason was completely changed.
Though we again will likely never see footage of that ending, the website Friday the 13th: The Franchise uncovered a real treat for us fans today, digging up never-before-seen photos that unequivocally prove that the scene was indeed shot.
Coupled with previously released photos, they’ve assembled all the shots in sequence, giving us our best possible glimpse at what that original ending would’ve looked like. You can check out a few of the photos below, and be sure to head over to Friday the 13th: The Franchise to see the full gallery, which restores this lost piece of horror history!