- "You don't really know much about Halloween. You thought no further than the strange custom of having your children wear masks and go out begging for candy. It was the start of the year in our old Celtic lands and we'd be waiting... in our houses of wattles and clay. The barriers would be down, you see. Between the real and the unreal. And the dead is looking in... to sit by our fires of turf. Halloween. The festival of Samhain. The last great one took place 3,000 years ago and the hills ran red... with the blood of animals and children. To us, it was a way of controlling our environment. It's not so different now. It's time again. In the end, we don't decide these things, you know. The planets do. They're in alignment, and it's time again. The world's going to change tonight, Doctor. I'm glad you'll be able to watch it."
- ―Conal Cochran to Daniel Challis[src]
Conal Cochran is a character who appears as the main antagonist of Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Biography[]
At some point before the events of Halloween III, Cochran had invented numerous other toys, having earned the nickname of "the all-time genius of the practical joke", having invented sticky toilet paper, the dead dwarf gag, the soft chainsaw, etc. Cochran bragged about his final inspection of quality (involving 'very dangerous" volatile chemicals), his seal of approval, and his trade secrets.
Eight days before Halloween, a doctor named Daniel Challis sees a patient of his murdered mysteriously. His patient was rambling about a secret plot to "kill us all" and was clutching a Halloween mask. Closer to Halloween, with the man's daughter, Ellie Grimbridge, Challis begins to investigate the matter and their investigation leads them to the town of Santa Mira, the headquarters of Silver Shamrock Novelties, the company that made the mask Ellie's father was clutching when he was killed. They realize that the town is completely controlled by Cochran, and that they are being watched and listened to constantly. They tour the factory, which produces wildly popular latex jack-o-lantern, witch and skeleton masks. Commercials for Silver Shamrock air on television constantly, promoting a contest that will air on Halloween night.
Shortly after arriving, a woman at the motel dies after messing with a chip installed in one of Cochran's masks, and Ellie is kidnapped and taken to the factory. Cochran captures Daniel as well and reveals his plan to sacrifice children wearing his masks on Halloween, thus bringing about a resurrection of the ancient age of witchcraft. For Silver Shamrock's "Big Giveaway", which will air at 9:00 P.M. on all television channels following the "Horrorthon", each of these masks contain a fragment of Stonehenge implanted in its trademark microchip. When activated by a flashing signal of the commercial's on-screen "magic pumpkin", the microchip causes the mask wearer to succumb to brain damage from absorbing the energy of Stonehenge and unleashes a swarm of insects and snakes that come out of the wearer's corpse and kill anyone nearby.
To demonstrate, Cochran kills a family of test subjects in front of Challis's eyes. Cochran then puts a Silver Shamrock mask on Daniel, and leaves him to die in the same way as trick-or-treating children, who will come back home for the false watch-and-win Halloween sweepstakes. Daniel, destroying the television set and removing the mask, escapes through a ventilation shaft and rescues Ellie. He dumps the chips from the overhead rafters, and activates their signal with the commercial, destroying Cochran's androids, while Cochran is vaporized by the Stonehenge rune, the chips and the entire Silver Shamrock factory.
As the two drive away, Ellie attacks Daniel, revealing herself to be an android duplicate and that Cochran's henchman presumably killed her. Daniel destroys the robot Ellie, but crashes the car. He has to run to the nearest gas station, where he attempts to call the stations to stop the broadcasts of the big giveaway. Challis is able to stop the broadcasts on all but one channel, and the film ends ambiguously. Even though Cochran was killed and his factory destroyed, it is likely that his plan at least partly succeeded, as Challis was unable to remove the broadcast from all of the television stations before the giveaway began. Because of this, thousands, if not millions, of children and their families were likely still killed.
Personality[]
- "Mrs. Kupfer was right, you know. I do love a good joke, and this is the best ever. A joke on the children."
- ―Conal Cochran[src]
Cochran is a warlock who seeks to resurrect the pagan aspects of Halloween via the mass-murder of many children using weaponry disguised within Halloween masks sold by his company: Silver Shamrock Novelties. Despite being a "witch", he mainly utilized android minions to dispose of his enemies, though his methods did include mystical elements.
Initially, Cochran is a sweet and charming man wanting to make Halloween fun by making masks for the children. However, this was all just an act, as he only created the masks as weapons to avenge his forgotten Celtic religion. Cochran is really a psychopathic and ruthless man with no compassion for anyone. He is also stiff, cold and intimidating, with a fanatical devotion to the true history of the Gaelic festival, Samhain.
Abilities[]
Cochran is also a mechanical genius, able to make androids convincing enough to pass as actual humans. Cochran's wealth and power had seemingly no limit, as he had apparently stolen a piece of Stonehenge somehow and was able to control the entire town that his factory was based in.
Profile[]
- Name: Conal Cochran
- Actor: Dan O'Herlihy
- Age: 60s
- Species: Human - Male
- Occupation: Owner, Silver Shamrock Novelties
- Location: Northern California (Santa Mira)
- Nationality: Ireland
- Allegiance: Pagan - Celtic / Witchcraft
- Wardrobe: Suit / Tie - Gray Coat
- Resources: Isolated Factory, Legion of Android Drones, Wealth, Scientists
- Weapons: Witchcraft, Technology, Stonehenge rocks, Explosive Chip in Masks, Insects / Snakes
- Quote: "You don't really know much about Halloween."
- "It'll be morning soon. Halloween morning. It'll be a very busy day for me."
- Objective: Coordinate the largest Samhain sacrifice in 3,000 years. In order for the nature gods to feast on the children's nectar, allowing the Celtic creeds to prosper.
- Psychological Analysis: His strong beliefs in the Celtic dogma have led him to thrive as a callous merchant. After years of witnessing the Samhain holiday fade into obscurity and become commercialized, overrun by children. He relishes in the irony of turning modern Halloween customs into a weapon as an act of avenging his forgotten religion.