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Halloween III: Season of the Witch. (1982)

Dir: Tommy Lee Wallace.

A great opening sequence, with the superb JohnCarpenter/Alan Howarth score pounding away nicely, gets the film off to an intriguing start, and it never fails to hold the viewers' attention thereafter.

When a scared, delirious Man clutching a rubber, pumpkin, Halloween mask is taken to a Hospital and then murdered in a brutal fashion by a mysterious, suited Man, who then sets himself alight and blows himself up in the car park, the Man's Doctor, Dan Challis (Tom Atkins of "The Fog", "Maniac Cop" and "Night of the Creeps") decides to investigate.

Along with the Man's Daughter Ellie (Stacy Nelkin) they trace the mask to the 'Silver Shamrock' factory in Santa Mira, owned by the seemingly helpful and friendly Conal Cochran (Dan O' Herlihy). A Man who seems to rule over not just the factory, but the whole sleepy town, with a sinister and ever watchful 'Big Brother' mentality.

Soon, a bizarre plot is unveiled involving TV adverts, the masks, children and ancient Halloween beliefs…..

 

Much maligned on release, (and sadly for many tedious years later), as this 3rd film in the "Halloween" series never brought back the Michael Myers' Slasher' plot of it's iconic first film, and it's disappointing sequel, "Halloween III :Season of the Witch" was wrongly ignored and vilified.
It was a good (if misguided) idea by Co-Producer John Carpenter to make a series of films based around the EVENT of Halloween, rather than his actual film "Halloween".
"Halloween" and "Halloween 2" were about Myers, this one would be a new story, using Halloween as it's setting/plot.
But given the huge success and fame of his classic Myers film, it was a doomed idea from the start, and one that trashed the reputation of "Season of the Witch" (the shorter title it should have been released under) seemingly forever.

Well, now knowing that this is not another Myers film, it's time to champion "Season of the Witch" and review it as a movie in it's own right.

For a start it delivers some great Halloween atmosphere, especially with an excellent montage of the children going home to watch the TV 'give away'.
The Los Angeles (against the City lights) and the Phoenix (a line of kids against the red light of the setting sun) segments are highly effective.
And the TV Ad's (a love or loathe feature that splits critics almost as much as the missing Myers and Jamie Lee Curtis) are scored with a wonderfully annoying jingle.

The gore is also expertly done William Aldridge and Jon G. Belyeu do a great job with a blood spraying, very painful looking decapitation with a difference and the ever so gruesome aftermath of a lasered mouth...all rictus teeth and blood soaked eyes is surprisingly nasty.
And add a drill death (Hey, it's the 80's...the decade of the drill death!) that is also very nasty without actually showing anything and a very brutal death via eye poking and skull snapping (the sight of the inner bone pushing up against the nose is wonderfully gruesome) and this delivers the series most graphic bloodletting up to then.

Director Wallace (Editor and production Designer on Carpenter's "Halloween" and "The Fog") does a good job at keeping the plot moving, and creates some truly macabre scenes involving Cochran's henchmen and the nightmarish effects of the masks. It's a solid job with some moments of real flair.

Performances are okay .I always like Atkins in whatever role he is given, big or small and he deserved a bigger career. His acting while he tries to persuade his Wife (Nancy Loomis from "Halloween") to get rid of the masks is excellent, as is his deflated shock after discovering the wild truth about Cochran's goons. A top bit of mad screaming at the end as well...An ending that is delightfully evil. I shall say no more.

O'Herlihy is a bit hammy (he was in his creepy role in the wonderful "Twin Peaks" as well) but he's a good Villain and his speech about the real meaning of Halloween is nicely dark and creepy.

The nods to Carpenter are fun too..... It's a cheekily wicked idea to have "Halloween" itself as the film that will lead into the 'killer ad's', the classical music that is playing when a badge 'miss-fires' (to wonderfully splattery and nasty effect) is the same music that Adrienne Barbeau plays as she drive to the lighthouse in "The Fog", and the framing of the shots where Atkins and Nelkin are walking around while being watched are the same as "Halloween", with the half back and shoulders of the robot set up exactly like the scenes of Myers watching Jamie Lee Curtis. It's no shock to find that Dean Cundey, "Halloweens" Cinematographer, doing the camera work here.

The film also has ideas that now seem very insightful.
The mass coverage of your every move by CCTV is now a welcome and not so welcome reality in every town and city.
And if made now the whole idea of a specific brand name being wanted over 'lesser' makes would be very topical.
The fact is "Silver Shamrock" is 'Adidas' and 'Nike'. Dan's kids do not want his 'other brand', cheap masks...they want the 'Nike', sorry, I mean "Silver Shamrock", masks that are the hip and cool make to have... "ALL THE KIDS WANT ONE"! Oh dear....if only they had gone for Dan's non-brand masks things would be a lot safer!

Plot wise it's got damaging holes later on, such as in explaining how Dan has the technical knowledge is to even attempt to turn the tables on the 'bad guys', and a plot twist near the end, though excellent, makes no sense in why the 'twist' did not 'show itself' earlier.
Nigel Kneale, creator of "Quatermass", took his name off the credits (leaving just Wallace billed), but I for one can see no reason for such drastic action. Though what Kneale's vision would have looked like does make for intriguing supposition.

But, the rest of the plot, acting, effects, music and Direction are good enough so that these annoyances are mostly pushed away and leave us with a very entertaining and satisfying movie.