‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ (1982) Movie Review

Written & Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace

Starring: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O’Herlihy

A large Halloween mask-making company has plans to kill millions of American children with something sinister hidden in Halloween masks.

This third entry in the Halloween series takes a lot of unjust shit that it shouldn’t. A solid stand-alone horror flick, this was deemed guilty and executed when the trademark masked killer, Michael Myers, didn’t make an appearance. If you like horror movies, Halloween-themed horror movies, this should be on your top ten list of schlocky, but awesome films.

A lone man is running from men in black suits. He makes it to the hospital clutching a pumpkin mask. Everyone thinks the poor guy is nuts as he spouts off apocalyptic warnings. Later in the night, a man in a suit appears and kills the mask clutching patient. The man calmly walks to his car in the parking lot, douses himself with gasoline and lights up. KaBoom – instant horror movie plot.

Dr. Daniel Challis (Atkins), is a good guy who gets pulled into this horrific mystery simply because he was on call the night in question. If you haven’t seen the film, I won’t spoil it all. This Halloween film revolves around a novelty and mask company called Silver Shamrock. Most horror fans can sing their catchy melody with no effort, and the masks do add a certain lovable quality to the film. There are a couple of fairly boring stretches you must endure if you want to finish this one. The plot, in a nutshell, can be called idiotic if you think about the details for more than a couple of minutes. I think it’s a safe bet that most people love this for it’s 80’s camp appeal – myself included. I remember how terrified I was when my Dad took me to see this movie as a 12-year-old, so my love for this is as much nostalgia as anything else. The film manages to paint a terrific picture of dread as the run-time ticks down. The atmosphere Halloween III creates is palpable, drawing in the viewer with skill at times. In the end, don’t count this as a mere throwaway, or the Halloween film that didn’t have Michael Myers on board. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that hate this and can rattle off several bullet points in their favor. Personally, I love the old school camp and foggy subterfuge that carries this film. This is a great Halloween time flick to enjoy.

PS, the scenes of the kids venturing out to trick or treat is some of my favorite to this day. Love it for the feelings it produces in me. This was one that led me to being such a horror freak.