X
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
Summary Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) seek to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy).
Directed By: Tommy Lee Wallace
Written By: John Carpenter, Nigel Kneale, Tommy Lee Wallace
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 38 m
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
50
Where to Watch
Summary Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) seek to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy).
Directed By: Tommy Lee Wallace
Written By: John Carpenter, Nigel Kneale, Tommy Lee Wallace
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
50
36% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
36% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
27% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
50
36% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
36% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
27% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
That plot gives you an idea of how casually insane this movie is, but if you’re able to radically suspend your disbelief (the story is an illogical shambles), the film offers a number of modest pleasures.
Once the action shifts to the dead-eyed denizens of Santa Mira, the remote town that Silver Shamrock calls home, the film becomes a sly and creepy indictment of corporate engineering. It’s not what Halloween fans wanted—and Wallace rubs it in by showing a couple of clips from the original film on TV—but take the Halloween part away and Season Of The Witch is a standalone oddity worth considering on its own terms.
Mr. Wallace clearly has a fondness for the cliches he is parodying and he does it with style.
Obliged to launch the hero on an effective counterattack down the stretch, Wallace goes through the motions proficiently enough for exploitation thriller purposes. He should have quit while he was ahead, but Halloween III demonstrates a reasonable ability to control comic-horror effects on his first derivative try. [27 Oct 1982, p.D9]
Though the film certainly isn't awful, the filmmakers couldn't decide on their focus. Did they want the picture to be be a fun little piece full of black humor, or did they want to go the usual
blood-and-gore route?
The one saving grace in Halloween III is Stacey Nelkin, who plays the heroine. She has one of those rich voices that makes you wish she had more to say and in a better role. But watch her, too, in the reaction shots: When she's not talking, she's listening.
There's a delightfully promising premise behind Halloween III -- something's wrong with the kids' masks -- but somehow Wallace gets sidetracked, and the movie wanders away. [30 Oct 1982, p.D5]
Production Company
Dino De Laurentiis Company,
Universal Pictures
Release Date Oct 22, 1982
Duration 1 h 38 m
Rating R
Tagline ...and now the earth will run with blood again!
Website
http://www.halloweenmovies.com/
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
