Chris

Chris Higgins is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th franchise. Chris first appears in Friday the 13th Part III (1982) as a young woman visiting a family homestead with friends to overcome trauma. She is portrayed by Dana Kimmell. Writing duo Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson wrote her as the new protagonist of the series after the previous film's lead, Amy Steel, declined to return as Ginny. An uncredited Petru Popescu rewrote their script and spent the most time developing Chris—giving her an in-depth background and a past connection to series villain Jason Voorhees. Producers of the film actively sought out Dana Kimmell upon seeing her in the slasher film Sweet Sixteen (1982). A casting agent contacted her and brought her in to Steve Miner, and all she had to do was scream in the audition. Kimmell performed all of her stunts in the film. The character's in-depth background and her characterization of dealing with her trauma have contributed to her being a topic in academic studies for shifting the focus of the villain in horror films to the protagonist. Additionally, Chris is the lead protagonist in the two novelizations based on the third film, Michael Avallone's 1982 and Simon Hawke's 1988 adaptations, each altering her ending. Appearances Chris appears in two of the twelve Friday the 13th films—the third and fourth films as a young woman traumatized from an encounter with Jason Voorhees. The books in the expanded universe further explore Chris' story. Films Chris made her cinematic debut in Friday the 13th Part III on August 13, 1982. In this film, Chris is a young woman recovering from trauma who takes a group of friends and acquaintances to the Higgins Haven, her family homestead. Due to her trauma, she distances herself from the group and her boyfriend, Rick (Paul Kratka). In a monologue sequence, Chris reveals that two years prior, she was assaulted in the nearby woods by a severely disfigured man after a family fight and returned to her family's homestead in an attempt to face her trauma. Soon discovering that everyone is dead, Chris finds herself in a confrontation with her attacker, Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker). After fending him off, Chris finds herself cornered in her barn. Chris drops from a beam at the top of the barn and temporarily stuns Jason. After knocking him unconscious, she hangs him and hits him in the face with a hatchet. Due to already suffering from prior trauma, the events of the film leave her hysterical.