Halloween III : Le Sang du sorcier

Halloween III (1982)

*** (out of 4)

Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) has a man show up in his hospital holding a Halloween mask and refusing to let it go. The man is eventually murdered so the doctor teams up with the man's daughter (Stacey Nelkin) to try and determine why. This leads to a Halloween mask factory and its bizarre owner (Dan O'Herlihy) who plans on killing off children using the masks.

HALLOWEEN III was a critical and commercial flop when it was released and you can go to any internet message board and mention this film and usually a fight will quickly break out. Most people can't stand the film because it doesn't feature Michael Myers. I understand that as I still remember the first time I rented this I couldn't help but keep waiting for Myers to show up and when he never did I felt cheated. That also meant whenever I'd watch a HALLOWEEN movie I'd skip this one because it didn't have Myers.

Looking back on the film, history is starting to be kind because once you get over the fact that it doesn't have Myers then you'll see that it's an actual good movie. The original idea by John Carpenter was to have a new subject for each movie. Of course that didn't happen with HALLOWEEN II and after this one turned out to be a disaster the series quickly went back to the scary guy. This film here has a lot in common with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS as you've got evil robots, a mad man and killer masks. Oh yeah, you've also got one of the most annoying songs in film history yet can you not sing along each time it comes on?

Another thing going in the film's favor are the two lead characters. Atkins is just a great blue collar guy and he's a lot of fun here. He has become a cult favorite over the years and it's easy to see why. Nelkin is also extremely good in her role and there's no doubt that the two work quite well together. O'Herlihy is also very good in his laid back approach to the mad scientist. There's also a nice score, some good cinematography and for the most part the story is good.

I do think the film runs on a bit too long and I think Roger Ebert was correct when he said it would have been better had we known why the guy wanted to kill off all the children. Perhaps another draft of the screenplay would have worked but either way, time has proved that HALLOWEEN III isn't nearly as bad as its early reputation.

It's such a shame that this entry in the "Halloween" franchise isn't more appreciated. It DOES have its admirers (such as this viewer), but it just wasn't satisfying to an audience that only wanted Michael Myers. Certainly a franchise that revolved around different macabre stories told at Halloween time would have been more interesting than yet another "psycho on a murder spree" plot. Conceived by producer Debra Hill as a tale of witchcraft in the computer age, the idea was taken to noted writer Nigel Kneale, although his script would be re-written by producer John Carpenter and re-written again by debuting director / longtime Carpenter associate Tommy Lee Wallace.

Legendary stud Mr. Tom Atkins stars as the commendably flawed protagonist Dr. Daniel Challis (he's insatiable and has a weakness for drink), who's thrown for a loop when a panicked man is brought to his hospital and murdered later that night by a cold-eyed, well dressed assassin. Hooking up with the victims' daughter Ellie (cute as a button Stacey Nelkin), he decides to play detective and tracks the mans' actions to a Halloween mask factory in a small California town. Presiding over the business and town is cheerful Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy, whom you'll recognize from "The Last Starfighter" and "RoboCop" 1 and 2), a maniacal villain putting into motion a horrible prank that he intends to play on the children of America. It's up to Daniel to save the day...if he can keep his hands off of Ellie for long enough.

As noted, this in-name-only sequel (the only nod it makes to past movies is a TV commercial for the '78 Carpenter-helmed "Halloween") owes a fair bit to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", right down to naming the town Santa Mira. It's solidly entertaining and consistently amusing stuff, with Wallace (assisted by ace D.P. Dean Cundey) creating fine atmosphere, especially when it comes to the corporate-controlled town, where Cochrans' "eyes and ears" are everywhere. The film hits the ground running, and there's no let up right until the ending. Tom Burmans' makeup is excellent; there's good gross-out stuff here. Atkins is an appealing unlikely hero and Nelkin is pleasing to look at as the daughter who gets over the death of her father in record time. Supporting and bit parts are played by the likes of Michael Currie ("Dead & Buried"), Ralph Strait ("The Beastmaster"), Garn Stephens (the real-life Mrs. Tom Atkins at the time), Nancy Kyes (Annie in the first "Halloween"), Jonathan Terry ("The Return of the Living Dead"), Maidie Norman ("What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"), stunt coordinator Dick Warlock, and Joshua John Miller ("Near Dark"). Carpenters' score is one of his best. And to top it all off, there's that insidiously catchy jingle (sung to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down") that pops up over and over.

If only it didn't have the name "Halloween" attached, some viewers might be more inclined to give it a break.

Eight out of 10.

'Season Of The Witch' is the swiftly-ignored footnote in the 'Halloween' franchise - quickly forgotten evidence that 'Halloween' was meant to be more 'Creepshow' than 'Friday The 13th' in style. In retrospect, bringing back Michael Myers for 'Halloween II' was a possible mistake if the intention was for 'Halloween' to become an anthology series with a different tale in each installment. The sequel's success only cemented expectations in the viewer's minds that homicide in Haddonfield by a mask-covered psychopath was what they would see unfold each time on screen. And so by 1983, audiences clearly weren't prepared for 'Season Of The Witch' and made this fact abundantly clear at the box office, which is a great shame, because deeply-flawed as it is, 'Halloween III' is a lot of fun and does not deserve to be overlooked the way it often is.

The storyline, centred around a toy factory manufacturing murderous masks designed to bring nationwide doom at 9pm on October 31st, is built up very intriguingly. We have a 'Simon Van Gelder'-like madman trying to warn the world of the impending slaughter, chillingly-ruthless killers in business suits silencing anyone who tries to get the word out, and strikingly memorable death scenes - one of which might be described as 'facial origami', and that's only the first 15 minutes. Soon, our story's heroes are embroiled in the factory's strange machinations, where nothing and no-one is exactly what they seem. The script builds up a tense atmosphere, leading to a truly compelling end that will keep viewers guessing long after.

Yet 'Season Of The Witch' (a title not to be taken too literally) comes across as an intriguing second draft - full of good ideas, but lacking the kind of logic and key exposition that would have really brought the audience on board. Writer Tommy Lee Wallace's America, for example, seems to occupy one single time zone, in which it's possible to have the nation's children watching their televisions at the appointed hour. Likewise, we are expected to believe that the illegal appropriation of one of the world's largest and heaviest artificial landmarks - a key plot point at the climax - seems to be no more difficult than stealing a mattress from a bedding store and spiriting it away on a car's roof. Dr Challis, the lead character, is an obvious graduate of 'Action Hero Medical College', stitching up wounds one day and tackling the undead like Indiana Jones the next. The film's other two leads are also something of a puzzle, with their identities and ultimate fate never being satisfactorily explored. All of which leaves 'Halloween III' as a series of entertaining sequences that anyone attempting the most basic of critical analysis will be punished instantly with crushing bafflement. The lack of audience enthusiasm cannot be solely attributed to the absence of Michael Myers (who ironically, does enjoy a few seconds of screen time).

Nonetheless, it would have been interesting if 'Halloween' had become an anthology series of horror, and with 'Halloween III' not short on ideas, it's only a shame more care and attention wasn't put into the effort. All involved clearly failed to understand what they had set in motion with the first two outings, unable to see that any change in direction for the franchise would have to be very well-executed to win the fans over. However, it wasn't and Michael Myers would go on to make a respectable return five years later. For what it offers, I think 'Season Of The Witch' is definitely worth a look - arguably more creative than most of the 'Halloween' sequels, but seriously lacking polish.

Film-makers can't seem to be able to do anything right. Instead of churning out the same old tired sequels, which they get criticised for, they have tried to be creative here and get abused for that.

Most comments I have read have said that this is a bad film because it doesn't include the old 'favourites', but then they call the rest of the series for being very similar to each other.

I will concede that this film, with the exception of the first ten minutes, is NOT scary; but it's still an ok film. It's different than any other film I can recall seeing, and does have a few surprises and a good ending.

I would say that if you were going to watch with an open mind you may well enjoy this

Let me begin by saying that I hated this film as a kid. After viewing it the other day on a whim however, I was surprised at how much better I liked it now. The story centers around an evil mask-maker planning to use ancient technology to murder millions of children on Halloween night by selling them masks with a nasty little secret inside. I found the story very interesting, though plenty of plot holes ultimately keep this film from being all it could have been.

The biggest obstacle in this film's way is the fact that it has nothing at all to do with the other "Halloween" films made either before or after it. That's certainly no reason not to give it a chance, though. Perhaps it should have been called only "Season of the Witch" or something so as not to anger the purists out there who demand the presence of Michael Myers in anything with the word "Halloween" in the title. That said, let's take a look at the good and not-so-good elements of this film, shall we?

Like the previous entries in the series, this film has some creepy and effective music. It is also buffered by some evil synthesizer sounds at every turn. The little jingle set to "London Bridge" is annoying, and I'm sure it was supposed to be.

There are some interesting deaths, to say the least. Early on, we see a robotic henchman pull apart a victim's skull, then blow himself up in a car. One hapless woman gets an energy beam projected through her face, leaving her mouth much larger than normal. (a bug then crawls out of her head, foreshadowing later events) Another man gets his head ripped completely off for threatening to torch the bad guy's factory. Later on, a family is murdered in a test demonstration of what happens when someone wearing one of these masks watches a certain commercial on TV. Bugs and poisonous snakes form inside the mask and attack anyone in the room. It seems the masks have some tiny pieces from one of the blocks from Stonehenge implanted in the factory seal. Something about the commercial triggers the effect within the mask. And just how does this happen, you ask? "A good magician never explains," the mask-maker points out in one scene. Sigh.

Some gigantic holes are present as the story unfolds. Tom Atkins, who plays our hero, has a useless love affair with the daughter of an early victim. If these two are so intent on solving a deadly mystery about the death of her father, and bad guys are all around, would they really stop to have sex? He is also much older than this woman. I guess since Atkins plays a doctor, the young woman finds that sexy. Maybe I'd better go to medical school if I want to score with hot young women when I'm his age.

Another problem concerns the time that these masks are supposed to go off. We are told by the mask maker that when the commercial airs at 9:00 pm on Halloween night, all the masks will react and kill the children. However, if it's 9:00 in California (where this takes place) it would be 11:00 where I live or midnight on the east coast. Children would mostly be in bed by then! Few parents would allow their kids up that late to watch any "big give-a-way". The plan is to wipe out kids all over the country, but it looks like only kids on the west coast would be up when the commercial airs. If there was an explanation about how this problem would be overcome, I missed it. I guess once again, "A good magician never explains."

And just how in the hell did this guy steal a piece of Stonehenge, anyway? He admits it was difficult, but again offers no explanation of how it was done!

And how many freaking times did the female robot attack Atkins at the end? I lost count.

Well, it's not a total loss. It was a neat idea for a film, but they shouldn't have glossed over so many things.

I'll give it 5 of 10 stars.

Happy Happy Halloween Halloween Halloween Happy Happy Halloween Silver Shamrock!

STOP IT!!!! STOP IT!!!! STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So sayeth the Hound.