Behind the Couch

1989 Dir. Dominique Othenin-Girard One year after surviving her blood-drenched ordeal at the hands of her murderous uncle, psychotic killer Michael Myers, young Jamie has been committed to the Haddonfield Children’s Clinic, rendered mute from her traumatic experiences. The presumed dead, though actually just comatose Myers, awakens and returns to finish what he started. Meanwhile, Jamie develops a strange psychic link with him, which her psychiatrist, Dr Loomis, plans to exploit in a bid to stop Myers once and for all. But wait! Who is that mysterious man in black who also stalks the streets of Haddonfield? And why is he so seemingly interested in Jamie and her uncle? Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was successful enough to lead producer Moustapha Akkad to believe it warranted a follow up. Initial drafts of Halloween 5’s script dutifully acknowledged the ending of Part 4 in which Jamie was established as Michael Myers’ murderous successor, however producers rejected ...

1988 Dir. Dwight H. Little Ten years after his bloody killing spree and attempts to murder his sister Laurie Strode, a comatose Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield to kill Laurie’s daughter, seven-year-old Jamie, on Halloween. Dr Loomis, who also survived the explosion in the hospital thought to have finished Myers’ off, once again sets out to stop his former patient once and for all. After the commercial failure of Halloween III: Season of the Witch , producers realised that fans of the burgeoning series were baying for more of Michael Myers’ psychotic exploits. With the original Halloween instigating a boom of slasher movies that continued well throughout the Eighties, Moustapha Akkad decided the time was right to bring the brutal serial killer back. As a result, John Carpenter and Debra Hill, who had hoped to develop the series as an anthology with a new Halloween-season related plot in every sequel, backed away from the series and had nothing more to do with i...

1982 Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace When a distraught man carrying a creepy Halloween mask is brutally murdered in his hospital bed, Dr Dan Challis teams up with the victim’s daughter to find out why. Their investigation leads them to the small Southern Californian town of Santa Mira and the bizarre Silver Shamrock toy factory. The snoopy duo soon discovers that the company’s sinister director has a diabolical plan involving ancient Celtic witchcraft, Stonehenge mysticism and booby-trapped Halloween masks to cull America’s kiddie population. Not a sequel in the strictest sense of the term, Halloween III often gets a raw deal from critics and fans of the series. In an attempt to bring something fresh and interesting to the franchise, producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill planned to produce an anthology of films using the Halloween title and featuring different stories set in and around All Hallow’s Eve. As such, Halloween III: Season of the Witch bears no relation to the prior inst...

1981 Dir. Rick Rosenthal Laurie Strode is rushed to the hospital after surviving her bloody ordeal at the hands of demented killer Michael Myers. Meanwhile, Dr Loomis discovers that Myers isn’t really dead and sets out to track him down with Sheriff Brackett. Discovering Laurie’s whereabouts at the hospital, Myers makes his less than suspenseful way there, leaving a bloody trail of bodies in his wake… After the runaway success of John Carpenter’s Halloween , and the slew of stalk and slash films it inspired, it came as a surprise to few that a sequel charting the increasingly gory antics of Michael Myers would be released. Halloween producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad approached John Carpenter and Debra Hill to pen the script for Halloween II and they initially planned to set the sequel a few years after the events depicted in the first film, with Myers tracking Laurie to her new life and home in a high-rise apartment building. The decision was then made to set the fi...

1978 Dir. John Carpenter Fifteen years after brutally murdering his sister on Halloween night, mentally deranged Michael Myers escapes from the psychiatric hospital where he was incarcerated. With his psychiatrist hot on his heels, Myers makes his way back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, with the express intention of committing more murders. On Halloween night he sets his sights on several teenagers who are babysitting near his old neighbourhood, stalking and slaying them one by one… After being impressed by Assault on Precinct 13 , producer Irwin Yablans approached director John Carpenter with an idea for a low-budget horror film about a maniac who stalks babysitters. Tentatively titled The Babysitter Murders , the project appealed to Carpenter, who along with producer Debra Hill scripted the story. After it was suggested they set the story during the course of one night, Carpenter and Hill decided upon Halloween, with its rich history and spooky connotations. With...

Halloween, 1967 Boy: “We’re alone, aren’t we?” Girl (Judith Myers): “Michael’s around here somewhere…” You bet Michael’s around here somewhere – everywhere, in fact. That’s because this month (what with it being October and Halloween and all) is totally Halloween Month at Behind the Couch . I thought it would be a totally good idea to watch all ten Halloween films (including Rob Zombie’s remake and its sequel) in the lead up to All Hallow’s Eve this month. Okay, I may have totally been drinking and watching Halloween H20 for the first time in ages when I had this brainwave, but hey, these things just have to be done sometimes. John Carpenter’s seminal slasher classic Halloween set a benchmark for horror throughout the Eighties. An excruciatingly taut exercise in suspense and fear, Carpenter’s film relied on ‘less is more’ suggestiveness to create an atmospheric chill-fest that still proves highly effective today. Arguably the benchmark it set would go on to consist of...

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Rob Millis – one half of Seattle-based experimental band Climax Golden Twins – about their work on the soundtrack for Brad Anderson’s creepy psychological horror film, Session 9 . Head over to Paracinema’s online home to check it out. The following interview was published on Paracinema.net on 27th September 2011 An Interview with Rob Millis, Climax Golden Twins  Rob Millis of experimental music group, Climax Golden Twins discusses scoring Session 9.  Climax Golden Twins are Robert Millis and Jeffery Taylor, a Seattle-based experimental music group specialising in found sound field recordings, audio manipulation and disquieting ambient compositions. Essentially sound artists, their experimental approach often involves collaborations with a wide range of artists and sound styles. As well as their work on film soundtracks, they also create scores for choreography, gallery installations and live performance pieces. In 1999 they sco...

2011 Dir. George Clarke A maintenance man is called on to ensure an old derelict house – formerly a psychiatric hospital, no less - is securely boarded up after a reported break-in. On what is supposed to be his last day on the job, he experiences increasingly chilling occurrences. Initially believing that wayward youngsters are playing a prank on him, it soon becomes evident that something much more sinister is afoot… The Last Light is director George Clarke’s third film and follows on from his low/no-budget gore-fests Battle of the Bone , (flesh hungry zombies descend on Belfast during the tumultuous ‘marching season’) and The Knackery (violent reality TV satire featuring genetically modified zombies picking off the contestants of a popular TV game show). In terms of tone and style, it's very different and sees the indie filmmaker mature as a storyteller, and in terms of technical expertise. A much more atmospheric and creepy affair, his latest film is based on unsettli...

Northern Ireland based writer/director/producer George Clarke specialises in micro-budgeted, high-energy, special effects-driven, gore-fests that have trail-blazed through independent film festivals around the world. His debut film, the ground-breaking Battle of the Bone , follows a group of friends stuck between warring communities and a horde of marauding zombies on the streets of Belfast during the tumultuous ‘marching season.’ Bloody carnage ensures. His follow up, the hyper-violent reality TV satire The Knackery , skulked along a similarly gore-drenched trail and boasted genetically modified zombies picking off the contestants of a TV game show. The indie filmmaker is following up these frenetic and blackly comic cult films with a drastic change of pace that should result in an altogether more unsettling affair. His latest film, The Last Light , is based on harrowing true-life events from the history of the reputedly haunted Cairndhu House , County Antrim. If that wasn’t enough,...