Halloween III: Season of the Witch [DVD]

You thought no further than the strange custom of having Michael Myers wear a mask and go out stalking his victims.....Halloween. The franchise of Carpenter. The last great one took place 29 years ago when the ideas were fresh...with the creativeness of Carpenter and Wallace.Halloween III......Hmmmmm...Where should I start? This is a highly entertaining movie that is not a typical slasher movie. It's different, and that's why I like it. It's about a warlock (a male witch, hence the subtitle Season Of The Witch) toy manufacturer that for some crazy reason has a plot to kill children who wear his Halloween masks on Halloween night. The warlock Conal Cochran (played by Dan O'Herlihy) owns Silver Shamrock Novelties in Santa Mira, California. The masks are rigged with Silver Shamrock trademark emblems that have a computer chip embedded inside them with a magic ingredient (rock particles from Stonehenge) that is activated and goes spastic when children watch a commercial at 9 PM on Halloween night while wearing these rigged masks. An alcholic doctor, Dan Challis (played by Tom Atkins), finds himself treating a new patient, a novelty store owner, Harry Grimbridge. Harry Grimbridge had discovered Silver Shamrocks' plot to kill children on Halloween night and was no doubt going to tell the authorities. He is being chased by androids from the Silver Shamrock factory. However, he never makes it to the authorities. Instead, he collapses at a gas station during a rain storm. He is taken to the hospital where he is treated by Dr. Challis. Moments later he is killed by an android. In a nutshell, Dr. Challis unexpectedly teams up with Grimbridge's daughter, Ellie (played by Stacy Nelkin) to try to find out why Grimbridge was murdered. They end up driving to Santa Mira, California to investigate the Silver Shamrock factory. While there, they run into danger and are hunted by Cochran's androids. Cochran's best salespeople are a wacky couple with a disrespectful son. They provide comic relief, but little do they know they're also in danger. The movie really starts to pick up around the 32 minute mark, but the best part of the movie is the last twenty minutes or so, and especially the ending. The ending leaves you with question marks. Also look for Maidie Norman (What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?) in this movie. Now for some in-depth analysis in my defense of this movie.I like Halloween III much better than all the other sequels in the Halloween series. John Carpenter and Debra Hill had a great movie in Halloween (1978). They were pressured into making a sequel, so they reluctantly made Halloween II (1981) because they really didn't want to make it. Michael Myers dies at the end of Halloween II, and that was meant to end the two-movie saga. They then proceeded to go in a whole new direction with Halloween III (1982) and their goal was to make a Halloween-themed movie every year that is totally unrelated to the previous movie, sort of like Tales From The Crypt or The Twilight Zone series. Halloween III was the first movie of this new direction. After Halloween III bombed, Carpenter and Hill ended the Halloween series because they refused to do another movie with Michael Myers in it when they were pressured to do so. So there were a total of three movies -- Halloween, Halloween II, and Halloween III. That was in 1982. Then what happened? By 1982 sequels were being made to Friday The 13th, etc., where the villain keeps coming back in movie after movie because he never dies. Same thing with the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise. Freddie Krueger keeps coming back in sequel after sequel. Between 1982 and 1988 there were so many sequels being done to horror movies. By this time Carpenter and Hill were long gone, so Moustapha Akkad took over and resurrected the series on his own. What did he do? He realized that he could resurrect Michael Myers (who burned to death in Halloween II) because he saw that the other horror movie franchises were bringing back the same invincible villains in sequel after sequel (like Jason and Freddie Krueger). It was an opportunity to cash in on Michael Myers by bringing him back in Halloween 4 (1988). So really Jason and Freddie are partially responsible for the resurrection of Michael Myers in Halloween 4 (1988), Halloween 5 (1989), Halloween 6 (1995), Halloween H2O (1998), and Halloween Resurrection (2002), and the fact that Michael Myers never seems to die. If it wasn't for these invincible villains (and others I didn't mention) appearing in sequel after sequel, Michael Myers' last movie appearance would have been in Halloween II (1981). This is just one reason why I like Halloween III, because it is DIFFERENT than the same old Michael Myers, a villain that should have never appeared again after Halloween II. He only appeared in 1988 and beyond because of the opportunity to cash in, to ALL OF A SUDDEN have an INVINCIBLE villain to match other horror movie villains and their respective franchises. Michael Myers was never meant to be invincible when Carpenter made the first movie. That's why the Halloween series is so screwed up. When John Carpenter wrote the script for Halloween II, he threw in that stuff about Laurie Strode being Michael Myers' sister. That was a sign of the era. No doubt John Carpenter borrowed from George Lucas in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -- "Luke, I am your father." In 1981, Laurie Strode is Michael's sister. A SUDDEN shocking twist. Hmmmm. By the way, I also believe that John Carpenter borrowed from George Lucas in the first Halloween (1978) when he included the breathing sound in Michael Myers' mask, just like Darth Vader breathed into his mask in Star Wars (1977). No disrespect to John Carpenter, though.I think the fact that Halloween II was made was the biggest mistake John Carpenter made because this meant that Michael Myers was in the first TWO movies. It caused all the narrow-minded people to assume that Michael Myers would appear in every future sequel. When Michael Myers was absent from Halloween III, people freaked out, not realizing that Michael's days were over in Halloween II. Also, the fact that Myers was shot six times in Halloween and walked away fine....... then burned in Halloween II.......maybe people thought he'd walk away from that, also. That's why Carpenter's decision to cave in to movie executives and make Halloween II was a mistake. Besides, it was just a continuation of the night, anyway. It was the same story as the first movie with some added twists, only it took place later on that night. John Carpenter collects royalties from the Halloween sequels that have been made from 1988 onward that he wasn't involved in. What he actually THINKS of the sequels, well, that's another story.Halloween III is an underrated movie that people just don't give a chance because they can't get Michael Myers out of their heads. The public sees Halloween III as a movie that "doesn't even have Michael Myers in it," but all the other Halloween movies do. Well, what I described above are the reasons. It would pay for people to pay attention to release dates of movies and the overall timeline of this stuff in order to logically connect the dots and see the patterns that have developed over the years, but unfortunately people don't do this. Instead, people have negative views of this movie, for example, even though a lot of people who put down this movie have NEVER EVEN SEEN IT simply because there's no Michael Myers.Halloween III is a good movie that stands by itself if people will just forget about Michael Myers. Give it a chance. It's far from perfect. It has a lot of mistakes in it. But so does Halloween I. Also, some of the things you'll see in this movie will make you laugh and question why certain characters are doing the things they are doing at certain times. Some of these things defy logic. There are also a number of other things and situations that don't make any sense. I could give examples, but I'll leave it to you to notice these things. However, I must give my opinion on something I've heard people point out and complain about over the years: People always seem to question why Dr. Dan Challis would run off with a total stranger, Ellie Grimbridge, and drive to Santa Mira, California to investigate Silver Shamrock Novelties. Here's the reason: He has a guilty conscience because of Harry Grimbridge's death occurring on his watch. He was taking a nap in the break room of the hospital when the murder happened. His face clearly shows guilt later on when Ellie visits the hospital.Even with the mistakes, in my opinion Halloween III is far better than the other sequels in the Halloween series, and is even better than a lot of horror movies that have been made over the years. I highly recommend this movie for open minded people who aren't obsessed with Michael Myers. One of the best things I like about this movie is that it touches on the ancient pagan and Celtic origins of Halloween 3,000 years ago in what is now Ireland. Conal Cochran's "Halloween speech" about "the festival of Samhain" is my favorite scene in the movie. This is a great movie to watch late on Halloween night after the trick-or-treaters have gone home and the jack-o-lantern has been extinguished. This movie gets major points for being original and not being a run-of-the-mill slasher movie. Listen for Jamie Lee Curtis's voice throughout the movie. If you end up not liking the movie, I think you'll at least like the soundtrack. It is awesome, and it gives the movie a really eerie atmosphere. John Carpenter teamed up with Alan Howarth to create a really eerie and highly effective soundtrack.When I do my own Horrorthon by watching several scary movies on Halloween night, this is the one that I always watch last. By the time I watch this, it's the early morning hours of November 1st. The trick-or-treaters have been home for hours and hours and the jack-o-lantern has been extinguished for hours and hours.See the movie. Give it a chance. Watch it with a fair and open mind. This DVD's picture and sound quality pass the test.I'm glad you'll be able to watch it.And...........................Happy Halloween.

The Film: Halloween III-Season Of The WitchYear Made: 1982The packaging: 3 Stars. I loved the overall look of the outside packaging. Inside, the disc is easy to pop out, yet stays nice and secure once placed back in the CD holder which is a huge plus. No extras here though on the disc, not even the trailer for the film. All you really get is the main feature film. This is about as basic as you can get. I got the impression that the company just wanted to just toss this on the market for sale, but did not really want to put any real effort into making this a all around top notch package. This is a disappointment, considering just how great the film is itself.Spook Meter: 2 Stars This film is just amazing. It's not your average horror film in that, it's not very scary at all but does have a certain edge too it that is very unique. Your probably thinking, well why 5 stars overall then for the film.. What this movie does so well is it's just plain fun to watch. It's suspenseful horror more then overall scary horror. This is one of my favorite horror films because it just has a very unique feel to it. The music with the pumpkins playing the song "two more days till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, two more days till Halloween, silver shamrock" is very catchy and will put a smile on your face every time you hear it. If you want to watch a great horror film that will not leave you awake for days at a time afterward. If you want a really fun experience that will leave you singing the special tune that plays throughout the film, this IS the one to watch. DO NOT do what so many reviewers always make the mistake of doing. DO NOT watch this film and compare it to other Halloween movies. Watch this and make your opinion about this on it's own merit and I'm sure you will LOVE this. The masks are killer (pun intended) hahahhaa to look it. The way everything was filmed is really cool, it just has a very cool feel throughout the whole movie.Gore Meter: 3 Stars. This is pretty mellow as far as gore. There is a few scenes that will make some viewers cringe but overall their is very little gore involved. The few scenes that are more graphic, are done so in the more cheesy campy type tone that does not leave you thinking. "umm did that person just die for real" feeling, like some very graphic films can do so well at. This one does for the most part what so many horror films tend to do and that is, a death scene is shown to a point, but then the camera pans away so you don't exactly see all that is happening. It's left to your imagination on the details of what just happened for the most part. I do give the gore meter a 3 star mark though because of the couple of scenes that are a bit graphic and will make some viewers wonder why nobody warned them.Profanity Meter. 1 Strike. A few words, but this film is another reason why I love this so much. Very little profanity involved here, so you can sit back and actually enjoy this film and not have to cringe at every time someone opens their mouth in this. I find that even the most scary and most gory films, are so much more enjoyable when very little profanity is used.Sexual Meter: 2 Strikes. There is a makeout scene in this one, but it's not very graphic at all and won't offend most viewers. There is a part where a viewers sees a guys "moon" shot for a moment when he gets out of bed. hmmm I could have done without that. laughs..Final thoughts. Seems that people either love this film or hate it. I'm not the type of person who compares a film to another one. I review each and every one on it's own Merit as I have said. With that said, this is a amazing and fun film to watch. I watch this every year at Halloween and it has earned a permanent spot on my play list for great watching each year. I never tire of this film, it's really amazing! I love this beyond words.

I rented the move love it