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John Carpenter's 1978 'Halloween' is wholly deserving of its status as a horror classic. To this day it's still one of the freakiest films personally seen and introduced the world to one of horror's most iconic villainous characters Michael Myers.
Which is why it is such a shame that not only are all of the sequels nowhere near as good but that the decline in quality is so drastic. Ok, the original 'Halloween' is very difficult to follow on from, but most of the sequels could at least looked like effort was made into them. 'Halloween III: Season of the Witch' had a generally negative critical reception and is still considered by many one of the worst of the series, but has garnered fans overtime. To me, 'Halloween III: Season of the Witch' is not that awful, but it is not a particularly good film either.
It is often criticised for straying too far from the formula and not feeling at all like a 'Halloween' film. Actually these complaints are understandable, but a lot of people have also argued that there is much more wrong than just being unrecognisable as a 'Halloween' film. Actually, didn't mind at all that it tried to be different rather than being a retread like 'Halloween II' was, sadly it just didn't work out. Judging it as a standalone, 'Halloween III' also manages still to be problematic.
'Halloween III' is not a complete mess. It is one of the better-looking and more polished sequels and has a suitably eerie look. The music has a spine-chilling atmosphere and has a real eeriness. The song is similarly very catchy.
A couple of the deaths are disturbing and Dan O'Herlihy tries his best.
Like the previous film, the drawbacks are numerous and significant. There is more creepiness than with 'Halloween II', even if just sporadically, but tonally it still doesn't feel right. The weirdness of the story is overkill and parts are unintentionally funny. The science fiction elements feature excessively and confuse the storytelling, as well as because it is more silly than eerie it dumbs it down.
Once again there is very little scary or suspenseful. A couple of the deaths are more disturbing but most are not that creative or unsettling. The story was a decent idea that could have been creepy but was instead silly and with even more stupidity and illogic than the previous sequel.
Many have said that no awards will be given for good dialogue and acting. That's putting it lightly. The script is clunky and cheesy ineptitude throughout and the acting, Dan O'Herlihy excepted, is pretty awful and fails to do anything with such dull and annoying characters. The gore is gratuitous, the ending is a big head-scratcher and the non-horror scenes are ineptly directed (in a film where direction reeked of inexperience), written and acted.
In summation, mediocre and not so happy. Not quite as bad as reputed though. 4/10 Bethany Cox
4/10
