This October we here at Dark of the Matinee are counting down our 31 favorite horror films. Join us daily as we countdown from #31 starting on October 1, 2012 leading up to #1 on Halloween!
#27 – HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
#27 – HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace
This next entry in our Horror Countdown to Halloween may stir up a little debate. Coming in at #27 is the super dark 1982 film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Yes, this is the one without Michael Myers. Unfortunately that's all people know about this film and sadly enough, that's what they judge it on. Let's skip past that for now.
Season of the Witch picks up on the night of October 23rd with Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) being chased down by mysterious, suited men. Grimbridge passes out at a gas station holding a Silver Shamrock jack-o'-lantern mask in his hand. The gas station clerk rushes him to the hospital where he is placed in the care of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins).
Grimbridge constantly repeats, "they're going to kill us all. They're going to kill us all."
While sleeping in his hospital bed, another suited man sneaks into his room and kills Grimbridge. The suited man then goes to his car, Challis chasing him along the way, and sets himself ablaze. The next morning Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), Grimbridge's daughter, shows up at the hospital to find out what happened to her father. Together, she and Challis set out to investigate the mysterious murder.
What they discover is a dark plan being set in place by Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), owner of the Silver Shamrock toy factory, that involves all the children of the world, three latex Halloween masks, and the ancient Gaelic festival, Samhain.
Season of the Witch may very well get my vote for most underrated horror film of all time. It has everything that makes 80's horror films great: dark and disturbing elements to the story, phenomenal synth score (one of Carpenter's best!), a sinister villain, and Tom Atkins!
The film was the directorial debut of Tommy Lee Wallace, who although it was his first time calling the shots, was no stranger to the world of film working closely with John Carpenter for years. Despite the plot being entirely different than the first two Halloween films, Wallace did an amazing job of keeping the style and tone similar to the world that Carpenter had created. Throughout the entire film you know that there's a menacing presence looming that cannot be stopped.
Wallace, with the help of an uncredited Carpenter (although his presence is very much felt), re-wrote the original script that was penned by Nigel Kneale. Kneale would eventually go on to sue to have his name removed from the film because of how violent it became.
The film was intended to be the starting point for a new direction for the Halloween franchise. The idea was that each year a new film in the series would be released with a new plot that would take place on on Halloween.
"It is our intention to create an anthology out of the series," Wallace told Fangoria. "Sort of along the lines of Night Gallery or The Twilight Zone, only on a much larger scale, of course."
It was never to be, however, as people were outraged at a Halloween film lacking The Shape. People chose to hate the movie for not having Myers instead of watching it and judging it for it really is, a weird, disturbing horror film.
Don't make the mistakes of yesteryear. This Halloween season watch Halloween III: Season of the Witch. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
P.S. This film's tagline, which may seem silly at first, is devilishly clever.
written by Christopher Coffel
Back to #29 Next to #26
This next entry in our Horror Countdown to Halloween may stir up a little debate. Coming in at #27 is the super dark 1982 film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Yes, this is the one without Michael Myers. Unfortunately that's all people know about this film and sadly enough, that's what they judge it on. Let's skip past that for now.
Season of the Witch picks up on the night of October 23rd with Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) being chased down by mysterious, suited men. Grimbridge passes out at a gas station holding a Silver Shamrock jack-o'-lantern mask in his hand. The gas station clerk rushes him to the hospital where he is placed in the care of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins).
Grimbridge constantly repeats, "they're going to kill us all. They're going to kill us all."
While sleeping in his hospital bed, another suited man sneaks into his room and kills Grimbridge. The suited man then goes to his car, Challis chasing him along the way, and sets himself ablaze. The next morning Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), Grimbridge's daughter, shows up at the hospital to find out what happened to her father. Together, she and Challis set out to investigate the mysterious murder.
What they discover is a dark plan being set in place by Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), owner of the Silver Shamrock toy factory, that involves all the children of the world, three latex Halloween masks, and the ancient Gaelic festival, Samhain.
Season of the Witch may very well get my vote for most underrated horror film of all time. It has everything that makes 80's horror films great: dark and disturbing elements to the story, phenomenal synth score (one of Carpenter's best!), a sinister villain, and Tom Atkins!
The film was the directorial debut of Tommy Lee Wallace, who although it was his first time calling the shots, was no stranger to the world of film working closely with John Carpenter for years. Despite the plot being entirely different than the first two Halloween films, Wallace did an amazing job of keeping the style and tone similar to the world that Carpenter had created. Throughout the entire film you know that there's a menacing presence looming that cannot be stopped.
Wallace, with the help of an uncredited Carpenter (although his presence is very much felt), re-wrote the original script that was penned by Nigel Kneale. Kneale would eventually go on to sue to have his name removed from the film because of how violent it became.
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| "This movie doesn't need Mike Myers, it has my stache!" |
"It is our intention to create an anthology out of the series," Wallace told Fangoria. "Sort of along the lines of Night Gallery or The Twilight Zone, only on a much larger scale, of course."
It was never to be, however, as people were outraged at a Halloween film lacking The Shape. People chose to hate the movie for not having Myers instead of watching it and judging it for it really is, a weird, disturbing horror film.
Don't make the mistakes of yesteryear. This Halloween season watch Halloween III: Season of the Witch. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
P.S. This film's tagline, which may seem silly at first, is devilishly clever.
written by Christopher Coffel
The plot of this movie is basically "the Cabin in the Woods" without the comedy. Modern technology combines with ancient magic to enact a ritual sacrifice. (Obviously there are some important differences besides that. In this one, the stars come into alignment once every 3,000 years making the ritual necessary according to Conal Cochran's religious beliefs, whereas in Cabin it has to happen every year but requires a smaller number of victims. It also never explains why Conal thinks the ritual is important, whereas in Cabin it's to prevent the end of the world.)
ReplyDeleteI do think a lot of people missed the ritual sacrifice point, oddly enough. Notably Ebert in his original review. Of course, if the Halloween series was to be an anthology series, this should have been "Halloween II." (The TV series, American Horror Story, seems to be doing better with the whole anthology series idea. )
Interesting point on the plot similarities with Cabin in the Woods. I never thought of that, but they're so clearly there.
DeletePeople definitely missed the ritual part of the film. I think once audiences realized there was no Myers, they tuned out.