Halloween III: Season of the Witch
by Cheeto
Posted on 16 August 2021
Rating -
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 American science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the first film to be written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the creators of Halloween and Halloween II, return as producers. Halloween III is the only entry in the series that does not feature the series antagonist, Michael Myers.
I am a huge Halloween fan, all of the movies; I hold them close to my heart. Of course, I know that the first one is untouchable, and it is one of the greatest films of all time. I know that every film since that original hasn’t been able to even be spoken in the same conversation in terms of quality, but these are the movies I used to watch over and over again when I was in my early teens.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is the only film of the franchise without an appearance from the iconic character; Michael Myers. This is because Halloween was originally meant to be an anthology series, with a different film every couple of years, showcasing different topics and plots. This is the first and only attempt at that, due to the amount of hate that this film got. Michael Myers not appearing in this film is the reason why it got so much hate.
Believe it or not, I actually like this film. I think on its own, it’s a brilliant stylised little horror thriller film, it just suffers from it being part of an iconic franchise known for its iconic antagonist. I think the plot is smart and it is something new, this is seriously lacking with all of the other films. Even though you can tell that this film has a low budget, this feeling adds to the film, rather than taking something away.
I think that Tom Atkins is great as our protagonist, he really does have a good story ark in a film you wouldn’t expect. He goes from a unlikeable drunk, to our only hope of stopping the bad guys. Stacey Nelkin as the co-star, plays her part really well. I think that both Atkins and Nelkin have great chemistry on screen together. If you can get past the age difference, this type of relationship between two characters in a Halloween film is really refreshing.
I also love the ending to this film, SPOILER, I love how they go down the route of showing us that everything turned out great, and at the end, they chuck one last spanner in the works. This huge spanner of course being the fact that the ad still ends up playing, and everything that has happened throughout the film was basically for nothing. I also love the final shot in which Atkins’ character begs for them stop the ad, as the film ends, we don’t know what happens, this makes for great viewing.
Now am I trying to say that this is as good as John Carpenter’s original; of course not. This film is good, but it does have a few problems. The acting, particularly that of the supporting cast is somewhat laughable. It’s like they rounded people up off of the street to come and act in this film (it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what they actually did). Some of the antagonists reasons for doing what he does, they just don’t sit right for me. This does somewhat takes away from the plot, but it somewhat is easy to look past.
Overall, this film is great, it’s a unique premise, it’s just unfortunate that it carries the Halloween name. Watch this one guys, just don’t expect it to be like the other Halloween films.
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