Stalk ‘n’ SlashCinema :: The Nightmare Isn’t Over! (October, 1981)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In the good news / bad news department, it appears the Conestoga 4 may FINALLY be breaking out its creative rut, ad wise, just not for our targeted movie this round. Anyways, Halloween II is the kind of sequel you get when ya combine the writers and producers who weren’t all that interested to begin with with a case of beer and typewriter. Yeah, even though most of the players behind the original Halloween return for the sequel, instigated by Dino de Laurentiis, who guaranteed them all a profit upfront, the end result fails to recapture the magic of the original and shows all the earmarks of those paychecks already having cleared before a camera even rolled. Personally, I love and champion the original Halloween, but I am not a fan of the franchise it spawned at all. And it’s a dogfight between this franchise and the JAWS franchise as to which sequels did more damage to the films that spawned them.
 

 
Halloween II (1981) De Laurentiis :: Universal Pictures / EP: Joseph Wolf, Irwin Yablans, Moustapha Akkad, Dino De Laurentiis / P: John Carpenter, Debra Hill / D: Rick Rosenthal / W: John Carpenter, Debra Hill / C: Dean Cundey / E: Mark Goldblatt, Skip Schoolnik / M: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth / S: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Lance Guest, Charles Cyphers, Leo Rossi, Tawny Moyer

Stalk ‘n’ SlashCinema :: Pray for Day! (September, 1981)

 

 

 

 

 
Having already survived the majority of Hell Week, four pledges have one more test to pass before getting initiated: they all must spend the night at the allegedly haunted Garth mansion, where old man Garth slaughtered his entire family — save for his youngest son, who, according to local lore, still roams the halls and gets a little cranky whenever trespassers come a’callin’. Now, I heartily concur with most assessments of Hell Night: a competent Stalk ‘n’ Slasher buoyed by a solid cast and some inspired set designs and cinematography. And on the surface it does remind one of an old Herman Cohen or William Castle fright flick mashed up with some modern day body count sensibilities. And even if it was, according to some sources, a no-frills quickie producer Yablans threw together to raise money for Halloween II, the film is an overall tasty treat that probably won’t bring you back for seconds but will definitely leave you satiated.
 

 
Hell Night (1981) BLT Productions :: Media Home Entertainment :: Compass International Pictures / EP: Chuck Russell, Joseph Wolf / P: Bruce Cohn Curtis, Mark L. Rosen, Irwin Yablans / D: Tom DeSimone / W: Randy Feldman / C: Mac Ahlberg / E: Anthony DiMarco / M: Dan Wyman / S: Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Jenny Neumann, Peter Barton

Stalk ‘n’ SlashCinema :: Proto-Slashers :: Evil Cannot Die — It’ll Just Scare the Seeds out of Your Pumpkin! (February, 1979)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
A Halloween costume contest? In February? For this thing? Kinda makes you wonder if the theater knew what kinda film they had on their hands. But in the Capitol Theater’s defense, I don’t think ANYBODY knew what hit them when John Carpenter’s Halloween spread across the country like wildfire as prints were biked from city to city because no studio would distribute it. Halloween is also a definite transition piece in the Stalk ‘n’ Slash genre. Often imitated, but never bettered, this amazing film will, indeed, scare the seeds out of your pumpkins.

Other Points of Interest:

Film review of Halloween at the Brewery.

Poster campaign for Halloween at the Archive.

 

 
Halloween (1978) Falcon International Productions :: Compass International Pictures / EP: Moustapha Akkad, Irwin Yablans / P: John Carpenter, Debra Hill / AP: Kool Marder / D: John Carpenter / W: John Carpenter, Debra Hill / C: Dean Cundey / E: Charles Bornstein, Tommy Lee Wallace / M: John Carpenter / S: Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Tony Moran, Nick Castle