Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace in his feature-length directorial debut. It is the third installment in the Halloween film series and the only entry that does not feature the series antagonist, Michael Myers. Series creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill return as producers. The film stars Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, and Dan O'Herlihy.
The film departs from the slasher genre of the other installments, instead featuring a "witchcraft" theme with science fiction aspects. John Carpenter and Debra Hill believed that the Halloween series could have been an anthology series of films that centered around Halloween night, with each sequel containing its own characters, setting, and storyline. Director Wallace stated there were many ideas for Halloween-themed films, some of which could have potentially created any number of their own sequels, and that Season of the Witch was meant to be the first.
As with the series' other films, suspense and tension are key themes, exploring violence against young children. On a budget of $4.6 million, Halloween III made a profit by grossing $14.4 million at the box office in the US, but it was also the poorest performing film in the Halloween series at the time. Most critics gave the film negative reviews, though reevaluation in later years has given Halloween III its own reputation as a stand-alone cult film. After the film's disappointing reception and box office performance, Michael Myers was brought back six years later in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.
It was the last Halloween film distributed by Universal Pictures until the 2018 film Halloween 36 years later.
Plot
On October 23, 1982, in Northern California, shop owner Harry Grimbridge, clutching a jack-o-lantern Halloween mask, is pursued by mysterious men in suits. He collapses at the shop of Walter Jones, who calls for help. Harry is taken to a hospital and placed in the care of Dr. Daniel Challis, an alcoholic doctor who has a strained relationship with his ex-wife Linda and two children Bella and Willie. Later that night, Harry is murdered by another suited man, who immolates himself in his car. After identifying his body, Harry's daughter Ellie meets Daniel to talk about the suspicious events surrounding Harry's death. They decide to investigate and travel to Santa Mira, California, hometown to the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory, which made the Halloween mask that Harry carried the night of his death. As they check in to a motel, Daniel learns that Harry had stayed there recently.Marge Guttman, another motel customer, discovers a microchip on the back of the medallion of one of the masks. The medallion emits a deadly energy beam into her mouth as she picks at it curiously with a hairpin. Her face is left mutilated, and an insect crawls out of her mouth. Shortly after, men in lab coats take Marge's body away in a Silver Shamrock van. Daniel overhears the factory technicians describing a "misfire" to factory owner Conal Cochran. While Daniel and Ellie tour the factory the following morning, Ellie finds her father's car, guarded by more men in suits who stop her from getting closer to it. They attempt to call the authorities as they flee, but Daniel cannot reach anyone outside of town by phone. Ellie is kidnapped and taken to the factory; Daniel follows and is captured by the men in suits, revealed to be androids Cochran created.
Cochran takes Daniel to the "final processing" control room and reveals his plan: the microchip on each mask contains a fragment of Stonehenge that he stole. Upon viewing the "Big Giveaway" commercial, the microchips on the masks activate, killing the wearer with brain damage and releasing a swarm of insects and snakes that kill anyone nearby. Cochran demonstrates the power of the masks to Daniel by killing the Kupfer family who are visiting the factory.
Cochran locks a mask-clad Daniel in a room and explains his plan to resurrect ancient rituals from his native Celtic lands, sacrificing children at Samhain, the pagan celebration of the coming winter. Daniel escapes his bonds and rescues Ellie. He sneaks into the control room, activates the commercial on the screens, and pours a box of the medallions from a ceiling rafter, killing everyone. The Stonehenge remnant kills Cochran and a massive fire destroys the factory. As they flee, Daniel is attacked by Ellie, who is now actually an android replacement, which he destroys after a struggle and car crash. He flees on foot to Walter's shop and frantically contacts television networks, attempting to stop the commercial broadcast. He succeeds with two networks, but seemingly fails with a third, despite screaming into the telephone, pleading with them to stop.
Cast
Production
When approached about creating a third Halloween film, original Halloween writers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were reluctant to pledge commitment. Carpenter and Hill agreed to participate in the new project only if it was not a direct sequel to Halloween II, which meant Michael Myers would not be the focus of the film.. Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad, who had produced the first two films, gave Halloween III a budget of $4.6 million.Special effects artist Don Post of Post Studios designed the latex masks in the film which included a glow-in-the-dark skull, a lime-green witch and an orange Day-Glo jack-o'-lantern. Hill told Aljean Harmetz, "We didn't exactly have a whole lot of money for things like props, so we asked Post, who had provided The Shape mask for the earlier Halloween ..., if we could work out a deal." The skull and witch masks were adaptations of standard Post Studios masks, but the jack-o'-lantern was created specifically for Halloween III. Post linked the masks of the film to the popularity of masks in the real world.
Every society in every time has had its masks that suited the mood of the society, from the masked ball to clowns to makeup. People want to act out a feeling inside themselves—angry, sad, happy, old. It may be a sad commentary on present-day America that horror masks are the best sellers.
Most of the filming took place on location in the small coastal town of Loleta, California. Familiar Foods, a milk bottling plant in Loleta, served as the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory, but all special effects involving fire, smoke, and explosions were filmed at Post Studios.
Writing
Original director Joe Dante recruited veteran British science fiction writer Nigel Kneale to write the original screenplay, mostly because he and Carpenter were admirers of Kneale's Quatermass series. Kneale said his script did not include "horror for horror's sake". He adds, "The main story had to do with deception, psychological shocks rather than physical ones." Kneale asserts that movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis, owner of the film's distribution rights, did not care for it and ordered more graphic violence and gore. While much of the plot remained the same, the alterations displeased Kneale, and he requested that his name be removed from the credits. Director Tommy Lee Wallace was then assigned to revise the script. He explained in the interview the direction that Carpenter and Hill wanted to take the Halloween series, stating, "It is our intention to create an anthology out of the series, sort of along the lines of Night Gallery, or The Twilight Zone, only on a much larger scale, of course." Each year, a new film would be released that focused on some aspect of the Halloween season.Hill told Fangoria that the film was supposed to be "a 'pod' movie, not a 'knife' movie.. As such, Wallace drew inspiration from another pod film: Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The fictional town of Santa Mira was originally the setting of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and named as such in Halloween III as an homage to Siegel's film. Aspects of the plot proved very similar as well, such as the "snatching" bodies and replacing them with androids. Halloween III's subtitle comes from George A. Romero's second film Season of the Witch —also known as Hungry Wives—but the plot contains no similarity to Romero's story of Joan Mitchell, a housewife who becomes involved in witchcraft.
Casting
The cast of Halloween III: Season of the Witch consisted mostly of character actors whose previous acting credits included cameo appearances on various television series. The exceptions were Tom Atkins and veteran actor Dan O'Herlihy. Cast as surgeon Daniel "Dan" Challis, Atkins had appeared in several John Carpenter films prior to Halloween III. Atkins played Nick Castle in The Fog and Rehme in Escape from New York. Atkins guest starred in television series such as Harry O, The Rockford Files and Lou Grant. Atkins told Fangoria that he liked being the hero. As a veteran horror actor, he added, "I wouldn't mind making a whole career out of being in just horror movies." After Halloween III, Atkins continued to play supporting roles in dozens of films and television series.Stacey Nelkin co-starred as Ellie Grimbridge, a young woman whose father Harry is murdered by Silver Shamrock. She landed the role after a make-up artist working on the film told her about the auditions. In an interview, Nelkin commented on her character: "Ellie was very spunky and strong-minded. Although I like to think of myself as having these traits, she was written that way in the script." Nelkin considered it an "honor" to be playing Jamie Lee Curtis's successor. According to Roger Ebert, Nelkin's performance was the "one saving grace" in the film. Ebert explained, "She has one of those rich voices that makes you wish she had more to say and in a better role.... Too bad she plays her last scene without a head." Prior to her role as Grimbridge, Nelkin was one of the main characters in the 1980 Mad Magazine movie Up the Academy, which also starred Ralph Macchio. After Halloween III, Nelkin continued working as a character actress on television.
Veteran Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy was cast as Conal Cochran, the owner of Silver Shamrock and the witch from the film's title. O'Herlihy had played close to 150 roles before co-starring as the Irish trickster and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Robinson Crusoe. He appeared in another twenty films and television series before his death in 2005. O'Herlihy admitted in an interview with Starlog magazine that he was not particularly impressed with the finished film. When asked what he thought of working in the horror film, O'Herlihy responded, "Whenever I use a Cork accent, I'm having a good time, and I used a Cork accent in . I thoroughly enjoyed the role, but I didn't think it was much of a picture, no." Two members of the supporting cast were not strangers to the Halloween series. Nancy Kyes played Challis's ex-wife Linda; she had appeared in the first two Halloween films as Laurie Strode 's promiscuous friend Annie Brackett. Stunt performer Dick Warlock, who played Michael Myers in Halloween II, played the lead android assassin. Jamie Lee Curtis provided uncredited voice work as the Santa Mira curfew announcer and the telephone operator. Tommy Lee Wallace provided uncredited voice work as the Silver Shamrock Commercial Announcer.