After the success of Halloween II, producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad wanted to create yet another entry in the franchise to cash. However, screenwriters John Carpenter and Debra Hill were reluctant to commit to a third film. They had intended the franchise to a Twilight Zone style anthology, each entry simply revolving around the theme of Halloween. While Halloween II didn't follow up on this, they decided, with Michael Myer's death in the second one, to go through with this plan, and agreed to produce a third one, on the condition that Michael Myers not appear in it. (Actually, he tchnically does... in a commercial for the first film briefly seen on a television) Originally set to direct was Joe Dante (who would later come to more prominence as the director of Gremlins and Explorers), who approached British science fiction screenwriter Nigel Kneale, creator of the Quatermass series (which Carpenter had admired), to write a screenplay. Kneale turned in a comic screenplay, focusing on psychological horror than visceral one. Kneale blamed the producers for rewriting the script, though apparently, most of plot remained the same (then again, Kneale, by at least accounts I've read, seems like a jerk, so I suspect his outrage is merely him being difficult and rude, because it wasn't precisely his screenplay). Still, Kneale requested that his name be taken off, due to the violence and gore of the finished film. Given credit as the writer was the eventual director Tommy Lee Wallace (brought in after Dante left the project), a frequent Carpenter collaborator, who worked with him since Dark Star. (Carpenter himself did some uncredited rewrites). The subtle came from the 1972 George A. Romero film Season of the Witch, (one of the films he made between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, and is not a zombie movie). Wallace took some inspiration from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, including setting it in a town called Santa Mira, (the setting of the latter film.) Wallace wasn't the only regular Carpenter collaborator on hand. Jamie Lee Curtis,Nancy Kye (who played Anne Brackett in the original two Halloweens), and Dick Warlock (Michael Myers in the second one) all play minor roles. Tom Adkins (who worked with Carpenter on The Fog and Escape from New York) plays the lead. One non-Carpenter collaborator was veteran Irish actor Dan O'Herily (who was nominated for an Academy Award for The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe in 1954), who plays the central antagonist. Filmed around Loleta, California, the film was released to disappointing box office, and harsh critical reviews. Ultimately, the anthology idea didn't pan out, and the producers returned Michael Myers in 1988's Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (and before you ask, I will not cover this or any of the direct sequels. I might do the Rob Zombie remake and its sequel at some point, though).Even to this day, it is the black sheep of the franchise, primarily due to the lack of Michael Myers. But does it deserve its reputation? Let's take a look.
Once again set around Halloween, the film opens on the 23rd of October (presumably 1982, when the film came out), with Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) fleeing from a mysterious assailant (Dick Warlock) wearing a business suit. He manages to survive an encounter with the assailant and flees to a gas station attended by Walter Jones (Essex Smith), who takes him to the hospital.Meanwhile, Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Adkins) is visiting his ex-wife, Linda (Nancy Kye) and his children. His children are wearing the Halloween masks produced by the Silver Shamrock Corporation, and are watching a commercial for the mask with an inane (but admittedly somewhat catchy) jingle, encouraging them to watch a commercial set on Halloween Day. He is forced to cut short the visit to attend to Grimbridge. Grimbridge omniously warns that "They're going to kill us all", while holding one of those same masks. While Challis was on break, the same suited assassin comes in, and kills Grimbridge, before setting himself on fire. Challis notes the strangeness of the incident, especially since nobody could have entered the complex. Grimbridge's daughter Ellie (Stacy Nelkin) comes to identify the body, and after noting how she had been looking at the various places that he had been, decided to investigate his death. Challis joins her. Together, they learn he had gone to the town of Santa Mira, headquaters of the Silver Shamrock Corporation, to get some new stock of their masks for his shop. Given he was clutching one of those masks, they decide to head to Santa Mira. There, they meet other shop owners Marge Guttman ( Garn Stephens), and the Kupfler family (Ralph Strait, Jadeen Barbor, and Bradley Schacter, as well as the strange motel manager (Michael Currie), who praises the head of the Silver Shamrock Corporation, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herily) for his work in the town. While investigating during night, Challis briefly meets a homeless man (Jonathan Terry), who warns him of the company. The homeless man was promptly killed by the same men in business suits. Meanwhile, Marge briefly examines one of the seals of the masks, and is electrocuted. From her fried corpse, some insects come out. Cochran actually comes out to greet the guests, while Marge's body is being exhumed. The next day, they take a tour of the factory, and Ellie finds her father's car in one of the facilities. While Challis attempts to call his coroner friend Teddy (Wendy Wassberg), Ellie is kidnapped by the men in suits. Challis goes into the factory, and uncovers a sinister plot by Cochran to return Halloween to its roots.
First off, the plot is pretty good. Despite a couple of plot holes, (I'll give an example in the flaws paragraph), it builds on itself, the mystery is compelling, and the pay-off is pretty interesting. It is very creepy. Not necessarily scary, but creepy in the way the first two Halloweens were, and what the masks actually do to the wearer is pretty distrubing, especially in one gruesome scene in the climax. The pacing problems of the second film are fixed, and it flows seamless. The acting is very good across the board, with Dan O'Herily as a standout, bringing in a charismatic, but creepy performance as the main antagonist. I also notice several interesting themes in this film, about the commercialization of Halloween, consumerism in general, and capitalism. A lot of these themes Carpenter would explore in greater detail in They Live. They Live is a better film than this, but nevertheless, the plot of the villain is interesting to think about in a socio-political context. Finally, it's always good to hear a score by Carpenter himself.
Like I said, despite the main plot being generally good, it does have plot holes. We never actually get to know how Grimbridge found out about the plot. I suppose you infer that he stumbled upon it while in Santa Mira, but it's not specifically mentioned. A much bigger one is the villain motivation. I won't spoil the peculiars of the villains plot, but I'll say that it centers around its origins as Samhain, a Gaelic fall festival. While O'Herily is Irish, we never know why exactly he wants to honor Samhain. Perhaps he just has a fascination with the occult. Another half spoiler, but the plot also involves small children. I admit, I get a bit antsy when small children are involved in harm in movies, and this film was uncomfortable for me towards the end. Still, it wasn't exploitative of that aspect. It easily could've applied to adults, and would've been as impactful. While it was creepy, a lot of scenes meant to be outright scary didn't really work for me. It is more interesting than it is actually scary.
I agree with Tommy Lee Wallace on this. Had this just been called Season of the Witch, it would've been received decently, because, aside from its lack of connection with the Halloween series, it is still a decent standalone film. Hell, if they wanted to make it an anthology, they should've made this the second one. That way, the Halloween series wouldn't be so associated with Michael Myers. Overall, this is not really associated with the Halloween franchise, so I don't know if those who liked the first two will like this. I'd say it's a good watch at least once for fans of thematic horror, or more thriller based horror. It's not a great film, but it's good, and it's underappreciated for it does right.
Tomorrow, we look at George A. Romero's follow-up to his most famous movie, Dawn of the Dead.
Once again set around Halloween, the film opens on the 23rd of October (presumably 1982, when the film came out), with Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) fleeing from a mysterious assailant (Dick Warlock) wearing a business suit. He manages to survive an encounter with the assailant and flees to a gas station attended by Walter Jones (Essex Smith), who takes him to the hospital.Meanwhile, Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Adkins) is visiting his ex-wife, Linda (Nancy Kye) and his children. His children are wearing the Halloween masks produced by the Silver Shamrock Corporation, and are watching a commercial for the mask with an inane (but admittedly somewhat catchy) jingle, encouraging them to watch a commercial set on Halloween Day. He is forced to cut short the visit to attend to Grimbridge. Grimbridge omniously warns that "They're going to kill us all", while holding one of those same masks. While Challis was on break, the same suited assassin comes in, and kills Grimbridge, before setting himself on fire. Challis notes the strangeness of the incident, especially since nobody could have entered the complex. Grimbridge's daughter Ellie (Stacy Nelkin) comes to identify the body, and after noting how she had been looking at the various places that he had been, decided to investigate his death. Challis joins her. Together, they learn he had gone to the town of Santa Mira, headquaters of the Silver Shamrock Corporation, to get some new stock of their masks for his shop. Given he was clutching one of those masks, they decide to head to Santa Mira. There, they meet other shop owners Marge Guttman ( Garn Stephens), and the Kupfler family (Ralph Strait, Jadeen Barbor, and Bradley Schacter, as well as the strange motel manager (Michael Currie), who praises the head of the Silver Shamrock Corporation, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herily) for his work in the town. While investigating during night, Challis briefly meets a homeless man (Jonathan Terry), who warns him of the company. The homeless man was promptly killed by the same men in business suits. Meanwhile, Marge briefly examines one of the seals of the masks, and is electrocuted. From her fried corpse, some insects come out. Cochran actually comes out to greet the guests, while Marge's body is being exhumed. The next day, they take a tour of the factory, and Ellie finds her father's car in one of the facilities. While Challis attempts to call his coroner friend Teddy (Wendy Wassberg), Ellie is kidnapped by the men in suits. Challis goes into the factory, and uncovers a sinister plot by Cochran to return Halloween to its roots.
First off, the plot is pretty good. Despite a couple of plot holes, (I'll give an example in the flaws paragraph), it builds on itself, the mystery is compelling, and the pay-off is pretty interesting. It is very creepy. Not necessarily scary, but creepy in the way the first two Halloweens were, and what the masks actually do to the wearer is pretty distrubing, especially in one gruesome scene in the climax. The pacing problems of the second film are fixed, and it flows seamless. The acting is very good across the board, with Dan O'Herily as a standout, bringing in a charismatic, but creepy performance as the main antagonist. I also notice several interesting themes in this film, about the commercialization of Halloween, consumerism in general, and capitalism. A lot of these themes Carpenter would explore in greater detail in They Live. They Live is a better film than this, but nevertheless, the plot of the villain is interesting to think about in a socio-political context. Finally, it's always good to hear a score by Carpenter himself.
Like I said, despite the main plot being generally good, it does have plot holes. We never actually get to know how Grimbridge found out about the plot. I suppose you infer that he stumbled upon it while in Santa Mira, but it's not specifically mentioned. A much bigger one is the villain motivation. I won't spoil the peculiars of the villains plot, but I'll say that it centers around its origins as Samhain, a Gaelic fall festival. While O'Herily is Irish, we never know why exactly he wants to honor Samhain. Perhaps he just has a fascination with the occult. Another half spoiler, but the plot also involves small children. I admit, I get a bit antsy when small children are involved in harm in movies, and this film was uncomfortable for me towards the end. Still, it wasn't exploitative of that aspect. It easily could've applied to adults, and would've been as impactful. While it was creepy, a lot of scenes meant to be outright scary didn't really work for me. It is more interesting than it is actually scary.
I agree with Tommy Lee Wallace on this. Had this just been called Season of the Witch, it would've been received decently, because, aside from its lack of connection with the Halloween series, it is still a decent standalone film. Hell, if they wanted to make it an anthology, they should've made this the second one. That way, the Halloween series wouldn't be so associated with Michael Myers. Overall, this is not really associated with the Halloween franchise, so I don't know if those who liked the first two will like this. I'd say it's a good watch at least once for fans of thematic horror, or more thriller based horror. It's not a great film, but it's good, and it's underappreciated for it does right.
Tomorrow, we look at George A. Romero's follow-up to his most famous movie, Dawn of the Dead.
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