Guilty Pleasures: Halloween 3: Season of the Witch
There’s nothing wrong with watching bad movies. I grew up watching them and I turned out okay…. OH GOD I’M A MONSTER! WHY GOD!
HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH
In 1978 John Carpenter created a film that changed the direction of horror films. It became the staple of October television and it still holds the title of highest grossing indie film of all time, and rightfully so. You can’t think of Halloween (the holiday) without thinking of Halloween (the movie). Sadly it was because of this that Halloween III: Season of the Witch never got its proper respect.
It was inevitable that after the monster success of the original and the equally impressive box office of the sequel that a third film would get made. John Carpenter and Debra Hill would only agree to it if it wasn’t a direct sequel to Michael Myers. Most writers and directors it seems don’t like seeing their creations become a franchise (specifically Wes Craven with Freddy and John Carpenter with Michael Myers). So they worked with director Joe Dante and sci-fi writer Nigel Kneale to create a Mad Scientist plotted horror film. Maybe they should have stuck to franchising the series because things became shaky pretty fast.
Joe Dante left the project and was replaced with Tommy Lee Wallace. John Carpenter and Wallace did rewrites to the script to add more gore and simplify the bizarre plot a bit. Kneale hated their changes and the addition of violence so much he had his name removed from the final product.
The resulting story followed Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) as they try to solve the mystery surrounding Ellie’s father’s bizarre death. After being found by a gas station tenant clinging to a Silver Shamrock mask, Grimbridge was murdered by a strange man who then set himself on fire.
Ellie and Dan conclude that Silver Shamrock creator Conal Cochran has something to do with the murder. The two travel to Santa Mira, California where the Silver Shamrock factory resides. It’s there that they discover Cochran’s evil plan. Using electricity, a computer chip, a piece of Stonehenge and movie nonsense, he plans to kill anyone wearing his masks and cause poisonous snakes and insects to crawl from their skulls, killing those around them.
Okay, so we’ll be honest. The movie is ridiculous. In fact, if I’m going to be completely honest I’d say that it’s bat-shit crazy. People are constantly referring to this as the worst Halloween film, but clearly they didn’t watch Halloween Part 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (which is more of a flashback origin story than an actual horror film) or Halloween: Resurrection (in which Michael Myers is defeated by a Busta Rhymes in a boxing match).
People complain about the lack of Michael Myers in this film. If you ask me, it’s the inclusion of Michael Myers (through television sets). It creates a weird paradox that I don’t like. I’m sure John Carpenter thought it was hilarious though.
Halloween III is one of those films that despite being insane and absurd it’s extremely enjoyable and scary in it’s own right. It’s definitely got some of the most gory and graphic deaths in the series, specifically when the town drunk is decapitated (seemingly with someone’s bare hands).
Had Halloween III: Season of the Witch been a success, Carpenter and Hill planned to produce yearly Hallloween films, each with a completely new story of awful happenings on Halloween night. When you think about how John Carpenter brought us films like Big Trouble in Little China and They Live during this time, it seems like we missed out on some new horror classics.
Regardless, this will always be one of my favorite Halloween classics. With the announcement of Dimension’s upcoming Halloween 3 there have been questions of whether it will be a remake of Season of the Witch. While this is stated with tongue firmly in cheek, it is clear that the directors have some plans up their sleeve. They announced that there will be homages to the most infamous of horror sequels and Tom Atkins will be appearing in it.
From Guilty Pleasures and Geekscape.net I’d like to wish you all a Happy Happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Happy Happy Halloween. Silver Shamrock.
When he’s not watching awful movies and defending them. Matt “SaintMort” Kelly is constantly tweeting, producing his podcast THE SAINT MORT SHOW and writing in his blog. This month he decided to review a horror movie every day. This is what happens when you have no life.
