Most of my life, until my 40s, I mostly walked by “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” in rental stores. Those are of course a relic of the past, but the point remains. The film was a one-off. It had nothing to do with Michael Myers, and I thought it was a break in the series for no real reason. Learning as an adult that it was an anthology film—one John Carpenter hoped would lead to more like films—makes sense. Carpenter’s “Halloween” and “Halloween II” were, at the time, a complete finality to the series. His killer was presumed dead, as was his psychiatrist, and there wasn’t a point to continue. Of course there was—audiences wanted more—but “Halloween III,” centering on witchcraft, a flawed hero, and Halloween masks, somehow gave me more to appreciate each year.
Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (hilarious given ‘Tommy’ and ‘Wallace’ are names form the original “Halloween”) what the film has most going for it is that it’s earnestly scary. It opens to a man running from a threat (Al Berry), a pumpkin mask hanging from his back pocket like a handkerchief. He’s pursued and attacked by stiff-looking G-Men, ultimately taken to a hospital by a genial gas station attendant (a great Essex Smith). When a mysterious figure later finishes him off in grisly fashion, there’s a casual nonchalance to the whole thing. And the way that Wallace and Cinematographer Dean Cundey highlight the darkness of the desolate location during the opening (we learn this takes place in ‘North California’) is excellent. “Halloween III” feels very Fall, despite its normally sunny setting.
‘Halloween III’ Subverts Movie Tropes
Following in the tradition of Robin Hardy’s excellent “The Wicker Man,” “Halloween III” also subverts expectations. The villain here is a male witch—the film’s title is “Season of the Witch” after all—and Dan O’Herlihy plays the evil Conal Cochran with the right amount of seriousness. Like “The Wicker Man”—which burned a male virgin alive in a sacrificial ceremony—I appreciate old films like this that shatter movie tropes. Cochran has a horrible scheme. He’s selling masks that will disfigure and murder all of (America’s/the World’s) children during a special broadcast on Halloween night. The masks are scary but adequately fun: they consist of a standard witch, a pumpkin, and a skeleton. They were used as homage in David Gordon Green’s “Halloween Kills,” showing the effect this film had on the “Halloween” mythos.
The “hero” of “Halloween III” is Dr. Challis, played by Tom Atkins with a likability so effortless it seems criminal. This is 1982, mind you, and while modernly we may balk at it, I guess a doctor who moonlights as a drunk and has women galore chasing after him can save the world. But it’s all Atkins. A weaker actor would’ve ruined it, made it too campy, and failed to draw us in. Challis witnesses the aforementioned murder in his hospital, agrees to help the deceased’s daughter, Ellie (an equally likable Stacey Nelkin). He cancels on spending time with his kids that night to head out of town and solve the mystery, a 6-pack of Miller High Life on top a pay phone. What a guy.
Dr. Challis, the Flawed Hero
Yet it’s these details that draw us in. James Bond author Ian Flemming himself argued his hero was supposed to be flawed and almost unlikable, who redeemed himself by fighting for the good of the world. No, Challis is not as decadent as James Bond, but he’s still an unlikely hero. He’s a doctor who likes the drink who becomes obsessed with discovering what that led to Ellie’s father’s death. His search takes them to the Irish-inspired town of Santa Mira, where a factory called Silver Shamrock runs the place with decision. Cameras hover above the powerlines, hushed secrets line its streets, and Ellie and Challis draw stares behind curtains as they start to investigate her father’s disappearance. I learned an interesting fact researching Halloween that flows into “Halloween III” nicely: the holiday originated in Ireland. That explains why director Wallace picked this backdrop even though the mask’s power comes from Stonehenge, in England.
“Halloween III” is full of almost B-movie goodness, but it never descends into camp. Wallace handles the film with sincerity, and it’s clear he and Cudney intend to evoke horror with the atmosphere they apply. And its footprint if found in future movies. From the junkyard opening to the overall tone, it’s evident Gordon Greene borrowed from it for “Halloween Ends.” And the villainous robots that act as Cochran’s minions were almost certainly the inspiration for Edgar Wright’s “The World’s End.” “Halloween III” also reminded me of the better shots of Eli Roth’s “Hostel.” The whole town is in on the secret and hostile to outsiders. The town of Santa Mira itself is forlorn and lonely. A bum bad mouths the factory and threatens—to no one—to burn it down and is promptly killed. And when a mask accidentally kills a buyer—and medics take her not to a hospital, but the Silver Shamrock factory—we know something is amiss.
An ’80s Film that Feels ’70s
You can’t talk about “Halloween III” without its iconic jingle, created by the film’s composers John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. You can’t watch this film without having it in your head for days. It counts down the days until Halloween with the eeriness of an earworm. The production design is great, also. Challis reeks of the ‘70s, even though this is the 80s, sporting corduroys, a flannel shirt, and a vintage watch. Cochran, on the other hand, looks like he walked out of the 1940s. He dresses in a full, 3-piece suit complete with pocket watch. His factory reminded me often of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and his sealed room where the masks went through ‘final processing’ was an eerie but obvious reference to the Holocaust.
And that’s one of two reasons “Halloween III” excels, and its 5.2 rating of IMDb is insulting: it’s earnestly scary. A third-act scene where a mask kills a boy (Brad Schachter) is pretty gruesome—even by today’s standards—and the film’s finale with Challis screaming into a phone receiver is god tier. But amidst all that, the film is an easy watch despite its often slow pace, and earns its creep factor. Some of the film’s shots are common. A sex scene between Challis and Ellie is cringeworthy, yet others—like silhouetted children walking in the fading twilight trick or treating—is among the best in horror. And the film’s end breed real tension. Challis—the only one who knows what will happen if the world’s children listen to that night’s broadcast—screams hysterically into a phone, trying to get cable networks to kill the feed. Would you believe him? Would I? But by that time we’re full in. It’s classic Hitchcock. We’re aware of something the on-screen characters aren’t—save Challis—and the film ends the perfect way it should.
A Must-Watch Each Halloween
Is” Halloween III” a perfect film? Of course not. It’s dated, clumsy at times, slow during others, and predicated on magic and superstition. Yet it’s one of my favorite Halloween films, and a must-watch every year. Cochran is cartoonishly evil (complete with a Bond villain monologue) yet believable at the same time. Challis is flawed and unscrupulous yet has his heart in the right place. And the film’s overall feel exudes a bygone era. It also feels Halloween. The innocence of children donning masks, oblivious to their own fate—and aside the film’s lore— is creepy. John Carpenter and Debra Hill initially wanted a horror anthology to follow, adding a new tale to the Halloween holiday each year rather than returning to Michael Myers. I love Myers, but I wish their idea had worked. “Halloween III,” for all its datedness, absurdity, and lore is a near-perfect Halloween film. Without Atkins and O’Herlihy it wouldn’t have worked, but it’s for naught. The film’s an every-year watch for me and a film you should check out have you made it in to 2026 and not yet experienced.
