The release of Halloween II was significant for two reasons. One, it showed that audiences were still eager to see the continuing adventures of Michael and Laurie and two, signified the supposed end of the Michael Myers saga. Making back ten times its budget, Halloween II was a bonafide success. And production started immediately on a third movie.
At the same time, production had begun on Friday the 13th Part 3 and, while producing the third Halloween, John Carpenter directed and released the gruesome (and highly underrated at the time) The Thing. The third Friday movie was released in 3D and two months before the third Halloween. And like it's predecessors, it was a box office hit. Audiences were eating up the cinematic tales of unstoppable killing machines such as Jason Vorhees. A slew of other films were released to cash in on the craze including Frightmare, The House on Sorority Row and a sequel to the 'original slasher film', Psycho. Whether in the mainstream or underground circuit, these movies thrived with audiences in both theatres and the new 'concept' of home video.
So while these slasher films were eating up the box office receipts, the producers of Halloween wanted more. Carpenter and producing partner Debra Hill were done with Michael Myers and his story. After all, he had died at the end of the second film. So they came up with the idea to make Halloween into a series in the vain of Night Gallery and Twilight Zone, only it would be theatrically based and each story would revolve around Halloween night. And thus, on the 22nd of October, 1983, Halloween III: Season of the Witch was released.
Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, Halloween III's plot revolves around a toy company that has evil and world ending plans and a doctor that comes across the diabolical plot and is the only one who can stop it. There are no connections so to speak to the previous Halloween movies in the script. In fact III goes as far as saying (which goes against what makes them scary) that part I and II were not 'real', not part of our world, by having it play on television in the background.
There are though, stylistic connections to the previous Halloween films that can be found throughout the film. The credit sequence is a modern take on the pumpkin opening credits, the music is eerie and similar to the previous films, and the bad guys (well the henchmen) behave and act very much like Michael Myers in the second film. As well, Dean Cundey returns for the third time as cinematographer and brings his glorious use of lighting and lenses to the film, making it look very much like a 'Halloween' film.
The lead actor in Halloween III is Tom Atkins, who does a decent job of carrying the movie. His (much younger) love interest is played by Stacey Nelkin, who is pretty and cute but doesn't add much to the story. Dan O'Herilhy eats up the scenery as the bad guy and his performance excels above everybody else in the picture. While most of the performances are good and enjoyable, there are a few minor roles that could have been cast better. They are badly acted and very wooden and they tend to ruin the atmosphere of the film, but they are few and far between and thus don't detract to much from the enjoyment to be had watching this film.
The story is fun, original and keeps you awake and interested until the last minute. Even though it is filled with enough plot holes to sink the Titanic, it breezes by and feels a lot shorter than the 98 minute run time it has. Some neat (but very few) gore effects, an effective bad guy, eerie music, the killing of children and a rather enjoyable last 5 minutes make Halloween III an effective, but somewhat forgettable film.
The biggest critique of Halloween III, and by no fault of it's own, is that this film, as mentioned earlier, has nothing to do with the previous films. After the astounding first film and the rather enjoyable second film, the news that a third film was being made was rather exciting. Unfortunately it is a third film in name only. Take out the III from the title, or take out Halloween completely and Season of the Witch would not disappoint horror aficionados. While not the greatest of films, Season of the Witch still manages to be fun and exciting. It hits the right buttons at the right moments and if nothing else, it can help keep you company on a lonely, miserable, cold, and dark rainy night.
Film Rating: 70%
Breakdown (How Halloween III: Season of the Witch scored 70%):
Production Design: 7 out of 10
Cinematography: 8 out of 10
Re-playability: 7 out of 10
Originality: 7 out of 10
Costumes: 7 out of 10
Directing: 6 out of 10
Editing: 7 out of 10
Acting: 6 out of 10
Music: 9 out of 10
Script: 6 out of 10
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