'Season of the Witch' isn't all bad

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)
Starring: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy and Ralph Strait
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

After one of his patients is murdered, Dr. Challis (Atkins) teams with the victim's daughter (Nelkin) to solve the mystery surrounding his death. In the process, they uncover a monstrous scheme that could cost the lives of millions.


"Halloween 3: Season of the Witch" is a quirkly sci-fi/horror flick with an undeservedly bad reputation that stems from the fact that its producers--including series originator John Carpenter--had a complete different direction in mind for the Halloween series than the general public expected. After two films featuring the masked killer Michael Meyers, the public had figured on getting more of the same instead of this strange little outing.

The film's bad reputation isn't entirely undeserved, however. While the notion of modern-day witches/druids/whatever-the-hell-weirdo-pagans using mass-media and American consumer culture to conduct a human sacrificial rite on a scale never before known is an intriguing one, the its execution in the film wasn't thought all the way through. Wouldn't a simple thing like time zones thwart the Evil Masterplan? Or does the Big Giveaway happen at 9pm on the West Coast and Midnight on the East Coast? That's not really clear in the film. (The film also suffers from featuring one of the most useless and unbelievable romantic subplots ever featured in any film, anywhere. I don't usually make absolute statements like that, but I am certain that it's the case here.

Those weaknesses aside, the film is otherwise a fun, fast-paced, off-center sci-fi thriller with horror overtones. It may not challenge the intellect, but it will certainly entertain you. I'm certain this film would be held in much highter stead if it it hadn't been released under the Halloween banner. (Plus, any film that features beings who are literally "corporate drones" deserves more respect than "Season of the Witch" gets!)

"The Thing" (1982)
Star: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, and David Moffet
Director: John Carpenter
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A group of scientists cut off from the rest of the world in Antarctica must deal with an ancient creature that is capable of taking on any form it desires... and that is bent of killing them.


As I sat down ot watch this movie, it dawned on my that I've never actually John Carpenter's version of "The Thing" before. Well, I should have filled that hole in my trashy movie knowledge long ago!

"The Thing" is a text book example of a nearly perfect horror movie. If I was teaching a class in horror films, it would be required viewing and papers would have to be written on it. And it should be required viewing for ANYONE intending to write or direct a horror movie or a monster movie.

In fact, it may be a little too perfect. Because it is so exactly constructed according to the pacing and template that has evolved from "White Zombie" through "Creature from the Black Lagoon" to "Baron Blood" and Carpenter's own "Halloween", few things here surprised me. I was creeped out and shocked at a couple of times, but it pretty much delivered what I expected it to, when I expected it, and pretty much in the manner I expected it.

The one exception is what follows after one of the team members has a heart attack. While I knew something was going to happen, I did not expect what DID happen, nor where it went from there.

If you want to see an extremely well-made horror movie, check out "The Thing". It might not have brought anything new to the genre, but it's still far, far better than 90% of the films being made today.

A sequel almost as good as the original

Halloween II (1981)
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

'Halloween II" is a direct sequel to the original movie "Halloween" (which was independently produced and distributed), picking up pretty much exactly where it left off. After narrowly escaping death at the knife-wielding hands of her insane brother, Laurie is taken to the local hospital while an apparently dead Michael Myers is taken to the morgue in its basement. It quickly becomes apparent that someone was a bit hasty in declaring Myers dead—a natural mistake since Dr. Loomis had shot him six times in the chest--and soon he is stalking through the darkened hospital and sending everyone on the graveyard shift to the graveyard. Maybe Laurie won’t live to see the sun come up on November 1st after all.


The film takes place almost entirely within the Haddonfield hospital. Director Rick Rosenthal. Rosenthal successfully uses the empty, darkened hallways to evoke suspense and horror, and to eventually emphasize the isolation of Laurie as she for the second time in one night is the object of her brother’s murderous intentions.

On the acting front, we’ve got Curtis and Pleasance reprising their roles from the original “Halloween”, and they are just as good as they were before. Curtis once again strikes a perfect balance between strength and terror, and Pleasance once again excels as a man obsessed with putting an end to what he views as evil given form on Earth.

The only weak link area that’s preventing this film from being as good as the original “Halloween” is, curiously, the script. Although Carpenter and Hill wrote both, the story for “Halloween II” never really seems to build up quite the same momentum as the original movie. The middle is actually downright dull at times.

“Halloween II” is still worth watching, but a tighter script would have made it so much better. (That said, this film cost $2.5 million to make, and it made over $25 million during its initial theatrical run.)