The Weird Halloween Film That Deserved Better
Nerdy Up North
The setup
Dr Daniel Challis and Ellie Grimbridge investigate the suspicious death of Ellie's father and trace it back to Silver Shamrock Novelties. What starts as a murder mystery leads to a bizarre plot involving Halloween masks, androids, ancient magic and a plan aimed directly at children across America.
Halloween III gets judged for the film it isn't more than the film it actually is. If you go into it waiting for Michael Myers, of course it feels wrong. Take that expectation away and you are left with one of the strangest and most enjoyable films in the whole Halloween series.
The plot is completely mad. You have a stolen piece of Stonehenge, androids in suits, killer masks, microchips, bugs, snakes and a company trying to murder children through a television advert. If you tried explaining the whole thing to somebody who had never seen it, they would probably assume you had mixed three films together.
That is also a big part of why I like it. The film commits to the weirdness. It has that very specific 1980s horror feeling where practical effects can be disgusting, funny and impressive all at once. The damaged face after the motel room accident is horrible, the mask demonstration with the family is properly nasty and the film is not afraid of going places that modern studio horror might avoid.
The Silver Shamrock masks are fantastic too. The witch, pumpkin and skull are such simple designs but they have become completely tied to the film, and that stupid jingle will sit in your head for hours afterwards whether you want it there or not.
Tom Atkins' Daniel Challis is hardly a perfect hero. He drinks too much, makes questionable decisions and is not exactly winning father of the year, but that almost suits the film. Nobody here feels like a clean heroic archetype. They are just caught up in this ridiculous conspiracy and trying to survive it.
I also love the ending. Challis screaming down the phone while the final television station keeps running the advert is exactly the sort of horror ending I want from something like this. It does not neatly tell you whether everybody was saved. It leaves you sitting with it.
It is messy, bizarre and occasionally makes absolutely no sense, but I would not really want Halloween III polished into something safer. The oddness is the entire point.
Positives
Brilliant practical effects, iconic Silver Shamrock masks and jingle, completely committed to its strange premise, great Halloween atmosphere, a properly memorable ending.
Negatives
The plot is wildly illogical in places, the central romance is awkward and anybody expecting Michael Myers is going to be completely thrown by it.
Verdict
Halloween III: Season of the Witch works far better once you stop treating it like a missing Michael Myers sequel. It is a weird, nasty, funny piece of 1980s horror with ideas all over the place, and that is exactly why it has become a cult favourite.
