Oct '19
The original Halloween is cemented in horror history as a classic slasher film. An "immortal classic" if you will... Nothing can top it, and even part 2 is a solid follow-up, albeit ignored in modern continuity. But that anthology idea took things to a new direction... Halloween could have been a totally different series if Season of the Witch took off in the way that the creators intended.
I remember when I was a kid and I saw VHS copies of Halloween 3, and I absolutely did NOT understand how that movie existed. I feel that most people still don't understand how H3 exists in any continuity, but I was always fascinated by the artwork. Just look at it... Some weird looking witch whose hair turns into the logo, with those classic pumpkin/skeleton/witch masks...
Somehow, this flick channeled the spirit of Halloween more than a lot of movies did, even the Myers series. This one had trick or treaters across the country, Tom Atkins, Stacy Nelkin, robots, Dick Warlock, actual warlocks, Dan O'Herlihy, masks, and an Irish influences throughout.
A prominent influence of the movie was Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I'm talking the original 1956 version with the city of Santa Mira. I love the vibe of it. I view it as an essential Halloween film for the season, but I can't quite pinpoint why.
In a sense, I expect that I might love it so much because of its misfit status. It has a cult following because of its different nature, and people never quite understood it when it came out. However, in recent years, the internet has proved that it's reputation has grown somewhat significantly. I suspect that this might be due to John Carpenter fanboyisms and the general sense that older movies gain more notoriety as they age, but I was always fascinated by this movie's approach. It has an interesting history, if you're one to read the trivia behind it and the themes it proposes.
I remember first seeing this movie circa '98, when H20 was on its way. The series was gaining a reputation as a never-ending horror epic, and this bastard played on TV. I didn't get it, but I was still fascinated to ponder on its relevance in the series. Obviously, it seemed to have NO relevance, but a fan could dream, and somehow, this movie lingered in my brain for years to come, because somehow, it technically DID exist in the Halloween continuity at that point, so it would always be canon in some way or another.
Like many, I was plenty surprised to see the 2018 movie at least acknowledge this movie by including the masks in a particular scene, and I even got James Jude Courtney to sign an 8x10 of him with the shamrock kids. That was a wet dream come true.
There's so much to ponder about this movie, like what came next? Did Dan Challis stop the commercial? Did it destroy society? I've even read on a message board that someone approached director Tommy Lee Wallace about their proposed sequel, and he was quite intrigued about their take on it. A sequel probably wouldn't work though. And if Rob Zombie did a Halloween 3, would he rip off this movie? Who fucking knows!
I remember when I was a kid and I saw VHS copies of Halloween 3, and I absolutely did NOT understand how that movie existed. I feel that most people still don't understand how H3 exists in any continuity, but I was always fascinated by the artwork. Just look at it... Some weird looking witch whose hair turns into the logo, with those classic pumpkin/skeleton/witch masks...
Somehow, this flick channeled the spirit of Halloween more than a lot of movies did, even the Myers series. This one had trick or treaters across the country, Tom Atkins, Stacy Nelkin, robots, Dick Warlock, actual warlocks, Dan O'Herlihy, masks, and an Irish influences throughout.
A prominent influence of the movie was Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I'm talking the original 1956 version with the city of Santa Mira. I love the vibe of it. I view it as an essential Halloween film for the season, but I can't quite pinpoint why.
In a sense, I expect that I might love it so much because of its misfit status. It has a cult following because of its different nature, and people never quite understood it when it came out. However, in recent years, the internet has proved that it's reputation has grown somewhat significantly. I suspect that this might be due to John Carpenter fanboyisms and the general sense that older movies gain more notoriety as they age, but I was always fascinated by this movie's approach. It has an interesting history, if you're one to read the trivia behind it and the themes it proposes.
I remember first seeing this movie circa '98, when H20 was on its way. The series was gaining a reputation as a never-ending horror epic, and this bastard played on TV. I didn't get it, but I was still fascinated to ponder on its relevance in the series. Obviously, it seemed to have NO relevance, but a fan could dream, and somehow, this movie lingered in my brain for years to come, because somehow, it technically DID exist in the Halloween continuity at that point, so it would always be canon in some way or another.
Like many, I was plenty surprised to see the 2018 movie at least acknowledge this movie by including the masks in a particular scene, and I even got James Jude Courtney to sign an 8x10 of him with the shamrock kids. That was a wet dream come true.
There's so much to ponder about this movie, like what came next? Did Dan Challis stop the commercial? Did it destroy society? I've even read on a message board that someone approached director Tommy Lee Wallace about their proposed sequel, and he was quite intrigued about their take on it. A sequel probably wouldn't work though. And if Rob Zombie did a Halloween 3, would he rip off this movie? Who fucking knows!
By the way, I'm really sorry I have completely fallen off the radar lately, and in October, for crying out loud. SO LAME. I was out in California celebrating my mom's 75th birthday with my brother and sister (and with her, of course). I couldn't get online, because I left my laptop at home, and my mom's computer somehow goes through her school, and it blocks Trash Epics. I could have used my brother's computer, but I couldn't understand how to scroll down on it, and also his kids have been screwing around with the passwords, so I was basically at a loss. Anyway, I'm back, I'll try to contribute something to this place for the last few days of October.
Getting back to H3... yeah, it really is the most true to what a franchise called Halloween SHOULD be about, isn't it?!? The original novelization of the 1978 Halloween has some old Irish Samhain stuff in it, soooo this movie finally got back to that theme. I also like the soundtrack, (not just the music to the Silver Shamrock commercial, I mean the whole soundtrack). It (the soundtrack) might have some of JC's best work, actually, if you think about it.
I would frigging love a sequel to this movie. Halloween 3 part 2. It would be set in some knd of post-apocalyptic America, kind of like The Stand or Van Helsing. They could do all kinds of things with it.
I think I have mentioned this before, but on Twitter there is a whole community of people who pretend to be characters from this movie. They stay in character and interact with each other, and sometimes with people pretending to be characters from other 80s movies, and from Jaws. It's pretty funny.
The 2018 Halloween acknowledged ALL the sequels, I think, sometimes in subtle ways. I give them credit for that, it was nce of them to tip their hat to the people who have kept the franchise alive over so many decades.
The Guest (2014) had a shitload of homages to this movie too, by the way.
So anyway, YEAH. Great movie.