Just one year after part 2 comes this unrelated sequel that
gets a lot of shit for no reason other than the fact that Michael Myers is
nowhere to be found within.
John Carpenter, director of the original and co-writer of
the second, decided that since Myers was killed off he would keep the franchise
going by releasing a Halloween themed movie every October. It turns out that
when the masses found out that The Shape wouldn’t be in this installment they
stayed away completely and the film tanked. In the 30 years since this has
become a bit of a cult classic and for good reason.
The story revolves around Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins), who
witnesses the brutal murder of a patient under his care that was clutching a
Halloween mask for dear life, by a man with extraordinary strength. He
investigates the murder on his own and discovers a conspiracy to kill all the
children on the planet on Halloween night through the use of booby trapped Halloween masks.
It sounds a little silly and it is. I still find it very
entertaining regardless. Sure it’s improbable in the extreme and takes a trip
through a cheese factory on multiple occasions, but the main plot about the
elimination of the world’s children via something as innocent as Halloween
masks is really creepy and is shown at one point to be extremely horrific and
gruesome. There are buckets of gore thrown around here too, from ripped open
skulls to mutilated faces, but since it’s not part of the Michael Myers mythos
it doesn’t bother me so much.
The cast is decent, with Tom Atkins pulling out all the
stops as Dr. Challis. He’s a likable actor and it comes through in his work
here. We root for him as he uncovers all the goofy plot devices surrounding
him. The rest of the cast is lackluster in the extreme. I have a feeling that
they didn’t like the subject matter and just phoned it in. Even veteran actor
Dan O’Herlihy, who plays the villain with plans to commit mass murder, seems
disinterested in the material.
Director Tommy Lee Wallace doesn’t have much in the way of
visual flair, but he does what he can with the material his old pal Carpenter
gave him and somehow makes it work. It also has a great ending. It’s not a
classic by any means, but it’s a fun and silly film that I get a kick out of
repeatedly.
Now if only I can get that damned Silver Shamrock jingle out
of my head… “8 more days ‘til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. 8 more days ‘til
Halloween. Silver Shamrock!”
3 out of 5
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