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Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Review | Cult Halloween Horror Movie | Half Hour of Horror Podcast
31 Plays7 months ago
The frights you forgot - revisited in half an hour.
In this episode of Half Hour of Horror, the horror film podcast from Love Horror, we revisit Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), the most unusual and controversial entry in the Halloween franchise.
Unlike the other films in the series, Halloween III: Season of the Witch famously removed Michael Myers entirely, replacing the masked slasher with a sinister conspiracy involving cursed Halloween masks, ancient witchcraft and corporate evil. The result was a bizarre blend of 80s horror, science fiction and occult terror that baffled audiences on release but has since become a genuine cult horror classic.
More than forty years later, we take another look at Halloween III: Season of the Witch to ask whether this strange detour in the Halloween franchise deserves its growing reputation among horror fans.
In this horror podcast episode you’ll get:
• A spoiler-filled synopsis of Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
• Our honest horror movie review and discussion
• Behind-the-scenes trivia and production facts about the film
• The story behind why this entry broke away from the Michael Myers slasher formula
• Connections to other Halloween films and related 1980s cult horror movies
• Our final verdict and horror rating out of 5
Plus bonus content: a special “Three-quels” Halloween Quiz celebrating third entries in horror franchises.
If you enjoy horror podcasts, cult horror movies and deep dives into 1980s genre cinema, this episode explores why Halloween III: Season of the Witch has become one of the most fascinating cult entries in horror history.
Half Hour of Horror is a horror movie podcast presented by Love Horror, the UK’s home for horror reviews, interviews and features.
Subscribe now for new horror podcast episodes revisiting classic horror films, forgotten gems and cult favourites from across the genre.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Half Hour of Horror is back again, back again, back again. Half Hour of Horror puts your friends wrong. Love
00:00:28
Speaker
Welcome to Half Hour of Horror presented by Love Horror. This is the podcast where we revisit the frights that you forgot and we forgot to review on Love Horror. Everyone forgot. Which we're talking about them now. classic horror film at a time.
00:00:45
Speaker
Yeah.
Meet the Hosts & Halloween Special
00:00:46
Speaker
My name's Tom Atkinson and I'm joined by... Alex Humphrey. Yes, I'm here too. It's funny when you do that. And we've got a bit of a special bit of a special episode ah given a certain time of year's fast approaching. Yeah, it's the season. It's a spooky season. It is the season. Season of the witch, you could call it. Season of the witch, indeed. The best season of year.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. In this episode, talking about,
Discussion on 'Halloween 3: Season of the Witch'
00:01:14
Speaker
of course, the... ah Seasonal supernatural horror film from 1982 that is Halloween 3, Season of the Witch.
00:01:22
Speaker
Exactly. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. How do you feel about this film? are your memories of this one? Oh, God. I don't know when I... I can't remember when I must have first seen it. I think...
00:01:34
Speaker
For me, because i saw it so I saw it quite a long time ago, but there were still quite a few Halloween films at that point. I didn't watch it when it first came out. So you you still probably had Halloween 4 and 5, maybe a bit more than that.
00:01:48
Speaker
So obviously it kind of shocked me at first because I'm sure as we'll get into, it's such a departure. ah So you're a bit at first, you're just a bit like, what?
00:01:59
Speaker
And then um but then actually, like once I kind of got into it, I i really loved it. I really like it. It's a it's a film that I really enjoy. ah think um like, you know, we said, like, if you listen to the last episode, we were like, oh, these are all stone cold classics and stuff like that.
00:02:16
Speaker
kind of looking at the backgrounds of this, there' are probably some people out there who don't like this. like I don't know, and maybe we're a bit different to other people
Personal Memories of Halloween 3
00:02:24
Speaker
there. There may be some people that are some haters of Halloween 3.
00:02:27
Speaker
But no, I'm a huge fan. I really like it. um And again, we'll get into it. But what it kind of represents what was this kind of like the idea of what could have been ah find that really interesting and kind of you know i like that a lot but how about you what was your first can you remember your first halloween three experience funny enough like as as you said i um actually i obviously didn't see it in the cinema thankfully even i do look probably old enough to have seen in the cinema i
00:03:02
Speaker
not quite um but yeah my first memories of it i think were probably seeing it on tv and and from around the same time that i would see the fog so it'd be like late night on tv yeah around the autumn so definitely yeah kind of associate it with my childhood when i was probably a bit too young to be watching this stuff oh yeah and watching it on dark nights on my own.
00:03:27
Speaker
And weirdly, i think, but you know, without but saying too much about how I feel about this film, because I do have a bit of a nostalgic link to it for a couple of reasons. But I think the reason why I don't have the issue with it that a lot of other people do is because I think I saw this first.
00:03:48
Speaker
So I don't think I knew Michael Myers existed Wow. Before I saw this film.
Nostalgia in Film Discovery
00:03:53
Speaker
Interesting. So I think I saw it without even knowing what it was called. So must have seen it out once or twice. thought, oh, this is ah crazy film. Yeah.
00:04:01
Speaker
And then afterwards found out it was part of a bigger franchise. I think that's the, I think people, if you're younger, you might not be able understand this, but when there were just less TV channels and there wasn't, you know, you have stuff on VHS, obviously, but.
00:04:15
Speaker
or DVD, but but when there weren't that many channels, you could just stumble onto to things like this. You could just be like, change the channel on, probably to BBC Two or Channel Four is probably going to be, isn't it?
00:04:27
Speaker
And then just be like maybe 10 minutes into a film like this and just be like, oh, whoa, what's this? And then watch it and just be like, what the hell was that? Like, what? I don't... And you... Because it's just on, you just have to sit and watch it. You can't be like, pause, rewind, fast forward the ads or anything. You're just going to just sit there and watch the whole thing through.
00:04:45
Speaker
And in a way, I kind of, think it's kind of that randomness of what can be on is kind of been missed a little bit, I think maybe. Like it's good that we can get access to all this stuff and especially like all this world cinema within horror, you know, that you can see horror films from all these countries. That's amazing. That's great.
00:05:04
Speaker
And classics. You can get them now. It's available. You can find them. But stumbling on, you can't really stumble onto films as much maybe. I don't know if it's as easy to just be like,
00:05:15
Speaker
blindly be like, oh, I'm just going to watch, I don't know what this is, I'll just watch it, and then be like, really like, whoa, like that's, I think you can't do that so much anymore, so um yeah, I don't know, mean, maybe there's a way to do it, I don't know. And I think films had to, in those days, I think they sort of had to have that sort of um element to them to capture you in yeah exactly for that yeah because um you would have just changed channels oh hell yeah yeah been totally wasted but yeah this must have on more than one occasion sort of come on and i must have thought yeah just been glued to it probably because a lot of it revolves around children and i was obviously a kid at the time it's true found it a bit like
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's kind of got that vibe to it, isn't it? It's weird. it doesn't it is a You feel maybe a bit more like it. It's one of those films that is, it's not that it's aimed at kids but because it revolves around children and like, especially like what like the masks and like who that's being aimed at. It kind of does have a the ah more of a child focus without there being kind of a kid character in it.
00:06:19
Speaker
Like sometimes there is in these films, but yeah. Yeah. So before we get into it too much more, what one thing I was going to quickly say about it, when were talking about people being divided about this film, it was obviously the film that though John Carpenter said he ah did like it to Tommy Lee Wallace, who he handed the reins over to for this one.
00:06:40
Speaker
um It was the last time he was involved in a Halloween film, ah John Carpenter, until 2018. So think it says quite a lot about... Yeah. No, no, no, I agree with you there....backed away afterwards. so Yeah. No, I agree with that.
Halloween 3's Unique Approach
00:06:54
Speaker
No, I do agree with that. Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? you see I think, yeah, that the how this film... yeah it's one of the few...
00:07:03
Speaker
Like if you look at kind of all the classic franchises like Freddy, like Jason, jasonson like you know Final Destination, Scream, all of these things, these these classic franchises, they may have kind of wibbled and wobbled around, but they're kind of sticking in the same on the same theme, same characters.
00:07:23
Speaker
This is one of the few that just goes a bit batshit over another direction. in this really interesting way. And then, okay, that didn't, that wasn't what we stuck on, but it does do it.
00:07:36
Speaker
And I think that kind of bravery should be rewarded. Like say, there's some haters out there, but the bravery of what they were trying to do or what they were thinking could have been, could have happened. That's, that's worth something I think. But,
00:07:48
Speaker
Hey, is it our tributes before we start the clock? I was going to say, yeah, before we really kick off, should we do tributes? Would you like to first? I would like to go first. so I've got two tributes. Wouldn't it be weird if we've got the same tribute? I don't think we have. Well, no here's my first tribute. far It's my Silver Shamrock Novelties t-shirt.
00:08:10
Speaker
Is it actually from Centimero? Yes. Did go there? Actually, I went there. went there and I bought this. And then my second, I just have to i have to take my headphones off for this. too
00:08:22
Speaker
No way. What's this? A different T-shirt. Oh, what? It's a... quick change. It's a double whammy. It's a double whammy t-shirts. Look at that. Look at that. I don't know.
00:08:35
Speaker
These were designed by someone extremely talented, um who may or may not be taking part in this podcast and isn't me. I don't know if these are still available. They were available.
00:08:45
Speaker
They might still be available. If they are still available somewhere, then we will be sure to share the link. But yeah, this especially is like, look at that. But yeah, look at that. So good. And the other one, I love that. So I've had that. So that silver shamrock t-shirt weirdly gets me quite a lot of attention. I think, I think people think like it's some Irish bar or something. I think people who don't know what it is just think I'm wearing like a leprechaun t-shirt or like a, like, Oh, he must be Irish or he likes Guinness. So I think people misinterpret what it is.
00:09:18
Speaker
um which I'm all right with if that gets me some attention. think weirdly the Silver Shamrock merch does see spikes in sales up around St. Patrick's Day, which is a bit, that sort of leads to that as well. A brilliant misinterpretation of what it's all about. I love that. Yeah, definitely didn't come from the factory. No, no. What's yours? What's your tribute? I've got a t-shirt on. This isn't my tribute. I've got a t-shirt on. And it's obviously not Halloween 3. No. So that's a bit depressing.
00:09:46
Speaker
It's Halloween. And, but weirdly, and we'll come to it a little bit, this does feature in the film. Yeah, i was going to say. Coincidentally. Sort of. At least it looks like this scene to me. Yeah, it does. Here's my actual tribute. Hold on You're going to be excited.
00:10:00
Speaker
like Okay. Okay. I'm confused. What? oh Is it? Whoa. Is that like the actual? is it? Oh, it's version. For the people who can't hear it at home, this is a bucket that is in the style of the pumpkin mask.
00:10:17
Speaker
And
Plot & Themes Analysis
00:10:18
Speaker
if we look at the back... God, it has the little badge on it. It's not Silver Shamrock. It's actually Don Post who made original. Oh, it's the proper. Yeah, because it's the mask. Yeah, it was him that made it. Yeah, because ah the wasn't it that the it's the two of them originally, they had two of them already and then they made the one of them extra.
00:10:36
Speaker
Exactly, yeah. So Don Post, not only did Don Post, um they already had the witch and the skull masks in production before this film came out. yeah And ah Tommy Lee Wallace went to Don Post for help with the masks in this film because...
00:10:53
Speaker
Gasp, shock, horror. It's also Don Post who did the Captain Kirk mask, which they use for the shape in Halloween. Yeah. um And then then they commissioned this third mask, especially for the film.
00:11:06
Speaker
So that was in addition to the one that was already in production. Wow. And then they actually kept them on sale. Wow. Including this one. But this isn't a mask, obviously. this is ah You'd have to put it on upside down. Halloween bucket thing. They them on sale and made a load of money out of selling them off the back of the film, even though the film didn't do that well. I mean, I can't. I mean, I know we're going to get to it, but I don't.
00:11:31
Speaker
Oh, yes. Some awesome, lovely. I've got some sweets in there. Yeah, good. That's good. That's what you need. I'm not sure you want to hear that. It's a funny, like, and I will get to it. um And I'll say, because we didn't do this last time, there's going to be spoilers. So if you've not seen Halloween three season, in the witch, you want to go see it.
00:11:47
Speaker
You can maybe, ah let let me say my, so I've tried to make the synopsis a safe zone. But then, so my synopsis is kind of safe, but I think past that, we're probably going to be talking spoilers. So it's just a warning out there.
00:12:00
Speaker
But I will say that this is one of those films where I cannot imagine an adult watching this film and being like, oh, you know what I'll buy my kids that mask. Like that feels kind of mucked up to me. But I mean, I would want that mask. So, you know, I want it. so Yeah, yeah, exactly. once Once you've seen this film, yeah, even the kids that might have accidentally seen it or or, you know, snuck in or why they would want to go out and get this mask. I have no idea.
00:12:27
Speaker
um do you think Do you think we should start the time now? yeah what' the Yeah. Is there anything else we wanted to do to introduce it? Should we introduce the film more is it more? Is it worth us talking a little bit about the origins of it before we dive in? Yeah. don't know. I mean, I think that'd be within the timer. I think we'll get, I think we'll get to that. I think we'll get to that within the time. Okay. If anything else, if anything, the, the links could come out of the timer.
00:12:50
Speaker
If we get to go, should they get to put, okay. What's, um, Hey, what's the, the noise going to be? What's the, what's our alert? So exactly. If you listened to the last episode, you'd have heard that the Blair witch had actually come in to, to the studio.
00:13:06
Speaker
ah you, if that's what you'd call this. Yeah. area that I'm sitting in at the moment. yeah um and And did the the the noise for us for the countdown. This time, Tom Atkins, wow star of Halloween three season, yeah which came along.
00:13:20
Speaker
And ah when the time runs out, the 30 minute time that we're going to yeah set ourselves to talk about the film, this is what we're going to hear. ah running Stop it, please. For God's sake, please stop it. There's no more time.
00:13:31
Speaker
There we go. That is brilliant. good That is brilliant. and That is well done. Yeah. Thanks Tom. Yeah. and the watch you so okay Well, I guess actually the one thing I should step say is if you've stumbled upon this podcast and you've not listened to the Blair Witch one or our little intro podcast and you don't know what the hell we're doing or what we're talking about.
00:13:51
Speaker
um Yeah. I guess a little brief overview is that as Tom said, we're going to, take a deep dive into some classic horrors. ah But how we do it, the gimmick, if if it's a gimmick, I don't know, it is a gimmick, is we only talk about them for half an hour. So all this stuff, that doesn't count.
00:14:07
Speaker
But the actual discussion of the film, we will set ourselves a time, we'll give give ourselves half an hour to talk about it. And then you'll hear Tom Atkins making us stop. telling us to god damn yeah so if you do feel it a bit short changed because you're only listening to this because it's called half hour of horror and actually it's 50 minutes long yeah that's why it is it is kind of justified yeah we yeah it's just at the same time we apologize yeah our last episode ran over but we do go on a bit yeah it's all good okay well ready i'm ready i'm ready for you to start the clock okay so i'm start the clock guys okay
00:14:42
Speaker
And we're going. Good. hit Okay, right. So here is your synopsis. Northern California, October, Saturday the 23rd. And every kid has gone crazy for a trio of Halloween masks made by Silver Shamrock Novelties.
00:14:57
Speaker
As their catchy advert plays on TVs across the country, a simple shop owner is chased by a sinister suited man and ends up in hospital and under the care of Dr. Daniel Chalice, played by Tom Atkins.
00:15:10
Speaker
muttering, potentious, doom-ridden ramblings to Dr. Chalice, the old man has his head crushed and his silent assailant calmly sets fire to himself in a car. Simultaneously shaken up and intrigued by the events, Chalice teams up with the violently departed daughter, Ellie Grimberge, played by Stacey Nelkin, and the pair start up an investigation that leads them straight to Silverbox Shamrock's factory and into a nightmare neither of them could imagine.
00:15:38
Speaker
There you go. So I think that captivates the read. It really sets the scene. Sets the scene. I felt like I was watching it again. As well, yeah. No, they're really good. There's my intro. yeah So, I mean, I love the way it starts off. It's a great, no, it's brilliant. mean, i like I said, haven't watched this for a really long time.
00:15:57
Speaker
And I'd completely forgotten. and i'd completely forgotten. Well, number one, first off, you've got the brilliant titles. which are like this kind of computer printout, aren't they, of the pumpkin. Yeah, it's really retro, like a retro TV. likes Yeah, it's really, really, it's really retro. It's also a beautiful kind of um callback to the original Halloween where you saw the close-ups of the pumpkins and stuff. So you've kind of yeah you're kind of giving, its what what so as as we said, what what we're saying what we're saying here is this is Halloween, this is linked, but this is something different.
00:16:33
Speaker
So, you know, and that was always, wasn't it? That was John Carpenter's idea was that he didn't want to carry on with the Michael Myers story. He was finished with that and that he saw ah Halloween, which is the first title, as an anthology series where every new film would be a different story and they would all be set on Halloween.
00:16:51
Speaker
And that is just such a brilliant idea. It's a perfect idea. And it would have, I think it would have had this done better. I think if that had been the concept of Halloween films, that you could literally, you know, every year, a couple of years, there'd be a new Halloween film, maybe a different director, different writer, and they would all be set on Halloween, but they would be telling different stories, sometimes maybe linked, sometimes not linked. I don't know. But I just... That...
00:17:20
Speaker
I love that idea. And that is kind of one of the reasons why I love this because I think the bravery to just say, you know, the bravery to say we've done these two films that have kind of basically redefined the genre of slasher films. They've made tons of money. People love them.
00:17:35
Speaker
And then just to kind of have the the guts to say, i don't want to do that anymore, but I will carry on, but in a
Character & Soundtrack Discussion
00:17:40
Speaker
different way. I think that's just such a, You know, I mean, John Carpenter is a legend anyway, but like that he had that idea.
00:17:47
Speaker
Definitely. ah think sadly, i think, and and no offense John Carpenter and Deborah Hill, of course, who who both have legendary status in my mind. Yeah. I think unfortunately it was doing the second Halloween yeah with Michael Myers in that threw everyone. Yeah.
00:18:05
Speaker
That then became what everyone was going to expect, which I think was a lot of the knee-jerk rejection of this film when it came out. Weirdly, I think if they'd if they'd done Halloween, as as it did in 1978, if they'd made The Fog, Halloween 2, The Fog, and then this, Halloween 3, Season of the Witch, that maybe that would have been a bit more of a different... Yeah, definitely.
00:18:30
Speaker
John Carpenter, if you're out there, you know, little idea. A bit late, but yeah. No, no, no, no, definitely. No, I didn't think about it that way. But yeah, definitely. I mean, I think it's... And I love as well, it starts and ends in the petrol station as well. Yeah.
00:18:43
Speaker
No, that's brilliant. No, that's great. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah. So after you've had that kind of printout and you get this... I mean, the soundtrack's great. It's a John Carpenter soundtrack. It's a great soundtrack. It's exactly the kind of synth-y 80s classic Carpenter vibes that you want.
00:18:57
Speaker
um But yeah, as I say, it's that... that the fact that it it does say Saturday, October, Saturday, the 23rd. And the fact that the set up that you, this film is called Halloween.
00:19:08
Speaker
We're at the 23rd. So we know now that there's a ticking clock. There's like, we know there's a countdown. Obviously something's going to happen on Halloween. We don't know what yet. but we've been given the date that it is today.
00:19:21
Speaker
So we're obviously going to be moving forward in time and what is going to happen. I think that's a really good that's a really good way of like telling the story that you know that the the Halloween is coming, as it were, and something's going to happen on that Halloween.
00:19:33
Speaker
And yeah, as you say, that opening, it's really... ah interestingly the opening is is quite reminiscent of halloween of michael myers isn't it i mean he's it's a guy running it's dark he's being stalked the other the the figure of the suited you know those suit guys they just kind of they just stand don't they they're very robotic they're very emotionless they're very like yeah they just kind of seem to be there you see the shape every now and again yeah exactly following on yeah yeah they just kind of appear don't they and i think it's um
00:20:06
Speaker
I think that that is almost like I say, I think with the beginning of this, the film is almost trying to ease you in. Like it's kind of like trying to say, look, this isn't Halloween, but we know you've kind of shown up for Michael Myers and and Jamie Lee Curtis. But we'll give you a bit of that. But this isn't really what we're doing, but we'll give you a little bit to get going.
00:20:25
Speaker
um And yeah, I think it's bloody good, though. It's a great opening. Yeah, no, it's a lovely opening. And then we're introduced, obviously, to ah Dr. Dan Chalice, played by Tom Atkins, who's just like, on top everything else, is just like the biggest player in the world. Yeah.
00:20:43
Speaker
I didn't want to get to that, but yeah, he is. i mean, he absolutely is. We've got to be very careful. ah that We can't glorify it because now his his behavior is not really the sort of thing that's politically no correct anymore.
00:20:56
Speaker
But he he goes to see his kids um because he's with his ah wife that he's divorced from. Yeah, he's definitely split up from his wife. Yeah, that's definitely gone badly wrong.
00:21:06
Speaker
So he's kind of not not a great dad and she's all, you know, you're late and you're rubbish. And then ah then he's, at one point, he's smacking his nurse's behind.
00:21:17
Speaker
don't know if you saw that. No, did see that. And and then and then the coroner, isn't it the coroner? He's like trying to off of the coroner woman who kisses. Yeah. like Yeah. a lot and Now he's talking about going out to dinner with her. And then obviously then you also have the, the, the, his partner in the, in the adventure.
00:21:37
Speaker
Yeah. What's the name? Ellie, Ellie Grimbridge. Yes. The daughter of the, of the dead dad. guy Yeah. Although and um I don't, like I say, I agree with you. you shouldn't be glorified and it is, it is, ah but I do, think there is a kind of purpose to his character.
00:21:55
Speaker
Because I think at the beginning, he is such a crappy dad. And like, you know, so again, and another brilliant thing. Another brilliant thing is that very quickly we're introduced to Silver Shamrock.
00:22:09
Speaker
You've got the TV advert playing the the the genius of the little jingle, the eight more days to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, eight more days to Halloween, Silver Shamrock.
00:22:23
Speaker
Did it for you there. um the The genius of that. It's a great little theme. And it plays throughout the whole film. It keeps coming up. And it's so number one. Again, it gives you this real kind of like there's something going on, but you don't really understand what's going on. But it's also it's also really, again, this film works very well now because the kind of crazes that people have now, which are much more prevalent because of social media and because of the internet, there were crazes that just pop up.
00:22:51
Speaker
and just seem to be everywhere and then just seem to disappear. And this is, this has that feeling of like, there's this craze, everyone's obsessed with these masks, all the kids want them. Um, but like going back to his character, I think he is a bit of a deadbeat dad. I mean, he literally, he literally lies to to go on this investigation doesn't he ring and go, oh, yeah, no, I can't come and pick the kids up. I've got to do this other thing. I've got go to a conference or something. And it's absolute nonsense. And actually he's just going off with the young woman who's 18. He's on a bloody Scooby-Doo mystery. Like he's not really got a reason.
00:23:23
Speaker
but does he Does he care about the mystery or is he more interested in exactly some company with this very young woman? Exactly. I agree with you there as well. and But what i think how I think this character pays out is that by the end of the film, he realizes what the hell is going on and he has this horrible realization that this is actually going to affect his children.
00:23:48
Speaker
And in a way, he kind of pays... And children everywhere. And children everywhere, but he kind of pays the price for being this kind of deadbeat dad. like I think it makes the the ending kind of more horrific that he suddenly has this revelation of like...
00:24:02
Speaker
oh my God, what the hell of, like, I can't stop this, which is skipping to the end. But like, I think that's the payout on how this character is, definitely. But yeah. Talking about the song, actually, was just going to say that, did you know that the song, I'm not entirely sure if the singing itself, but definitely the bit, you know, when it's, hey kids. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. The big giveaway. That's Tommy Lee Wallace who does voiceover. Oh really?
00:24:32
Speaker
Oh, that's funny. No, I didn't know that. That's great. Yeah. he also did the voiceover for, can you remember ah Stevie Wayne in The Fog? Oh, yeah. Because he works on The Fog as well. Yeah. When she's listening to the um trailers for the radio show.
00:24:48
Speaker
yeah. Yeah. The tape starts going of weird and it's like, you're listening to KM, whatever it is. and That's him as well. He's got a great voice. That's him as well. Wow. yeah So that's why that's why apparently like he did that and he ended up doing lots of voiceover
Deeper Themes & Antagonist
00:25:02
Speaker
bits. Yeah, he's got a great voice. It's great.
00:25:04
Speaker
It's a great advert. He's a director. He wrote it. well yeah Well, there's lots of people seem to write yeah lots of people seem to write it, it seemed to me. Yeah. Well, so it was a Nigel Neill, um, originally, uh, idea.
00:25:17
Speaker
yeah I think most of it, the whole, uh, magic meets, uh, the electronic age was the, yeah the idea. And so Nigel Neill, Quatermass, uh, the writer of Quatermass films, which you know a hell of a lot more about than me. great yeah I think Joe Dante was going to originally yes yeah direct this.
00:25:37
Speaker
And it was him who said he wanted Nigel Neill on board. Yeah. Um, Joe Dante ended up leaving cause he was getting involved in, uh, Twilight Zone, the movie instead to drop this for that.
00:25:51
Speaker
And then, um, after Nigel Neill didn't really like the direction it was going in when they wanted to introduce more of the gore and sort of horrible stuff. And Nigel Neill, I think had been a bit burnt by Hollywood and stuff anyway.
00:26:02
Speaker
He had a bit of a strop. And then went Left the film altogether, basically took his name off it. But I think from what I heard and read, Tommy Lee Wallace is down as a writer of it. But really, essentially, it's not that different.
00:26:18
Speaker
I mean, you know, screenplay, the way things happen and script-wise, then yeah. But i think the story's essentially. That's funny, isn't it? same It does happen. I can see that does happen, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah Already, yeah, objected to the kind of gore of it and stuff like that.
00:26:32
Speaker
I mean, it is is quite nasty. I mean, this again, this opening, so when when the old guy gets killed and then the the the guy, the suit, just sits in his car and just sets himself on fire. It is quite it's quite shocking. Like, it's it is the kind of, I think the horror in this, the gore in this is a bit more shocking than you think. It's more...
00:26:52
Speaker
visceral it's more like definitely it kind of like you're just like whoa what the hell like it it kind of like it shakes you a bit more than something say like halloween or like a slasher film that kind of it doesn't it's not like that it's more weird the violence and the gore is more weird the in this definitely It's weird, isn't it? Because although you should be sort of, although, yeah, it's it's best if you do see this as a standalone as as it's not really connected to the other two films, you can see, again, why it was a bit jarring for people because, yeah, ah Halloween 1 and 2, you didn't get up close to the no the sort of gore as much as you do in these films, really. No, definitely not.
00:27:32
Speaker
No. And also you had no kids die the first two films, whereas all the kids are going to die in this one. Yes. always like everything is different. like yeah the All the rules have changed. Do you I mean? Yeah. And I think as well with this, it's more of a, I think this, the set up quite quickly as you get into the plot of it, this is more, it's not a slasher film. It's kind of a supernatural mystery.
00:27:53
Speaker
It kind of starts playing out like a kind of procedural, you know, they're on an investigation, you know, they're looking into this, they're trying to find out. she's she's got the information on his dad went to the factory to buy these and then it's like oh we should go to the factory and they go to the town and like it follows this kind of procedural route of like uncovering the mystery behind what's going on so it's and it goes like that but then it i think what's brilliant is it just kind of turns it up and up and up and up and by the end of it it's so insane like what's actually happening and what the plot or the actual plan that that you know the um
00:28:28
Speaker
cochran has like the you know the what silver shamrock are really doing is so mental and that you're just kind of like what the hell so where you've started from you're just by the end of it it's just it's just mental and like and as you say i mean one of the cleverest bits um which is a bit of a i mean it's a bit of a fu to halloween lovers is when tom atkins is in the bar and and he makes them turn the TV over and it's literally a clip from Halloween. i mean, it's literally a bit of Halloween. It is that scene. Yeah, that scene. yeah And it says, yeah, the voiceover is like the immortal classic followed by the big giveaway. And you're just like, it's so jarring because you're just like, well, hold on, what?
00:29:08
Speaker
Like the fact that it's the Halloween. So the films, the two films before this exist within this as fiction, not as fact. And it's really jarring, but really,
00:29:21
Speaker
I think, we're again, really brilliantly jarring to say, like no, look, you're watching something different. Michael Myers isn't going to turn up. This isn't what you think it is. This is something different. And it's kind of bold to do that. And I really like that moment. I think it's a really great moment. and um Almost opens up that sort meta gateway that like yeah Scream had with Stab and stuff where you were being like, oh, wait, imagine if the Halloween film's based on true events or something yeah in the world of Halloween 3.
00:29:49
Speaker
well we can get It's also the film, when Cochran puts a mask on him, Halloween's on the TV then as well. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. wondered whether... john John Carpenter was just trying to get the music played as much as possible. because you oh god Oh, God, I love that. That moment, that moment, that is one of my favourite bits of this film.
00:30:09
Speaker
i It's so well put together because, yeah, the soundtrack of the film is playing. And then he puts the mask over. i mean, we're skipping to the end, but he puts the mask over um Chalice and has the TV on. And the music of the actual film fades down and the music of a Halloween fades up.
00:30:27
Speaker
And you're kind of, yeah you the soundtrack of Halloween becomes the soundtrack of Halloween 3. It's so seamlessly done. It's really brilliantly done. I love that bit. I think it's really interesting.
00:30:39
Speaker
really well-directed moment. Like it's, yeah, like you say, it's very meta. It's very much like what is reality anymore? Like what are we, is playing with you so much? Like, you know, i mean, also, you know, the bottom line of this film is like the silver shamrock novelties,
00:30:54
Speaker
on its own and the masks, they're just such a great invention. You know, the the idea, their logo, the jingle, the masks themselves, the factory, you know, all that is just like, it's a brilliant invention. It's a great, it's a great thing. It's it's really well done.
00:31:12
Speaker
The town they go to. So yeah, when they go to, what is it? called It's a famous little town. Santamira. Santamira, thank you. When go to Santamira and everyone's like, it's this kind of weird Irish community. this high but There's the Dublin Inn, Shamrock Savings, Rafferty's Deluxe, and the Rose of Shannon. That's the the local businesses. um And like, it's this kind of... the But it's really... Again, it's really interesting because it's like... It feels kind of old-y fashioned, old-y world-y, and it's like, oh, who is these foreign people? Who is these outsiders? But there's CCTV everywhere, and they're being watched constantly by the people, but they're also being watched by the cameras everywhere, which is really... Again, I think it...
00:31:55
Speaker
again, it feels quite like relevant now of this kind of like you're being watched all the time that technology technology is there observing you all the time. You can't kind of escape it. And this film definitely has an, um,
00:32:11
Speaker
This film is definitely about technology as much as it's about kind of magic. That's what it's got that's a bit different to everything else. You know, it's the blending of something very old and something very new in this weird way.
00:32:23
Speaker
um And i really I really like that. And yeah, the silvers I like the factory. It's great when they go around the factory and they have that weird room full of the... kind of novelties like the weird old stuff they've got in the room and like the yeah like the the old toys and things like that oh yeah the clockwork things yeah no it's funny you should say that actually because yeah it's definitely if if it wasn't for the sort of extreme gore this is definitely way more of a sort of sci-fi film really yeah Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:48
Speaker
it's It's funny. It'd be interesting to know how much, because Deborah Hill and John Carpenter were both like producers, executive producers, I think, yeah for this. So be interesting to know how much influence they had in it. But um just the whole kind of surveillance aspect, like surveillance society, a bit like with They Live, where... yeah John Carpenter was sort of saying a lot about consumerism. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's definitely in this.
00:33:12
Speaker
The dangers that lie ahead. I wonder whether that was a bit part of this. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely. Especially now we've got ai Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. In a weird primitive way.
00:33:23
Speaker
And the really there's the the clever way that they keep he keeps ringing the coroner and she's just like going, oh, that's really weird because i've just I'm trying to find, i' going through the bits and I've just got car parts.
00:33:34
Speaker
Like there's no like teeth. There's no, and you're just more and more realizing that whatever is whatever these suits are, they're not human, that they, they are something more than human, that there's something definitely up with those there, you know, that they're, they're strength. i mean, the fact that he just like crushes the guy's head, doesn't it one point? And that's really horrible. And I mean, I think the bit, I think one of the worst effects is when, um,
00:34:00
Speaker
poor marge and she's got the faulty mask and she fiddles with the badge and it just like melts yeah i mean it's how that looks is just so horrible like it's so horrible i remember that really disturbed me that was the but that was the one scene that really i think i sort of you know had to look away when i was little yeah it's bad it was the scene that would have switched channel for because yeah that freaks me out quite No, it's really horrible.
00:34:23
Speaker
But then what's what where they go that weird extra step is there's all quite bugs and stuff, isn't there? There's like insects and things. It's like it doesn't really make sense. It's kind of it is nightmarish because it doesn't really make sense. It doesn't make sense that that would do that to you and do and bugs would appear. doesn't make any sense.
00:34:39
Speaker
And that's kind of almost more it's more horrible in a way because it's just like, what the hell is going It makes it nightmarish, doesn't it? I can't remember the name. can you but if Have you got in your notes the name of the family who are in fact treated? It's Buddy, isn't it? And I have got the name of it. It's Buddy Kulpfer.
00:34:58
Speaker
Buddy Kupfer. Buddy Kupfer. Kupfer. Buddy Kupfer, Betty Kupfer, and Little Buddy. emily The Kupfer family. Yeah, because because they go they go there, and obviously um they they become guinea pigs, kind of like a test subject just before it happens. And and and that's the one where you says you see the little kids. So think that's the first kid in a Halloween film that gets killed, or in the fog.
00:35:22
Speaker
yeah like no First kid in any of those kind of films. from Yeah, that is a horrible scene as well. um And yeah, the mask, and like you said, like they they they force toma Dan Chalice yeah comema can um to watch the the surveillance as as the kid's mask dissolves and he kind of pulls it away. yeah And then like you said, bugs come out and then weirdly snakes come out and everything.
00:35:48
Speaker
And then the music turns into this kind of like... Yeah, it's a kind of merry-go-round. It's getting it faster and faster, isn't it? Yeah. And you can see like Dan Chalice going, oh, yeah, like losing it a bit. And like when giant snakes come out and then one it feels like some weird fever dream.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yeah. And you're just like, what what um what am I watching? Yeah, because they kind of melt onto the kids faces, don't they? The masks suck on. It's horrible. It's so horrible. All powered by bits of Stonehenge.
00:36:16
Speaker
Well, yes. And here's the thing. So yes, ah very early on, you hear a news report saying that stone a bit of Stonehenge has been stolen and you're just like, that's a bit weird. um So yeah, I love that that that set in the factory, which is just this huge room.
00:36:30
Speaker
with a huge like a monolith, like a 2001 monolith in the middle of it, and these scientists up on scaffolding like taking little chippings off. And then the kind of circle of computers and like all these kind of white-coated people are walking around, and they're yeah they're combining the bit of magical ancient Stonehenge with these computer chips to make this...
00:36:51
Speaker
thing and i think what what the kind of the the the icing on top of all of it is cochran and that and his performance i mean i think that the um the guy that plays him uh dan o harley harley dan o harley um sorry if that's offensive um he is our irish though um uh i think his performance is brilliant yeah because really good he's so he's very odd but actually what he is is just very mundane he's just very normal and his how kind of how normal he is and how kind of
00:37:31
Speaker
it's just what he's doing, isn't it?
Climax & Open Ending
00:37:33
Speaker
He's not, evil' he's evil, but evil to a point of it's just mundane to him. He's just going to kill everyone. He's going to kill all the children. And like, even like he's, it's, I know there's the big speech. He does the,
00:37:44
Speaker
He does the amazingly big speech about, about Halloween and all that. But before he does, before he does that, one of the best parts. Yeah. Before he does that, he just says, um, he said, cause he says, the chalice is like, Oh, what's the reason? And he says, do I need a reason? And he says,
00:38:02
Speaker
I do love a good joke and this is the best ever, a joke on the children. And that is really, really mucked up that you're just, it doesn't even really feel like you've got a reason to do this. You're just doing it because you can. Like it's the kind of banality of evil. Like he's just this businessman who's so powerful. He's just going to eradicate children basically. Like it feels like, but yes, but then there is a brilliant,
00:38:25
Speaker
brilliant speech that he does go off into a massive big speech about and i i won't it's not sam haim is it it's saw and and that's when saw one which is the proper pronunciation um of halloween and he goes into this huge big speech about the old country and about the real real roots of halloween and how that it's pagan and that Basically, he's basically saying, isn't he, that these children, all the children on Earth are going to basically be a sacrifice for a mass sacrifice, which is and that's how that's what you do on Halloween.
00:39:00
Speaker
And we've kind of forgotten the old times. And this is is now going to make you remember. So it's in a weird way. It's this kind of. slamming together of the consumerism of Halloween and the kind of ancient paganism of Halloween. It's almost like he's he's part of the consumerism, but he's using the consumerism to bring back the paganism in this really odd way, but in a really inventively odd way. it's ah That's why this film's so good, because it's actually a really good plot.
00:39:29
Speaker
It's mental, but it's actually a really interesting idea, and you don't really get this kind of idea in things, not not played out in this way, I don't think. No, I think that's where that sort of Nigel Neill's influence probably really came into it because he even says it's something to do with the planet the alignment of the planets. He's like, oh, yeah you know, we can't help it. We can't stop it. It's because of the planets. And yeah not only does that make him sound like he's really unhinged and make you think, oh my God, this guy really is, you know, willing to kill all these children for nothing pretty much. yeah But also there's that inevitability and this kind of like –
00:40:07
Speaker
universe like like it's in some big grand universal scheme which then makes it sound even more sort of terrifying yeah i think this is probably if i had to be very critical i think the the climax within the factory which isn't the climax but the how how they kind of get away from the factory is a bit silly um he basically just pours a load of masks down from up the top and they kind of all spark off a misfire and it kind of kills everyone.
00:40:39
Speaker
It doesn't really make any sense. And I think if that had been the end of the film, i think it would have been... bad but then you have these kind of two endings now you then go into these kind of double endings um one of which was obviously hugely inspired it's kind of very invasion of the body snatchers um where he's driving away with ellie and he's kind of like i think he says something doesn't he and she doesn't really respond and then he i noticed this time because i purposefully the last time i watched this when for this podcast i purposefully watched her
00:41:15
Speaker
and tried to figure out where it was that she got turned into a robot. And there is a point, it's when he rescues her from the bed. yeah that's basically a robot from that point because she doesn't talk once no and if you watch her she just sort walks behind him and keeps looking at him like that so she is quite robotic yeah whereas i'd never really noticed that before until i looked for it no but no and then yeah and then she basically just attacks him and they have this horrible fight and like his her arm gets knocked off doesn't it she's got that weird little like bit of her arm like
00:41:47
Speaker
thrash like a bit of metal like thrashing about and then he knocks her head off and then it's like but then she's still alive and she just like keeps coming back at him and he it's quite he's doing tom atkins is good in this because he does just look like he just looks kind of weary he's just like what the hell is happening like he just he wins that fight doesn't he but he just looks like oh my god what the hell have I just done?
00:42:14
Speaker
and then, yeah, as you said, it it brilliantly brings itself back to that, the gas station. And now he's the kind of crazy man who's running in going, they're all coming. They're going to kill us all that. yeah um And the end, mean, the ending is just, is such, such a good ending that they're in the gas station, aren't they? And the TV's on and he's ringing the TV station to get them to take the advert off.
00:42:35
Speaker
And then you get the little kids come in with all with the masks on with the mask and the way they just like, it's so horrible the way they like, It's on one channel and it goes off and the kid just turns the channel and it's just on again. And he's like, no, no, no. yeah And then it goes, and the kid just turns the channel again.
00:42:51
Speaker
Like, it's horrible. It's like they're already, yeah it's already too late. Like, they're already too hypnotized by it. They're already like... It's such a good ending. And it's so It just cuts to black. We never find out. Brilliant. For sure.
00:43:03
Speaker
Brilliant. We don't know. yeah Perfect. ways isn Yeah. It's brilliant. I love it. I love the end. I think that does. It makes up, like you said, that yeah I think the weakest part in the film, I think is probably the way they make their escape and sort of kill.
00:43:15
Speaker
Yeah. I was going to say kill. um You don't know if he's dead. the No, I'm not sure if he, whether, um, Conal Cochran guys or if he sort of like teleport somewhere, he gets flashed by the energy. Yeah. You don't really It really weird and then just disappears. So yeah who knows?
00:43:32
Speaker
But, um, yeah, it's, um, yeah, it's a far better ending than if it had ended. Yeah. We've only got one minute left ah for this. Okay. For this. i mean I think what we should do is maybe talk about favorite bit. What was your favorite bit?
00:43:47
Speaker
I really do like that bit. Like I said, when yeah like you when he when he puts the mask on him and then you've got the Halloween playing on the TV. I really do like that bit. i think it's just such a... It's so well shot and it's so weird and like, I don't know, and it really takes you out it and puts you in it. What is it you like about it then, you think? think it's really brave. I think it's so brave to take a film and and obviously it now it seems even braver because we know how big Michael Myers is and what a huge...
00:44:15
Speaker
character and a huge franchise that is and i think but even at that stage to go through two films and how successful they were
Ratings & Legacy
00:44:22
Speaker
and to have built something over two films and then just go no that's not what we're doing we're gonna we're not doing that anymore we're doing something different and think that's so brave and it's so interesting and this film i i love that about this film i think that it tried to do that is great and it's a pity it didn't last as i say i'm i kind of mourn the Halloween anthology that stop it, please. For God's sake, please stop it. There's no more time.
00:44:49
Speaker
That's brilliant. um Yeah. But yeah, I mourn the fact that it didn't just carry on this way. That's my, that's my favorite. That's my, that's what I love about this film is that it's bravery, I do something so different. How about you?
00:45:02
Speaker
ah there the well yeah yeah I like it. I'll round up what I like generally about it, I suppose, when I give my my score. But I was just going to say one bit I really like is when Ellie Grimbridge has to go and find...
00:45:18
Speaker
uh, Dan after everything that's happened in the hospital. Cause she wants to go off with him. Oh yeah. And she turns up at the bar, the bar scene talks about where, um, he's sitting in the bar having a yeah whiskey or whatever.
00:45:30
Speaker
And, and she comes in and goes, ah the nurse told me you'd be here. Like that's where he always is. And also when, um, uh, he speaks his wife on the phone he's like,
00:45:41
Speaker
oh, get get get rid of the kid's mask. Oh, yeah. You're drunk. She just thinks he's drunk. you're just like, this guy, this guy has not got a good reputation. Like, this is not not good for Dan.
00:45:53
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean, I really like this film. going give my score as well. ah A lot of this is nostalgia. yeah And I really thought watching this again, i do watch this quite often. I watched this last Halloween.
00:46:06
Speaker
I watched it again for the sake of this podcast. um I thought I would give it five stars, but then i attributed at least some of it to nostalgia. Yeah, that's fair enough. um Because, yeah.
00:46:18
Speaker
um And Tom Atkins, who I love. Yeah. And obviously anything to do with John Carpenter, I always have a soft swivel. Yeah, definitely. So I've tried detach myself a bit from that. Okay. I think as a film, it's a four.
00:46:30
Speaker
Yeah, see, I've written that. Because it's not perfect. We're skipping ahead a bit. But anyway, I would say four. I would almost give it an extra star just for what it represents. Yeah.
00:46:41
Speaker
So it's kind of yeah five, but is is if you just take it on its own as a film, it is a four. Yeah, it's not a five-star film. It's a four. But I think for for what what it represents and what it was trying to do and the how interesting it is, that kind of gives it that extra star maybe.
00:46:59
Speaker
But yeah, I agree with you as well. I'd say is it's we're we're we're just big fans. That's why we're saying five. But I think, yeah, if you're being... Honest, and it's we we run an honest podcast and we run an honest website. I would say it probably is a four-star film, isn't it?
Trivia & Theories
00:47:14
Speaker
It's not five-star film. I was going to say four stars, half a star on top of that for me, just purely for nostalgia. That makes sense. A 4.5. 4.5 me. Yeah, I reckon. agree with that. four point five from me yeah i reckon i agree with that happened A bit like with Blair Witch, actually. I think the more i then look into the background of these films, it then also gives me more of an appreciation.
00:47:35
Speaker
The fact there were so many people involved in Halloween 3 that then were or had already been in great things or then went on to be in great things, even down to Nancy Keyes or Nancy Loomis who'd been in So many other films.
00:47:49
Speaker
So what once that plays in into your psyche, you're like, this is amazing. So it's quite hard to detach yourself from that. So how about... um Well, we've got any have you got any trivia?
00:48:01
Speaker
Or do you want to skip? Oh, wow yeah, actually, no, yeah, I've got a little bit. Oh, actually, I've got a couple of Easter eggs. oh Oh. I mean, we could go right off on one and talk about the whole, ah is Halloween 3, basically, was Michael Myers supposed to be a robot? Well, I've got kind of got this in my links as well, so let's, okay. Oh, okay. well now we could We can dip into it. We'll come to that in a sec. Let me just give you. um Give me some facts. Give me some Easter eggs. I'll give you a couple of facts. Hold on. don't know.
00:48:28
Speaker
Where have I got them? So one thing i was going to say is when they're in the ah shop, they more Easter eggs than facts, really. yeah We've talked about quite a lot facts.
00:48:42
Speaker
um When they're in the shop, when they're trying to retrace where Mr. Grimbridge has been, yeah you know, when they go in the shop and the masks are there, yeah they work out. She she goes for his book in the shop yeah of of where he's supposed to be.
00:48:56
Speaker
And he's supposed to have gone to Minnie Blankenship for dinner. Oh. And he never got there. Right. Now, Minnie Blankenship. Yeah. Yeah. Mrs. Blankenships then mentioned in Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers and she's like part of the Cult of Thorn if you can remember that. Yes, yes, do remember that. I do remember that. I watched that film. Yeah.
00:49:20
Speaker
And basically then she talks about how she grew up on the opposite side of the street to the Myers family and was babysitting the night that little, little Mikey killed his sister.
00:49:32
Speaker
Wow. So there's a weird little tie back again to like the original Halloween films, which makes you think about that film within a film meta. Yeah. Was the Halloween, the movie on the screen based on a, well, yes. Well, yeah. So, so with, with Halloween,
00:49:49
Speaker
So what I've got, I mean, this is from Wikipedia. Basically, if you take all of the Halloween films from the 78 original all the way up to ah the 2022 Halloween ends, so all of them, there is one, two, three, there are four kind of continuities or chrono. Well, there's five if you just watch them all, but there are four kind of ways of watching them.
00:50:13
Speaker
So you have the original continuity with the, uh, the thorn, as you say. so that goes, that goes 78 Halloween, Halloween two, and then it goes four, five and the curse of Michael Myers. So that's one way of watching them.
00:50:27
Speaker
Then you've got the Dimension Films continuity. So that goes 78, Halloween 2, 81, H2O, and then Halloween Resurrection, which is 2022. So that's another way of watching them.
00:50:39
Speaker
And then you've got the remake um continuity, which is Halloween 2007 and then Halloween 2, 2009. to two thousand and nine So they're they're over there.
00:50:51
Speaker
And then the final one you have is the Blumhouse continuity, which goes Halloween 78 and it jumps to Halloween 2018 and then Halloween kills and then Halloween ends.
00:51:02
Speaker
So they're all different ways you can watch the films. And obviously Halloween three sits outside of all of that. It doesn't seem to have any, any link, but as you've said, And it's ah detailed on our ah on our website. love this.
00:51:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's detailed on our website. So basically, there is the Silver Shamrock Cyborg Theory, um which, yeah, i mean, the basics of it, isn't it, that that Halloween 1 2 are real events. They happened.
00:51:32
Speaker
Yep. And then films were made of those events. within and yeah And then Halloween 3 is real. so that's so that's So what they watch is the film. So when you watch halloween the original Halloween 1 and 2, you're watching films of a real event that happened within the world of Halloween 3.
00:51:52
Speaker
And then Silver Shamrock, then to keep people scared or to, they use the cyborgs that they've made, which ah exist within Halloween three. And that Michael Myers is in fact, a cyborg made by Silver Shamrock novelties.
Influences & Comparisons
00:52:09
Speaker
I like that. I love that theory. Do you know what makes the strongest bit of evidence for it? I think is the, if you remember in a Halloween too, uh, I think it's early on in, in a hospital, like this is all purely, I haven't seen it for a while, so it's hard to remember.
00:52:24
Speaker
but he gets like hit in the face or stabbed in the eye or something. It's when, it's when he sort of famously has like tears coming down his mask. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're like yellow and they're like the blood that you see Halloween 3. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:52:39
Speaker
Yeah. It's more, it doesn't look like blood. It looks like the goo that comes out of the robots. Well, silver shamrock masks are in Halloween, in the 2018 Halloween, but also in Halloween kills.
00:52:50
Speaker
They've got silver shamrock masks in those films. Yeah. Yeah. um as well as tons of other things have Silver Shamrock. Yeah, I love that idea as well. I think that would be... The crossover. Yeah.
00:53:01
Speaker
And it makes sense why he can keep coming back and why he can't be killed. And like I think that's a really nice idea. like So yeah, if you want to read the whole theory, go on our website, look up Silver a Shamrock Cyborg Theory. You can read the whole article there.
00:53:15
Speaker
So you can dip into that. Any other facts you've Was Michael Myers a cyborg? Yes. um ah yeah the one other One other one which I thought you would like, because I know you like Ghostbusters. do. The woman who, she's like a receptionist, really kind of like low-key character.
00:53:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah. When they go to the Silver Shamrock factory in Santa Mira, they talk to this woman about a problem with the order. yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Quite elderly, sort of like a receptionist or an admin person. Yeah.
00:53:44
Speaker
And that woman, her her name's Paddy Edwards. Right. And she is also the uncredited voice of Gozer in Ghostbusters 1984. That's crazy. crazy Did load of voiceover work after this film. She did load of Disney films, but she was Goza.
00:53:59
Speaker
Wow. so Doesn't sound like Goza. but No, she doesn't. No, she really must have gone through the cigarettes. Yeah, bloody hell. I don't know. God. I've got few more links. Yeah, I've got few more links. So Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a 1956 film, was obviously a huge influence on this. There's a lot of the same themes of like... Totally.
00:54:21
Speaker
you know, people not being people and stuff like that. So that's a huge influence on this. But very interestingly, that Invasion of Body Snatchers is also set in Santa Mira. And there are other films set in Santa Mira, including Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which was an adaptation of a book, 1992.
00:54:40
Speaker
ah The Dark Tower 7, which is one of the Stephen King books, that's set in Santa Mira. Wow. uh there's an episode of ben 10 set in santa mira uh there's an airwolf episode i think or airwolf is and it and ah and i think from sharknado 2 to the end a lot of the sharknado films are set in um in santa mira so it's like a fictional it's a fictional town appears so you can go off and have a kind of santa mira movie marathon and
00:55:13
Speaker
watch a load of ah ah films from that. So that's one of my links. um another Another one is, um might seem weird, but the film Robocop because it also stars Dan O'Healy and he's the old man, which is the head of OCP.
00:55:29
Speaker
So that's also a corrupt corporate executive. um He's awesome in Robocop. I would also say Robocop's got a lot of the same themes of like evil corporations, rampant consumerism, technology gone mad, kind of a disregard for humanity by big business. I think it's got a lot of themes of Halloween 3, weirdly.
00:55:49
Speaker
And then my final one, which is controversial, but it's said it's a ah film series close to my heart that is not horror. Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift.
00:56:01
Speaker
So, wow so fast and furious Tokyo drift is the third fast and furious film. And it does not have Vin Diesel or Paul Walker in it. They basically left the franchise at that point. Tom Atkins?
00:56:11
Speaker
Not Tom Atkins. they gave They gave up on the franchise. They didn't want to be in it anymore. Oh, it's the third one. It's the third one. this It's the third one. They got rid of the main two actors. Universal wanted a standalone reboot. They wanted a high school themed story.
00:56:25
Speaker
And then that's why they cast Lucas Black, ah famously from American Gothic he was in, and Wow. You remember him? Yeah. Yeah. So they're in that. I remember the film actually quite well. Yeah. So they're in it ones they're in Tokyo Drift.
00:56:41
Speaker
Now, much like Halloween three, it didn't do very well. And obviously then the series returned, brought the characters back, went back to its roots. Now what's interesting, I think about Tokyo Drift is, so they retconned the character of Han from Tokyo Drift. They retconned him into the main fast and furious films, right?
00:57:06
Speaker
More interestingly than that, and a bit crazy, ah Tokyo Drift, which is from 2006, it ends up back in the continuity of all of the Fast and Furious films.
00:57:18
Speaker
And in fact, it's set between 2013's Fast Furious 6 and 2015's Fast and Furious 7. So a film from 2006 is actually set in... so film from two thousand and six is actually set in 2014 I guess so it ends up although it's the third film it ends up being the kind of 6.5 film um and even net and And even going further than that, they bring the actual characters of Lucas Black and Bow Wow. Their characters come back in the whole franchise later. and i think yeah So kind of I guess where I'm going with this is that Tokyo Drift is not like Halloween 3.
00:57:52
Speaker
But what i love about it is that something that went so wrong, you know it didn't work. And weirdly, the third installment as well. And the third one, weirdly, something that didn't work. What I appreciate about it is that they had the balls again to go, you know what? This film didn't work, but we're actually going to retcon it and put it right back in to the whole series. And we're going to make it canon. We're not going to pretend it doesn't exist. We're going to make it canon and
Fun Quiz Segment
00:58:15
Speaker
part of this thing. And I appreciate that about, uh, yeah, about fast and furious. So, so there you go. guys I still love it. You know what else? well mya Oh, go on.
00:58:24
Speaker
No, yeah, no, no, go on. My other things were not related. It's not a horror link. Oh, okay. I was just going say for links. I think if you, uh, obviously you'd probably want to watch Halloween too, to see yeah cyborg Michael Myers after, after learning that he is in fact a silver shamrock cyborg. You might want to watch that.
00:58:44
Speaker
If you like Tom Atkins being a, uh, stud muffin, if that's a okay thing to call him and, um, sort of, hanging out with younger women and then the fog obviously with jimmy lee curtis as well is a obvious choice yeah uh and sort of so you still and and youve got the carpenter magic in full display yeah definitely and also night of the creeps as well oh yeah that's good tom atkins and my last one i was going to recommend just because of the the robot the the retro robot angle was uh westworld oh yeah yeah definitely
00:59:19
Speaker
Because there you've got robots going crazy who are a bit more the clockworky sort of time. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, definitely. Killer androids. That's a great film. Yeah, it's very, very influential.
00:59:29
Speaker
Hey, you know, um in the spirit of overrunning to the point of um ridiculousness, I've got a quiz. Would you like to do a quiz? Yes. Oh, yeah. So yeah, I've, yeah, I've, ah if, if, if you've if people listen to the science fiction writing system, I did this quiz before, ah but I've changed it to be the horror specific.
00:59:50
Speaker
So it's called name that. So wouldn't have helped if I'd, no, it wouldn't have helped. It wouldn't help. It's called name that three call. So I'm going to read you the subtitle from 13 horror films, the part threes of 13 horror films, and you need to tell me what the franchise is. So if I said Season of the Witch, you would know it was...
01:00:12
Speaker
Halloween 3. Halloween, yeah. Okay. So i'm gonna we're going to go. i think you I think you should Oh, just have to say the franchise. Yeah, you just have to say the franchise. I think you'll be all right. think you'll know these. Do I need a timer for this? No, you don't need a timer. Tom Atkins isn't going to shout at me, is he? Yeah, no, he's not. But yeah, you can play along at home if you're listening. So here we go. First one, Dream Warriors. Oh, that's Nightmare on Elm Street. Very good.
01:00:36
Speaker
Eclipse.
01:00:41
Speaker
Oh, very good. ah Okay. Day of the day of the Dead. Easy one. is it what would i mean Is it of the dead or Night of the Living Dead, the franchise? Interestingly, the third Candyman film is called Candyman Day of the Dead.
01:00:57
Speaker
So you could have got a bonus point for that. But yeah, I know. Weird. Okay. bit That could have been a trick question. Yeah. Bit of a harder one. Tomb of the Dragon Empire. sorry. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Sorry.
01:01:11
Speaker
Is that a mummy one? Very good. Yeah, very good. Okay, Trinity.
01:01:18
Speaker
Blade. Oh, excellent. Okay. ah The Final Dimension. you know that's the third film of? Oh, is it Hellraiser? Oh, nearly. Highlander.
01:01:33
Speaker
It was the third Highlander. I've got the first letter right. Hell on Earth. You may have already said. Is it Hellraiser? Yes, it is. Okay, easy one. Army of Darkness.
01:01:46
Speaker
ah Evil Dead. Yes, okay. Bit harder. Extinction. Wait, am I going too quick? No, no, you're doing good. No, you're doing good. No, no, no. Extinction.
01:01:57
Speaker
Oh, Extinction. Oh, wait, I know that, isn't it? um It's the computer game one. It is the computer game one. it's uh i should play that tom atkins thing one out of the fifth element in it yes it has whose name i can't even remember people at home would have got this by now surely
01:02:22
Speaker
no umbrella yes umbrella corporation umbrella corporation yep you're getting all the right words give resident evil Yeah. Okay. I nearly said Silent Hill when I was on the Yeah. Okay. You've got a few more to go. Election year.
01:02:39
Speaker
Oh, ah Purge. Excellent. The Devil Made Me Do It.
01:02:45
Speaker
The Conjuring. Okay. Two more. You've done really well. Really good. Comes Home.
Audience Engagement & Future Episodes
01:02:52
Speaker
Something Comes Home. That's the the title of the franchise is the first word. Comes Home. It's a name if that helps.
01:03:06
Speaker
It sounds so familiar. Is this the one that will get you? we've weve We've met her. we've been We've had a photograph with her. What? We have, yeah. Wait a minute. We were standing next to her in a box.
01:03:21
Speaker
It was round Halloween, in fact. Wait, what? Megan? Not Megan. Someone else we stood next to in a box. Do you give up?
01:03:33
Speaker
I give up, yeah. It's Annabelle. Annabelle. Yeah. Of course, Of course, Annabelle. Yeah, my life has been weird ever since getting close to her. And this is my favourite one. I've pursued. This is the last one, and it's my favourite. Maybe you know this. the This is the craziest one. Go and get this one. The Marsupials.
01:03:55
Speaker
What? It's very left field. I don't know if you'll guess it. I've never seen this. I bet it's great. It's not ah very well known. Is it part of a Razorback franchise that not?
01:04:10
Speaker
No. Do you to give up? Do you give up? Yeah. It's Howling 3. It's called The Marsupials. So i'm assuming they're kangaroo-based.
01:04:22
Speaker
Where Kangas? Where Roos? I don't know. i then I've never seen it. I'm not surprised I've never heard that. Sounds great. You did really well. I reckon you got, I think out of 13, you at least got 10. I feel like I got at least... You very well. I feel like... That's good. I feel I four wrong. I'm not sure. Well done you. Yeah. Thanks for that i feel like... It's alright. A little quiz, little bit of bonus. little bit of bonus content. All those films that I got wrong, I'm going to make it my job to go and watch those films.
01:04:48
Speaker
But I can't guarantee we're going to talk about them on this. No, they're not. No, they're not all good. We should probably mention again, actually, for anyone who's listening, if you do have ideas of films that you'd like us to feature in future episodes, ah what you can do is go into Love Horror.
01:05:03
Speaker
Think of a film, go into Love Horror, see if we have reviewed it or not already. Yeah, that's useful. And if we haven't, then suggest it to us. Tell us all the about We may do it on this podcast, won't we? That'd be Yeah, we've got a good list far. We'll name check you.
01:05:17
Speaker
Yeah, we definitely We've We've got a fat list, but we do you suggesting something might move something up. Maybe. Or it might introduce something new altogether.
Closing Thoughts & Next Episode Preview
01:05:26
Speaker
Yeah, we try to listen to people. Yeah. yeah So if we so what what's left to do? if we so we've Have we done our little summary? what do we So we've given it a rating, but, you know. We've given it a rating. What's your overall summary? What's your overall lasting feelings about Halloween 3?
01:05:41
Speaker
I think it's a great film to watch at Halloween. I think it definitely deserves to be one of those sort of, definitely a spooky season film, whether it's the one you want to watch on or Hallow's Eve, I'm not entirely sure, even though it would be appropriate for that. Good for the run-up. It's good for the run-ups. Maybe watch it on the 23rd, start it on the right day.
01:06:01
Speaker
How about you? I know I really love it. i'd forgot ah knew I liked it, but then watching it again, I really liked it. Like I like how crazy it goes. I think it's well done. I think it's, yeah, the soundtrack's great. Yeah, it's just good. I like it a lot.
01:06:14
Speaker
And I can see why people don't like it, but i I just do. I like it a lot. So yeah, I think we, yeah, 4.5 definitely. Not a five star, but 4.5 definitely. Yeah. um What's next?
01:06:26
Speaker
What's going to be next for What is next? So do you want me to give you a, I feel like I can could do a bit of a quiz for you now. What about what? you can remember, because you remember you have seen the list, but whether or not you can remember what's on the list, I'm not sure.
01:06:40
Speaker
I'm very well prepared. I've written it down. So the next film we're going to watch as You mentioned Stephen King earlier. It's based on a book by Stephen King.
01:06:50
Speaker
yeah as As ah Halloween moves away and we get into the more wintry months, thought it would be a good film for the the colder, yeah maybe snowy time of year. Definitely.
01:07:03
Speaker
definitely It features us a bit of a psychotic superfan. It's misery. Yeah. ah Brilliant. I'm looking forward to that. Really looking. I haven't have we reviewed that already? I know. That's crazy. I haven't seen that for a really long time.
01:07:17
Speaker
So I'm looking forward to neither. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that. Me too. We can have a nice, ah yeah, lots of good stuff around Stephen King and his like the adaptations and some that he likes, some he doesn't like, some that were good, some that were bad. It's going to be a good one. It's going to be an interesting tale this can tell there's to there's going lot for us to dig into there. I think for that episode. Yeah.
01:07:36
Speaker
And ah yeah, all all before Christmas. yeah um Yeah. Thank you for joining us for this yeah Halloween special. Yes. Props to Alex for his um Halloween decorations in the background. know. I try. and If you can see anything behind me, that's just what's here all the time. So um I've not made any big effort. I will do next time. Yeah. Thank you for joining. Yeah. Like like us. Do give us some give us feedback. Give us some stars.
01:08:00
Speaker
subscribe we're trying to we're going to keep going with this we we listen to our little uh our little intro episode and there's Blair Witch if you haven't listened to that as well and yeah we'll be back you know soon on the next episode not really soon but soon-ish for misery like uh yeah as Tom said so yeah thank you for listening and yeah we uh we still have a sign-off what's our sign-off I don't know. We need to see you next time. See you next time. That's me. you know you know not What you want to say?
01:08:29
Speaker
I don't know what I'm going to say. I'm going to, hold I'm just going to. You say what you like. I'm going to grab. I don't know how many days till Halloween. I'm going to go to Halloween.
01:08:40
Speaker
Something about Halloween. Oh, nearly dropped it.