Halloween III: Season of the Witch – Steelbook Edition

Summary

“What’s the matter? Don’t you have any Halloween spirit?”

It’s incredible in retrospect to think that after the film Halloween II was released, Debra Hill and John Carpenter felt like they had done enough with iconic character Michael Myers. Instead, they pictured using the Halloween name as a launching pad to make horror films each year that would explore concepts related to Halloween. They would release the films around the holiday each year. They set about this task and enlisted Tommy Lee Wallace (who had worked with them on their earlier projects) to direct the film. The screenplay had a couple drafts, including one by John Carpenter, but the final draft was by Tommy Lee Wallace. He received the only writing credit, which the director finds ridiculous. While the idea of Halloween themed films every year released near Halloween is appealing, it should have been clear that naming the film Halloween III and leaving Michael Myers out of it would cause an immediate backlash from the many fans of the series. As you would expect, people at first flocked to see the movie (many probably expecting a true Halloween sequel,) and then the film quickly fizzled out and left the theaters. For years Halloween III: Season of the Witch was basically an inside joke amongst horror film enthusiasts. Then something amazing happened – the tide began to change. People started to confess that they actually enjoyed the film. New generations discovered the film. People finally began to enjoy the film on its own terms without worrying about the absence of the masked killer. Shout! Factory has championed the film through two prior releases (as a standalone and inside their box set,) and has now given the film a steelbook presentation that features a new 4K scan of the film. I couldn’t resist double dipping and watched it again last night.

Northern California – a man runs for his life from something ominous through a junkyard. A man in a suit surprises him and begins to strangle him, but the man under assault manages to kill his attacker. An hour later, the man that was under assault arrives at a gas station. He holds a Halloween mask in his hand and warns the gas station attendant that “they’re coming” before passing out. The Silver Shamrock Halloween mask commercials are playing everywhere announcing that Halloween is coming soon. Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) is called to the hospital to attend to the man. He warns that there is impending danger before being wheeled off to a hospital bed. A man in a suit enters the hospital and makes his way to the patient’s room. He puts on gloves and kills the patient silently in a unique way. The nurse on call screams for the doctor and he pursues the man out the door. Unbelievably, the man in the suit walks to a car, sits in the front seat, pours gasoline on himself and lights himself on fire. The next day a woman named Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) arrives at the hospital and identifies her father. She meets up with Dr. Challis to see if her father had said anything before he passed away. He offers to help her. Mr. Grimbridge had owned a shop that sold Halloween supplies before he was murdered. Ellie looks into her father’s calendar and finds an entry that mentions picking up masks from the Silver Shamrock factory in the town of Santa Mira. Dr. Challis abandons his responsibilities to his family, grabs a six pack of Schlitz, and accompanies Ellie to the strange town of Santa Mira to help her uncover what led to her father’s demise. The Silver Shamrock factory which employs the whole town is overseen by the ominous Mr. Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy.)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is one of my favorite films in the Halloween series. To my sensibilities, the fact that this whole thing was essentially a misstep for the iconic series makes the film more appealing. The film owes far more to Invasion of the Body Snatchers than to traditional slasher films, which must have completely confused the audiences at the time. The unifying aspects of the film to the earlier films in the series include the cinematography by Dean Cundey and the score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. Those two aspects make the film feel like it is almost part of the same universe as those other pictures, but it is a universe where Halloween exists as a movie that plays on television and where every kid seemingly in America is dying to know what the Silver Shamrock commercial is promoting.

There are numerous reasons why I like the movie, but mainly I think the film appeals to me because the script is totally off the wall. For example, the hero of the film is a doctor with a drinking problem who leaves his wife and kids on a moment’s notice so he can help a much younger girl and pursue her romantically. How hilarious is that? How did that get the green light? The film doesn’t really care to explain exactly what Mr. Cochran is meant to be or why his plan involves insects, snakes, masks, robotics, and television broadcasting. The strange ideas that the script seems to readily accept makes the film a constant treat. I can’t help but smile while watching the film unfold.

Tom Atkins is a joy to watch in the lead role. Atkins was great in every supporting role that he landed in the Eighties in films like The Fog and Night of the Creeps, but it’s great to see him as the main lead in the film. Stacey Nelkin is charming as his young love interest and is definitely a good looking counterpart. Dan O’Herlihy is well cast as the ominous Irish brogue Conal Cochran. Tommy Lee Wallace does a good job in the director’s chair of keeping the film on pace and the actors on point, even if the script doesn’t totally make sense.

Overall – I am glad that Halloween III: Season of the Witch has continued to gain a cult following. It’s a perfectly cheesy science fiction horror film that, when taken out of context of the other Halloween films, is a blast to revisit. I love it.

Video

The primary reason to consider upgrading from the prior Shout! Factory Blu-ray is that the video transfer comes from a new 4K scan on the steelbook. Indeed, it looks better. Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the film looks nice. Fine detail is very good and grain is well resolved. For a film that was shot mostly at night, I was happy to see that no artifacts jumped out at me in the images. The cinematography by Dean Cundey elevates the film and also helps it feel in tune with the prior two films in the series. This is the best presentation of the film yet!

Audio

Shout! Factory has provided a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track that sounds great. Compression wise, this track bests the prior presentation, but I did not immediately notice any dramatic changes from the prior track. The score by John Carpenter and Allan Howarth shines and the track is sufficiently engaging for the duration. Fans should be pleased.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Tommy Lee Wallace
• Audio Commentary with Actor Tom Atkins
• Stand Alone: The Making of HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH – Red Shirt Pictures, under the lead of Michael Felsher, has made some of my favorite supplemental features on cult and horror films. This feature is as good as I had expected when I sat their logo. This piece features interviews with Writer/Director Tommy Lee Wallace, Actors Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Brad Schacter, Stunt Coordinator Dick Warlock, Executive Producer Irwin Yablans, Director of Photography Dean Cundey, and Co-Composer Alan Howarth. Fans of the film should definitely watch this piece. 
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: The Locations of Halloween III – Sean Clark and Writer/Director Tommy Lee Wallace visit many of the locations where the film was shot.
• Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer
• Radio Spots 
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery 
• Posters & Lobby Cards Gallery 

Overall Scores: 

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is one of the strangest departures ever made by an iconic horror film series. Despite the fact that the film spent years as a laughing stock within the horror community for thinking it could succeed without Michael Myers, Halloween III has roared back to life as a cult film favorite. I am happy that Tommy Lee Wallace’s truly unique film continues to gain traction with new viewers every year. I personally love the film for its eccentricities and many of its more nonsensical elements. I smile ear to ear every time I revisit it. The new steelbook from Shout! Factory features the same great supplemental materials as the 2012 release, and features a new transfer from a 4K scan that looks great. Highly recommended.