Halloween III: Season of the Witch, 1982.
Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace.
Starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O’Herlihy, Michael Currie, and Ralph Strait.
SYNOPSIS:
Halloween is fast approaching when Dr Daniel Challis is witnesses a mysterious murder/suicide at the hospital in which he works. Following the victims’ final words, Challis and Ellie Grimbridge, the deceased man’s daughter, travel to Santa Mira, the home of mask makers Silver Shamrock Novelties. Upon arrival, the pair uncovers an evil conspiracy that threatens to turn Halloween into a nightmare for millions of children.
2018 marks the 40th anniversary of John Carpenter’s beloved and iconic Halloween, the film that arguably turned the slasher genre into the beloved cult favourite that is today. With the recent revival of the franchise due to hit cinema’s later this week, it only serves to reason that I talk about the film that started it all. One problem though; I already did way back in 2016 in the first ever week of October Horrors.
So as a quick fix to my own idiocy and lack of foresight and seeing as it’s also my third October doing this series, I thought I’d celebrate the occasion by taking a look at the most overlooked entry in the long-running series, a film that also stands alone as perhaps the most unique of the entire franchise. This is Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Now as many of you are perhaps aware, Halloween III stands as the most unique of the franchise mainly because so far it’s the only one that isn’t a slasher film and is the only film in the series not to feature the masked killer Michael Myers as its villain. In fact, in a rather funny “cameo” if you can call it that, the original Halloween itself appears in this film playing on TV as if the Halloween franchise itself exists as a work of fiction within the universe of this film.
Halloween III instead opts to play like a horror-themed conspiracy thriller, complete with mysterious deaths, shadowy henchmen in suits and an evil corporation run by a sinister old man (who happens to be the same “Old Man” who runs OCP in RoboCop) with desires for world domination and destruction. It’s a welcome and refreshing change of pace for the series and while Michael Myers could be a sinister monster lurking in the shadow, he can’t compete with the sinister campaign of Silver Shamrock who have far grander plans than stabbing horny teenagers. After all, Michael Myers never planned on committing worldwide child genocide.
While the acting from the film’s cast led by Tom Atkins is solid throughout, it’s Dan O’Herlihy who dominates the film with his brilliant show-stealing performance as the evil businessman Conal Cochran. O’Herlihy’s Cochran is an arguably a more fascinating character than Michael Myers, with the veteran actor managing to create a character who manages to veer between folksy grandfatherly charm (complete with a voice whose cadences and rhythms oddly reminded me of Terry Wogan) and a more sinister and evil creature who thinks nothing of murdering children in the name of sacrifice.
Yet, even when he is telling his evil plan to Atkins’ Challis, a bit like a horror version of a Bond villain, O’Herlihy still manages to make the character oddly charming with his hypnotic voice having you leaning on his every word. I adore his monologue about the “real” story of Halloween, especially the way he really bites into his “R’s” when he says “when the hills ran red with the blood of animals and children”. It’s a magnificent performance that really should rank as one of the great horror villain performances of all time.
While series creator John Carpenter doesn’t return to direct, he does compose the music, doing so with regular collaborator Alan Howarth. Carpenter and Howarth’s score is a classic 80s synth score that manages to make the quieter moments of the film have that overpowering sense of foreboding, with its heavy ominous droning sound, before picking up into a fast-paced, staccato type rhythm when the action picks up. It’s a great score that’s certainly one of the more underrated in 80s horror and is more than a match for the more iconic Halloween themes.
Perhaps the only real disappointing part of Halloween III is that it stands alone in the franchise, an example of what the series could have been. It had been hoped by Carpenter and franchise co-creator Debra Hill that Halloween III would mark the start of a more anthology approach for the series, with each film having a different Halloween focused story. That sounds like a great idea doesn’t it?. Sadly Halloween III was commercial and critical failure upon release with the common complaint among fans against it being the lack of Michael Myers.
So, due to fan demand, all films that followed reverted back to the standard slasher formula by bringing back Michael Myers as the main villain with the franchise becoming just another slasher series of endless sequels repeating the same cliched formula that was, rather ironically, created by the original film.
Fast-paced, inventive, and daring to try something different, Halloween III: Season of the Witch might represent a missed opportunity for the franchise, but it still ranks as one of its very best. Do yourself a favour and give this one a watch this Halloween. Just try not to punch your TV when that bloody Silver Shamrock song plays for the millionth time.
Scare Rating: ? ? ?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
