Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Review

"STOP IT!"

-Dr. Daniel Challis

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (which has nothing to do with Michael Myers) follows Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) who is working a late shit at the hospital when Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) shows up holding a Silver Shamrock Halloween mask and saying, "They're going to kill us.  All of us."  Later that night, a man in a suit murders Harry before burning himself alive outside the hospital.  Disturbed by the series of events, Daniel teams up with Harry's daughter, Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), and heads off to Silver Shamrock's headquarters to investigate.  They soon uncover a terrible plot by the owner of the company, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), to play a macabre practical joke on children on Halloween night.

What Works:

This movie gets a really bad rap for the lack of Michael Myers, but this is honestly one of my favorites in the series.  For starters the kills in this movie are insane and gruesome.  We get a woman getting her face half melted off, a man getting part of his skull ripped out, a head getting ripped off, and this movie even has the balls to murder a kid by melting his face and turning it into bugs and snakes.  It's absolutely insane and the gore effects are great.

We may not have Michael Myers, but Conal Cochran is a great villain.  Dan O'Herlihy is a wonderful actor with a magnificent voice.  He can be menacing and very fun-loving in the same scene.  I love how he treats his plan, which is to murder most of America's kids, like it's just a big practical joke.  And when Dr. Challis defeats him, he is gracious in his loss and even applauds the doctor before being vaporized.  He's an excellent character and one of the best parts of the film.

I also really enjoy Tom Adkins as our protagonist.  Dr. Challis is kind of a crappy dude and a pretty blatantly terrible father, yet he is just so charismatic I can't help but root for him.  A lesser actor could have made Dr. Challis a terrible character, but Adkins gives him a really likable side.

Finally, the ending of Season of the Witch is simply fantastic.  It's what my friends and I refer to as a f**k you ending.  We get absolutely no resolution and the movie ends with the extremely likely possibility that most of the children of the United States are about to be killed.  I love how dark the potential of this ending is, but I like that there is still a slight chance that Dr. Challis managed to save they day.  It's one of the single greatest f**k you endings in cinema.

What Sucks:

I will say this movie lacks the energy of the first two movies at some points.  There are a few scenes that are a bit dull, particularly the ones with Dr. Challis just wandering around the factory.  Horror movies frequently have characters exploring a spooky place and when they aren't saying anything, I typically lose interest and that is definitely a problem here.

Also, this movie has tons of plot-holes and large parts make zero sense whatsoever.  I'm usually fine with this kind of stuff, but there is just so much, like moving a piece of Stonehenge and the logistics of Cochran's plan, that I can't overlook.  The script could have used a little tightening up.

Verdict:

I wish this movie had not been a Halloween film and had just been called Season of the Witch.  I think it would have a better reputation if that was the case.  Either way, Halloween III is one of the strongest films in the series.  It has amazing kills, extremely dark elements, a solid protagonist, and a fantastic villain.  Some parts are a bit boring and others make little to no sense, but it's a really fun movie and has absolutely got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good