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Event
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH & NIGHT OF THE CREEPS & THE FOG
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace, USA 98 min. 1982
With Michael Myers going up in flames at the end of 1981s HALLOWEEN II, writers/producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill decided to take the franchise away from Haddonfield to sow the seeds of Samhain elsewhere. The idea was to shift the Halloween franchise into an anthology series, with each year bringing a new and original tale set on Halloween. There was some resistance; Carpenter and Hill still maintained the creative control and enlisted Nigel Kneale, creator of the QUATERMASS series, to craft a different take on Halloween.
Mixing Celtic occultism, Stonehenge, and technological evils, the script was originally pinned for Joe Dante (THE HOWLING/GREMLINS) to direct. For whatever reason, Dante (this would be the second part III he was attached to, but didnt make, after JAWS III) dropped out and was replaced by Carpenter protege Tommy Lee Wallace. A childhood friend of Johns and fellow USC alum, Wallace worked with Carpenter on his feature debut DARK STAR and continued working with him ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (Sound editor), HALLOWEEN (Production designer/co-editor), and THE FOG (Production designer/co-editor). Originally, Wallace had been tapped to direct HALLOWEEN II, but didnt like the material. However, when Carpenter and Hill pitched him part three, Wallace immediately jumped at the chance.
With Wallace on board, movie mogul and the films distributor, Dino De Laurentiis, insisted that the script needed more gore and violence. While remaining faithful to Kneales plot, Wallace upped the nastiness and added a dose of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS to the mix. While Kneale was happy with most of the tweaks and the general direction Wallace brought to his script, he still had his name removed from the final product over the additional violence mandated by De Laurentiis.
While the story was outside the scope of the first two films, Carpenter and Hill surrounded Wallace with several familiar faces from the franchise. Cinematographer Dean Cundey, who had shot the previous two HALLOWEEN films, was brought back for the third. Carpenter and musical collaborator Alan Howarth teamed up once again for the score. And stepping into the starring role was none other than Tom Atkins.
Having previously worked with Carpenter and Hill as one of the ensemble in THE FOG and a small role in ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, Atkins stepped up to full-on leading man as Dr. Dan Challis. A flawed tough guy, ladys man, and the unlikeliest of heroes, Atkins brought a real, take-no-shit-then-pound-a-beer attitude to the role.
Challis is thrust into this tale when Harry Grimbridge, toy shop owner, shows up to his hospital clutching a pumpkin-face mask. That same mask, along with skeleton and witch versions, have been incessantly advertised on television in the countdown to Halloween. When a mysterious man shows up and murders Grimbridge in his hospital bed and then sets himself on fire, this strange series of events is only the beginning for Challis.
When Grimbridges daughter Ellie arrives, Challis joins her in a search for answers that all seem to point to the Halloween masks and their annoying jingle countdown created by Silver Shamrock Novelties. Located in Santa Mira (another nod to the BODY SNATCHERS), Silver Shamrock has turned the community into a soulless factory town overseen by the ominous specter of its owner, Conal Cochran (played with sinister glee by Dan O'Herlihy of ROBOCOP fame).
After a tour of the factory, they discover Ellies fathers car, connecting whatever happened to her father directly with Silver Shamrock. But before they can alert the authorities, Challis is captured by Cochrans security force. While trying to fight them off, he discovers that they arent human, but androids.
Once in Cochrans lair, he reveals his devious plan to Challis with a full on spectacle. On Halloween night, as the children of the world wear their Silver Shamrock masks and watch the final commercial that promises them a big giveaway, Cochran is only giving a trick instead of a treat. With the annoying jingle sonically shifting into an abrasive drone, a computer chip in the mask triggers a murderous meltdown that will sacrifice any child wearing one to resurrect the ancient age of witchcraft.
The apocalyptic techno-Paganism of HALLOWEEN III didnt connect with audiences upon its original release. The fans still craved the Michael Myers mythos. They were confused and/or angered that he only stalked the film via TV commercials interlaced between the Silver Shamrock ones on TV. The films lack of success unfortunately brought an end to the anthology format. Carpenter and enlisted writer Dennis Etchison (who also wrote the novelizations of HALLOWEEN II & III) had to come up with a treatment that would bring back Haddonfield and the ghost of Michael Myers. But the producers didnt want a ghost, they wanted Mikey in the flesh. Once Carpenter and Hill gave up their stake in the franchise, Myers was resurrected in part 4 and picked up where part 2 endedsort of.
However, time has been kind to HALLOWEEN III. There will always be the theres no Michael Myers naysayers, but over the last several years the film has found its audience. It broke the mold of franchise horror and dared to do something bold and different. With a dread inducing dark synth soundscape by Carpenter and Howarth, sharp direction by Wallace and a tour de force performance by Tom Atkins, it became its own thing. To paraphrase cinematographer Dean Cundey, if the film had dropped the HALLOWEEN and just went with SEASON OF THE WITCH, it might have become an instant cult classic.
As the Halloween season creeps closer, youd be hard-pressed not to get that Silver Shamrock jingle stuck in your head. So, get ready to put on your skull, witch or pumpkin mask, because its almost time, kids -James Branscome
Special Guests
Tom Atkins
Format
35mm
NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, Dir. Fred Dekker, USA, 88 min. 1986
The good news is your dates are here. The bad news istheyre dead. Combining 50s science fiction with Romeros zombie mythos, 80s teen comedies, and a dash of film noir, Fred Dekkers NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is joyous horror comedy with as many laughs as there are scares. Although it didnt find an audience upon its original release, Dekkers feature length debut grew in cult status thanks to home video and constant airplay on television.
Dekker cut his teeth penning the screen story for Steve Miners HOUSE and parlayed it into writing and directing his next gig. They say write what you know, and Dekker had a deep affinity for 50s horror and sci-fi. He intentionally filled CREEPS with every B-movie cliche he could think of and even pushed to shoot the entire film in black and white (only the flashbacks are in the final film).
Alien brain slugs that had fallen to earth in 1959 and had been cryogenically frozen in a dead body are accidentally unleashed in a Frat prank gone bad by pledges Chris and C.J. 27 years later. All Chris wanted to do was impress his crush Cynthia. Instead, he unleashed deadly brain parasites looking for host bodies to infest and transform into zombies.
Working the case is Detective Ray Cameron (played by Tom Atkins in a career-defining role). The frozen body brings up bad memories for Cameron, who, we learn via flashback, was there the night the space slugs landed and who lost his girlfriend to an axe-wielding maniac from a lunatic asylum.
Now, that same maniac has returned from the beyond the grave as well, along with a bus load of frat brother zombies who have ulterior motives for their college formal dates.
CREEPS works on all levels as a horror film and a comedy, but what really elevates the film and steals the show is Atkins Cameron. He whips out some of the best cynical, deadpan one-liners of all-time, along with his iconic catchphrase Thrill me, which also acts as the films mantra.
So, why not crack one open and enjoy NIGHT OF THE CREEPS? Because its Miller time. -James Branscome
Special Guests
Tom Atkins
Format
35mm
THE FOG, Dir. John Carpenter, USA, 89 min. 1980
With the phenomenal success of HALLOWEEN, writer/director John Carpenter and producer/director Debra Hill were sought after for their next horror project. Many studios and producers came knocking, but it was Avco Embassy Pictures president, Bob Rehme, who reeled them in. Rehme had transformed the once-floundering production company by shifting focus to lower-budget genre films. Having found success with William Girdlers THE MANITOU and Don Coscarellis PHANTASM, Avco seemed to be the perfect place for Carpenter and Hill.
Working with a much higher, although still modest budget, Carpenter and Hill decided to move away from the stalk and slash frights of HALLOWEEN into what they called an old fashioned ghost story. THE FOG was intended to be more of a throwback to the atmospheric horror of yore than the ever-growing stream of blood and splatter films unspooling on the drive-in circuit.
Carpenter and Hill set their tale in the fictional seaside town of Antonio Bay, which is preparing to celebrate its centennial. But the towns anniversary has a dark secret attached. Its six founders plundered and sank the ship of Blake, a wealthy man suffering from leprosy, and used his money to found the town. As the centennial looms, strange events occur at the stroke of midnight while a creepy bed of fog envelops the town. When three fishermen mysteriously turn up dead on their boat, it becomes apparent that more than spooky occurrences have washed in from the sea.
Besides the ghosts in the story, Carpenter and Hill sought an ensemble to hold its own against the paranormal terrors. Jamie Lee Curtis returned, playing the polar opposite of her Laurie Strode persona from HALLOWEEN as Elizabeth Solley, a free spirited hitchhiker and artist. Having capitalized on the fact that Curtis mother was the star of PSYCHO with Halloween, Carpenter and Hill upped the ante by casting Janet Leigh as Antonio Bays mayor, thus uniting mother and daughter on the silver screen.
Veteran actor Hal Holbrook was enlisted to play Father Malone, one of the descendents of the six founders of Antonio Bay. Moving out of television and into film was Tom Atkins, who took on the role of Nick Castle (named after Carpenters friend who played the Shape in HALLOWEEN and would go to direct THE LAST STARFIGHTER), a rugged no-nonsense everyman. And in her big screen debut as Stevie Wayne, the late night rDJ and voice of Antonio Bay from the lighthouse radio station, was Adrienne Barbeau.
Filling out the cast was exploitation film workhorses Buck Flower and John Goff, Carpenter regulars Charles Cyphers and Nancy Loomis, and Ty Mitchell as Stevie Waynes son.
With the upped production value, a solid cast, and cinematographer Dean Cundey once again lensing the film, it came as a bit of a shock to Carpenter and Hill when they watched the rough cut of the film, which just didnt work. The scares werent scary enough and although it was originally intended to be more restrained, they needed to up the gore too.
Learning from their mistakes, Carpenter and Hill reshot about a third of the film and brought in actor John Houseman for an added prologue, where he tells the legend of Antonio Bay around a campfire. With the film beefed up, with more special effects by a young Rob Bottin and Carpenter composing one of his eeriest scores, THE FOG was another hit.
While it didnt kick off a plethora of spooky ghost films in the way that HALLOWEEN birthed subsequent slashers, THE FOG remains an effective and creepy horror yarn by the sea.-
James Branscome.
Special Guests
Tom Atkins
Format
DCP
ALL SALES FINAL: NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES
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LocationAmerican Cinematheque - Egyptian Theater (View)
6712 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
United States
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