Warning: SPOILERS for Halloween III: Season of the Witch are in play. Yes, this movie’s over 40 years old, but it’s underrated. So if you haven’t seen it for yourself, you’ve been warned.
I understand that there’s no shortage of horror movies past, present, and future on the 2024 movie schedule. But every Halloween season, I try to cross some classic titles off of my “to-watch” list, and this year, Halloween III: Season of the Witch happened to be the one.
After finally watching this maligned sequel-turned-cult classic, I came to a realization that’s going to to sharpen some knives. You see, I not only loved writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace’s wild departure from the Michael Myers mythos, I’m the most recent convert that will swear it’s my favorite of the original films.
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch Is “The Big Swing,” And I Tend To Like Those Entries
As anyone who’s read my Halloween Ends review will tell you, I’m one of those weirdos who loves a “big swing” entry that tries to switch things up. If there’s a granddaddy of all examples of such an approach at work, it’s Halloween III Season of the Witch. Originally intended as a way for the series to branch into a more anthological approach, the story of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) and his investigation into Silver Shamrock Novelties’ shenanigans was supposed to keep Michael Myers in the ground for good.
Of course, the 1982 release of Halloween III wasn’t the hit some would have hoped for, and it was back to another 40 years of sequels, remakes and legacy-quel retcons centered around Haddonfield’s most infamous son. Which, again, isn’t something I totally turn my nose up to, as I loved David Gordon Green’s most recent trilogy. But oh, I mourn what could have been if Season of the Witch had done what it was supposed to.
Instead Of A Slasher, Halloween III Is A Horror Detective Story
The textbook definition of a Halloween movie is quite simple: Michael Myers somehow returns for the titular holiday, cuts up a bunch of victims and gets put down until his next at bat. Hey, if that’s your bag, I’m not going to knock it. I myself happen to be a fan of the Chucky and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, so slashers aren’t something I’m totally divorced from enjoying.
That being said, Halloween III: Season of the Witch dipped its blade into two subgenres of movie I love to death. As Dr. Challis continued to look into why a Halloween mask manufacturer was connected to a spate of suspicious deaths, I knew that we had a horror soaked detective movie on our hands.
Instead of reading unsealed psychiatric records, we're watching our medical gumshoe calling the lab for results on wreckage. Rather than hiding from a madman with a knife, the good doctor and his companion Ellie (Stacey Nelkin) are trying to figure out who they should run from, and why. Those sorts of concerns gave way to something greater, which reminded me of another one of my favorite genre offerings.
Halloween III Reminds Me Of Another Genre Conspiracy All-Timer
Earlier this year I revisited the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I can safely tell you that one of the best Donald Sutherland movies still holds up. And thanks to being refreshed on that picture quite recently, it was easier for me to connect some dots when it came to Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Which led me to realize that this off the beaten path entry of John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s iconic series is a lot like one of my favorite conspiracy thrillers!
In researching this feature, I came across a quote from the October 1982 issue of Fangoria that not only confirmed my feelings, but played those cards right on the table. When describing Halloween III, Debra Hill described the picture with a short statement that cut through my mind like a scalpel:
This is a ‘pod’ movie, not a ‘knife’ movie.
Debra Hill - Fangoria, Oct. 1982
I mean, that pretty much says it all. Season of the Witch’s “pod movie” approach scares me more than the OG Michael Myers ever did. To be fair, that might be because I saw the original film too late in life, and by time I got to Halloween III I had already cultivated a healthy love of all-out conspiracy thrillers, killer robots and well-earned downbeat endings. I’ve walked this path for a while, and I have no regrets.
Conal Cochran Is Way More Chilling Than Michael Myers
A mysterious person stalking me in the dark, wearing a mask and a mechanic’s jumpsuit, is still pretty scary. However, that’s something you can reasonably escape when applying real life logic. But when an entire system seems to be subverted against you? That’s a more realistic menace, whether or not you add the genre trappings Halloween III: Season of the Witch did.
Conspiracies are only as effective as the people that run them, and Halloween III: Season of the Witch has businessman Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy) square at the center of this nefarious plot. While he looks friendly enough when first introduced, the old man reveals his plan worth killing for in a speech so chilling, you have to see it for yourself:
I don’t know what’s worse: Cochran’s initial “Do I need a reason?” or his insistence that planetary alignment has deemed it time to play a deadly “joke on the children.” All I know is if I’m pitting the two big bads of the Halloween franchise against each other, Dan O’Herlihy’s masterful performance as Silver Shamrock’s vicious warlock terrifies me the most.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch Still Works If You’ve Been Spoiled
You probably know the ending of Halloween III already. It’s a movie that’s existed for 42 years, and it ends on a moment that’s so iconic that you’ve probably seen it running around in various memes. I know for a fact there’s one where it looks like Tom Atkins is yelling “Stop it!” while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is slowly getting louder.
It’s because of that cultural iconography that I knew the ending to Season of the Witch before I finally sat down to watch it. But like any classic worth its salt, it didn’t matter. This Halloween stand-alone was compelling enough, and differed so much from the Michael Myers run of films, that I still found it a fresh hell to walk straight into. The ambiguity that follows this intense ending only makes it all the more memorable:
Fellow CinemaBlend writer Rich Knight has sworn to the fact that Halloween III truly is the best entry for some time. I can now say that this is yet another matter we can agree on in the realm of cinema, as I rank this horror-thriller above all other entries in the classic canon. Now, whether or not this is the better “big swing” when compared to my beloved Halloween Ends, that’s another story.
Maybe we can talk about that next year, when the season of the witch returns to give us all one good scare. If you want to be able to call me crazy or join me in this particular pumpkin patch, you can currently check out Halloween III: Season of the Witch through the power of a Peacock subscription. It makes me happy you'll be able to watch it for yourselves. Happy Halloween, my friends.
