Happy Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a 1984 slasher movie. Directed by Jospeh Zito (The Prowler) and starring Corey Feldman (Gremlins, The Lost Boys), Kimberley Beck and Crispin Glover (Willard). The film was intended to be the last instalment in the franchise, however, a further 6 sequels would be produced.

The film picks up right where part 3 left off with the action moving to a local hospital that Jason's body has been brought to (suspiciously similar to the plot of Halloween 2). In typical fashion, Jason Voorhees rises from the dead and resumes his killing spree. Meanwhile, a group of horny teenagers make their way to Camp Crystal Lake where, oddly, there is also a local family living including young horror nerd Tommy Jarvis (Feldman). Jason returns to the camp like a homing pigeon and begins dispatching the teens in familiar style, only Tommy seems to have an understanding of what makes Jason tick and uses his youthful wits to defeat Jason once and for all.

The idea of an 80s slasher franchise stopping after 4 films seems laughable now but in 1984 the genre was already starting to wane and the video nasty furore was putting much unwanted heat on the producers of slashers. Therefore, this was to be the end of Jason Voorhees at the hands of a troubled young boy no less, true poetic justice. You could certainly consider this the last of the classic Friday the 13th films as, when the series hilariously returned less than a year later, something had certainly been lost (namely Voorhees himself).

The final chapter is good 80s slasher fun with all the archetypes intact, Feldman gives the star performance in what would be the first of many iconic horror roles that decade with Glover also playing an entertainingly nerdy character. There had been inclusions of horror kids in the franchise before but Feldman gives a really authentic perfiormance that certainly drew me in when I watched this as a young horror nerd. The kills and gore are on top form due to Tom Savini returning to the franchise, and director Zito was also no stranger to violence after his own controversial slasher The Prowler (1981).

The Final Chapter was not the last we would see of Jason Voorhees, and i'm grateful for that. It doesn't even really have any finality about it but it is a lot of fun and sees the continuation of a horror icon that, in fairness, had only aquired his famous hockey mask one movie prior. The most many people have seen of this movie is Crispin Glover's famous, and bizarre, dancing, but it's worth a watch to see Jason Voorhees dispatching Horny teens in his prime.

**** 4 stars

Have you seen The Final Chapter? Are you glad they continued the series?

TMMDI Top ten of 2016

2016 was a strong year for genre films but, in the end, bizarre indie films triumphed again (with Taika Waititi producing another instant classic). It was also one of the strongest springs in many years with 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Witch and High-Rise coming out within the space of a month.


Honourable mentions to The Eyes of my Mother, The Other Side of the Door, The Greasy Strangler, Lights Out, The Ones Below, Don't Breath and Hush.

1. Swiss Army Man

2. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

3. 10 Cloverfield Lane

4. The Witch

5. Hardcore Henry

6. High-Rise

7. Nina Forever

8. Arrival

9. The Neon Demon



10. Shin Godzilla

What were your favourite films of 2016? Have I missed any out?





Happy Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film. Directed by Dwight H. Little (Bloodstone) starring Donald Pleasence (Halloween, Phenomena), Danielle Harris (Hatchet II) and Ellie Cornell (House of the Dead). The film was the first Halloween movie in 6 years and the first to be produced without co-creators John Carpenter and Deborah Hill.

Halloween 4 is set ten years after the events of the original film. Once again, the psychotic Michael Myers has escaped from a lunatic asylum and is on his way back to Haddonfield to kill his niece Jamie (Harris), daughter of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who has moved into a foster home. Pursued once again by Dr Loomis (Pleasence), Michael starts ruining the town’s Halloween celebrations and ripping through the locals as the inept local law enforcement are organised by Loomis. Jamie’s stepsister Rachel (Cornell) is left to protect Jamie as Michael continues his rampage, despite the efforts of a vigilante mob, and a final showdown ensues in the Sheriff’s house.

As many people know, after the wild success of the first film, and it’s slightly disappointing sequel, John Carpenter and Deborah Hill conceived of a new vision for the franchise where every sequel would focus on a different Halloween story. This resulted in the cult classic Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) which, despite lacking  Michael Myers, weaved a spooky and clever story around Halloween masks that possessed children. However, come 1988, executive producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to revive the franchise and this meant bringing back the Icon himself, prompting Carpenter and Hill to promptly leave the franchise. You would think that the lack of the creative geniuses who spawned the franchise would harm the film, however, the film still works remarkably well and, as good as Halloween III is, Michael Myers is too effective a villain not to bring back.

Taking inspiration from the Friday the 13^th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, which had already ballooned into parody by this point, Halloween 4 certainly cranks the volume up on the more nuanced atmospherics of the previous films. But still, the plot makes a remarkable amount of sense. Ten years have passed, a new generation of Myers is around, Haddonfield have almost forgotten about 1978. Aside from the old escaped lunatic thing, the plot elements fit really well in the updated setting and Danielle Harris is one of the better child actors to appear in an 80s horror film. Donald Pleasence is always a welcome presence on the screen, however, he looks like he’s starting to get a little sick of the franchise and his whispered/yelled dialogue does get a little annoying after a while. Although the film is pretty over the top in terms of its violence and dripping in the 80s, there is still a great deal of atmosphere retained from the original film and Carpenter’s creeping dolly shots live on. 

Stronger than most horror franchises by its fourth entry, The Return of Michael Myers delivers what it promises and there are certainly many franchises of the day that would’ve benefited from a 6 year gap and a break for their antagonist. A surprisingly inventive plot with a great shock ending and some excellent reworkings of the iconic theme music. Halloween 4 is a lot better than you remember.

What do you think of Halloween 4? Were you glad to see Michael Myers back?

Movie B Bad #8: Runaway (1984)

I saw the film at a Bristol Bad Film Club screening as a killer robot double bill with the fantastic Chopping Mall (1986). Check out their website and facebook.

Runaway is a 1984 sci-fi thriller. Directed by Michael Crichton (Westworld) and starring Tom Selleck (3 Men and a Baby), Gene Simmons (Never Too Young to Die, Wanted: Dead or Alive) and Cynthia Rhodes (Flashdance). This marks the feature film debut of Simmons who landed the role after meeting Michael Crichton.

The film follows Selleck's washed up cop Jack Ramsay, a police officer now confined to the robot malfunctions squad after bottling it in his previous division due to suffering from Vertigo (hmm sounds familiar). Titled the "runaway squad" the team are tasked with neutralising the rogue robots that society has now come to depend upon. Joined by new recruit Thompson (Rhodes) they uncover a plot by evil tycoon Dr Luther (Simmons), doctor of what I'm not sure, who has been installing the robots with black market chips turning them into deadly killing machines. The duo have to navigate various robotic creations in order to take down Luther and stop the robots from taking over the world!

Runaway is like a really unsophisticated version of Blade Runner (1982), but instead of fighting robots disguised as humans, our protagonists have to face what I can only describe as an army of VHS players, midi hi-fis and mechano spiders that poke you in the chin with a needle. It's also one of the least futuristic films I've seen, making for an extremely dated and hilarious vision of the future. Tom Selleck is a deeply adequate lead, although his moustache turns in a far more convincing performance, but most of the comedy gold comes from Simmons who chews the scenery and says far more with a creepy stare than he ever could with words.

Perhaps the fact that Crichton wrote this directly for the screen, rather than adapting from a novel, explains why the plot is pretty thin and it doesn't really say anything that hasn't already been said a hundred times ie. don't rely on technology too much. The heat seeking mini missiles were a nice touch and the pov sequence where Ramsay is being chased down by one of them was particularly naff, somehow moving very quickly and very slowly at the same time. This also leads to a fantastic sequence where Ramsay insists on removing a highly explosive bullet from Thompson's arm as a robot would only make a hash of it.

An incredibly 80s vision of the future and stark warning against reliance on technology that would be kind of overshadowed by another 1984 film known as The Terminator. The film is delightfully daft and the fact that Selleck never really took off as a big action star is perhaps down to this movie. However, for Simmons, this would be the launching pad to play several more gurning villains as the 80s wore on. Keep your eyes peeled for an early appearance from bombshell Kirsty Allie too.

*** 3 Stars

Have you seen Runaway? What's your favourite killer robot film?

Superior Remakes #5:The Thing (1982)

The Thing is a 1982 sci fi horror film. Directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, They Live) and starring Kurt Russell (Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China), Keith David (they Live) Wilford Brimley (Cocoon) and Thomas G Waites (The Warriors). The film is a remake of 1951's The Thing from another World as well as an adaptation of the novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell.

Set in an Antarctic research station, the film opens with a neighboring Norwegian helicopter chasing a husky into their camp in an attempt to kill it. Puzzled by this, MacReady (Russell) takes a few men to investigate the Norwegian camp only to find it abandoned apart from a bizarre twisted corpse. After realising that the Norwegians had uncovered an extraterrestrial being in the ice, the thing begins to work it's way through their ranks, imitating and assimilating. After uncovering the science behind the creature's behavior, Blair (Brimley) goes mad and it is down to the rest of the team to figure out which of them is human, and which of them is the thing.

Released to little fanfare in 1982, the studios blamed E.T and Blade Runner, The Thing has gone on to achieve cult status and quite rightly be hailed as a masterpiece. This should come as no surprise to those familiar with the work of John Carpenter, a man who produced several masterpieces at the peak of his powers, and also marks the high point of Carpenters numerous collaborations with Kurt Russell. The film has all the qualities you expect from a Carpenter film: crawling steadicam shots, creeping atmosphere and a tremendous score (This was actually credited to Ennio Morricone but has Carpenter's style all over it). The cast are also on top form and, although there may be a few characters too many, really capture the wild eyed suspicion that defined the novella.

Amidst the ground-breaking special effects work being done by Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) and Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead) at the time, Rob Bottin is a name that seems to have been lost in the shuffle and that is a real crime. Only 23 years of age at the time, Bottin's special effects are mind boggling and helped to create many memorable visuals that have been burned onto people's retinas for decades. I'm still unable to figure out how many of the creature effects were achieved and this could not (and in the case of 2011's remake in disguise, would not) be done better with CGI.

As a remake, it is vastly superior over Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World, a film which unfortunately relied upon a walking vegetable as it's monster. As an adaptation, it takes all the interesting cold war paranoia found in Campbell's novella whilst cutting through the dry, and needlessly complicated, science of the alien. The Thing is a perfect horror film, a perfect science fiction film and proof that, in the hands of a master, remakes can be superior indeed.

***** 5 Stars

What do you think of The Thing? Have you seen the original?

TMMDI mid-year Top Ten

 2016 is shaping up to be an excellent year so far full of quality genre movies, adaptations and pseudo sequels in the form of my favourite film 10 Cloverfield Lane. 

It's also been a strong year in terms of original properties and tedious, cash in sequels have been kept to a minimum (depending on your perspective of Cloverfield Lane). Time will tell if these movies will make the cut by the end of the year...

 
1. 10 Cloverfield Lane

2. The Witch

3. High Rise

4. Nina Forever



5. The Ones Below

6. Midnight Special

7. The Other Side of the Door

8. Hush

9. Synchronicity



10. Cell

What's your favourite film of the year so far? What movies have I missed out on?

From Hellflix They Came #1: Silver Bullet (1985)

Silver Bullet is a 1985 horror film. Directed by Dan Attias and starring Corey Haim (The Lost Boys), Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon), Everett McGill (The People Under the Stairs) and Terry O’Quinn (The Stepfather, Lost). The film is Stephen King’s adaptation of his own novella “The Cycle of the Werewolf”.

The film is set in Tarker Mills, a sleepy new England town. Marty (Haim) is a 10 year old boy in a wheelchair with only his crazy Uncle Red (Busey) for amusement. Suddenly the town is gripped by a series of gruesome murders perpetrated by a suspected werewolf. When Sheriff Haller (O’Quinn) fails to uncover the true identity of the beast, and a group of vigilante locals also come up short, Marty and his sister Jane take it upon themselves to solve the mystery. Despite being happy to supply Marty with illegal fireworks and a high powered wheelchair-cum-motorbike (the titular Silver Bullet), uncle red is initially reluctant to believe the bizarre story and help the children. However, after being confronted with hard evidence that the beast walks among them, the three of them devise a plan to end the curse and save the town.

Silver Bullet isn’t one of the better King adaptations, which seems to be an ironic side effect when he adapts his own books, but by no means the worst either. It boasts a really strong cast that holds the film together, particularly the chemistry between Haim and Busey and the movie is a lot of fun, despite not featuring too much of the werewolf (perhaps for the best considering the special effects). There’s a lot of outrageous dialogue, mostly referring to “the cripple”, which hugely dates the film but the sight of Corey Haim (playing a disabled 10 year old) ripping up and down the country lanes on his motorbike is really something to behold.

It’s a shame most of the gore from the book doesn’t really make it into the film but I suppose they were aiming for somewhat of a family friendly horror film. All the subplots are set up well but they do seem to have trouble drawing them together, perhaps another symptom of the book being set over the course of a year. The only thing that really irritated me about the film was the inexplicable voice over by Marty’s sister. There’s no context for the movie being a flashback and the technique is used so infrequently that it makes no sense.

As a werewolf movie, Silver Bullet doesn’t really hit the mark. But as a Stephen King movie, it feels thoroughly authentic and is filled with so much 80s cheese and fantastic performances, you’ll probably forget it’s meant to be a werewolf film. If nothing else, fans of Gary Busey will leave satisfied.

*** 3 Stars

Have you seen Silver Bullet? How does it rank among King adaptations?



Happy Friday the 13th!...part III(1982): Review

Friday the 13^th part III is a 1982 slasher sequel. Directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13^th part 2, Lake Placid) the film stars Dana Kimmel (Lone Wolf McQuade), Catherine Parks (Weekend at Bernie's) and Larry Zerner. This is the only instalment to be released in 3-D and knocked E.T off the top of the box office.

As usual, the film follow a group of teenagers on summer vacation at Camp Crystal lake. Unfortunately, fresh off his skirmish at the end of the last film, Jason Voorhees has begun a new killing spree, picking up his infamous machete/hockey mask combo in the process. To make matters worse, the teens manage to anger a local motorcycle gang (amusingly named Ali, Loco and Fox) as well as being constantly wound up by SFX prankster Shelley (). As Jason dispatches members of the group in grisly, and 3-D, fashion, Chris () reveals that she was attacked by a horribly disfigured  man 2 years ago and now he’s come back to finish the job!

Up until part III, the Friday the 13^th franchise had revelled in suspenseful, Hitchcockien horror. However, it’s clear from the neon opening credits set to a disco remix of the “Ki ki, ma ma” theme, that this entry is the turning point into ludicrous 80s slasher territory. Ordinarily, that would be a bad thing, but not for this franchise. This is where the Jason character really comes into his own and makes the leap from lumpy headed hillbilly to one of the greatest horror icons of all time. The mask, the machete…all the pieces fall into place here and no amount of terrible acting or obnoxious pandering to 3-D can bring it down.

The early 80s marks an interesting time for 3-D as it experienced a brief revival between it’s 1950s heyday and the more recent boom that we’re still having to endure. And if you thought 3-D was a tedious money grabbing ploy now, you should see the kind of action we’re treated to in this movie. This includes a yoyo, a paddleball, various brooms being pointed toward the camera and even popcorn popping! That being said, we’re also treated to some of the most memorable deaths in the whole franchise, most of which include eyeballs (this was also the heyday of Lucio Fulci). And if that’s not enough to amuse you, there’s also the shenanigans of the chubby loser horror fan Shelly (what an outrageous generalisation!).

As influential as the original Friday the 13^th was for countless clones in the early 80s, part III was the blueprint for all the cheesy, daft slashers that would follow and be equally entertaining in the latter half of the decade. One of the most consistent franchises in horror, Friday the 13^th really hit it’s stride with this movie and gave the world the gift of hockey mask Jason and is essential viewing for fans of 80s slashers.

**** 4 Stars

Are you a fan of Friday the 13^th films? Do you prefer hockey mask Jason or sack head Jason?

Bigfoot Movie Podcast

 

As previously mentioned, I recently appeared on The Paranormal Chronicles Network with Gavin Davies to chat about some movies on the 2 and a half hour bigfoot special. You can now listen to the segment on it's own, in all it's glory with some very amusing slideshow pictures. Hear us discuss "Exists", "Night of the Demon" and "Harry and the Hendersons" in some pretty graphic detail. We had a blast doing this so I hope you enjoy TMMDI's first foray into the podcast world!

For more on the all things paranormal, visit theparanormalchronicles.com

TMMDI on The Paranormal Chronicles Network

It gives me great pleasure to announce the very first collaboration between They Made Me Do It and The Paranormal Chronicles network. TPCN will be releasing a series of podcasts analysing various areas of the paranormal and will feature yours truly covering representations of those topics in movie form. The very first episode covers all things Bigfoot and features interviews with experts, eyewitnesses and me at 2:05, enjoy and let us know what you think!

Check out much more over at theparanormalchronicles.com

Movie B Bad #7: Night of the Demon (1980)

Night of the Demon is a 1980 Bigfoot horror film. Directed by James C Wasson and starring Michael Cutt (Volcano) and Paul Kelleher (Spirits of the Fall). The film appeared on the original video nasties list due to "gory mayhem".

The movie is told as a flashback from the perspective of Professor Nugent, an anthropology professor who takes his students on a field trip to look for bigfoot. After recounting several grisly incidents in the classroom (again in flashback format) they take to the hills where they locate local landowner Lou Carlson and get him to spill the beans on his own Sasquatch encounters. This eventually leads them to discover a cannibalistic, pagan cult lurking in the woods and, in turn, links them to "crazy Wanda", a local woman who has had some serious bigfoot encounters. She regails them with her tale of being raped by bigfoot and producing a lovechild before the beast storms the cabin and lays waste to our overly curious heroes.

Night of the Demon is utterly incomprehensible. Most of the film is told through a flashback, and sometimes flashbacks within flashbacks, and it's never clear who is relating the scene or how it fits into the time line. The editing is psychotic, the acting hideous and the soundtrack endlessly irritating. The "mayhem" that landed it on the video nasties list is laughable and the effects are pretty shoddy for the time.

However, the real draw with this movie is the ambition and creativity with which the bigfoot creature maims and kills his victims. The attempts to further the plot are certainly tedious, but when bigfoot gets going, it's like a mix tape of things you thought you'd never see in a movie. This includes bigfoot raping a young girl, a sleeping bag hammer throw, intestine flailing, forcing girl scouts to have a knife fight, ritualistic gimp sex and, most famously, ripping the dick off a biker.

Like many video nasties, night of the demon is an appallingly made film and a real struggle to get through. Those who do will be rewarded with schlocky violence and really quite perverse sex scenes. If you're a bigfoot or video nasty completist then it may be worth a watch, otherwise you may never get these 95 minutes back.

* 1 Star

Have you managed to see the movie? Do you know any other Bigfoot movies?

TMMDI Top Ten of 2015

2015 was a great year for Kiwi horror comedy and world cinema in general, Mad Max made his triumphant return to the screen in the best entry to date and the mighty Michael Fassbender pulled off an impressive hat trick (although Slow West and Steve Jobs didn't quite make this list). It was also the year that the Oscar winning films were pretty bloody good (in Birdman and whiplash). Honourable mentions to Ex Machina, It Follows, Unfriended, Crimson Peak, The Final Girls, Spectre, Green Inferno and Turbo Kid.

1. What We Do in the Shadows

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

3. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

4. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

5. Housebound

6. Macbeth

7. Bone Tomahawk

8. Whiplash

9. Attack on Titan (Parts 1&2)

10. Krampus

What do you think of the selection?  What were your favourites of 2015?

IT!...Came From the 50s #5: The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

 

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 giant monster film. Directed by Eugene Lourie (Gorgo) the film stars Paul Hubschmid, Cecil Kellaway (Harvey) and Lee van Cleef (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly). The film features the pioneering work of special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Mighty Joe Young, Clash of the Titans) in his first credited project.

Starting off in the Arctic circle, we are let in on a top secret project called "Operation Experiment" (rubbish secret name) in which Dr Nesbitt (Hubschmid) and his colleagues are studying the effects of atomic weaponry. As is often the case, the foolish experiments end up awaking a giant prehistoric lizard who decimates the science team and begins to work his way down the east coast of North America. After successfully convincing his superior commander (Van Cleef) and the world's leading paleontologist (Kellaway) of his discovery, a team is soon put together to stop the beast from destroying New York. However, aside from being gigantic and, let's face it, a double hard bastard, the lizard is also carrying lethal radioactive blood. This leads to a climax set on Coney island which not only requires the use of a roller coaster, but also a radioactive isotope to be shot into the throat of the creature and save humanity.

If this plot sounds familiar, it's because it's near identical to the very first Godzilla film which was released a little over a year after this film. In fact, The Beast not only helped to directly inspire Gojira (1954) but also the giant/atomic monster movies of the 50s and beyond, making it a very important film indeed. However, where Gojira would go on to spawn an iconic franchise consisting of no less than 27 sequels, The Beast came and went with little fanfare and it perplexes me why a sequel was never produced.

The plot is solid and the pacing is classical in it's "less is more" approach, favouring a strong mystery vibe rather than a "dinosaur smashing buildings up" approach. But when the smashing starts, it is a glorious sight...even to 2015 eyes! The combination of Harryhausen's inimitable stop motion work with front projection and an awful lots of extras running for their lives is surprisingly convincing and a lot of fun to watch. The clever twist of the creature's blood being radioactive, therefore necessitating a slightly smarter approach, is genius and I wished they'd perhaps spent a bit more time on this.

The Beast From 20,000 fathoms might be the more overlooked giant monster film when it comes to classics like Gojira and Them! (also 1954) and the "Rhedosaurus" may seem like the more bland creation to modern eyes but this is a truly iconic film with substance to back it up. Recommended viewing for any Godzilla/Kaiju fans, or indeed any fans of the legendary Ray Harryhausen, The Beast is representative of both of those things and I was certainly left wanting more.

***** 5 Stars

Have you seen the movie? What's your favourite giant monster movie?

Movie B Bad #6: Vibrations (1996)

I saw the film at a Bristol Bad Film Club screening. Check them out at their website and on Facebook.

Vibrations is a 1996 musical teen drama. Written and directed by Michael Paseornek, the film stars James Marshall (Twin Peaks) and Christina Applegate (Married with Children, Anchorman). Although this would be Paseorneks only foray into directing, he would go on to become a successful producer responsible for horror films like American Psycho (2000) and The Devil's Rejects (2005).

The film follows T.J (Marshall), a talented young musician on the road to stardom. Unfortunately, his hands (and dreams) become crushed after a run in with some local thugs and a drill-equipped JCB, leaving him to wander the city as a rubber handed drunken hobo. Luckily for TJ he wanders into a local rave and meets Annamika (Applegate), who takes pity on him and helps him to clean up his act. Recognising a musical talent within TJ, Annamika and her friends (including a welding landlady) manage to craft him a new cybernetic pair of hands which help to propel him to superstardom as "techno" DJ Cyberstorm!

First off, this is the most 80s 90s film I've ever seen. From most of the fashion on display to the "cutting edge" electronic music being played, I was really very shocked to learn this film was made in 1996. The dialogue is similarly hilarious and out of touch, particularly when the characters are trying to describe the music and the cosmic grooves etc. More often than not the music sounds like it's one of the preset demos on a Yamaha keyboard and it couldn't be farther from the type of dance music we were all enjoying in 1996 (okay maybe not enjoying).

In all fairness to Marshall he does seem to be doing his best with what he's been given and I suppose you could call some of the early homeless scenes "gritty". Some of the funniest moments of the film come from the physical comedy involving TJs rubber hands. This includes stopping a knife attack with his palm and using his hand to stop a kitchen fire, surely the makers of the film could not have expected this to be taken seriously? There's also a lot of fun to be had when the gang get going on their "rave concert tour" and watching TJ "perform" as Cyberstorm is something I can only liken to C-3PO having some sort of fit.

Vibrations had the right idea, no doubt trying to capitalise on the cyberpunk sub-culture made popular by "Hackers" the previous year, but ends up a film quite obviously written by a middle aged man who has no idea how teenagers would have talked in 1996 or what kind of music they would listen to. However, the film is unintentionally hilarious when enjoyed as the unlikely story of a handless wino who becomes a gyrating, robotic superstar.

**** 4 Stars

Have you seen Vibrations? What did you think?

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982): Review

 

Halloween III is a 1982 horror sequel. The film is directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (IT, Fright Night part 2) and stars Tom Atkins (The Fog) and Dan O' Herlihy (Robocop) . Although this instalment was not directed by John Carpenter, he did co produce and create the soundtrack.

Season of the Witch is a numbered sequel in the Halloween franchise, however, It does not feature Michael Myers as the antagonist or have much to do with the other films, other than being set at Halloween. The film centres around the mysterious Silver Shamrock company and their wildly popular Halloween masks which are being snapped up by children everywhere. When a local shop owner is murdered by a suit in the local hospital, doctor Challis (Atkins) and the shopowners daughter Ellie travel to the hometown of Silver Shamrock to uncover a clandestine, pagan plot to take over the world.

I have distinct memories of watching this movie as a kid and being bitterly disappointed by the lack of Michael Myers, who had been the iconic villain for much of the franchise. However, in recent years the movie has been reappraised and reassessed as a standout of the series and now I can see why. In retrospect, the decision to ditch your iconic villain and make a film that was distinctly not a slasher has to be regarded as an extremely brave and original move. Rather than buckle under the pressure of the first 2 films, as so many other threequels do, Halloween III is arguably the finest sequel to the greatest horror film ever made (that one isn't arguable).

The concept of a new world pagan cult who try to take over the world through children's masks is a great one, but the choice to fuse that with a satire of corporate America (as Carpenter himself would do with They Live) is inspired. Speaking of Carpenter, this feels like a Carpenter film in almost every way, particularly through the excellent score which veers wildy from the kind of minimalist synth used in The Thing (1982) to maniacal organs during the more hypnotic moments. The special effects and gore are also at a high point for the franchise and it's evident that the film was influenced by the groundbreaking effects in The Thing, released earlier that year.

If I had to nitpick, I would say it's an idea that feels a little stretched at times and more like an anthology segment or a Tales From the Crypt episode. There's also a part of me that wants THAT music to kick in and for the shape to appear at certain points. However, on the whole, Season of the Witch is a perfect example of a horror sequel tearing up the rulebook and refusing to cower in the shadow of it's predecessors...happy, happy Halloween from the Silver Shamrock corporation!

**** 4 stars

What do you think of Halloween III? How did you feel about the absence of Michael Myers?

TMMDI Top Ten of 2014

2014 was a great year for franchises old and new, genre rooted art house and intelligent, provocotive science fiction. Many films on this list demanded repeat viewings and will linger in the mind (and eyeballs) of this reviewer for many years to come. Honourable mentions to The Guest, Dead snow 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

1. The Raid 2: Berandal

2. Godzilla

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

4. Nightcrawler

5. Under the Skin

6. The Babadook

7. Frank

8. Interstellar

9. Snowpiercer

10. Tusk

What were your favourite films of 2014?