Halloween III: The Nap of Michael Myers
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Halloween III: The Nap of Michael Myers is a prank film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace created under the guiding (and drunken) hand of his good friend John Carpenter, better known for the original Halloween as well as John Carpenter's The Fog. Released in five theaters in 1982, it was not received well by audiences, who yearned for another "slice-and-dice" horror film.
After killing off the franchise's murderous main character, Michael Myers, at the end of Halloween II, Michael Myers was essentially finished, as far as John Carpenter was concerned. So, when Moustapha Akkad approached Carpenter with Halloween III, he flat out refused, claiming to have "washed his hands" of the franchise. But when Akkad offered him $20, Carpenter agreed, on one condition -- No Michael Myers.
This condition was hard to come by because Myers was contracted to appear in the film.
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[edit] Plot
The film opens as psycho killer and adult film star Michael Myers (Mike Myers) -- Who has decided to resign from the Halloween franchise to pursue other roles -- gets a call from the executives at Paramount that he has been written out of the new Friday the 13th sequel, Jason Goes on Vacation to Margaritaville, due to character rights. Depressed, he turns on 2001: A Space Odyssey and falls asleep. He is not seen for the rest of the film.
The main story follows the adventures of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins). After learning that aliens from the planet Ireland are implementing a scheme to kill every child in British Columbia with the song London Bridge on Halloween Night, Challis decides to take them on single-handedly. Soon, he finds himself battling robots, snakes, and Stonehenge itself in a desperate struggle to save British Columbian mankind as we know it.
Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), the owner of evil Silver Shamrock novelty shop, plans to air a TV commercial, manipulating the lyrics to the children's song, London's Bridge is Shitting.
Anybody wearing their masks during this commercial will be in mortal danger. Unfortunately, Challis isn't able to save mankind, and the TV ad goes on and on and on as Challis looks into the camera and screams, "Stop it! STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!" Leaving everybody in suspense.
See also: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
[edit] Production
Carpenter decided that he was no longer interested in Michael Myers after the behind-the-scenes struggles with said actor on the set of Halloween II, specifically his acohol and drug problems. Myers was contracted to have a cameo at the opening of the picture, but he was written out of the main story. Carpenter also felt that although he had already made a large number of important decisions on the film's development, he would shove the responsibility of actually directing the movie on Wallace. As a result, their long-time friendship was soon severed, along with a myriad number of heads.
The new story was developed by Carpenter and John Wilkes Booth. The incorporation of supernatural elements was meant to bring in new fans while frustrating old ones. Carpenter said in a 1994 interview, "Well, 1 out of 2 isn't bad, right?"
Director of Photography Dean Cundey accidentally signed on for this film, having served as Director of Photography on the previous installments, but demanded his name be taken out of the credits after he learned after production had wrapped that Michael Myers was not in the film. He even went as far as to wear the Michael Myers costume in new scenes that he directed himself, much to the chagrin of Wallace and Carpenter. Moustapha Akkad, on the other hand, thought it was humorous and decided to give the film a back story explaining Michael's absence.
Akkad then negotiated with Cundey on credit issues, and the result was that Cundey would be credited as Michael Myers under the name Dick Warlock. Cundey was still credited as Director or Photography, except under the name Stephen King.
At one point, Carpenter wanted to subtitle the film, Season of the Witch, but Wallace and Akkad hated the subtitle.
[edit] Reception
Fans of the previous epics were offended that the filmmakers would dare do anything new with the franchise and led an uprising that resulted in a civil war across much of Hollywood. As a result, the filmmakers wisely chose to not pull a fast one on the devoted fanatics next time, and quickly produced Halloween 4: The Rehabilitation of Michael Myers (also known in some areas as Halloween 4: Michael Myers Is Done Napping). This 5-hour long masterpiece was released six years later, and it so astounded the moviegoers that everyone forgot about the train wreck known as Halloween III until it was released on DVD in 2005.
In 2003, during the Halloween: 25 Years of Sequels anniversary convention, Akkad commented on the film, stating, Template:Cquote
Moustapha Akkad died in 2005 after sitting through Halloween III. His last words were, "Where the fuck is Michael?"
