REVIEW: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch was released a year after Halloween II lit up movie screens, bringing Michael Myers roaring back in a post-Friday the 13th world. It was a mega hit, so what did Carpenter and co. have planned for the obvious follow up? No Shape, no Jamie Lee Curtis, and a focus on witchcraft in the computer age. In retrospect, you have to wonder how anyone thought it would work, and back upon release, it didn’t. Season of the Witch was a big disappointment at the time, delivering a gross nearly 10 million less than its predecessor on the same budget. This was originally planned as the beginning of the franchise moving in the direction of an anthology series, but this reception shut down any possibility of that continuing and ensured Michael Myers would return if the franchise were to continue. 

All these years later, how has Halloween III aged? Well, in a word, gracefully! I came pretty late to the party on Season of the Witch, only finally seeing it once Scream Factory released their lavish 15 disc Halloween set. I had heard all the bemoaning of the hardcore Myers fanatics about how bad the movie is and how it has no place in the franchise. When the credits rolled, I was in astonishment…at how good it was! The plot of Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a ton of fun. I think it's up there as one of the movies in the franchise that really embraces the holiday from a conceptual level. It’s steeped in a really immersive, spooky atmosphere, and tying the plot back to the celtic tradition of Samhain, with an celtic sorcerer as the villain was truly an inspired idea and makes this one really stand apart from its contemporaries. We follow Dan Challis, a doctor whose patient dies under mysterious circumstances. The patient’s daughter, Ellie Grimbridge, resolves to figure out what happened to her father, and Challis joins her on this quest. 

From the jump, Dan Challis (played by the incomparable Tom Atkins) is immediately endearing as a lead character. When we’re introduced to him, we can see that his relationship with his ex-wife, Linda,  is extremely strained. Once we’re at the hospital, and he sees that his patient has been murdered, he instantly takes off after his suspected murder and doesnt stop until he sees the man blow himself to smithereens. They clearly paint him as a man of action, and perhaps a man who feels guilty that his patient died under his care, even if there was nothing he could have done. I found myself really feeling bad for him this time around, and really came around to the sincerity of his desire to help Ellie find out what happened to her father. Sure, there is definitely a romantic component to his desire to join her. But in the moments following their first meeting, when they lock eyes after she identifies the body and they share a moment, there is a real look of sadness and failure in Atkins’ gaze. It’s a small moment but it tipped my perception of Challis a little bit this time around. There’s definitely some comic gold in him grabbing a six pack before hopping in the car with Ellie, but I think it speaks a bit more to the hinted alcoholism when he visits his kids and ex wife than anything else. It’s refreshing to have a bit of an unconventional lead in this kind of story, because while he does heroic things, he does blow off seeing his children to galavant off with Ellie. Ultimately later in the story it pays off, because him trying to stop Cochrane’s scheme is also by proxy saving his children, who also have Silver shamrock masks. He has a drinking issue as well, and he certainly engages with liquid libation through the film. Atkins also absolutely nails all aspects of Challis too. He’s extremely likable, but he can reach in and convincingly play those darker aspects.

 On the opposite end of the spectrum is Ellie Grimbridge, played by the lovely Stacey Nelkin. She’s a decent bit younger than Challis, she’s wide eyed, and a bit naive. That being said, she is the one who brought forth the idea of driving up to Santa Mira, determined to solve the mystery of what happened to her father. Nelkin is extremely sympathetic, delivering some really solid emotional scenes, as well as having some excellent chemistry with Atkins. Is their love story one for the ages? No, but I definitely buy it as two people kind of coming together over this situation. It’s so easy to get behind Nelkin’s portrayal, because when she does things that make you cringe, like when she runs towards her fathers stashed car at the Silver Shamrock factory, it’s completely understandable. It’s a legitimate emotional reaction that I think a lot of people would share. When a certain reveal for Ellie comes into play towards the end of the film, it’s really tragic to see, because I enjoyed watching that character so much. 

The third character that really needs to be mention is Conal Cochrane, played masterfully by Dan O’Herlihy. I love every moment he‘s on screen. He’s incredibly charming while, even in his most gentile scenes, carrying a really unsettling and sinister undertone in his voice. Cochrane is a celtic sorcerer, who is utilizing the commerciality of the Halloween season to sew the seeds for his harvest. But instead of harvesting crops, he’s harvesting children to sacrifice to the gods for the festival of Samhain. It’s an absolutely chilling plan that lives at the hearts of the very real money machine that is Halloween costumes. It’s honestly a stroke of brilliance in my opinion. Cochrane even seems to take pleasure in the fact that he’s doing this, and O’Herlihy’s deliciously maniacal performance really sells all of it. He has the perfect voice for an old school spooky story villain. One of my favorite horror villains of the decade for sure. 

Halloween III is extremely technically proficient. Key members of the Carpenter camp stayed on the helm this one, including Dean Cundey delivering his incomparable cinematography, Alan Howarth and John Carpenter returned to score, and last but not least, Tommy Lee Walllace has returned, but this time as director! Wallace actually turned down working on Halloween II as director because he really disliked the script (can’t exactly blame him there). We really lucked out as horror fans though, because he delivered with Halloween III. Cundey’s Work here is about what you expect: exemplary. Lots of lovely and smooth camera work, great lighting. There is some genuinely shocking imagery in this movie, be it when Challis rips the insides out of one of Cochrane’s henchmen, or the finale of the mask test on Junior. There are also some really great wide shots. It’s really easy to see how this was the guy who’d go on to work on films like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. 

Carpenter and Howarth’s score is spectacular. Continuing with the synth heavy style of Halloween II but carving its own path. In particular, I love how they scored the opening computerized pumpkin scene, and my favorite tracks wound up being “Chariot of the Pumpkins” and “The Drive to Santa Mira”. The latter is a very lowkey song that evokes “Laurie’s Theme” in that it’s mellow but with a sinister undertone. The former is classic Carpenter/Howarth, it’s very simple in many ways but it never fails to grab my attention.

The makeup effects in Season of the Witch are GREAT. One featuring a person getting their face melted by a laser made me gasp when I first saw it. It looks so incredibly painful. But I think the scariest and most shocking scene of violence in the whole film might be the mask test with Junior, you don’t see alot, as his face is mostly obscured by the (awesome) pumpkin mask he’s wearing. But they show you just enough that it’s haunting. I have never forgotten the first time I watched that sequence and saw all of the bugs and snakes crawl out of his mouth. Most of the violence aside from those scenes isn’t incredibly graphic. The henchmen ripping a dudes head off was pretty good thiugh. There are a few deaths that really don’t show you much, and leave it up to you to fill in the blanks, and I really appreciated that.

As for cons, the only complaints I can really make is that the burning effects above the factory towards the end don’t look the best and it takes a bit longer to get going than I like. I think once Challis meets Ellie in the hall the movie takes off and doesn’t stop though. It’s a very small gripe.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a wonderful watch during Spooky Season. It’s got a pair of great leads, a great villain, strong special effects work and is a technical beast. I watch this every Halloween season and if you haven’t checked it out, do yourself a favor and give it a fair shake. It might not have The Shape in it, but it’s got plenty of chills.

What did you think of Halloween III? Do you love it as much as I do or was it not your thing? Let me know, and join me next time when we discuss Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers!