It's been said before, but John Carpenter didn't intend for the Halloween series to be only about masked killers stalking Jamie Lee Curtis. It was supposed to be an anthology, but the backers wanted more Myers. Halloween III was supposed to be a change in direction and a change to leave Myers and Loomis behind, but the box office said otherwise.
On October 23rd, salesman Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) rushes into a gas station. He's being chased by a group of silent men in business suits, but he's focused more on the Silver Shamrock jack-o-lantern mask in his hands. The attendant (Essex Smith) drops him off at a nearby hospital, unaware of the group still following.
Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) is the resident doctor. He's your typical hard drinking divorcee late nighter. He's sober enough to see the panicking Grimbridge sedated. One of the silent men enters the slumbering man's room and crushes his head. The man then quietly gets in his car and sets himself on fire.
Challis is freaked out, so with Harry's daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelken) he sets out to retrace the older man's last steps. Their investigation leads them to the quaint California hamlet of Santa Mira. The whole town is based around the Silver Shamrock Novelties, run by the enigmatic Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy). Cochran has invited several top novelty salesfolk to the town, promising something special. The entire factory has been focused on churning out Halloween masks, and with the ever present commercial playing on all channels, it looks like almost kid in America is going to be wearing one.
That's the gag, as Cochran, with the help of the stolen Stonehenge, has a nasty trick in mind. He's a traditionalist, you see, and the modern celebration of Halloween to him is just kids begging for candy. He wants a return to the good old days, a day when the dead walked along the living and the gods could only be appeased by a sacrifice. Since it's been so long since there has been an offering, and with a harmonic convergence happening, well...it's going to have to be a rather large sacrifice.
Different, and a matched departure from the slasher rules. Atkins is wonderful as the lead, as an every man facing against something so monstrous it staggers the mind. O'Herlihy gives a wonderful turn as Cochran. He's pleasant and yet manages to make every line count.
No comments:
Post a Comment