(1982)
Dir - Tommy Lee Wallace
Overall: MEH
Though it was not a financially viable move and ultimately did not stick, it is at least an interesting one to make the third installment in the Halloween franchise a stand-alone entry which was meant to establish the series as an anthology. Halloween III: Season of the Witch infamously has no Michael Myers and thankfully is not a slasher movie. Instead, it concocts a truly bizarre story originally conceived by prolific British science fiction writer Nigel Kneale, who had his name removed after script tampering took place. Director Tommy Lee Wallace then stepped into to rework it and the result mixes Celtic witchcraft, robots, brainwashing, and Jack-o'-lantern masks or something. It gets as many points as possible for being unique and Wallace even manages to stage a few genuinely creepy as well as inventive and weird gross-out moments throughout. Much of this is helped by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's typically fantastic synth score which sets a deliberately eerie mood. Genre favorite Tom Atkins is compelling enough in the lead, especially in the third act when the film becomes a frantic race against the clock. Sadly, the script is ridiculous and the large bulk of the movie is poorly paced. The consistently low-key approach, though admirable, simply does not carry it through and the plot holes jive all the more because of this.
(1986)
Dir - Jeffrey Delman
Overall: WOOF
Inconsistently
is usually a given with anthology movies as the quality of each
individual narrative can fluctuate even within the best of them. Rarer
and much worse is when these films are front-to-back terrible and such is
the case with Jeffrey Delman's directorial debut Deadtime Stories, (Freaky Fairy-Tales, The Griebels from Deadtime Stories).
A horror comedy that is tonally askew, things start off
straight-forward yet boringly enough with a segment about Scott
Valentine being used as an errand boy for two witches, followed by two
contemporary reworkings of "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Goldilocks"
respectfully. The zaniness is awkwardly escalated to the point where
the aforementioned "Goldi Lox and the Three Baers" is equipped with
fast-forward shenanigans and cartoon noises when characters make goofy
faces and fall down. The whole thing is structured around some annoying
kid who refuses to go to bed, with his even more idiotic uncle thinking
that telling him scary stories will somehow make his nephew's fears of
there being a monster in his room go away. Even with some mild nudity,
boner humor, a skeleton oozing back to fleshy life, a werewolf, and a
puppet goblin thing, it is all an embarrassing mess that manages to be
persistently dull.
(1988)
Dir - Neil Jordan
Overall: GOOD
The first foray into comedy from filmmaker Neil Jordan, High Spirits was allegedly manhandled in the editing room, which Jordan and many others involved have blamed on the movie's poor box office and critical reception. It does have a disjointed feel, but the duel-premise of a wife-swapping love story mixed with a scam, Irish haunted castle turning into a real one is solid enough. Jordan and Michael McDowell's script does a rather poor job of establishing its supernatural rules though. Things increasingly go off the rails and many of the set pieces would be funnier if not for how nonsensical and random they are. Part of the charm is indeed how loud and goofy everything gets and the solid, largely recognizable cast helps said charm along. Peter O'Toole is delightful as the perpetually shitfaced castle owner Peter Plunkett and Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Liam Neeson, and Beverely D'Angelo are just a few of the bigger names that are in top form. For horror fans, there is plenty of fun, Gothic atmosphere and some solid, ghoulish makeup and laughably dated special effects. The story-line is an absolute mess and so is the entire film really, but it is an entertaining mess to be sure.
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