Halloween III: Season of the Witch

• Written and Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
• October 22, 1982

After encountering a crazed man, a doctor seeks to uncover the reason for his murder and its connection to Silver Shamrock Novelties.

This is certainly an odd movie in the Halloween series. Halloween III: Season of the Witch does not connect directly to either of the preceding films and even goes so far as to imply that in this movie the other Halloween films were complete works of fiction. This was a bold move during a time when most of the big horror films were sequels with a themed killer connecting all of them.

And because this lacks the iconic Michael Myers it’s been more than a bit divisive over the years. I can certainly understand that. After the first two who didn’t want more movies with Michael Myers? But in a moment of creativity someone decided to try and steer the Halloween films into a series of Halloween themed horror movies.

I think it goes without saying that if this did not have the Halloween name it probably would be much better embraced than what it is. It’s well acted and has a great soundtrack that enhances the mood. It is one of those weird movies that could only really have been done in the 80s. It may not scare but it embraces the weirdness and with a good cast creates something that entertains.

Tom Atkins was probably the most macho of macho genre actors of the time. Atkins always brought the goods in whatever he did. He served the material well enough. While Atkins is not the most convincing doctor in his part as Dr. Dan Challis (the medical jargon does not flow easily from him), he is convincing as a divorcee as well as a dude willing to dig through the elements to unravel this mystery.

Dan seems to have no power over his ex-wife Linda (Nancy Kyes) yet he’s able to flirt and charm his way with other women in this movie such as his coworker Teddy (Wendy Wessberg) who does most of his research/legwork and Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), the daughter of the man he treated in the hospital. And because Tom Atkins is in the role you believe it.

As stated Dan is paired with Ellie through much of the story. Apparently she did a lot of legwork on the whole situation before arriving to see dad and that should’ve been a bit of a tip off to her twist. What I am left wondering was if that was the situation the whole time or simply was something that occurred because of the villain.

As a character Ellie is the eye candy of the story and provides the required bare boobs that all 80s horror films sought to include. Aside from the dark, rich blues that horror movies of the time had they also tried to show boobs. Ellie is about as two dimensional as one would expect and exists to give an emotional angle to the story in order to keep Dan involved beyond the point he might logically walk away.

The great Dan O’Herlihy stars as Conal Cochran who is the villainous corporate executive behind all this. What I’m kind of trying to figure out about this movie though is beyond the sacrifice what is his ultimate goal? And how did he manufacture all those mechanical things without anybody catching on? There’s some implication that his ultimate goal beyond mass child sacrifice is some kind of transformation (if you watch the finale) but what the transformation exactly is unknown.

O’Herlihy was just gleefully evil in the part. He was charming like an affable grandpa making the sinister plot all that much darker. Like an evil slimy salesman he assuaged concerns of victims while plotting pure evil. Certainly the best performance in the movie.

What we get is an interesting and a touch weird movie. There is witchcraft as well as sophisticated mechanics involved here all to execute a ritualistic mass slaying to Samhain. What makes this film mostly work is just strangeness. From the opener to the death of the mysterious man to the occurrences in the town, everything is just odd and weird. This is the complete antithesis of anything presented in the first two Halloween films. This is not a slasher film but rather a weird horror film.

With Irish immigrants and a thin veneer of Irish mythology, it is an unusual combination that somehow manages to entertain. We get Stonehenge and androids and a town all focused on the goal. One might question how you steal a chunk of Stonehenge and they deftly brush that question aside without ever answering it. To do that takes great writing and quality actors and this has that more often than not.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is an entertaining bit of weird 80s horror. For the general movie goer ‘No’ but for horror movie fans or just fans of 80s movies this is something that you will enjoy and find very entertaining. You will not be disappointed!