Hello one and all.
It is finally that magick time of year: HALLOWEEN! Cider, Ginger Snaps, Candy Corn, and razor blade filled Caramel Apples. Cool crisp air, beautiful foliage, early dusks and long nights that are great for cuddling. And what better to do on those chilly autumnal evenings when wrapped in a blanket on the couch with your favorite wombat or wallabe (or inflatable love device -- I don't judge) than watch a fun holiday themed film? I mean, that's really what it's all about, right?
But what to watch?
Over the next two weeks leading up to our favorite day of the year I will be randomly posting about films (and music) that I personally love during this most splendid season. Some of these films may not be directly related to Halloween, but they are things I associate with the Season Of the Dead. Everyone and their mother is currently writing about their best or worst picks for the season, so I figured why the hell not? Well, here's my two cents. Take it or leave it.
(AND IF YOU ARE ALL GOOD LITTLE MONSTERS I WILL PUBLISH A SPECIAL, FREE LITERARY TREAT ON HALLOWEEN DAY.)
My first pick is going to be the much (unfairly) maligned HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH, which may actually be my favorite film in the Halloween Series (of which I am NOT a fan).
Let me start by saying this: I LOATHE FRANCHISES. Often a great idea or film or book is completely ruined by unnecessary sequel after sequel. The Halloween Franchise is no different. I'm not going to waste time with a bunch of synopsis' and plot points and the like. Chances are if you're reading this you are a horror fan to some capacity and familiar with the series. Ok, well, there may be a brief synopsis.
HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH is the third installment (duh) in the franchise. It was executive produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, under the condition the film had NO MICHAEL MEYERS. And why is that? Carpenter had the good sense to not beat a dead horse. Michael Myers was really a one film concept (really, Halloween 2 stinks). His original Halloween is a tight, grippingly tense film that captures the spirit of the holiday in fine form. It is a classic, hands down. That cannot be argued. However, Carpenter wanted the series to become something different, a new story for each new installment. An anthology, if you will. Personally I love that idea (something copped most recently by American Horror Story, which is running a whole new and unrelated plot line every season apparently).
Anyway, it was written by Nigel Kneale (creator of the british 60's QUATERMASS series, which Carpenter later based his excellent Prince Of Darkness film upon -- more on that one in another post), and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (Fright Night 2). It is one of the more original horror films I've seen. It is essentially about a sick plan devised by an old male witch to ritually kill hundreds of thousands of children on Halloween night with his odd line of Silver Shamrock masks. Each mask contains a microchip fashioned from bits of Stonehenge. When the kids wearing the masks watch a "surprise giveaway" at 9pm that special night, a signal will be transmitted that will cause the wearers of the masks heads to explode with a horrific variety of poisonous insects and reptiles (including some not so menacing crickets), killing the children (and henceforth attacking and killing anyone in the vicinity) as the sacrificial offering to Samhain.
(A BIT O TRIVIA: A replica of the Don Post-created witch mask was worn by one of the Pawn shop robbers in the brilliant HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN). This tv trailer scared the piss outta me when I was a wee one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXWSiVxS4hk&feature=related
It's pretty hackneyed, yes, but so much fun, and such a bizarre film. There are androids, laser beams, the exploding heads of children (always a good thing), and whole host of other oddities that go down, only for Tom "Thrill Me" Atkins to jump to and try to save the day in all his moustached glory. And of course that Silver Shamrock song, maddeningly chanting "Eight more days til Halloween" over and over in monotonous, seizure inducing repitions (accompanied by a seizure-strobe flash as well). It's a simple good time.
Of course, most fans of the first two films loathed this entry, and to this day whine incessantly that there is "no Michael Myers". Yeah, boo-fukkin-hoo. This is not a "great film". It's muddled and confused and all over the place. There were numerous production problems. Nigel Kneale was furious that a good portion of his script was changed by the production company (Di Laurentiis wanted more gore and violence). It doesn't really make a hell of a lot of sense, at all, at any point, though it does feature a heaping helping of whacked out imagery and, again, some wholly unique ideas. Oh, and bugs.
But what chaps my ass is the braindead franchise fans, who apparently have no issue with entries 4 through whatever that create this ridiculous, dull storyline that makes even less sense than this particular entry, following the exploits of a boring silent serial killer in a silly William Shatner mask that possesses no personality whatsoever (much like the real Shatner), and mutitudes of flat, bland characters that are impossible to care about. They are sad and pointless slasher films containing not one iota of originality, based around half-assed kill scenes (which were mostly deleted from the final cuts anyway).
Eh, enough bitching. In short, for a fun cuddle-time Halloween trip at the brain, you just can't really go wrong with HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH. It's light, weird, captures the season, and doesn't require too many brain cells. Grab some poisoned candy, and a loved one, and enjoy!
"So all you lucky kids with Silver Shamrock masks . . . put on your masks . . . gather round your t.v. sets . . . and WATCH THE MAGIC PUMPKIN . . . "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTAc5HBFpHU&feature=related
Vince where the Hell you at man
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