Interesting little movie focusing most of its efforts on
gratuitous nudity. Don’t get me wrong put a beautiful person on screen reading
a dictionary, it’s easy to watch and hard to turn off. This film could be so
much more. Has a wonderful blend of legend, reality, and supernatural. The
legend and supernatural felt underdeveloped, the gratuitous nudity felt
overdeveloped (no pun intended).
Seeing Kane Hodder’s name made me click play. Being a huge
name in horror movies for over three decades, in interviews he always seems to
be a fan of the genre. Playing Goatface, he stalks the beautiful woman who
should easily out run him. But we are sure glad they aren’t making much of an
effort to get away (so is Kane, at his age he wouldn’t be able to catch, well
anyone accept Betty White and she’s dead). What isn’t slowing down is his
career. Eight upcoming projects are in the works. Including Spawn of the Dead
which seems to include every B-list actor in Hollywood.
Directed by Steve Wolsh, whose main talent seems to be
convincing beautiful women to star in his films. But to be fair, he made this
movie on a limited budget and I want to see a sequel. The filming was started
in 2015 but the didn’t get released till 2023. Guessing he faced plenty of
issues trying to complete the film. His upcoming film is a remake of Return of
the Living Dead 2027. Looking forward to seeing this. Most would try and
sanitize it to reach a broader audience.I have faith Steve is going to crank up the gore and nudity enough to
make Art the Clown blush!
The one question you have to ask yourself before you watch
this film, is do you want to see Kane Hodder chase nude women around? This
movie is what every thirteen-year-old basement dwelling pimple face future film
maker teen wishes they could make with their older sister’s friends.
Full Moon helmed by Charles Band has been entertaining
horror fans for almost forty years. The secret formula is surprisingly simple,
blood, beautiful women, ridiculous stories with a few dashes of boobs, perversion
and camp. The Bandiverse has multiple franchises, other studios have spent
millions trying to create profitable franchises. FMEU has Puppet Master,
Dollman, Trancers, Subspecies, Evil Bong, Killjoy, Demonic Toys, and Gingerdead.
Not to mention the other divisions like Moonbeam and Torchlight.
The eleventh Puppet Master movie proves kill’in Nazis never
gets old. The Nazis are losing WW2 and are desperate to afflict loses on the Americans.
Their master plans are quickly coming to fruition. Annihilation by Death-Ray or
reanimated monsters. Which one will be completed first and can anyone stop it,
much less survive the madness?
Full Moon not only perfected the straight to video home
market. But they were able to maximize the VHS and later DVD format. With previews
of their upcoming films in development and special features, like Full Moon
Video Zone, making of and ways to purchase merchandise way before the internet
made getting your favorite movie swag so common .
The casting of a Full Moon movie normally gets a handful of
familiar faces along with up and coming new talent. Blade Iron Cross has actors
that have been around but no one except their agent and mother would recognize them.
The stand out is Tania Fox. Following a long history of woman too beautiful to
be in a low budget Charles Band movie. Something about beautiful people make a
movie easier to watch. Ms. Fox is a big reason this film is so entertaining.
For Boomers watching one of these movies, takes us back to
late night sleepovers, watching a tape our parents wouldn’t approve of, on a
massive sugar high and on a 4:3 ratio backbreaker TV. For Millennials, Z’s and
whatever the next too-easy-to-offend generation is, you’re going to be
triggered, offended, traumatized, with the safe space being the stop button.
But you’re gonna love it!
A master class in film making. A ride
through all emotions, peak and valleys, funny at times and deeply
thoughtful at others. Each frame is visually interesting and showing
the continuing not so subtle class struggle theme. A quote I heard
recently "to each complex problem there are easy and wrong
answers", which seems to fit so much of this movie.
Joon-ho Bong has quietly become one of
the best international directors behind only Guillermo del Toro
'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006) and 'Devil's Backbone' (2001). If you don't
know either one of these directors, fire up Google, Netflix, Red Box,
cable movie channel, or make a trip to Wal-Mart. Joon-ho has written
and directed some fantastic movies, including 'The Host' (2006) and
'Snowpiercer' (2013) often with themes of working-class or poor
struggling.
Following a broke unemployed family who
has to hustle to survive. A bit of good fortune gets them in with a
rich family. Neither family is portrayed as good or evil nor smart or
dumb. Too often in depictions of class struggle, the poor are dumb and
the rich are evil. Here we see the Kim family quickly motivated to
help each other out with numerous ingenious schemes, with each
family member contributing in his own way. The Park family busy
dealing with their own issues, having a large household tends to lead
to many things coming up. Simple things can have very different meanings depending on where one lives.
While very sympathetic to the Kim
family, it slowly unravels an uncomfortable truth. True they are a
tight family who quickly helps each other. But, the person who
introduces them to the Park family is quickly betrayed. They are
ruthless in dispatching people in their way without a care. At one
point a neighbor needs help getting his loaded bicycle up the stairs,
they all rush past, not sparing ten seconds to help someone they
know. Each member is desperate to get a job so they can eat, at first.
That quickly gives way to taking advantage any way they can with
quickly looking down at the Park family for being naive. Within a
short time putting their new-found prosperity a risk. The father
Ki-taek who tries to be on his best behavior still is kind of rude,
disrespectful, lazy, has a body odor problem and is quick to point
the finger at someone else. To be fair the viewer sees how bad their
lives suck, the struggle is real!
The movie takes a rollercoaster series
of sharp dark turns. I love it when I can't tell where a movie is
going. It ends in a deeply depressing thud. A promise is made, that
is hopeful and quickly uplifting, but much like in 'Death of
Salesman' an empty promise without merit. That leaves nothing but
sorrow and sadness, that can't be fulfilled. All the dark turns and
mayhem but nothing compares to the stark realization for the
survivers.
The film that has a horror tree like no other! Branching together multiple generations of horror greatness. Tying together much of the horror genre for the twentieth century. And to goes to prove a family who goes crazy together will stay together.....
A very young Lee Majors appears uncredited in this movie. His first credited film role was in arguably one of the greatest westerns of all time Will Penny (1967) from there the movie side of the business went downhill fast! Even though he was an up and coming actor, choosing to be in two movie horrors (not in a good way), 'The Norseman' (1978), don't watch under any circumstance, and 'Killer Fish' (1979), a very bad knock off of the already flooded 'killer fish movies'. But these highlights the difference between movies and TV. Make a bad TV pilot, it dies with little notice when the series doesn't get picked up. Make a bad movie it lives on into infinity and beyond, unless your Jerry Lewis 'The Day the Clown Cried' (1972). Nowadays he is best known for playing a parody of himself like in 'Ash vs Evil Dead' (2016-2018).
In the twilight of her career, Joan Crawford found new life in The Psycho Biddy movies. One of the biggest names in the '30s by the time this movie was made she was more known for feuding with anyone who crossed her path and being a diva on set. Unfortunately, the reason this movie isn't better can directly be traced back to her. Crawford still had incredible pull, having the script rewritten and numerous actors replaced. Just cause you can act doesn't mean you can write or understand a script (looking at you Donald Sutherland). Known to most people from the unflattering tell-all book 'Mommy Dearest'.
Unfortunately William Castle, by finding creative ways to promote his movies, became to be viewed as a B-movie film-making schmuck. Castle was the ultimate movie making hustler. Not only directing, producing, and starring but also pulling off outrageous stunts to promote his movies. Before the XD experiences, we have now in movie theaters, there was William Castle! His movies were much better than their budget should have allowed. Finding actors that deserved better scripts. And finding scripts that deserved better budgets. He had a hand in bringing to life some of the best horror movies in the fifties and sixties. He also tried to get studios to green light 3d years before the first, studios said there was no market for cheap gimmicks like that. Unfortunately, after the success of 'Rosemary's Baby' (1969) (purchased the rights but couldn't find a studio who would let him direct it) his health declined and he only worked on a couple more B-movies before his death.
George Kennedy plays the cruel opportunistic farm hand to perfection. A fixture in movies for over fifty years. He never got the leading man roles, but the more interesting supporting characters. Including a horror fan favorites 'The Terror Within' (1989), 'Creep Show 2' (1987) and 'Brain Dead; (1990). At the time of this movie, he was still a relatively unknown TV actor. Playing tough guys with limited lines.
The main reason why this movie has faded into obscurity is it doesn't compete in any category. It's not the best Psycho Biddy movie, both Whatever happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush.... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) were better. It's not the best Castle movie, not even for that year 'The Night Walker' is better. Castle both directed and produced better movies, 'House on Haunted Hill' (1959) and 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968). It's not Robert Bloch's (an H.P. Lovecraft protege) masterpiece, he wrote Psycho (1960). But it's still a fun movie to watch.
A gritty mashup of Pans Labyrinth (2006) and Evil Dead (1981) with a much darker end. A trip into a weird universe that brings out the certifiable mental patient in people. Siblings McKenzie and Martin with a group of friends follow a trail of bread crumbs left by their missing sister into a backwater hell hole. Where the group splinters into madness.
Director and writer, Nicholas Woods creates a universe that's interesting and has more stories to tell. Most of the major characters are fully formed. Even some of the secondary people leave you wanting to know what their story is. Two of the local boys go off to "play" in one of the other gates, leaving me really wanting to see their little adventure. The gate the sister is in, is visited all too briefly. But reveals images that beg to be expanded on, a story that needs telling.
They do a good job with the budget they have (seriously Deadpool 2 spent more on one AC/DC song than they did on all the guns in the first movie and probably the second too! and Ryan wannabe super hero with his CGI abs Reynolds, took three times to finally get one right, makes one bad rom-com after another and than gets to be Deadpool! Someone should sew his mouth shut, shave his head, make him wear a green fat suit and star in the remake of Deliverance playing Ned Beatty's role.), I've seen many Friday the 13th movies that looked and felt much cheaper than The Axiom.
This film has good cast aided by well-defined characters. It's amazing how enjoyable it is to watch beautiful women. Cinematographer spends an extraordinary amount of time focusing on Hattie Smith's butt (we might have a creeper). Which wears the best looking pair of Daisy Dukes since Dukes of Hazard. Every scene Nicole Dambro is in, she steals.
The way this movie ends, can disappoint depending on how you like movies to end. First time I watched Barracuda (1978) it blew my little mind, a film could end like that. The big difference in these two movies is I would want to watch The Axiom again, and not just because the batteries in the remote are dead, when it happens to come on Svengoolie for the tenth time.
This enjoyable little splat of an Ozploitation movie is a great way to kill a Sunday afternoon. A family goes for a picnic in a picturesque location next to a babbling little stream. Not deterred by reports of people missing, and a killer pig on the lose. They quickly find out they should have spent family time at the pub bonding over pints, or better yet shots.
One thing that drives me crazy is how well made this movie is, without doing anything to try and push it into cult status or round it out to a better movie. It's a spec script with a good director. It's a basic 'people go into the woods to camp, there is a monster in those woods, and the people end up fighting for survival' film. Chris Sun is a talented director, it just seems all he is trying to do with this movie is getting on base, not hit a home run.
The cast, like most Aussie films, is full of colorful characters. You will recognize most of them from other famous films made down-under. Almost expect Paul Hogan and John Meillon(Crocodile Dundee) to stroll into the bar. Well, not John he's dead. And well not Paul, doesn't he owe a bunch of taxes to the Australia government? The cast adds a lot of warmth to the movie.
Nathan Jones stands out, at 6'11" and four hundred pounds of muscle, he's hard to miss. When he looks at someone, the viewer feels 'bad shit' gonna happen! Reading up on him, this guy is legit scary, on Australia's most wanted list when he was eighteen. Spent time in Maximum Security prisons. When he goes head to head with the monster, PETA is concerned for the well being of the pig. Definitely a towering presence on the screen.
There are a couple of things that bring this film down. The ending is a little too happy for a horror movie. They also missed out in developing the relationship more between Bernie and the bartender. The monster is shown for way too long in full daylight, a major sin in horror movies. And the ladies aren't given much to do, except look pretty.
A good B-movie to eat some popcorn too. Don't take it too seriously and it's a good time. And it's safe enough to watch with dear old mom upstairs (for all you basement dwellers that still live at home).
Another Puppet Master movie dropped this year. If you're keeping count at home that is a total of 13 PM movies. Finding out it was released made me realize how much I miss the bonus features on dvds or end content on VHS tapes. There was a time I couldn't wait for the next Full Moon movie to come out. VideoZone always had me begging for more. It was cool to see the 'making of' and interviews with the cast. With so many ways to reach fans today, nothing can really replace the ease of pushing out all that extra content on the same DVD as the movie.
Charles Band has created some good horror series under Full Moon for over thirty years. The creative artist being able to hold onto the rights of their creation has led to long-running franchises. Under the studio system, someone was lucky to hold on to their creation for one movie. The only way to get a movie made was to give up the rights. Sam Peckinpah ('Wild Bunch 1969', 'Straw Dogs 1971', 'The Getaway 1972') had a long history of having his movies taken away in post-production, getting an edit that audiences couldn't follow. Friday the 13th series quickly became under the control of someone who rapidly shifted to cheap gimmicks and into a TV series that made no sense. The Xtro movie the writer/director was able to keep control of the name but not the story. There has been far to many movies, fans want to see, but rights issues make it improbable. The Saw Series quickly became the high grossing horror franchise of all time due to having the person who created it, retaining control.
Full Moon movies tend to stick to a common formula that works well for horror films, babes, boobs, blood and beasts without taking themselves to seriously. Without ever getting too crazy in any one area. Not 'Dead Alive' (1993) gory, not 'Slave Girls Beyond Infinity' (1987) boobies, and not overusing the big-bad. With the Muppet Master series, they rotate in different puppets each movie. Every fan has his favorite. Not only does this allow them to show off new puppets but leaves fans wanting to see the next movie to see old crowd pleasers but also what devilish new creations will be rolled out next.
Unfortunately, Full Moon movies always tend to have slow spots. The first ten minutes is painfully slow. There is nothing interesting. The dialog, especially between father and son, falls completely flat. These early minutes have a dated feel to them. But, the latest installment of the long-running series quickly picks up when Ashley the girl next door (Jenny Pellicer) shows up and doesn't slow back down. Scream Queen Barbara Crampton had a small role in the first one returns for a bigger part here. Very cool how after thirty years they can bring back one of the original actors. Also, starring is Michael Pare, who was incredible in some early 80's cult movies, 'Streets of Fire' (1984) is a must see. This newest installment does a good job of standing on its own. So if you haven't seen any of the others or have missed a few it's not a big deal. It's a puppet gone wild, kind of movie.
Most will steer clear of this French twist of a rape film. Seventy's sexploitation movies like 'I Spit on Your Grave' (Originally 'Day of the Woman' (1978)) and 'House on the Left' (1972), both inspired by European movies, were more focused on the grittiness of the story. Revenge is a visually stunning cinematic masterpiece. Mixing the beautiful landscape and symbology (yes know, I need to stop watching that movie, it makes me dumber with each viewing) to make the almost two hour run time go flying by. Many directors lose focus during the long process of making a film. Michael Cimino known for making the biggest Hollywood bomb for almost forty years was so caught up in having every shot be a cinematic marvel, nothing else mattered. Heaven's Gate is a very beautiful film that's nearly unwatchable, especially at four-plus hours, unless you're a French film snob.
Most smaller films stretch the run time because they want the film to be a full-length feature and not be confused with being a short. The average moviegoer would rather be blown away with a short film than having to wish for a 'mister fast forward button'. Master's of Horror (2005-2007) showed a really good story could be told in fifty minutes. Director Coralie Fargeat keeps the action moving. While lingering on some scenes that need to be taken in. The two hour run time is justified, Coralie fills it brilliantly. Defining the wolf-pack mentality, building to the assault and transformation of Jen to the bad-ass heroine of death. Any of you prepubescent, vape smoking, basement dwelling, Gargamels, who only going to watch this to see some boobies. Well, be warned not only is there subtitles, but Coralie clearly has a stalkerish thing for male lead Kevin Janssens. You're going to see a lot of his ass and junk.
There are some issues that pull the viewer out of the story. We all love a good movie that sucks the viewer in, where thought and time cease to exist. First, off the twelve gauge shotgun that shoots like a rifle. Why don't people who make movies learn how guns work. Only the French would put a scope on a shotgun. I'm sure someone will tell me about this special French gun they have. But if it looks like a twelve gauge pump shotgun and uses twelve gauge shells, it's a shotgun! Second, the amount of blood used and the length of the final kill both cross over from dramatic to comedic.
Revenge is a great movie to watch. The long runtime doesn't seem like it. Old westerns had long run times. And they seemed like it! Anytime the cowboys started to move the heard across the river, you knew you had at least ten minutes for a bathroom break. The transformation of beautiful dainty Jen from party-girl being creeped on, to the angel of death is entertaining as hell!
Another movie that critics hated (prerequisite for a lot of films I like) and gets undue hate from horror aficionados. There is many issues in continuity and ability of a mentally challenged deformed man-child. The beginning of the film just simply confused people and didn't make a lot of sense. First Jason never died, second, he learns to use the phone and walk into the city unnoticed and stalk the lone survivor from the first film all while looking like the villain from The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)? The first moments of a film normally set the tone for the rest of the film. This opening could have been left DOA on the editing room floor. Making a better film.
When half the camp decides to go to the bar leaving easy pickings for our murderer savant. The bar strangely looks like the one from Porky's (1981). The first killing is a tad weird with the psycho just hanging out with his arms wrapped around a large tree holding a garrotte waiting for someone to stop by close enough to get the wire over their head. And the spearing death paying homage to Bay of Blood (1971) was almost completely cut out due to gore and nudity. The film seems to have been filmed in order. Explaining why it gets better as it unfolds. With a first-time director Miner seemingly hitting his stride towards the end.
Ms. Voorhees was already established as batshit crazy. But knowing Jason was alive the entire time smears guano all over her face and has her dancing in the moonlight naked in front of her son kind of crazy. It helps show how crazy she was and opens a reasonable explanation to the opening. A schizophrenia split personality that happened when she thought Jason died. She later found him in the woods alive but the mental break already incurred. So Jason was raised in seclusion by a person who bounced back and forth thinking he should be dead and the loving mother. Talk about a rough childhood. This scenario makes the film that much more twisted. With the stalking and murder of Alice being done by a copycat.
Everyone thought the resurrection of Jason was a bad idea. The director, Tom Savili (makeup), and most of the people involved with the first one left. So in steps Steve Miner, an assistant on the first one, who ends up having a long successful career in Hollywood cranking out movies like House (1985), Lake Placid (1999) and Day of the Dead (2008). Initially Paramount wanted the rights to make a reoccurring series of horror films with a different non-continuing story (John Carpenter envisioned the same for Halloween) but the only way they could get the rights was to make a film centered around Jason. Which no one thought made any sense!
The MPAA played a big part in the toned down special effects. They were heavily criticized in giving the first one an R rating. So blood and guts were noticeably absent from this outing. But having naked girls wasn't taboo yet. Sheena (1984) had Tonya Roberts naked washing in a river during the whole opening credits, rated PG. But the problem with the T&A was the actress they hired to provide most of the T&A ended up being underage.
Part 2 is also the first outing for Frank Mancuso Jr. who became the showrunner for the series. Who went ahead creating the horrible tv show. That had nothing to do with the film or horror genre. It was a boring tedious labor of excruciating pain to watch. Think Supernatural (2005) without any humor, script, babes, monsters, wit or charm. The show did gain a cult following simply by having the name. But for some reason Jason's Nightmares (1988-1990) which was an awesome show, no one has ever seen. Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-1990) people kept tuning in waiting for Jason to kill all these boring people.
Worth noting everyone got over Jason being alive. The 3rd film released one year later did much better. The 3rd Friday introduced the hockey mask (that's right the first movie Jason was a tragic dead kid (not the villain), the second movie he didn't have his signature hockey mask (a burlap sack that made him look like the Elephant Man). The 3rd movie also had Richard Booker as Jason which cast a more sinister presence due to size. Another issue with this movie is Jason isn't very scary. Not in size or how he kills. Miner seemingly made an anti-Halloween (1978) movie with no suspense or build up.
This is another good example of a movie that time has been kind to. No one now finds it weird Jason is the killer or alive. Where Jason has now morphed this supernatural undead boogie man the opening scene isn't so awkward (you know after killing half of Manhattan and leaving a trail of floating blood bubbles in outer space). Miner's zippy movie pace makes it easier for today's audiences to watch compared to Halloween (1978). Amy Steel provides a good performance. Miner moves the film along at a brisk pace. The psychological aspect of the film plays better to audiences used to smarter films. Even the smaller Jason plays better in a day that most action stars and villains are no longer muscle-bound He-Men. Definitely worth a look or second viewing.
This movie has been terribly trashed by most critics and fans of the Halloween franchise alike. No Michael, horrible script, they cry. 37% on the old Tomatometer, 4.7 on IMDB, 1.5 stars by Roger Ebert, still to this day evidenced by scores of YouTube fans reviews video it is still hated. So to be clear, everyone hates this film. Except me, and I encourage horror fans to watch it. It really freaked me out watching it as a kid. Put a mask on and get blasted by a laser that makes spiders and snakes come cascading out of your ripe over-heated little melon. That is the stuff that makes the boogie man run out of your nightmares and safely back under the bed. Or better yet the kid next door's bed, cause that kid doesn't have such jacked up nightmares.
First the bad, all over this movie screams rush job. Looking at the people behind the movie it comes crystal why. Tommy Lee Wallace both a writer and director on H3 also had Amityville 2 the same year. John Carpenter also had a little film called 'The Thing' the same year. On top of 'Escape From New York' and 'Halloween 2' the previous year. 'The Thing' bombed at the box office as well. H3 was released one year after H2. The soundtrack is loud and obnoxious along with script issues. The story jumps around missing key pieces of information.
Box office influence, Saying H3 bombed at the box office is simply not true, on a budget of 2.5 million it made 14.4 million during its theatrical run. When placed next to Halloween's numbers of a budget of three hundred thousand and making 47 million it looks like a failure. The year of 1982 itself was some of the problem. A number of big movies came out at that time. ET, Rocky 3, Star Trek 2, Poltergeist, First Blood, Blade Runner, The Thing. Plus a number of horror movies Creep Show, Poltergeist, Cat People, Slumber Party Massacre, Basket Case, Tenebre, Q (highly recommend checking out this film), and Alone in the Dark to name a few. In 1978 there was much less competition. Sure some horror movies came out in 78' but they didn't bring in much money; Piranha 16 million, and Dawn of the Dead 5 million. It was harder for a movie in 1982 to complete for a customers dollar. It didn't help the studios were cranking out garbage killing the genre. Friday the 13th 2 came out in 1981 followed by part 3 in 1982. There was an over saturation of the horror market that year.
The good, a great idea bringing together the pagan history and consumerism of Halloween. The evil greed of capitalism, and subliminal messaging. An ordinary man getting wrapped up in a corporate conspiracy. Tom Atkins is a great horror movie actor. He cranks out another good performance here. Stacey Nelkin who plays Ellie is both fun and easy to look at. This movie unfortunately made sure she never got another good part again. Another victim of this movie was Tommy Lee Wallace the director. He mostly did low budget and tv movies after H3. Most notably Stephen King's It (1990). While the supernatural and technology gets messily combined together it makes a great vehicle, just don't look under the hood or to closely or at the bondo on the quarter panels, bailing wire holding the muffler up.....
Another great part of the Halloween's idea was having a different story told in each movie. Halloween 2 was made to please the studios. Micheal Meyers was to be killed off and never be heard again after the first movie. The Halloween tag was originally a platform for a new horror idea each time. Seeing that horror movies have become so popular and huge cash cows proves this was legit concept, that the studios blotched. Showtime's Masters of Horror and After Dark Horrorfest crank out great movies. There is no shortage of scripts and talented directors to make horror films. A film genre that has a long history of low budget big returns. A studio could easily capture the horror market every year by finding a good script and trying to put out a decent product, and the right name to market them under. But they did the opposite, make a movie quickly as possible for as little money as they could get away with, pissing off the fans. Plus the Michael Meyer character is boring, only able to slowly walk after his victims never able to even say “Slow Down I don't get much cardio the rest of the year” or "they don't have an elliptical machine at the mental hospital".
Halloween helped create the slasher genre. It opened the door for studios to greenlight many horror films in the 80's. Sure Mario Bava, Lucio Fulio, Dario Argento, Umberto Lenzi, George Romero, Wes Craven, and Tube Hooper had been making horror movies but none of them ever sold a ton of tickets. The most successful maybe Texas Chainsaw Massacre only did thirty million, and it didn't get a sequel till 1986. On top of the additional revenue from the sale of VHS tapes and cable that wasn't around in the 70's. Fred Ray Olen, Troma films, among others flooded the market with all the gore and guts it could handle. By 1982 the horror craze the Halloween franchise set off had started to run amok. Getting bloodier and pushing the limits of good taste, not to mention the 'R' rating. With some really good films being made (and overlooked) H3 was easy to hate or ignore.
As Bay of Blood (1971) influenced Friday the 13th (1980), Halloween was influenced by others, most notably Eyes Without a Face (1962). Which happened to influence Billy Idol's songwriting too. Halloween influenced a new batch of filmmakers. But the movie hasn't aged well. They showed it recently to college students that hadn't seen it before. The students thought the movie was boring. At the same time, H3 has gotten better with age. It has good acting, the special effects weren't overly cheesy like many other early 80's movies. Some of the bad scenes are equally frightening and funny. Like the housewife that drops dead followed by the husbands heart-attack after little Timmy's head gets blasted. Some of the plot holes are a source of fun arguing with friends what the hell it all was supposed to mean. After sequels four and five everyone got over not having Michael Meyers in H3. The only good thing about H4 (1988) was Kathleen Kinmont (nothing more needs to be said). Danielle Harris was in H4 (1988) and H5 (1989) coming back for Rob Zombie's H (2007) and H (2009). Playing a teenager still! It was really cool and confusing for Mr. Zombie to cast her again (but then again not many people saw H4 & H5). It's unreal how well she's aged. Love to see someone remake H3. Give it the Zombie treatment. Danielle Harris would be awesome as Ellie. Jamie Lee Curtis (who voiced the hospital loudspeaker announcement in H3) could be the evil corporate CEO. Someone really needs to green light this remake!
