THE FILM:
Okay all you HALLOWEEN III bashers, dissers and naysayers, let’s do this thing. Right here. Right now. I’ll even start it all off: HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH is not a bad movie. In fact, I’ll bump this up to another level: it is better, FAR better, than several of the sequels poor Michael Myers had to suffer through. There. I said it and I’ll defend it to the death! Notice I didn’t say it’s a good movie. It’s not. It’s a dumb fun 1980’s horror movie that tried to do something new, original and cutting edge but lacked the funding and creative panache to fully accomplish what it set out to do.
A quick background story is in order here. Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the HALLOWEEN franchise when they bankrolled HALLOWEEN II and wanted to continue making movies under that title. However series creator John Carpenter had washed his hands of boogeyman Michael Myers after the first installment saying he had said all there was to say in his movie. Ever since then Carpenter has wished the makers of all the sequels and reboots well and thanked them for the giant check he receives to use the characters he created, but he’s not going to write or direct another HALLOWEEN movie. Universal pretty finished off Michael at the end of HALLOWEEN II burning him to a crisp with flames still leaping through his iconic mask over the ending credits. SO how do you continue?
The answer Carpenter and Universal came up with was a radical idea for the future of the franchise. They would release a new HALLOWEEN movie every October. They would all be stand alone movies having no continuing characters or story elements other than being focused on the titular holiday. In essence, they would create an anthology series under the umbrella HALLOWEEN title. To write the first story in this new series, they hired one of the greatest writers of British science fiction and horror movies, Nigel Kneale, the creator of the QUATERMASS series which Carpenter is a huge fan of. Kneale turned in a story that attempted to blend ancient evil with modern computer technology (remember, computers as an everyday device were still brand spankin’ new in the early 1980’s). According to Tommy Lee Wallace, the credited writer and director of HALLOWEEN III, Kneale’s story was too deep and dark for Universal and a rewrite was commissioned.
What we ended up with was the story of madman Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy) who had stolen one of the mystical monoliths from Stonehenge. By using fragments of it in Halloween masks, he attempted an ancient Celtic ritual that would kill every kid wearing a mask when the fragments would be triggered during a television broadcast. The only people on to him are Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin), who have teamed up to learn exactly why her father apparently went crazy and died clutching one of Cochran’s masks.
The idea of ancient evil and new fangled computers was a popular one back in the 1980’s as other horror films mined that territory in such films as NIGHTMARES and EVILSPEAK. If this film wasn’t titled HALLOWEEN III, I have absolutely no doubt that it would have 1. done better at the box office and 2. been far better received by fans and critics. Since it wasn’t, the movie has been brutally bashed for the past thirty years, essentially written off because Michael Myers wasn’t in it.
So is HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH one of the worst horror movies of the 1980’s? No way. Not even close. Is it a lost masterpiece in need of reevaluation like, say CITIZEN KANE underwent in the 1970’s? Not really. It should been seen and judged as its own thing, completely separate from the Michael Myers franchise. It’s a silly, goofy flick that ultimately offers some decent scares and good fun. And a commercial jingle that will get stuck in your head for days after you watch it.
THE DISC:
The anamorphic 2.35 transfer is a bit disappointing. While it never slips into a horrible transfer it is on the uneven side with general and even fine detail coming through quite nicely one minute and other times looking as though all of the detail has been digitally scrubbed away. Colors are bland and never pop like one would expect them too, particularly the Silver Shamrock commercial or the Halloween masks.
Likewise the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack is just there. Granted there is nothing really sonically spectacular in the movie itself to warrant a dynamically immersive soundscape, it just lacks that certain oomph that pulls you all the way in. Overall this is not a bad transfer by any means, just a serviceable one.
THE EXTRAS:
The transfer may be just okay to mediocre, but the supplements certainly are not. Shout! Factory has whipped up some great goodies that will certainly please fans.
We start out with not one, but two commentary tracks! The first is a great track featuring Director Tommy Lee Wallace, Rob Galluzzo from IconsOfFright.com and Sean Clark from Horror’s Hallowed Grounds. Not only does the trio cover the basics of the film itself but they go into the abandoned HALLOWEEN anthology series this movie was supposed to start. A very entertaining and informative track.
The second track features actor Tom Atkins and DVD Producer Michael Felsher. While the pair do discuss HALLOWEEN III quite a bit this is more of a Tom Atkins retrospect track with the versatile actor frequently discussing his career in horror and his John Carpenter films in particular.
“Stand Alone: The Making of HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH” is a solid, insightful and most of all honest look at the film and its legacy. Wallace, Atkins and a host of others cover everything from Universal’s breaking away from the Michael Myers storyline through its unfortunate reception upon its release through how fans view it today. This is a must see feature for every fan of the series regardless of which side of the fence you are on with HALLOWEEN III.
“Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: Revisiting the Original Shooting Locales” has Sean Clark taking us on a tour of the locations today.
The original Theatrical Trailer, a trio of TV Spots and a nice little Still Gallery round out a very well done supplement package.
MY SAY:
The debut release from Scream! Factory should make horror movie fans scream with delight. HALLOWEEN III gets a great treatment on this Blu-ray and will hopefully find a whole new fan base that can look past the title and see it for the fun little movie it is. So put you Silver Shamrock masks on and gather ‘round the TV kiddies, this release comes Recommended!
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