The funny thing about horror franchises compared to more blockbuster franchises with bigger budgets behind them is that they usually have an erratic and even incomprehensible development. Between rights that are passed, different creative teams that are happening and free choice of “canon” elements that are going to be followed, they end up defying logic in a way that would throw overboard a fandom more obsessed with rigor and coherence. .
Something that could be thrown off the balcony for some is fascinating to me. That’s why the different stages the Halloween saga has gone through appeal so much to me, with multiple reboots, sequels that establish their own canon, and untethered remakes. The most interesting thing is that the best resolved “sequel” of all does not have any of the original characters and doesn’t even want to play the same thing. This is ‘Halloween III: The day of the witch’.
don’t forget your mask
Although ‘Halloween II: Bloodthirsty!’ if it was a direct continuation of what happened in the original ‘Halloween night’, John Carpenter and Debra Hill were attracted to the possibility of turning the franchise into an anthology with Halloween-themed horror movies. They commissioned their regular collaborator Tommy Lee Wallace -who had edited and done the production design of the first film- to write and direct this free and self-contained sequel that can be seen on Amazon Prime Video (and on Filmin).
Here neither Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode nor villain Michael Myers appear in the footage other than stock footage to show that we’re in a universe where a movie called ‘Halloween Night’ also exists. Instead, we see Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) trying to unravel the dark practices of a toy store, which he has somehow created. some masks that turn children into diabolical beings.
‘The day of the witch’ is not only that it distances itself in history, it is that it is also not even a slasher, playing with elements of conspiracy and science fiction with Halloween as the common thread. And yet it’s a fabulous horror story that creates another very powerful and quite realistic suburban nightmare despite its quirky or witchcraft components.
‘Halloween III: The day of the witch’: scary stories for the holidays
It was difficult for such a move to have an adequate reception, since making this decision in the third film clearly invites misunderstanding. Not for that reason it stops work great as 80s horrorwith the air of a scary story to tell in the dark and pagan folk terror, efficiently directed by Wallace and well-protected by Carpenter, who makes one of his best soundtracks.
And speaking of music, the fake promotional jingle for Silver Shamrock Halloween is another of the fabulous ideas that sprinkle the film, giving a distinctive charisma and establishing ideas about the power of television and pop culture over us. Without a doubt, more Halloween than some of the sequels that came later, like ‘Halloween: The End’ itself, and made with enough good taste to become a jewel to recover.
In Espinof | The best horror movies in history