Five of the Best: Festive Frights!

Christmas is for kids, right? A time for families to get together, eat and drink too much, give each other presents and catch an opportunistically romantic moment underneath the mistletoe? There’s no place for horror, scares and general terror is there? Well, yes! As recently as the 16th Century Christmas was banned by Puritans who associated it with excess and mischief, long before Charles Dickens and his contemporaries placed the emphasis back on religion and reciprocal appreciation, in no small part thanks to ‘A Christmas Carol’, perhaps one of the most famous ghost stories of all!

Christmas brings with it a great sense of mysticism. Just think of flying reindeer, elves, Santa and otherworldly, magical creatures who deliver gifts to all of the good little boys and girls that vary depending on country and culture. If you reward the good then there’s some mileage to be gained for punishing the wicked! With religious imagery and ‘the true meaning of Christmas’ focusing on the birth of the Son of God, ghost stories have become a seasonal tradition. In the UK, during the 70s, the BBC launched an annual ‘A Ghost Story for Christmas’, resurrected in 2005. We love a good scare with a mince pie so perhaps it’s time to delve into the archives and take a look at some of those scary stories that have been captured on film with my ‘Five of the Best Christmas Horror Films’. As always, let me know what you think and please…give us the gift of your suggestions. We’d appreciate it a lot more than another Christmas Card!

‘Gremlins’ (1984)

Dir: Joe Dante

Who said family orientated Christmas films had to be saccharine? Set in a chocolate box small town, straight out of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, Dante instead constructs a wonderful subversion by turning this small town upside down in true fairy style fashion. In a quite brilliant twist on traditional children’s stories, the deadline of midnight is broken to turn the cutesy Mogwai into fatally mischievous Gremlins, turning the idyllic Kingston Falls into a whole new ‘Pottersville’. Set against winter wonderland scenery and festively illustrated backdrops that come alive from a thousand Christmas cards, it’s an unmistakably malevolent satire on the greed of Western cultural excesses, our rejection of mysticism and its subsequent loss of meaning…which is of course what Christmas is all about!

Most anti-festive feature? It’s got to be Phoebe Cates’ memorable and dark as Santa’s boots speech about why she doesn’t celebrate Christmas. This is ostensibly a comedy horror and yes, people do die, but there is humour in the proceedings with the Gremlins generally portrayed as childlike and purely intent on causing mayhem rather than deliberately kill and maim. That the film pauses for this intense and upsetting personal moment is breathtaking and hits you like a bolt from the blue. Other than Quint’s Indianapolis speech in ‘Jaws’ I struggle to think of a more effective monologue as a form of tragic storytelling than this moment…that it serves almost purely to prove that Santa doesn’t exist only complements the subversive nature of Dante’s incredible film.

Click here for full review

Black Christmas (1974)

Dir: Bob Clark

Coming a full four years before John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (Carpenter original suggested his classic as a sequel to Clark’s neglected gem), ‘Black Christmas’ serves as the outline for Carpenter’s slasher blueprint. Set in a sorority house in the run up to the Christmas holidays, an unseen killer begins to stalk and slash the young girls in the building. We have long camera shots from the killer’s point of view, we have the terrorisation of female victims, a final girl, terrible place and a calendar date on which to hang the film. It’s all there and Clark delivers a supremely disturbing and chilling film where the killer is not only unseen but also completely unknown, giving us no initial warning, no backstory and no resolution at the film’s macabre climax. The phone calls to the women in particular are genuinely frightening with the killer putting on a terrifyingly threatening oral display that is as obscene as it is scary.

Most anti-festive feature? The murder of Barb. The ghost of slashers yet to come have since conditioned us to know things won’t end well for Barb who drinks, is sexually promiscuous and openly taunts the killer. That she is murdered by a glass unicorn (a symbol of purity, implying that the killer is ‘curing’ Barb of her infidelities) whilst Carol singers perform ‘O Come all ye Faithful’, their cherubic cheer drowning out the sound of Barb’s death throws. It’s a quite stunning scene, powerful in its execution and poignant in its depiction.

Click here for full review

‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ (1984)

Dir: Charles E. Sellier Jr

Not as well executed as Clark’s chiller, this remains a fairly interesting slasher film, different in that it focuses on the killer rather than the victims he stalks. By portraying him as the victim from the start it gives the film a unique feel as we have some sympathy for him, after all, he witnesses his parents murdered by Santa Claus which is something nobody needs to see! The film got itself into a certain amount of trouble, mainly from self-appointed moral guardians who thought children would be traumatised at the thought of a killer Santa, because of course, children are the film’s target audience…although to be fair they were asking for trouble advertising the film during ‘The Little House on the Prairie’!!! As a consequence the film was withdrawn in the US following demonstrations and protests from the Parent-Teacher’s Association and was pulled from any kind of release in the UK…so much for Christmas spirit!

Most anti-festive feature? Take your pick!!! Let’s not forget that the opening scenes show a mother and father killed by a man dressed as Santa right in front of their kids, both of whom end up in an oppressive orphanage where they’re routinely beaten, one such incident shown happening during Christmas three years later. There’s a terrifying scene early on where young Billy’s grandfather launches into an insane ramble about how Santa punishes the wicked…no wonder he’s mentally scarred. And then Billy eventually snaps, going on a murderous rampage dressed as Santa waving an axe around whilst using Deer antlers and Christmas lights as makeshift weapons screaming ‘Naughty’ at the top of his voice. This certainly isn’t ‘Earnest Saves Christmas’!

‘The League of Gentleman’s Christmas Special’ (2000)

Dir: Steve Bendelack

Strictly speaking this is less a film and more an hour long special but, it’s so cinematic in its portrayal whilst referencing numerous horror films that I’m going to cut it some slack. Broadcast in the UK on December 27th 2000, this special has become something of a cult classic and is, quite frankly terrifying at times. Taking the form of an anthology with a wraparound story that shows Royston Vasey Vicar Bernice struggling to come to terms with a traumatic childhood event involving her parents being abducted by a maniac dressed as Santa. The first story centres around a voodoo ritual as an act of revenge, whilst the third is set in Victorian times with a cursed veterinarian but it’s the middle story that steals the show. Set in the German town of Duisberg it is a breathtakingly frightening and funny take on the vampire legend. In our house it isn’t Christmas until The League of Gentleman tells us it is!

Most anti-festive feature? The climax, it’s a classic League moment of total darkness that belies their comedy leanings. Having reconciled her past thanks to the tales of her three visitors, the cynical Bernice, for the first time since her parents’ abduction, embraces the Christmas spirit. But when a fourth figure appears at her door saying “Your all grown up”, wearing a Santa outfit, grotesque features and a maniacal laugh, she realises that the evil that took her innocence all those years ago is back to finish the job. As bleak an ending to anything, let alone a Christmas special, as you’re ever likely to see, it’s the League’s finest hour.

Click here for full review

Tales from the Crypt (1972)

Dir: Freddie Francis

From one anthology featuring a wraparound Christmas story to another featuring a single festive fright. Before its unavoidable association with the Cryptkeeper, Amicus adapted five ‘Tales from the Crypt’ and ‘Vault of Horror’ episodes for a big screen outing, the first of which featured Joan Collins as a murderous maiden, killing her husband on Christmas Eve. Shortly afterwards a bulletin interrupts a carol rendition of ‘Oh Come all ye Faithful’ (what is it about that carol? It features heavily in key scenes in ‘Black Christmas’ and ‘League of Gentleman’ above) to reveal that there is an escaped lunatic on the loose dressed as Santa…and he’s wanting to stir all through Joan’s house! But she can’t call the police because of the small matter of a dead husband in the front room and red bloodstains all over her beautiful white rug! Of course there is a point to the wraparound story (a mysterious man telling them how they’re going to die) and there’s a big clue to the twist, notably that Collins’ character is already wearing the brooch that her husband gave her for Christmas in the story.

Most anti-festive feature? The fact that the daughter gleefully lets in the deranged Santa believing him to be the real thing, thus inviting the death of her mother. It’s a great little twist on the hypocrisy that we all perpetuate by telling our children not to talk to strangers before placing them on the knee of a total stranger in disguise. Tell them that they’re safe in their bed at night, yet our houses are so secure that Santa can come and go as he pleases. Also, a great use of Christmassy colour portrayed by the husband’s bright red blood all over that glorious white rug!

Honourable mention?

I must admit that I enjoyed the 2015 ‘Krampus’ which was a fine recounting of the anti-Christmas legend, until the end at least. It very nearly captured the same anarchic spirit as ‘Gremlins’!

So now it’s over to you, let us know your favourite festive frights…

Creepshow (1982)

Tagline: “The most fun you’ll ever have being scared”
Duration: 120 minutes

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 3.5/5
Entertainment Value:4/5
Originality: 3/5

Introduction

With George A. Romero briefly linked with an adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’, it got studio execs rubbing their hands at the thought of two masters of horror combining to do a film. ‘Dawn of the Dead’ drew heavily from comic book imagery and King had already expressed his love for the scary DC comics of the 50s. It seemed a logical leap for King to pen five short stories that could easily have sprung straight out of the pages of a 50s horror comic and have Romero on board to direct. The result was one of the best anthology horror movies for years with a readymade wraparound story.

In a nutshell

A young boy has his horror comic confiscated by his strict father who tosses it in the bin. As the wind blows open the pages of the comic, the words and pictures leap out of the screen as we’re treated to five tales of terror from within the animated archive…each with a sting in the tail!

So what’s good about it?

I’ve always enjoyed a good anthology film, particularly the old Amicus classics such as ‘The House that Dripped Blood’ and ‘Asylum’. It’s a brilliant little concept and you know that if there’s a story that doesn’t particularly hold the interest, it’ll be over in ten minutes and another one will start. ‘Creepshow’ delivers marvellously in this regard with five stories, each one carrying a very different atmosphere with the ghostly ‘Father’s Day’, playfully funny (despite the solemn title) ‘The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill’, the slow build creature feature of ‘The Crate’ and the primal fear of insect invasion in ‘They’re Creeping Up on You’.

Romero is clearly having a ball coming up with unusual camera angles, expressionist lighting and filling some of the scenes with animated borders and comic book scribblings to heighten the impression that we’re watching a live action version of the abandoned comic. There are scenes bathed in red during ‘Father’s Day’, plenty of green to reflect the 50s sci-fi trappings of ‘The Loneseme Death…’ and the very stark, over-bright clinical lighting of ‘They’re Creeping…’. Each of these reflects the mood and influence of the stories themselves, whether it’s revenge, nature at work, the sea or fear of infection. Each segment has its own feel and tone, just like a comic book, and there’s something for everyone.

And what a cast! Leslie Nielson, Ted Danson, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, E.G Marshall, all taking centre stage in their own stories. They all bring something special to proceedings with Marshall hamming it up as a vicious recluse with a bug problem, Barbeau wonderfully obnoxious as an alcoholic matriarch, Leslie Nielson as the murderous businessman and Holbrook brilliantly subdued as the henpecked husband pushed too far. So often the downside of 80s horror, the acting in this film is top notch.

And of course there’s another collaboration between Romero and the great Tom Savini to savour. This is a different beast to ‘Dawn of the Dead’, playing much more in a light hearted with much less of the hardcore gore we saw in Romero’s zombie epic. The standout effect for me is the creature in ‘The Crate’, an incredible creation that doesn’t disappoint during what is a very slow build up. The vegetation and moss covering Stephen King in ‘The Lonesome Death’ is very effective and Savini treats us to some great gunshot wounds and suitably icky effects involving cockroaches. It’s another satisfying coming together of two visionary geniuses who clearly love working together and very comfortable with each other’s styles.

What about the bad?

Watch any portmanteau horror film and there will be a segment that you don’t like. Yes it’s a good thing that a new one will be along shortly but it can be difficult to resist the temptation to skip the one that you’re not so keen on. Personally I have an issue with the opening segment ‘Father’s Day’ which is a little character heavy for a short piece and, consequently slips into the stereotype trap. It’s got fantastic visuals but rushes its subject matter…it’s also a little obvious and its ‘zombies returning for revenge’ plot twist is done far more effectively in the more straight laced ‘Something to Tide Over You’. But it’s all subjective and I’m sure others will have issues with ‘They’re Creeping Up on You’ and the largely comic King vehicle.

It could possibly divide fans as well…not gruesome enough to please the gorehounds, not scary enough to please the fright fans and not serious enough to please the critics. It certainly has a unique place amongst horror fans who see it is a bold and visually striking homage to horror comics in the old tradition of the Amicus and Hammer portmanteaus…but at the end of the day it’s harmless fun.

Any themes?

In the 50s heyday of American comic book history, comics were frequently regarded as having a negative effect on kids, in the same way video games and violent films do now. In the wraparound story, the overbearing and strict Dad can be seen as representing the authoritarians who tried to ban such comics and literally consign them to the dustbin. By reviving the comic book format for the film and showing the child take revenge on the parent through a Voodoo doll ordered via the comic, Romero is taking revenge on those who sought to destroy one of childhood’s great distractions!

These are all morality tales and that means that characters invariably get their just desserts. Many horror films, from slashers to the Japanese-inspired ‘vengeful ghost’ stories deal with such themes. E.G Marshall is terrorised by bugs in the same way his actions suggest he treats ‘little people’, Barbeau’s obnoxious character becomes food for the beast, our zombie father finally gets his cake and of course there’s the wraparound story! You do feel a little sorry for Stephen King’s character though…what did he do to deserve that!!!

Release History

Slightly odd! No censorship issues but various countries saw initial releases missing a story or two, presumably to cut down on the running time. Some TV versions did the same thing, again, most likely to fit a certain timeslot…one version in Spain was apparently cut to such an extent that only ‘Something to Tide You Over’ and ‘The Crate’ remained to reduce the running time to an hour and a half with ads!!!

There is a workprint version available, although the quality is pretty poor and was basically a test screening, edited down to the preferred released version. It’s around 15 minutes longer and the trimmed scenes can be viewed as deleted scenes in the region 2 DVD and blu-ray.

Cultural Impact

It brought the portmanteau film back into popularity and was easily the best of the new bunch, spawning a pretty decent sequel and an awful third as well as some outside efforts such as ‘Freaky Fairy Tales’, and ‘The Company of Wolves’. Just look at the popularity that TV shows ‘Tales from the Crypt’, ‘Vault of Horror’ and ‘Tales from the Darkside’ (created by Romero in 1983, a year after ‘Creepshow’ was released) enjoyed which were basically serialised versions of the combined efforts of ‘Creepshow’.

Such films have made something of a resurgence recently, most notably with ‘V/H/S’ and the sporadic ‘ABC’s of Death’ but the 80s and early 90s picked up the baton from Amicus and Hammer…perhaps we’re due a third wave at some point soon!

Final thoughts

I would happily watch any film that combines the talents of George A. Romero and Tom Savini (who cameos as a bin man!), such moments should be cherished by horror fans. It can be difficult to categorise and is a little uneven at times but it hits much more often than it misses and is the only film I’ve seen (‘Darkman’ comes a very close second) that really captures the tone, feel and look of a comic thanks to the stunning visuals, stylised direction and hammy acting. I really enjoyed this film and, though I don’t always watch it all the way through, in my opinion it is underrated and deserves its place amongst the great 80s horror movies.

Memorable Quotes

Vickers: “I can hold my breath for a looooooong time…a looooooong time.”

Billy: “Daddy, please don’t throw it away…I’m sorry.”

Jordy: Meteor Shit!”

Wilma: “Henry, you’re a regular barnyard exhibit. Sheep’s eyes, chicken guts, piggy friends and shit for brains!”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Tales From the Darkside: The Movie”, ‘V/H/S’, ‘Creepshow 2’, 'Twilight Zone: The Movie'

Five of the Best: Tom Savini Effects

There have been some great special effects guys throughout horror history. Rick Baker, Gino de Rossi, Rob Bottin, Carlo Rombaldi and Stan Winston spring to mind but there is one who stands out above the rest to the extent that his effects could sell a film to any horror fan. Tom Savini used his experiences as a combat photographer and channelled what must have been some horrific mental images into something practical. What may well have been therapeutic ended up giving horror fans some of the finest and most realistic gore and make up effects we have ever seen.

Savini has worked on some exceptionally gruesome films including ‘Dawn’ and ‘Day of the Dead’, ‘Maniac’, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’, ‘The Burning’, ‘Friday the 13th Part IV’ and ‘Deranged’. In this piece I have attempted to pick his five greatest effects…do you have your favourites?

‘The Exploding Head’ (Dawn of the Dead - 1978) – click here for full review of the film

In a film that’s full of superb special effects, including the biker buffet, machete in the head, zombified Stephen and the helicopter head slice, that exploding head is a fine example of how to recycle an effect! The moment itself is blink and you miss it yet it has maximum impact, coming pretty much out of nowhere at the very beginning of the film it lays down a challenge to audiences…it’s Romero and Savini’s way of let you know what you’re in for, if they can do that in the opening minutes then prepare yourself for the next 140!

The irony is that this effect was intended to play out in the final scenes and is a head cast of female lead Galen Ross. Her character was supposed to check out at the end of the film in the rotary blades of the chopper during a bleak and downbeat ending that also saw Peter shoot himself. So, rather than waste a perfectly good special effect when you can apply make-up, new hair and a beard and have Woolley blow his brains out. It’s a remarkable shot and may well be the first graphically rendered exploding head in cinema history.

‘Major Cooper’ (Day of the Dead - 1985) 

Sticking with the zombie theme, ‘Day of the Dead’ is littered with Savini’s finest work and the pulling apart of Rhodes in particular is extraordinarily graphic, reflecting Jo Pilato’s enjoyably nasty portrayal as the crackpot captain. However it’s the off screen death of one of his military mates, or at least his fate, that most impressed me. It is quite obvious that it’s a real man on that trolley playing Major Cooper, you can tell be the arm movement, but one question always baffled me…where the hell is his head?

Savini manages the incredible trick of perfectly blending the actor with the practical effect of a brain on the end of his spinal cord wired up to an electrolysis machine. As with all of the other effects in this movie it is utterly believable (when Private Miller is bitten you can even see his thyroid, such is the anatomical accuracy of his effects), the way the oesophagus moves as if breathing and swallowing and, of course, the human element of the arms reacting to the stimulus.

What the effect also does is propel the plot. We find out more about Logan and his unstable nature, he’s perhaps not the cuddly, eccentric scientist that he appears to be and perhaps even a murderer. It also becomes the fuel for Rhodes’ rage when he finds out Cooper and the rest of his men are being experimented upon after death. It perfectly showcases the special relationship Savini and Romero shared and how they utilised each other’s strengths to come up with something utterly incredible.

‘Scoop of Brain, Spoon of Eye’ (Deranged - 1974)

An unusual film that was notable for two things. First of all it was a more literal telling of ‘The Wisconsin Ghoul’, Ed Gein, which had been very loosely referenced before in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. Here his name has been changed to ‘Ezra Cobb’ and comes across as a quasi-documentary. Also, it was the second film to feature the effects of Tom Savini, some of which were too gruesome for the censors who removed some of the more graphic moments for audiences yet to become accustomed to onscreen gore.

When Gein removes the eyes of one of the corpses with a spoon before cutting off the top of her head with a hacksaw, removing her brain and peeling off her face to hold it up as a mask in front his face, it’s safe to say that it’s pretty shocking even now. It’s all done in VERY graphic close up, broad daylight and it is a quite astonishing sequence, lasting a full two minutes. We had seen graphic gore before courtesy of H.G Lewis, but with its oversized and clearly prosthetic limbs, bright red blood and hammy style, this was something else entirely.

Sadly most of the scene was removed by censors and lost for almost 15 years (along with the film which was also largely forgotten) until it was resurrected as a curiosity and the scene was restored in all its gory glory. Talk about announcing yourself to the horror fraternity in explicit fashion, it’s a wonderfully grim and gritty treat of a scene in a film that really is a must see for anyone interested in 70s grindhouse horror.

‘The Crate Monster’ (Creepshow - 1982) – click here for full review

Tom Savini has gone on record as saying that Romero’s portmanteau movie was his most challenging as it is effectively five different movies in one. The most difficult part was undoubtedly the monster in ‘The Crate’ segment as most, if not all of his effects prior to this had been make up or gore effects, never animatronics. It was another string to his bow and once again, it didn’t disappoint.

I found ‘The Crate’ to be the weak link in ‘Creepshow’, it’s a little slow and for me it holds up the movie. It’s also the least fun, lacking the wit and charm of the other instalments BUT the monster is the best part of the entire film, wonderfully realised and executed. Savini obviously took great pride in the effect, nicknaming it ‘Fluffy’ and there is reportedly an additional 20 minutes of footage not used in the film featuring the monster. My only gripe is that it doesn’t feature in the film enough! That it gobbles up the disgustingly obnoxious Wilma (Adrienne Barbeau clearly having a blast in the role!) just adds to the creature’s charm.

I think Savini had something of a new found appreciation for animatronics with masks and moving creatures a part of Tommy’s character in ‘Friday the 13th: Part 4’…featuring more of his memorable effects.

‘Killing Jason’ (Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter - 1984)

I was very tempted to go for Savini blowing his own head apart in ‘Maniac’ but, having already picked an exploding head, I went for his complete destruction of the character he helped to create.

Of course Savini provided the exceptional make-up for Jason in that infamous jump scare at the end of the original movie (no small achievement considering it was applied and then placed underwater) and it’s understood that he only agreed to do this film knowing that he was about to kill off the character he gave to the world. The original script called for Tommy (the character name was an homage to Savini in acknowledgment of his contribution to the success of the franchise) to split Jason’s head with a machete but Savini wanted more!

What we eventually got was Trish delivering the initial blow to knock off the hockey mask revealing Jason’s twisted face. Tommy then plants the machete into Jason’s head who then falls head first onto the blade and slowly slides down the blade which continues to work its way into Mr Vorhees’ head. There is an alternate take that features gushes of blood during this scene! With Jason still twitching, Tommy then goes berserk, violently slashing away at Jason’s body, the off screen effects achieved by Tommy hacking away at a box of apples covered with a wet blanket!

It’s a fitting way to see off Jason, hacked to death by one of his would-be victims but of course, history tells us that you can’t keep a good Vorhees down and many more, inferior (though I did thoroughly enjoy Part 6!) sequels followed, largely thanks to the money made from this instalment.

What now?

I hope this didn’t come across as too gushing but it’s hard to put into words just how much of an important figure in horror history Tom Savini is and a huge part of my formative years. Alongside Ray Harryhausen, he’s one of the few non-directing, behind the scenes names that could sell a film and is a mark of quality on pretty much any film he lends his talents to. Of course it’s not just effects work, he’s also been a stuntman, director, actor, cinematographer and producer but it’s the effects for which he will forever be associated and, thanks to his ‘Special Make-Up Effects Program’, he has a legacy too.

So, what films would you pick as Savini’s ‘Five of the Best’…I want to hear your views!

Related Reviews

‘Dawn of the Dead’ – Click here
‘Creepshow’ – Click here
‘The Burning’ – Click here
‘Friday the 13th’ – Click here
Five of the Best: Dario Argento Movies – Click here
Five of the Best: Horror movie soundtracks – Click here

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Tagline: “The night no one comes home”
Duration: 98 minutes

Film Quality: 3/5
Gore Content: 3/5
Entertainment Value: 4/5
Originality: 3.5/5

Introduction

This is a hard one to introduce! John Carpenter had originally envisaged an anthology of horror films, a series with each one bearing the ‘Halloween’ name. Clearly not anticipating the incredible success of the first instalment, Carpenter and Hill produced ‘Halloween II’ with the intention of it being the last word on Michael Myers, fully intending to move away from that to create an entirely different ‘Halloween’ movie. To audiences desperate for more mayhem featuring everyone’s favourite TJ Hooker lookalike, Carpenter not only threw the baby out with the bathwater, he blew up the bathroom. Goodbye slasher, hello mysticism and witchcraft…welcome to ‘Halloween III’!

In a nutshell

After witnessing a bizarre series of events, seemingly surrounding a Halloween mask, a Doctor teams up with the daughter of a murdered man to investigate. They’re drawn to a mysterious town where the masks are manufactured, uncovering a strange plot to destroy society on Halloween night…can they stop his megalomaniacal plans in time?

So what’s good about it?

There is no escaping the fact that this is a crap film, but it’s one that I’ve returned to several times and wholly enjoyed. I’m not entirely sure what it is, whether it’s the silly plot played entirely straight, whether it’s the plotholes that rival swiss cheese, the charming special effects…I’ve never put my finger on it. Some films are best left without deep analysis and simply enjoyed for what they are. Who cares if it’s blatantly terrible, if you enjoy then let the flaws wash over you and embrace it what it is…pure hokum!

Yet there is a lot to enjoy. You have to admire Carpenter, Hill and writer Tommy Lee Wallace for taking the hard route and moving away from what would have been a money making third Myers movie and sticking to their guns, for one film at least. The slasher movie was in its prime, they had two huge hits already and even if it had been as bad as part 5, a third Myers movie would have raked it in. Instead they did what nobody expected, left their best player on the bench for the big game. In a move of creativity rarely seen today they took a risk. I don’t know if it really paid off, people are still talking about it today, not always in a positive way but it has its fan base.

John Carpenter’s only real creative input into this film is, for me the standout part and that is the wonderfully electronic score. Again, moving away from the traditional slasher score of strings and piano, he goes all ‘Escape From New York’ on us and gives us a soundtrack not unlike 1984’s ‘The Terminator’. It works as well, the opening scene is full of muted, low frequency sounds and blips as a digitally constructed pumpkin is drawn on our screen. It’s expertly done, but then we’ve come to expect nothing less from a master musician.

For what is clearly a low budget is some pretty good and inventive set piece gore and effect moments. The head ripping scene is both graphic and surprising, the death of the Kupfers in the warehouse and the ‘misfire’ in the hotel room are suitably gruesome and some of the android effects are handled very well, if a little silly with the yellow blood! In fact, this is always seen as less graphic than the first two but I’d argue the opposite. Our actors look like they’re having a great time, an assertion backed up by veteran Dan O’Herlihy as the evil Cochran who said that he only uses his Cork accent when he’s having a good time and there it is, very much present and correct.

But for me the thing that stands out most, and it rarely gets credit for, is what a dark premise it has. It’s often seen as the silly film in the pack, the one that’s not being entirely serious, but we see children killed graphically onscreen. In fact the entire plot is about attacking and killing children who are trying to enjoy themselves at a fun time of year. It’s a pretty nihilistic and apocalyptic idea and could have been an absolute classic…had it not been so damn silly and likeable!!!

Oh, and a great tagline that plays on the original brilliantly!

What about the bad?

Oh there’s plenty, most of it forgivable out of sheer absurdity. How the hell did they manage to nick a chunk of Stonehenge? How did they know it had magical powers? Where do the snakes and insects come from? How did they get an android version of Ellie so quickly? Why does Cochran want to kill children and replace them with androids? If the androids are so strong that they can crush a guy’s head and rip another clean off, how can Challis overcome several of them on hit own with just a tyre iron? It’s all very strange and I can completely understand why some people find it so difficult to accept when it can be pulled apart so easily. It is a huge, jumbled mess of a film to the extent that if you asked ten different people what the ‘bad’ would be, you’d get ten different answers.

Of course people’s main grumble with this film is the absence of Michael Myers, to the extent that some fans don’t regard it as part of the ‘Halloween’ cannon. It does reference the original movie as a piece of fiction in what is portrayed ‘real life’ within the film. Not many film franchises have had the balls to reduce its hugely successful original to a mere TV trailer!

Any themes?

There’s quite a bit going on in this film. At face value it’s a comment on capitalism, the flood of big business, mass production and its effects on small town America. Cochran’s big business ‘Silver Shamrock’ moves in, he doesn’t hire anyone from Santa Mira, they swiftly lose any source of income, other industries dwindle and die and there’s nothing left but a liqueur store, poverty, unemployment, resentment and a ready-made excuse for failure. “Fuck Cochrane” one of the locals says, knowing that his own future is bleak with no prospects. The opening scene of ‘Halloween 4’ features a similarly desolate farm that has clearly suffered from a dwindling, small town economy that has crashed, this brief prologue has more in common with the end of ‘Halloween 3’ than it does with the rest of ‘Halloween 4’.

Consumerism is also attacked viciously, both in terms of the commercialism of ‘Halloween’ itself, exemplified by that irritating advert which is clearly aimed at kids who would be singing it every morning at the breakfast table demanding a mask until their parents give in! But also given that it is the advert itself which is the mode of attack, burying the signal, or subliminal message, unseen within the carefully co-ordinated make-up of the ad. The commercial is designed to both entice and consume in the most literal sense, in the same way cigarette adverts use attractive women and ‘cool’ lifestyles to get you to buy addiction and lung cancer. To this end it shares some common themes with Carpenter’s own ‘They Live’ (click here for full review), a film that also features plans at world domination based around a signal hidden within adverts.

Release History

It’s had a very odd relationship with the UK market, never cut by the BBFC but for most of its early life released only in pre-cut versions! At least two minutes was missing from its first Warner VHS release, presumably to get a ‘15’ certificate. It was missing most of the (fairly tame) drill murder, the face crushing, the head ripping, the aftermath of the ‘misfire’ and part of the ‘sex’ scene. This applied to early DVD releases as well, although cuts differ slightly. Ironically, at a time when TV censorship was very heavy, BBC1 showed a version in the early 90s which included all of the violence and gore but edited out the profanity. They were very strange times!!! Of course now it’s available totally uncut, although still no blu-ray release in the UK but there is a region B release from Germany that includes the soundtrack.

Cultural Impact

Not much other than pretty much forcing the hand for another Michael Myers movie. I wonder if ‘Halloween 3’ hadn’t been released, or had been better received as part of an anthology series, would Myers have returned, or would it have been left nicely resolved and self-contained as two movies? I suppose we’ll never know but the lasting legacy of this film is that you will never here the song ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ or answer your kids’ question of ‘how many days is it until Halloween’ without that catchy advert playing inside your head for the rest of the day!

Final thoughts

It’s certainly not a ‘so bad it’s good’ film, it’s just much more entertaining that it has any right to be and that’s largely because there’s so much going on. It never allows itself to be boring but sacrifices any pretentions it may have had as a serious horror film as a result. More likely to be remembered as a result of association with Carpenter’s original than anything else, nevertheless it has an audience and a place at a certain time of year. Altogether now…”Three more days ‘til Halloween…Halloween…Halloween…Three more days ‘til Halloween….Silver Shamrock!” Now try getting it out of your head!!!

Memorable quotes

TV Announcer: “It’s almost time kids, the clock is ticking…be in front of your TV 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.”

Cochran: “It will be morning soon, Halloween morning. A very busy day for me.”

Challis: “For God’s sake please stop it, there’s no more time, please stop it…stop it now. Turn it off, stop it, stop it, stop it…STOP IT!”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Demonic Toys’, ‘The Fog’, ‘Tourist Trap’

Related posts

‘Haloween’ – Click here
‘The Fog’ – Click here

The DPP 39: Video Nasties List - Part 8

In 1984, the Video Recordings Act ushered in a terrifying new era in UK home video entertainment.  The regulation and subsequent censorship of home videos by the British Board of Film Classification led to a number of films being seized by the authorities and prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. In total, 39 of these films were successfully prosecuted, over the coming months The Horror Video will look very briefly at the release history of each film and its current status. To view the rest of the series…

Part 1: ‘Absurd’, ‘Anthropophagus’ and ‘Axe’, click here
Part 2: ‘Bay of Blood’, ‘The Beast in Heat’ and ‘Blood Feast’, click here
Part 3: ‘Blood Rites’, ‘Bloody Moon’ and ‘The Burning’, click here
Part 4: ‘Cannibal Apocalypse’, ‘Cannibal Ferox’ and ‘Cannibal Holocaust’, click here
Part 5: ‘The Cannibal Man’, ‘The Devil Hunter’ and ‘Don’t Go in the Woods’ click here
Part 6: ‘The Driller Killer’, ‘Evilspeak’ and ‘Expose’. Click here
Part 7: ‘Faces of Death’, ‘Fight for Your Life’, ‘Flesh for Frankenstein’ click here

Title: ‘Forest of Fear’ (1980)

Director: Charles McCrann
Uncut running time: 89 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Toxic Zombies’, ‘The Bloodeaters’, ‘Blood Butchers’

Quite possibly the first of the deep south, redneck zombie sub-genre, there’s not a great deal to get excited about here in what is essentially a low budget drive in movie. Charles McCrann wrote, directed, produced, edited, acted and most likely made the tea for this film…a real labour of love.

A bunch of dim-witted hippies have produced their own marijuana plantation, large enough to draw the attention of the government who decide to kill the crop with a chemical spray. No doubt it worked but the side effects were much worse than smoking the crop as the hippies are turned into flesh eating zombies…was there any other kind after Romero? It’s entertaining enough if you’re in the right mood and there is some pretty decent gore with a few lost limbs, blood spurts and severed heads. It’s near impossible to see what the authorities saw in this that put it on the same level as the likes of ‘Cannibal Ferox’ and ‘Faces of Death’. It clearly was a different time!

Bizarrely the film has never really suffered from any censorship issues. Released on Monte Video in November 1982 the only edit was an inconsequential epilogue telling us that the FBI agent involved quit his job! Quite why it then made the nasties list almost exactly a year later is a mystery. It stayed there throughout the moral panic and has never seen a UK release since, which tells you a lot about its almost total lack of notoriety.

Current status: unavailable in the UK, though surely not through any moral or censorship issues, available uncut on Telavista in the US.

Title: ‘The Gestapo’s Last Orgy’ (1977)

Director: Cesare Canevari
Uncut running time: 81 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Last Orgy of the Third Reich’, ‘Caligula Reincarnated as Hitler’


I’ve never quite understood the Nazi bongo flicks, it’s a genre that I’ve never had any interest in and has completely passed me by. Consequently I’ve not seen this particular ‘gem’, in fact in the UK in particular you have to look very hard as it is still banned here.

It seems that the entire film is told in flashback as Lise meets a former Commandant at the remains of an old death camp and she recalls the horrors she had to endure. A little research reveals those horrors to be rape, ritual humiliation, mother-daughter incest, sodomisation with bats and the killing of a baby born through rape. Not the kind of stuff you find in your average Sam Raimi flick! This type of film clearly had an audience at the time but it’s certainly not for me so I hold my hands up and claim to know absolutely nothing else about what this film has to offer.

In terms of censorship, VFP released the film on VHS in the UK in 1983 with 10m 48s of missing footage, mainly from two scenes of an Aryan fantasy and cannibalism. It was banned in March 1984 and has never seen the light of day since. You can, if you so wish, obtain the movie in the US on Intervision…a region free release that is uncut.

Current status: Banned in the UK, available uncut in the US through Intervision DVD.

Title: The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Director: Lucio Fulci
Uncut running time: 87 minutes
Alternative title: ‘The House Outside the Cemetery’, ‘Quella Villa Accanto al Cimitero’


The third part of Fulci’s ‘Gates of Hell’ trilogy and the second to make the official nasties list (only ‘City of the Living Dead’ escaped that fate), this is a classy film and ranks as one of the finest on the list. Dr Freudstein ‘lives’ in the cellar of the titular house and keeps his rotting flesh alive by feasting on the living. When another Doctor brings his family to the house to carry on the work of his colleague whilst investigating his suicide, it brings a whole new buffet of bodies for Freudstein to feast on.

Owing more to the tropes of the haunted house movie than the zombie (despite the best efforts of the tagline which promised ‘marauding zombies’!) there is a literary influence from Lovecraft and Henry James, most notably ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and its cinematic incarnation ‘The Innocents’. With plenty to say about the nature of children, childhood and how they channel their fears, the ghostly Mae and the tediously irritating Bob (you have the English dub track to thank for that!) appear to hold the key to the whole mystery whilst being the only ones to escape Freudstein’s clutches. Having scant regard for causal logic and linear time, it’s a suitable conclusion to the trilogy.

The BBFC didn’t get this film at all, focussing only the gore and heavily editing the film, Vampix releasing the cinema version missing close to a minute and a half. Following the nasties panic Elephant put out a version missing a further four minutes, VIPCO going one better in the 90s with a version shorn of 6m 19s of gore! VIPCO tried a little harder in 2001 when a release missing 33 seconds was brought out before Arrow succeeded in bringing UK audiences the uncut version on 2012. For full review click here

Current status: Uncut in the UK on Arrow Video being out of print, uncut on Blue Underground in the US.