Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #19 October 2015 | Page 39

Halloween?

“I saw something that night... I don’t know,
your father came into the hospital. He…I thought he
was crazy, out of his mind. He’s hanging onto a Halloween mask, he wouldn’t let it go... And what he said
was, “They’re gonna kill us all”. And in a little while
he was dead. And I don’t know what the hell is going
on!”
Dan Challis (Tom Atkins)

“It’s almost time, kids. The clock is ticking. Be
in front of your TV sets for the Horrorthon, followed
by the Big Giveaway. Don’t miss it. And don’t forget
to wear your masks. The clock is ticking. It’s almost
time.”
Commercial Announcer (Tommy Lee Wallace)

The film, released during the early days of
the video game age, opens with primitive computer
graphics of a pumpkin, letting the viewer know that
old horrors will be merged with modern technology.
The film cuts to a lonely road in Northern California.
A man, Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) is fleeing from
a slow-moving car. He takes refuge in an auto repair
yard and is attacked by a silent man in a suit (we
later find out that this man and others like him are
androids). Harry apparently kills the man and continues to run. Stumbling across a service station where
he gets a ride to the nearest hospital. Once there, the
protagonist, Dr. Dan Challis takes care of him. Challis is middle-aged, doughy, constantly drinking and
divorced. He is also horrified by what he later sees; his
patient is killed by another silent man in a suit, who
then proceeds to immolate himself in his car.
Harry’s daughter, Ellie (Stacey Nelkin) arrives
and recruits Challis to head to Santa Mira, home of the
Silver Shamrock company, makers of the most popular
masks of the Halloween season and the last place her
father went. The town is under constant surveillance
and is under the complete control of Conal Cochran
(Dan O’Herlihy), owner of Silver Shamrock. Cameras
are on every street corner, Silver Shamrock security
vehicles roam the streets and there is a 6pm curfew.
Challis discovers that Cochran is a Celtic warlock
who has stolen one of the Stonehenge megaliths.
Cochrane describes it as a repository of energy, one
that will power a spell incorporated into microchips
in the masks. When exposed to a signal that will play
underneath a final Silver Shamrock advertisement
on Halloween, the spell causes the mask’s wearer to
vomit bugs and snakes, before dying horribly. His
plan: make a sacrifice of America’s children to the old
gods. Will our heroes stop him? Or will this be the last

In keeping with the idea that Halloween III
would not be a slasher film, the script, originally
written by Nigel Kneale (the writer of the Quatermass
series) with a rewrite by director Tommy Lee Wallace1
(Fright Night 2, IT) has nothing to do with that subgenre of horror. Instead of a story tightly focused on
one killer and the girl trying to escape him, Halloween
III is a supernatural apocalypse. It touches on themes
of commercialism, the baleful influence of television
and middle-aged male angst. It is a film that wants to
be about something beyond a body count. To some
degree, it succeeds.
The story is engaging and well-written. There
are some playful moments that acknowledge the tropes
of the genre in an amusing fashion. When Cochrane
is telling Challis of his plans in Bond-villain fashion,
he says of the massive, multi-ton Stonehenge rock,
“We had a time getting it here. You wouldn’t believe
how we did it.” It’s a clever way to acknowledge some
of the absurdities of the story, while also hinting at a
bigger story going on in the background. The script is
littered with moments like this. Kneale is known for
his intelligent, character driven scripts and Halloween
III is no exception.
Both Tom Atkins and Dan O’Herlihy turn in
good performances. Atkins is very believable as Challis. He looks like the kind of guy who had it all when
he was younger, but has hit the rocks and shoals of
middle-age head on. When Ellie offers him the chance
of a last adventure with a mystery to solve and a sexy
younger woman on his arm he clearly sees a chance to
reclaim past glories. He makes for a very believable
hero, one who is rapidly in over his head, but who also
realis