Review: Halloween III: Season of the Witch
A
man enters a hospital and kills a patient. He then douses himself in petrol and
lights himself on fire. When the police chalks things up to drug-fuelled
lunacy, doctor Tom Atkins says ‘Drugs, my fat arse’ (well OK, not those exact
words) and along with the murdered patient’s daughter (Stacey Nelkin), conducts
his own investigation. The end up in a rather suspicious small town that seems
to be overseen by a local toy company currently running annoying ads for Silver
Shamrock Halloween masks. Just what are they up to? Joshua Miller can be seen
early on as one of Atkins’ kids, whilst Dan O’Herlihy is the Silver Shamrock
owner Conal Cochran.
Although
not as bad as “A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy’s Revenge” or “Friday
the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”, this 1982 film from
writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace (who directed the underrated miniseries “IT”)
is crass, stupid, and not scary. The film comes from the same producers (though
this time John Carpenter and Debra Hill are among them) and cinematographer (Dean
Cundey) as “Halloween”, whilst the writer-director is also a Carpenter
crony, and the synth score is by Carpenter and Alan Howarth (who frequently
collaborated with Carpenter), presumably more of the latter on show than the
former. However, make no mistake, this is a rip-off, a cheap stain on the
original “Halloween” film.
The
real problem here is that it’s all so incredibly boring. Although the basic
premise has a kernel of promise, it’s still very basic and unenjoyable in
execution. Not much really happens in the film, certainly nothing of interest. “Invasion
of the Body Snatchers” it ain’t (though the ending certainly suggests that
it wants to be a 50s ‘Red scare’
film. In 1982. Wow). I enjoyed “IT”, but Wallace shows no real aptitude
for making a scary or thrilling film here. It’s pretty dreary stuff, and
although the evil plan has a nasty and shocking element to it, the screenplay
doesn’t really make much sense of it, at the end of the day. What was the end
game here? (Apparently writer Nigel Kneale of “Quatermass” fame wrote
the original script before leaving over creative differences and having his
script re-written by Wallace and refusing credit. Perhaps there was more
explanation in his script than what we’re left with). It’s also a cynical
attempt at continuing the series without its villain, nor having Carpenter at
the helm. Nice try, but no. Apparently it was Carpenter’s own idea to continue
the series with an anthology series of films under the “Halloween” name,
but I bet Carpenter himself could’ve come up with something more inventive and
interesting than what Wallace has churned out, albeit with Carpenter’s name
attached as producer (Along with Dino De Laurentiis, I might add. His
attachment to this says it all, really).
Cundey’s
lighting is expert as always, and the synth score is actually the best thing in
the whole film. Tom Atkins (who was also featured in Carpenter’s “The Fog”)
is a decent enough leading man, but the only truly accomplished performance
here is by Dan O’Herlihy as the avuncular villain, and neither of them can save
the film. Probably the most violent of the series, but it’s the silly type of
gore, you can’t take it terribly seriously.
Of
all the films about sleeper agents/assassins (and that’s really what this is),
this is by far the dumbest and certainly the most boring. Good-looking, but
terrible. Meanwhile, after ten minutes, you’ll never want to hear that fucking
shamrock jingle ever again. Kill. Fuck. Die.
Rating:
D-
Comments
Post a Comment