HALLOWEEN III:
SEASON OF THE WITCH
Too little, too late
I'll give 'em credit for trying something different, even though it's an installment too late and the movie doesn't add up to much.
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch concerns a nasty corporate exec (Dan O'Herlihy, setting the mold for his future role as The Old Man in the first two Robocop movies) who wants to put a big razor blade in America's collective Halloween apple. Trying to piece together the mystery of what this guy and his company, Silver Shamrock, is up to is drunk doctor Tom Atkins, and some chick who tags along to find out what happened to her father (Stacey Nelkin).
The plot is at once incredibly nasty and yet very silly. The Body Snatchers movies and The Stepford Wives are mixed together to make for a rather ludicrous aspect of the film, with which nothing at all is done. One character turns out to be an automaton, but only reveals this fact when the movie needs to drag things out for the required battle between man and machine (and this battle goes on for a long, long time). And the conclusion gives us the same bit of nonsense that we would see at the end of They Live - are we to believe that one puny transmitter/station serves the entire country?
Despite the massively nasty, doomy setup, the tone of the film seems kind of slight - there's not any comic relief to speak of, but this feels like such a slight effort that any attempt at suspense just kind of withers away, and the attempted shocks are ludicrously pedestrian. (such as the numerous scenes where the casual, walk-on appearance of a guy who looks on ominously is combined with a "stinger" to make one jump)
The cast, however, is mostly quite good. Nelkin doesn't make much of an impression, but Atkins has fun with his role, leaving us to wonder just how it is that he gets all these women (he's got to be the worst excuse for a romantic leading man I've ever seen). O'Herlihy's obviously having a ball. He gets dialogue which isn't memorable line for line, but is great fun to watch him deliver, particularly when he mixes joy and anger while revealing his motivation. (I also liked his staunch refusal to elaborate when O'Herlihy, referring to a giant piece of Stonehenge, says "We had a fun time getting it here. You wouldn't believe how we did it!") Watch also for Nancy Loomis as Atkins' ex-wife (although I've never seen her look worse), and if you're sharp-eyed, Joshua Miller (the androgynous Homer from Near Dark) as Atkins' spoiled brat. And you've gotta love that ending! And you've gotta love even more the scene where the annoying kid gets just what we're all wishing on him!
John Carpenter's involvement in this film appears to be minimal - he gets credit for some of the score (with Alan Howarth) and as a producer. The movie was written and directed by Carpenter protégé Tommy Lee Wallace.
Somehow, the "Silver Shamrock" theme song got widely enough heard that it became a jingle known to just about everybody I've ever met, despite very few of them actually having seen this movie. It's also referred to thrice on Helloween albums (love that band!).
Anyway, the movie flopped, much to Carpenter's dismay, who expressed some disgust toward the fans who presumably wanted another Michael Myers movie. I dunno - I have to admire the good intentions here, but it's just not a very good movie, and even the intentions look misplaced when one appreciates just how much better part 4 was. The title was most certainly a mistake; the word "Halloween" should have been worked in there, but not as "Halloween III". But, like I've said before, hindsight is a useless, nagging bitch.