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For more than 20 years, "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" has been the source of scorn and ridicule from horror fans around the world for being a sequel that promised the further adventures of killer Michael Myers but which had absolutely nothing to do with either John Carpenter’s 1978 classic or the lame 1981 sequel. This is hardly fair to the film since it was never designed to be a "Halloween" sequel in the first place. As the story goes, Carpenter conceived of a series of annual horror films that he would produce which would come out each fall and fall under the "Halloween" banner but otherwise be completely separate stories. One of the directors interviewed for this proposed series, Joe Dante, suggested getting famed screenwriter Nigel Kneale (who had done the famous "Quartermass" stories and who had recently worked with Dante on an abandoned remake of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon") to come up with a story. Kneale devised a weird tale about a plan to fry the brains of America’s youth using computers, Halloween masks and a stolen Stonehenge rock. The movie was made (although Kneale left the project early on) and it was about to be released under the title of "Season of the Witch" until someone (supposedly producer Dino De Laurentis) decided that while a film with that moniker might make X-amount of dollars, a film entitled "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" would gross 3X-amount of dollars. The change was made, the film was released and, as it turned out, there were two tiny flaws in the logic of the plan. First, they didn’t realize that slasher fans, expecting a true sequel, would immediately ignore the film once the word got out about its contents. Second, they didn’t realize that audiences who might have been in the mood for something off-beat would skip what looked to be just another example of the same old thing.

It is a shame because "Halloween III" is a hugely entertaining guilty pleasure that might have actually caught on if it hadn’t been burdened with the onus of being a perceived follow-up. A strange riff on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the film takes a genuinely lunatic premise and runs with it. As the evil mask-maker who is behind the monstrous plan, Dan O’Herlihy is suitably over-the-top and even though the film never makes a lick of sense (not only do we never quite figure out what the bad guy hopes to accomplish, we never even figure out how he managed to get the stolen Stonehenge rock shipped to his home base in Northern California in the first place), it moves quickly enough, has some agreeably nasty bits of business (such as the fate of a loathsome family unwittingly recruited to be guinea pigs for the killer masks) and a nicely downbeat ending. Plus, I promise you that once you hear the omnipresent commercial jingle for the masks that is heard incessantly, you will never be able to dislodge it from your brain.

Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. Starring Don O’Herlihy, Tom Atkins and Stacy Nelkin. 1982. 95 minutes. Rated R. A Universal Home Video release. $14.95

WARNING: To get the full impact of "Audition" requires the viewer to know as little about it as possible beforehand so if you are unfamiliar with the film, please skip the following review until after watching it.

For seven years, since the death of his beloved wife, Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) has been leading a lonely sheltered life with only his son and dog for companionship. Finally, he decides to marry again but has no idea how to go about meeting someone. A film producer friend has a proposal; hold auditions in which women can come in and inadvertently try out to be the new leading lady in Aoyama’s life. This set-up sounds like the premise for a light, frothy romantic comedy not unlike the ones made by Sandra Bullock. However, "Audition" slowly reveals itself to be not a sweet date movie but a horror movie so brutally unpleasant and sickening that you will be reaching for the nearest vomit bag(again, a reaction not unlike the kind might have to a Sandra Bullock movie).<

During the "auditions", Aoyama meets and becomes intrigued by Asami (Eihi Shiina), a woman so shy and reserved that she can barely bring herself to make eye contact with him. Entranced by her (and, no doubt, by her subservient nature), Aoyama begins to woo her. Her past, it seems, is one of lifelong misery, abuse and sorrow. In spite of this (and despite the fact that none of her references seem to check out), Aoyama whisks her away to a resort to propose. Before he can, however, she disappears. Confused, Aoyama tries to track her down but all he finds his a trail of dead ends and horror stories. There is her former ballet teacher, now a mutilated lunatic. The bar where she supposedly worked has been shuttered ever since the owner was brutally hacked to death (Mysteriously, he is informed, the cops trying to reconstruct the body discovered 3 "extra" fingers.) Aoyama returns home to what he thinks is his empty house and...<

Ultra-gory Japanese horror films have been the rage lately but most have been either overtly satirical or occult-based. What sets this film apart is the realistic approach set by the absurdly prolific Takashi Miike. For the first hour, it looks and sounds like a normal romantic film, yet there is an subtle undercurrent of dread that indicates that something is going to happen, although you have no idea what it could be. This slower approach may annoy some in the mood for a typical horror film but once the second hour kicks in, they will be amply rewarded for it is one of the most sustained sequences of sheer unpleasantness in recent memory. Miike knows that the best way to make an audience squirm is not by ladling on the fake blood (though there is plenty of that here) but by showing them horrible things they can relate to. Few of us have ever had a foot chopped off with a bone saw so when we see it, we instinctively think ``special effects.’’ Now being poked in the chest with needles is something everyone can grasp as being painful, even though it is (hopefully) just as fake.<

"Audition" is unpleasant but not uninteresting and for the strong-of-stomach, it is worth a look, if only for the performance of Shiina as Asami. Sure, she is creepy and monstrous but Shiina (a fashion model in real life) allows us to see the horrible pains that have driven her to this, making her both sympathetic and terrifying (by comparison, "Fatal Attraction" turned its antiheroine into a one-dimensional villain.) The proof that the performance works is that for all the blood and gore on-screen, it is the smile she gives when the phone rings in her apartment that will freeze your blood whenever you think of the film.<

Directed by Takashi Miike. Starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina. 1999. Unrated. 115 minutes. A Ventura Distribution release. $24.95.

Most of the other DVD’s that I have suggested for your viewing pleasure this Halloween have some sort of artistic merit to them (and yes, scaring and/or grossing people out falls under that category). With the 1971 film "The Vampire Lovers", I am certain that I could put on my intellectual critic chapeau and come up with any number of profound reasons for recommending it. I could tell you, for example, that it is a superior adaptation of the popular J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella "Carmilla"-one that accurately captures the spirit of the source material. I could offer it as an example of the kind of lush horror extravaganza produced by the legendary Hammer Studios-the British company that revolutionized the industry with their explicit (both in terms of violence and sexual content) adaptations of classic supernatural tales. I could even cite it for teaming up two great horror icons-Ingrid Pitt (as the lead vampire) and Peter Cushing (as her main nemesis)-at the same time. However, I have to be honest; I am recommending this film because it is a prime example of that guiltiest of pleasures, the lesbian vampire movie. Basically, this film is nothing more than an excuse for gorgeous women to slink around in low-cut gowns (and less) waiting to either bite or be bitten by each other (and one guess as to exactly what portion of the anatomy gets bitten in this version) and that, quite frankly, is enough for me (at least until "The Hunger" makes its long-awaited DVD debut).

Bonus: The new MGM DVD of "The Vampire Lovers" is actually a double-feature disc that also contains the similarly steamy film "Countess Dracula"-kind of a misleading title since the film is actually inspired by the infamous Countess Bathory and tells of an old crone who discovers that she can look youthful again (or at least like Ingrid Pitt) if she bathes in the blood of virgin girls.

Written by Tudor Gates. Directed by Roy Ward Baker. Starring Ingrid Pitt, George Cole, Kate O’Meara and Peter Cushing. 1971. 91 minutes. Rated R. An MGM Home Video release. $14.95

"Stagefright" takes one of the most reliable stories in the horror film canon-a bunch of innocent dopes being picked off one by one by a maniac locked in with them-and transforms it into one of the strangest, goriest and most oddly poetic fright flicks that you have most likely never seen. This time around, a group of actors are staging a musical about a murderer and the director gets the bright idea of locking them in the auditorium for an all-night rehearsal. What he doesn’t know, of course, is that an escapee from a nearby mental institution has slipped into the building and, as the night goes on, he begins killing them off with such handy implements as an ax, drill and a chainsaw. (Oh, and he does all this while wearing a giant owl mask!) Director Michele Soavi was a protege of Italian horror legend Dario Argento (whose classic "Opera" was clearly an influence here) and many of the murder scenes have a similar over-the-top flamboyance. However, Soavi (who went on to make the underrated "Cemetery Man") is no mere magpie-the suspense and shock that he generates is genuine and isn’t simply the result of copying someone else’s work. Like many Italian horror films, the extremes that "Stagefright" goes to (both in terms of bloodshed and of narrative structure) may be too much for more straight-laced viewers but those looking for something different would be advised to check this out.

Written by Luigi Montefiore. Directed by Michele Soavi. Strring David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti, Robert Gligorov and Martin Philips. 1988. 92 Minutes. Unrated An Anchor Bay Home Video release.

When I first saw the 2000 German horror film "Anatomie", it was on the last day of an unheralded one-week theatrical run at a single out-of-the-way screen (and without benefit of press screenings) and my attendance was fueled by my fascination with both trashy horror films and star Franka Potente (who had stolen hearts a year earlier in "Run Lola Run"). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the film-in which a plucky medical student (Potente) enrolls in a prestigious anatomy class, only to discover that her classmates and professors are performing autopsies on still-living people for diabolical reasons-was actually a genuinely creepy and effective film that managed to work even despite an astonishingly shoddy dubbing job. Filled with memorable shots (a patient wakes up mid-operation only to wonder where the rest of him is) tense set-pieces (including a great sequence in which a drugged victim attempts to escape her plight) and effective performances, "Anatomie" is anything but a camp-fest and should provide more than the recommended daily allowance of chills and terror. (However, stick with the original German soundtrack and avoid the dub like the plague.)

Written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. Starring Franka Potente, Benno Furmann, Anna Loos and Holger Speckhann. 2000. 100 minutes. Rated R. A Columbia/Tri-Star Home Entertainment Release.

You might ask, not unreasonably, why I am highlighting the less-than-revered 1951 sci-fi/horror cheapie "The Man From Planet X" as a film to look up this season. After all, there is nothing especially memorable about the plot-in which a weird-looking alien lands in a small Scottish town to pave the way for a full-scale invasion-and time has not exactly been kind to it. However, there are a couple of aspects about the film that make it an interesting choice to watch (especially if you are running a kiddie Halloween party and need something to show). First, the film was directed by cult icon Edgar G. Ulmer and while the film never quite achieves the greatness that he brought to such films as the Lugosi/Karloff gem "The Black Cat" or the B-movie masterpiece "Detour", he does keep things movie briskly and with a level of professionalism usually lacking in low-budget horror films of the time. In addition, the fog-bound look of the film-developed to cover up the fact that Ulmer was shooting on sets left over from the 1948 Ingrid Bergman version of "Joan of Arc"-generates a fairly effective atmosphere that subtly builds tension. Most importantly, this movie apparently scared the bejeezus out of my mother when she was a girl (to this day, she won’t watch it) and if an otherwise intelligent and rational person can be so wigged-out by such a film, there must be something to it after all.

Written by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Starring Robert Clarke, Margaret Field and William Schallert. 1951. 71 minutes. Not Rated. An MGM Home Video release. $14.95.

When it was released in 1986, Tobe Hooper’s "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" was dismissed by many as nothing more than a blatant attempt by Hooper (whose career was on the ropes following the twin flops of "Lifeforce" and "Invaders from Mars") to cash in on his best-known work with a slapdash sequel that replaced the sheer terror of the original with over-the-top gore and even more over-the-top performances (including a turn by Dennis Hopper that was considered unhinged even by his standards). As a result, not many people went to see the film and it all but destroyed Hooper’s career as a commercial filmmaker (although it did enough business to inspire a couple of additional Hooper-free sequels)-a real shame because it is one of the truly great horror films of the 1980’s and, in fact, I would actually argue that it is superior to the original.

Although Hooper’s original film was actually pretty gore-free (like Hitchcock did in "Psycho", more of the mayhem was created in the mind by the viewer than on the screen by Hooper)-certainly less bloody than the "Friday the 13th" knockoffs that flooded theaters-his film was always regarded as some kind of high-water mark for cinematic carnage. "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" can be seen as his amused response to that reputation-he deliberately cranks the on-screen violence to such ludicrously bloody extremes in order to force viewers to contemplate the entire notion of violence-as-entertainment and how much blood and dismemberment is enough for a satisfying night at the movies.

What is even more fascinating is how Hooper’s seemingly junky horror film is just as accurate a look at the mood of America during the Reagan years as the original was to the turbulent post-Nam era. (The screenplay was written by Kit Carson, who has just gotten done co-writing "Paris, Texas" at the time of this film.) This time, the cannibalistic monsters have an agenda for their work-sure, they still kill and process people for food but they have taken the initiative and made a comfortable living by selling it as gourmet chili to the same people that they are killing for the key ingredients. Additionally, the film also niftily spoofs the American gun culture (substituting saws for guns) in a way that even Michael Moore would approve of. Brilliant, gory and subversive, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" is a genuine masterpiece and anyone who plunked money down for the abysmal remake should pick up a copy to see what a good "Chainsaw" film looks like.

Written by L.M. Kit Carson. Directed by Tobe Hooper. Starring Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Moseley and Bill Johnson. 1986 100 minutes. Unrated. An MGM Home Video release. $14.95

Nowadays, Wes Craven is regarded as one of the great horror directors of all time thanks to such respectable hits as "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" series, so it is interesting to look back and discover that his earlier films were once damned as sick, disgusting trash by the same people who now routinely praise him. Although not as notorious as his debut, the still shocking "Last House on the Left", his 1977 follow-up "The Hills Have Eyes" still packs a hell of a punch but what is really surprising is to discover that there is a fairly thoughtful and substantial story lurking beneath the blood and weirdness.

Loosely based on the infamous Sawney Bean (look him up on the Internet-preferably not on a full stomach), the film follows a family (including future "E.T." mom Dee Wallace) who are trapped out in the middle of the desert with a malfunctioning station wagon. Immediately, they are plunged into a savage battle for survival with an inbred clan of cannibal psychos (led by the unforgettable Michael Berryman). What sets this apart from other horror films (and what probably put people off when it first came out) is that the villains, while monstrous (at one point even planning to eat the family’s baby), at least stay true to their perverse code and behavior while the "sophisticated" family seems surprisingly eager to descend to savagery to guarantee their survival. Whether you want to look at the film as an exploration of the innate brutality of man or simply as a stylish exercise in gore, fans of Craven’s later, more socially acceptable work should definitely check this one out.

Written and directed by Wes Craven. Starring Susan Lanier, Dee Wallace, Michael Berryman and Robert Houston. 1977. 89 minutes. Rated R. An Anchor Bay Home Video release. $24.95

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.