HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH

Stacey Nelkin and Tom Atkins

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982). Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. 

When her father is murdered under very strange circumstances, Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) teams up with Dr. Daniel Chalis (Tom Atkins) to discover the truth. Their investigation takes them to the town of Santa Mira -- a reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- where the elder Grimbridge bought Halloween masks from the Silver Shamrock company, a firm run by one Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy). What the couple uncover is a bizarre plot that encompasses a stolen slab from Stonehenge, a bunch of homicidal, super-strong robots, and colorful masks with highly unusual  -- and deadly -- properties. 

Dan O'Herlihy

The third installment in the Halloween franchise did away with Michael Myers and Jamie Lee Curtis and brought in British sci-fi author Nigel Kneale (and others) for something entirely different and possibly bleaker than a mere slasher film. True, there have been other films with sinister conspiracies, strange small towns, weird corporations and the like but it still adds up to something more interesting than Michael Myers on a rampage. One could argue that Halloween III is not the most logical of films, but it is creepy and entertaining, with a decidedly downbeat conclusion. The actors are all good, and O'Herlihy is simply superb. There are some gruesome make-up effects in this and some ghoulish bits of business as well. 

NOTE: Tommy Lee Wallace has just come out with a book entitled Halloween 3:"Where the Hell is Michael Myers?" The Definitive History of Horror's Most Misunderstood Film from BearManor Media. 

Verdict: Another fine O'Herlihy performance in a notably odd horror film. ***. 

SCREAM VI

SCREAM VI (2023). Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. 

A lovely young woman is butchered in an alleyway outside a trendy restaurant in Manhattan, but the killer takes off his ghostface mask for the audience to see. Is this a radical change in the Scream franchise formula, will we know who the killer is from the beginning of the film? No, because this psycho is dispatched with by someone else, and then it's anybody's guess as to who's slicing and dicing up anyone who gets in the way of killing heroine Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her little sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega), who were also major characters in the last Scream installment. They and their friends who survived the massacre of the last film have moved to New York City, where of course no one ever gets murdered. But someone is still out to get them. 

Who is Ghostface this time?

Scream VI is slick, effective slasher film material which keeps you in suspense, keeps you guessing, and has you wondering not only who the killer is but which of the characters -- including the "legacy" ones such as reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) -- will survive the latest rampage of the masked Ghostface killer. If you're looking for anything else aside from some spurts of blood and excitement, you won't find it, but the flick is quite entertaining.

Some cast members of Scream VI

There are a couple of stand-out sequences, such as one involving a few cast members trying to escape the slasher by climbing on a precarious ladder that spans across and high above an alleyway. Then there's a creepy scene on the subway, and a climax that takes place in an abandoned movie theater that's been turned into a shrine to the Stab movies-within-a-movie. The acting from a large cast is all professional, although no one will be taking home any Oscars. The trouble with leading lady Barrera is that she just isn't that distinctive. This is better than the last Scream, which had the same two directors.  

Verdict: There's life in the Scream franchise after all, although this may be the last hurrah. *** 

I'LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Brooke Nevin and David Paetkau

I'LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (2006). Director: Sylvain White. 

At a 4th of July celebration in a small town in Colorado, a prank that revolves around a series of slayings years ago turns into a tragedy and a resulting cover-up.  A year later Amber (Brooke Nevin), her boyfriend, Colby (David Paetkau) and their friends receive "I Know What You Did" text messages and eventually find themselves stalked and murdered by the fisherman-with-a-hook killer of the first two films in this series. 

The cast discover a corpse

I'll Always Know is, surprisingly, not a remake of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but the second sequel to the film, and it refers to events in the first two movies. The fisherman killer has been turned into a kind of supernatural force -- a la Freddie, Jason and Michael Myers -- which may explain the character's ability to cheat death but is most likely an attempt to create a new horror franchise. This is unlikely, given that the film is mediocre, has an off-putting lack of style, as well as a lack of energy and thrills, and is poorly directed and edited. Horror fanatics may watch it until the end -- and it does hold the attention for the most part -- but it's not a memorable entry in the slasher sweepstakes. 

Verdict: One summer you don't need to revisit. **.