Halloween III:
36 Years of Dissin’ that Witch!
Happy Halloween, dear reader!!! First, let’s address the elephant in the room. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) is not 36 years old; it is 39 years old. But it was around three years ago that more and more people really started to get vocal about the fact that HIII: SotW is actually a pretty enjoyable horror movie. Therefore, it needs to be judged for the singular piece it is, and not for the Myers-less non-sequel that it is not… but kind of is… but really is not.
As for the abbreviation “HIII: SotW,” rest assured that I will not be using that again. Typing that did not save any time at all. I don’t even know why I mentioned it. Maybe I haven’t had enough candy today.
Now, on to the chief complaint about H3, which has dogged the movie since 1982. It is a non-sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece Halloween. After the success of the film, the original plan was to make an anthology of movies that are all based around Halloween themes but not connected by characters or story. Halloween itself was initially written as “The Babysitter Murders” and simply got tweaked and twisted into the movie we’ve loved for 43 years. So, it’s not like H3 was committing some great sin by being so different from its predecessors.
Then, when it was taking a bit too long for a second movie to take shape within the anthology plan, Universal Studios urged Carpenter and Co. to get to work on Halloween II (1981). So, we could watch another 92 minutes of Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode yet again, on the exact same night. You probably already knew that. Halloween II is also where all of the “sister/brother” stuff enters the franchise, but you probably knew that, too.
Anyway, when H3 premiered in 1982, the audience hated it because they just couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that Michael Myers and Laurie Strode weren’t involved. (Fun fact: throughout H3, footage from Halloween II is shown on a few different TV screens).
So, with all that in mind, we need to be a little nicer to H3 because the Halloween film franchise actually has 5 different timelines, and H3 was simply the first to break the mold. Let us very briefly explore…
You could watch the longest timeline, which is made up of:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (starring Danielle Harris, who should’ve won a frickin’ Oscar for her work as Jamie in this movie and…)
- Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and wrap it all up with…
- Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (starring Paul Rudd, just before he booked the movie Clueless)
You could also watch:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween H2O (starring 4-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams) and wrap it all up with…
- Halloween: Resurrection (Michael Myers vs. Reality TV… and Busta Rhymes).
You could start watching the more recently established timeline:
- Halloween (1978)
Halloween (2018, where they throw the “sister/brother” aspect and all sequels into the trash) - Halloween Kills (in theaters October 2021) and possibly wrap it all up with…
- Halloween Ends (scheduled for 2022, I’m betting on October).
You could also watch Rob Zombie’s remakes of Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009), though many people would advise against it. I’ve seen both of them at least twice. They’ve got their pros and cons, just like any other movie. In fact, Zombie’s Halloween held the box-office record for Labor Day weekend until 2021, when Shang-Chi kicked it off the gold medal podium. Fourteen years is a hell of a long time to hold a box-office record nowadays. Tip o’ the hat to all involved.
Or you could simply watch Halloween III: Season of the Witch all by itself and get a perfectly creepy movie all wrapped up in a 98-minute ribbon. So, with all those reboots, remakes, and realignments in our rearview mirror, it’s time to take a much nicer look at Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
It’s important to know that H3 was brought to life by many people who worked on the first Halloween film. Director Tommy Lee Wallace was a longtime Carpenter cohort with editing credits on Halloween and The Fog. Carpenter himself is listed as an uncredited writer for H3 and has a “music by” credit alongside Alan Howarth. Legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey (Halloween I & II, The Fog, The Thing, and many more) was onboard, and Dick Warlock played Michael Myers in Halloween II.
Nancy Kyes (formerly Nancy Loomis, who played Annie in Halloween, Sandy in The Fog) makes an appearance as our hero’s wife, Linda Challis. You can even hear the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis in TWO uncredited roles as the voice announcing the curfew and the operator on the other end of the phone when our hero fully Karens out at the end of the movie.
On top of the “we’re putting the band back together” vibe within the cast and crew of this movie, it’s also a bit of a family affair. While Nancy Kyes was playing Dr. Challis’ wife, she was actually married to the director, Tommy Lee Wallace. Also, while Tom Atkins was playing the cheating Dr. Challis, he was actually married to Garn Stephens, who plays Marge in this movie. You remember, Marge, right? The lady who discovers the… What??? Haven’t I discussed the plot yet?
Here’s what goes down:
Okay, I’m going to give you a SPOILER ALERT here, but I’m going to try to spoil as little as possible because if you’ve made it to 2021 and you still haven’t seen Halloween III: Season of the Witch, you’re in for a real… treat.
Like Halloween and Halloween II, H3 opens with a jack-o-lantern accompanying the credits. Only, instead of being a real pumpkin with a candle and/or a skull inside, this jack-o-lantern starts as a series of orange lines taking shape on a TV screen. It’ll make a lot more sense by the end of the movie. Soon we see an elderly man running through the night. In fear for his life, he is being pursued by well-dressed henchmen! He gets to a gas station where the kindly attendant is able to help him get to a hospital. Soon after he discovers the strange rubber mask that the man was carrying…or perhaps smuggling.
At the hospital, our hero, Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins, Night of the Creeps, The Fog, and plenty of credits going back to 1964) cares for the distressed man but he doesn’t care enough to stop him from being killed within a few minutes. Yup, a well-dressed henchman sneaks into the hospital and pulls the old man’s skull apart. After that craziness, the henchman gets burned up while trying to escape. Everybody’s confused but barely surprised.
Somewhere along the line, the dead man’s daughter, Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin, Bullets Over Broadway, Yellowbeard), finds Dr. Challis and enlists his help in figuring out why her dad’s skull got pulled apart by such a well-dressed henchman. After all, her dad was just a kindly ol’ toy retailer. However, it turns out he’d just started selling a particular trio of items just in time for Halloween, the Silver Shamrock masks. Trick-or-treaters could choose from a mean, green witch, a bright orange jack-o-lantern, or a scary skeleton!
Ellie is convinced that the Silver Shamrock had something to do with her poor papa’s tragic and horrific death. Hence, the married Dr. Challis agrees to drop everything and join her on a trip to northern California to investigate the Silver Shamrock factory. What follows is the unraveling of an evil plot to combine ancient druid magic with the far-reaching arm of televised broadcasting. You guessed it… I’m kidding. Nobody could’ve guessed it, and I’m not even going to try to explain it because it’s fun to watch it all unfold. Of course, our hero, Dr. Challis, is the only man in the right place at the right time. But does he even have the strength, the know-how, and the perfect timing to… STOP iiiiiiiiiit!?!? There’s only one way to find out.
If you need any other reasons to watch this movie, how about some good laughs and some really gross special effects. In any movie, I don’t think anything churns my stomach more than what happens to poor Marge. Blarrrghghfff! How about the trippy synth soundtrack and the Silver Shamrock jingle that changes as the movie moves along?
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is the second acting credit for the legendary Joshua John Miller. That’s right, Homer from Near Dark, Tim from River’s Edge, Richie from Teen Witch, Joey from Meet the Hollowheads, Angel from Class of 1999, and Josh from The Willies (among many other credits) is in this movie! This guy was all over my TV when I was growing up, and I always got a big kick out of his smart-ass antics.
As you can imagine, I was surprised to learn that Miller was also a writer/producer on The Final Girls (2015) which is one of my favorite movies of the last decade. I was even more surprised to see him in H3. If my math is correct, he was around six years old, playing Willie Challis, one of our hero’s kids, dancing around in his brand-new Silver Shamrock skeleton mask and counting down the days to Halloween.
So that’s it. Halloween is upon us. If you still haven’t watched Halloween III: Season of the Witch, I honestly don’t know what the heck you’re waiting for. You can rent it for $3.99 on most streaming services.
Fun fact:
The legendary director Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins, The ‘Burbs, Inner Space, Matinee) was originally tapped to direct this movie but had to turn it down for another project. I’m guessing he was preparing for Twilight Zone: The Movie, but I could be wrong. Look, I was three years old back then. What do you want from me?
Looking for more? Check out Steve’s retrospective on Critters! Also, take a look at our Halloween content in the Seasonal section! You can also find more general Married to Horror selections in our recommendations and List Section! Also, take a peek at our Master Watch List; where you can find an array of horror films sorted by title, platform, rating, and more!
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