Halloween III: Season of the Witch: Review By slysnide

Tommy Lee Wallace who'd rejected the offer to direct "Halloween II" (1981) [big mistake] came back to direct the threequel and co-write it with Nigel Kneale. Unlike the previous two films however, John Carpenter & Debra Hill (RIP) wanted to do a 'Twilight Zone' like thing with the 'Halloween' series and make a totally new story and direction for the film. But sadly, the fans clearly wanted more Michael with less suspense & scares as the sequels would prove.

Made for $2,500,000 like its predecessor, the film only raked in a mere $14,400,000 at the box office, making it a flop by industry standards. But over the years it's acc*mulated a cult following amongst select fans of the 'Halloween' franchise who refuse to acknowledge a bad movie when they see one, but keep giving them all 5 stars anyway because they like the series and feel obligated to do so against their beliefs. Sad I know. They won't even open up as to why other fans of the franchise didn't like it, the bad apple of the series I mean, which this one clearly is.

This story had 3 problems though: 1) there was no tension or scares to speak of, 2) any scare was mostly special effects oriented, and 3) the plot was WAY TOO BIG for a follow up to such a simple story. And NO, the absence of Michael Myers doesn't hurt the film. For I think they could've done well by making this a spin-off series, and it would've worked had they not tried to inflate this story to unreasonable proportions. Seriously, the plot of the predecessors was the boogeyman stalking babysitters on Halloween night & killing them. Okay you win, I'll tone it down to mental patient. And he went on to stalk & kill anyone & everyone in his path at a hospital. Though not in a bloody carnage way like in "H2" (2009). Here we have some cult follower wanting to kill millions to honor Samhain and the origins of the holiday Halloween. But who's doing it? Who are the targets? And how will this happen?

Tom Atkins plays the lead role of Dr. Dan Challis. When hysterical patient Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) is killed in his hospital bed by a man in a business suit who later commits suicide, Dr. Dan Challis for whatever reason decides to accompany Harry's daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelkin) on an investigation into the murder suicide which leads them to the fictional Santa Mira California. There they learn the town's wealth generates from the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory which is run by Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy) who seems a bit too weird to be normal.

While at the factory the cheap scares are mostly special effects oriented and feature the weird business suit guys. Agents from the Matrix anyone? But there are of course a few other people at the factory touring it that meet grisly ends which don't occur for any necessary reason really. They just sort of happen. Dick Warlock makes a cameo as the neutralized business suit guy. But other than that, there's nothing else worth looking for. No tension. No scares. And with the whole thing being in broad daylight on the California Coast, then how can it be either one?

The Silver Shamrock Masks which consist of a green witch head, a white skull, and an orange jack o'lantern are very bizarre, but the only great visuals in the film. As well as their, Halloween SURPRISE! But seriously, the plot was way too big and deviant for the first sequel to leave the Michael Myers dilemma. Had this succeeded then I'm confident that there would've been more 'Twilight Zone' like Halloween movies. And this film actually does seem to be like some bizarre episode of the "Twilight Zone" (1959-1964).

Special Effects & Make-Up Artist Tom Burman stated that the violence wasn't meant to be gory, but rather bizarre and meant to cater to the whole 'practical joke' aspect to the story. Though unfortunately it seems that the whole film quickly became a practical joke itself despite that Tommy Lee Wallace was a congenial director to work with on set, allowing actors to improvise for characterization reasons. Maybe that's why this was a box office horror? And ask the execs, that's where the terror really began! lolz

The town of Loleta in Humboldt County California stood in for the fictional Santa Mira, and the 'Familiar Foods' milk bottling plant served as the Silver Shamrock Novelties Factory. But the special effects involving smoke, fire, and explosions were filmed at Post Studios.

Alan Howarth tweaked the music track in the opening credits to be in tune with John Carpenter's original score, but it was basically a techno remix of the original score by John Carpenter. And the jack o'lantern was now digital in the opening credits as opposed to real. It was very weird.

Overall, this wasn't a good movie, nor much of a good try. Had the 'Halloween III' banner been removed, then I'm sure this would've gotten a much better rep as a cult classic. But the most memorable part had to be the infamous & annoying song I've quoted at the top which drove us all nuts as we couldn't get it out of our heads for months! And the ending was also great. Few 'Halloween' flicks after this had such endings. And for that, I congratulate them. But don’t pay money for this, just wait to see it on AMC this Halloween season.