Halloween III: Season of the Witch

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 and two children. 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 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.

{{Main|List of Halloween (film series) characters}}

{{Cast listing|

• Tom Atkins as Dr. Dan Challis
• Stacey Nelkin as Ellie Grimbridge
• Dan O'Herlihy as Conal Cochran
• Michael Currie as Rafferty
• Ralph Strait as Buddy Kupfer
• Jadeen Barbor as Betty Kupfer
• Brad Schacter as Little Buddy
• Garn Stephens as Marge Guttman
• Nancy Kyes as Linda Challis
• Jonathan Terry as Starker
• Al Berry as Harry Grimbridge
• Wendy Wessberg as Teddy
• Essex Smith as Walter Jones
• Maidie Norman as Nurse Agnes
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Santa Mira curfew announcer/telephone operator (uncredited)

}}

Dick Warlock, who played Michael Myers in Halloween II, played the lead android assassin.

File:HalloweenIII1 masks.jpg, worn by Dan Challis's (Tom Atkins) children]]

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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}. 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' [II] ... , if we could work out a deal."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/16/movies/halloween-iii-masks-to-help-scare-up-sales.html|title='Haalloween III' Masks to Help Scare Up Sales|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|author-link=Aljean Harmetz|date=October 16, 1982|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2017|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215175134/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/16/movies/halloween-iii-masks-to-help-scare-up-sales.html|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch/|title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch|work=filminamerica.com|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=June 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621200004/http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Haunted reality show checks out Humboldt; local ghost stories abound|url=http://www.times-standard.com/20121021/haunted-reality-show-checks-out-humboldt-local-ghost-stories-abound|work=Times-Standard|date=October 21, 2012|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=June 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621183028/http://www.times-standard.com/20121021/haunted-reality-show-checks-out-humboldt-local-ghost-stories-abound|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://loletaonline.com/|title=Loleta Online|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=March 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320015808/http://loletaonline.com/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3bts.htm |title=Halloween III: The Season of the Witch – Behind the Scenes |publisher=Halloweenmovies.com |access-date=2012-06-17 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906130444/http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3bts.htm |archive-date=September 6, 2012 }}

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.{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=134}} Kneale said his script did not include "horror for horror's sake".{{cite web|title=Drastically Divergent: The Sequels That Strayed Too Far|url=https://popmatters.com/column/180313-drastically-divergent-the-sequels-that-strayed/|work=PopMatters|date=April 4, 2014|access-date=February 11, 2014|archive-date=April 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405231930/http://www.popmatters.com/column/180313-drastically-divergent-the-sequels-that-strayed/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite magazine|title=Nigel Kneale interview|magazine=Starburst|volume=4|issue=11|date=July 1983|pages=31–33}} 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.{{cite news|first=Nigel|last=Kneale|title=Interview with Starburst 4.11|date=July 1983}}{{cite web|url=https://vulture.com/2014/09/john-carpenter-halloween-directing-storied-career-transcript.html|title=John Carpenter Talks About His Storied Filmmaking Career, Creative Differences, and the Term 'Slasher'|work=Vulture.com|date=September 26, 2014|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=January 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105033920/https://vulture.com/2014/09/john-carpenter-halloween-directing-storied-career-transcript.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.examin.er.com/article/not-another-movie-review-halloween-iii-not-michael-but-not-cynema-part-ii|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150211095546/http://www.examin.er.com/article/not-another-movie-review-halloween-iii-not-michael-but-not-cynema-part-ii|archive-date=February 11, 2015|title=Not Another Movie Review: Halloween III: Not Michael But Not Cynema Part II|date=February 14, 2011|access-date=February 11, 2015}} 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."{{sfn|Muir|2012|p=246}} Each year, a new film would be released that focused on some aspect of the Halloween season.{{sfn|Paul|2007|p=11}}{{sfn|Hanke|2013|p=285}}

Hill told Fangoria that the film was supposed to be "a 'pod' movie, not a 'knife' movie.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}. As such, Wallace drew inspiration from another pod film: Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).{{sfn|Maltin|2014}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://allmovie.com/movie/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-v25289 |title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast: AllMovie |last=Dillard |first=Brian J. |work=AllMovie |access-date=February 13, 2015 |archive-date=March 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308142259/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-v25289 |url-status=live }} Halloween III's subtitle comes from George A. Romero's second film Season of the Witch (1972)—also known as Hungry Wives—but the plot contains no similarity to Romero's story of a housewife who becomes involved in witchcraft.Harper, Legacy of Blood, p. 103.

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.{{cite web|url=https://dailydead.com/interview-tom-atkins-talks-creepshow-halloween-iii-and-night-of-the-creeps/|title=Interview: Tom Atkins talks Creepshow, Halloween III and Night of the Creeps|work=dailydead.com|date=July 8, 2013|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=January 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127064034/http://dailydead.com/interview-tom-atkins-talks-creepshow-halloween-iii-and-night-of-the-creeps/|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Counelis|2011|p=39}} 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 (1980) and Rehme in Escape from New York (1981). 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."{{Cite journal |last=Carlomagno |first=Ellen |date=October 1982 |title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch |url= |journal=Fangoria |issue=22 |pages=8–12}} After Halloween III, Atkins continued to play supporting roles in dozens of films and television series.Fallows, Tom, Tom Atkins Interview (Night of the Creeps), Classic-Horror Web Zine October 14, 2009.

File:Tom Atkins Monster-Mania Con Cherry Hill NJ February 2007.jpg

Stacey Nelkin co-starred as Ellie Grimbridge, a young woman whose father is murdered by Silver Shamrock. She landed the role after a make-up artist working on the film told her about the auditions.{{cite web |title=#15 - Halloween III: Season of the WItch Film Review w/ Stacey Nelkin |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fbFX9EUwqWZLz04ZchObX?si=15i3dD_bS8WqkmKSC3J4lA |website=High On Horror |language=en |date=4 October 2021 |access-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015220853/https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fbFX9EUwqWZLz04ZchObX?si=15i3dD_bS8WqkmKSC3J4lA |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=133}} 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.{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=133}} 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."{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=October 31, 1982 |title=Review of Halloween III: Season of the Witch |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-1982 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=October 13, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011183718/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-1982 |url-status=live }} 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.{{sfn|Erickson|2012|p=391}} After Halloween III, Nelkin continued working as a character actress on television.{{cite news|url=https://latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-hween-teen-nelkin-photo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521124823/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-hween-teen-nelkin-photo.html|archive-date=May 21, 2014|title=Stacey Nelkin|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=February 12, 2015}}

Veteran Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy was cast as Conal Cochran, the owner of Silver Shamrock and the witch from the film's title (a 3000-year-old demon in Kneale's original script). O'Herlihy had played close to 150 roles before co-starring as the Irish trickster and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954).Thompson, Howard. "Dan O'Herlihy Speaks Up for 'Crusoe'." New York Times. July 11, 1954.{{cite web|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050318/news_1m18oherlihy.html |title=Daniel O ' Herlihy; Oscar-nominated character actor; 85 |work=UT San Diego |date=March 18, 2005 |access-date=February 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621221935/http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050318/news_1m18oherlihy.html |archive-date=June 21, 2015 }} He appeared in another twenty films and television series before his death in 2005.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/movies/19oherlihy.html?_r=0|title=Dan O'Herlihy, Actor Who Starred in 'Fail-Safe,' Dies at 85|work=The New York Times|date=February 19, 2005|access-date=February 12, 2015}} 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 [Halloween III]. I thoroughly enjoyed the role, but I didn't think it was much of a picture, no."Dan O'Herlihy interview, "The Man Alone", Starlog, #278, April 2001, in Tom Weaver, Science Fiction Confidential: Interviews with 23 Monster Stars and Filmmakers (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2002), p. 232, {{ISBN|0786411759}}. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.examin.er.com/article/john-carpenter-lance-henriksen-thrill-fans-at-l-a-s-weekend-of-horrors |title=John Carpenter, Lance Henriksen thrill fans at L.A.'s Weekend of Horrors |website=examiner.com |date=May 16, 2011 |access-date=February 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621190200/http://www.examin.er.com/article/john-carpenter-lance-henriksen-thrill-fans-at-l-a-s-weekend-of-horrors |archive-date=June 21, 2015 }} Stunt performer Dick Warlock makes a cameo appearance as an android assassin.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/they-live-halloween-ii-and-halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-blu-ray-reviews/|title=They Live, Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch Blu ray reviews|website=collider.com|date=December 11, 2012|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=December 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213063912/http://collider.com/they-live-halloween-ii-and-halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-blu-ray-reviews/|url-status=live}} Warlock had earlier co-starred as Michael Myers in Halloween II. Jamie Lee Curtis provided uncredited voice work as the Santa Mira curfew announcer and the telephone operator.{{cite web|title=John Carpenter wishes there was only one Halloween movie|url=https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/john-carpenter-wishes-there-was-only-one-halloween-101330382161.html|website=uk.yahoo.com|date=October 30, 2014|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222095808/https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/john-carpenter-wishes-there-was-only-one-halloween-101330382161.html|url-status=live}} Tommy Lee Wallace provided uncredited voice work as the Silver Shamrock Commercial Announcer.

Joe Dante was originally hired to direct but quit in order to direct a segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie just weeks before principal photography was scheduled to start on April 19, 1982.{{Cite web|title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56790-HALLOWEEN-III-SEASON-OF-THE-WITCH?cxt=filmography|access-date=2021-12-06|website=catalog.afi.com|archive-date=December 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206070835/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56790-HALLOWEEN-III-SEASON-OF-THE-WITCH?cxt=filmography|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2018-10-12|title=10 Killer Facts About Halloween III: Season of the Witch|url=https://movieweb.com/halloween-3-season-of-the-witch-facts-trivia/|access-date=2021-12-06|website=MovieWeb|language=en-US|archive-date=December 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206022241/https://movieweb.com/halloween-3-season-of-the-witch-facts-trivia/|url-status=live}} The film was the directorial debut of Tommy Lee Wallace, although he was not a newcomer to the Halloween series. Wallace had served as art director and production designer for John Carpenter's original Halloween and he had previously declined to direct Halloween II in 1981.{{cite web|first=Jeff|last=Spry|url=http://www.blastr.com/2014-10-28/not-guilty-halloween-iii-season-witch|title=Not Guilty: Halloween III: Season of the Witch|work=blastr.com|date=October 28, 2014|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=January 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108064645/http://www.blastr.com/2014-10-28/not-guilty-halloween-iii-season-witch}} After Halloween III, Wallace directed other horror films such as Fright Night Part 2 (1988), Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) and the miniseries It (1990), the television adaptation of the Stephen King novel.{{cite web|url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/tommy-lee-wallace-helm-helliversity-123656|title=Tommy Lee Wallace to helm Helliversity|date=November 30, 2008|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=February 13, 2015|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215173533/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tommy-lee-wallace-helm-helliversity-123656|url-status=live}} Despite disagreements between Wallace and original script writer Nigel Kneale, the actors reported that Wallace was a congenial director to work with.{{cite web|url=https://slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch|title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch|first=Chuck|last=Bowen|website=Slant Magazine|date=September 28, 2015|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=April 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404044416/http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch|url-status=live}} Stacey Nelkin told one interviewer, "The shoot as a whole was fun, smooth and a great group of people to work with. Tommy Lee Wallace was incredibly helpful and open to discussion on dialogue or character issues."{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=134}}

Although the third film departed from the plot of the first two films, Wallace attempted to connect all three films together through certain stylistic themes. The film's opening title features a digitally animated jack-o'-lantern, an obvious reference to the jack-o'-lanterns that appeared in the opening titles of Halloween and Halloween II.{{sfn|Muir|2012|p=245}} Wallace's jack-o'-lantern is also the catalyst in the Silver Shamrock commercials that activates the masks. Another stylistic reference to the original film is found in the scene where Dr. Challis tosses a mask over a security camera, making the image on the monitor seem to be peering through the eye holes. This is a nod to the scene in which a young Michael Myers murders his sister while wearing a clown mask.{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=133}} Finally, the film contains a brief reference to its predecessors by including a few short scenes from Halloween in a television commercial that advertises the airing of the film for that upcoming holiday as a minor story within a story.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lwxKAAAAIBAJ&pg=3390,3054986&dq=stacey+nelkin&hl=en |title=Third Halloween – half as scary |newspaper=Michigan Daily |date=28 October 1982 |first=Joshua |last=Bilmes |access-date=2011-02-01 |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111162556/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lwxKAAAAIBAJ&pg=3390,3054986&dq=stacey+nelkin&hl=en |url-status=live }}

Wallace's use of gore served a different purpose than in Halloween II. According to Tom Atkins, "The effects in this [film] aren't bloody. They're more bizarre than gross."{{cite web|title=Tom Atkins interview|url=http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3bts.htm|work=HalloweenMovies.com|access-date=February 11, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906130444/http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3bts.htm|archive-date=September 6, 2012}} Special effects and makeup artist Tom Burman concurred, stating in an interview, "This movie is really not out to disgust people. It's a fun movie with a lot of thrills in it; not a lot of random gratuitous gore." Many of the special effects were meant to emphasize the theme of the practical joke that peppers the plot. New York Times film critic Vincent Canby notes, "The movie features a lot of carefully executed, comically horrible special effects . ... " Canby stood as one of the few critics of the time to praise Wallace's directing: "Mr. Wallace clearly has a fondness for the clichés he is parodying and he does it with style."Vincent Canby, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/22/movies/haloween-iii-plotting-a-joke.html Film: 'Halloween III,' Plotting a Joke] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610151744/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/22/movies/haloween-iii-plotting-a-joke.html |date=June 10, 2017 }}", The New York Times, 22 October 1982, p. C28.

{{main|Halloween III: Season of the Witch (soundtrack)}}

The soundtrack was composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, who worked together on the score for Halloween II and several other films.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5nx2|title=Review of John Carpenter – Halloween II/Halloween III: Season of the Witch|work=bbc.co.uk|date=2012|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=December 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217205544/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5nx2/|url-status=live}} Music remained an important element in establishing the atmosphere of Halloween III. Just as in Halloween and Halloween II, there was no symphonic score. Much of the music was composed to solicit "false startles" from the audience.{{cite web|url=http://wkco.org/tag/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093301/http://wkco.org/tag/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|title=Spooktober Soundtracks Vol. 1 – The Film Scores of John Carpenter|work=wkco.org|access-date=February 13, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1128&reviewer=355|title=Movie Review – Halloween III: Season of the Witch by EFilmCritic, Australia's Largest Movie Review Database|work=www.efilmcritic.com|date=December 16, 2003|access-date=February 13, 2015|archive-date=September 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920074732/http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1128&reviewer=355|url-status=live}}

The score of Halloween III differed greatly from the familiar main theme of the original and sequel. Carpenter replaced the familiar 5/4 piano melody with an electronic theme (9/16 against a steady 4/4) played on a synthesizer with beeping tonalities."Soundtrack" of Halloween III at [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20060926231331/http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3soundtrack.htm HalloweenMovies.com].{{cite web|url=http://www.elusivedisc.com/HALLOWEEN-III-SEASON-OF-THE-WITCH-SOUNDTRACK-LP/productinfo/DWZLP008/|title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch soundtrack|website=www.elusivedisc.com|access-date=February 12, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063120/http://www.elusivedisc.com/HALLOWEEN-III-SEASON-OF-THE-WITCH-SOUNDTRACK-LP/productinfo/DWZLP008/}} Howarth explains how he and Carpenter composed the music for the third film:

The music style of John Carpenter and myself has further evolved in this film soundtrack by working exclusively with synthesizers to produce our music. This has led to a certain procedural routine. The film is first transferred to a time coded video tape and synchronized to a 24 track master audio recorder; then while watching the film we compose the music to these visual images. The entire process goes quite rapidly and has "instant gratification", allowing us to evaluate the score in synch to the picture. This is quite an invaluable asset.{{cite web|title=Alan Howarth interview |url=http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/pages/themusic/h3strk.html |work=TheOfficialJohnCarpenter.com |access-date=February 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509162614/http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/pages/themusic/h3strk.html |archive-date=May 9, 2008 }}

One of the more memorable aspects of the film's soundtrack was the jingle from the Silver Shamrock Halloween mask commercial.{{cite web|title=Halloween B-Sides: Silver Shamrock|work=Dread Central|url=https://dreadcentral.com/b-sides/38917/halloween-b-sides-silver-shamrock/|date=October 27, 2012|access-date=February 13, 2015|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215130401/http://www.dreadcentral.com/b-sides/38917/halloween-b-sides-silver-shamrock/|url-status=live}} Set to the tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down",{{sfn|Willis|1984|p=118}} the commercial in the film counts down the number of days until Halloween beginning with day eight followed by an announcer's voice (Tommy Lee Wallace) encouraging children to purchase a Silver Shamrock mask to wear on Halloween night:

{{poemquote|

Eight more days 'til Halloween,

Halloween, Halloween.

Eight more days 'til Halloween,

Silver Shamrock."Plot" of Halloween III at [http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3plot.htm HalloweenMovies.com] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121208150833/http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3plot.htm |date=December 8, 2012 }}.}}

File:HalloweenIII Fangoria.jpg.]]

In 1983, Edd Riveria, designer of the film's theatrical poster, received a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, for Best Poster Art, but lost to John Alvin's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) artwork. Riveria's poster art featured a demonic face descending on three trick-or-treaters. His artwork was later featured on the cover of Fangoria in October 1982. The stylized face on the theatrical poster is actually a distorted image of the witch mask which appears in the film. The image of the trick-or-treaters is similar to a shot in the movie that shows children in Phoenix, Arizona walking in silhouette with a red sunset in the background.

As part of a merchandising campaign, the producers requested Don Post to mass-produce the skull, witch, and jack-o'-lantern masks. Producers had given exclusive merchandising rights to Post as part of his contract for working on the film, and Post Studios had already successfully marketed tie-in masks for the classic Universal Monsters, Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Wars (1977), and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Post used the original molds for the masks in the film to mass-produce masks for retail sale. He speculated, "Because the masks are so significant to the movie, they could become a cult item, with fans wanting to wear them when they go to see the movie." Post also gave mask-making demonstrations for a Universal Studio tour in Hollywood. The masks retailed for $25 when they finally appeared in stores. In October 2019, NECA announced that they would be releasing three 8" action figures of The Pumpkin, Witch, and Skull, which were released in March 2020.

Halloween III was later released on VHS, Capacitance Electronic Disc, and LaserDisc in 1983 by MCA/Universal Home Video and by Goodtimes Home Video in 1996. DVD versions were distributed by Goodtimes in 1998, Universal in 2002, and as a two-disc "Universal double feature" with Halloween II in 2007. The film was released on Blu-ray for the first time on September 18, 2012 from Shout! Factory, containing the same special features as their collector's edition DVD, which are a commentary, documentary, trailers, and still galleries.{{cite web|url=http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257868&sid=3242E92E8990482F9C7068BCEB7557DE |title=Shout! Factory Store |publisher=Shout! Factory Store |date=1996-12-04 |access-date=2012-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604165929/http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257868 |archive-date=June 4, 2012 }} Universal released a Blu-ray release of the film on August 11, 2015. An Ultra HD Blu-ray release was released under Shout!'s Scream Factory label on October 5, 2021.

The script was adapted as a paperback novelization in 1982 by horror writer Dennis Etchison, who also wrote the novelization of Halloween II, writing under the pseudonym Jack Martin.{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Shayna|title=18 Surprising Facts About 'Halloween III: Season of the Witch'|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-movie-facts|website=Mental Floss|date=September 19, 2023|access-date=September 20, 2023|archive-date=September 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921013825/https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-movie-facts|url-status=live}} The book was reissued in 1984.Jack Martin, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, (New York: Jove Books, 1982), {{ISBN|0515068853}}; 1984 reissue, {{ISBN|0515085944}}. Although Cochran appears to die in the film, the novelization implies that he may have survived, with the magic of Stonehenge transporting him away. While the film leaves open the question of whether Challis was able to get the third network to pull the deadly Silver Shamrock ad, the book conclusively states that he failed as the children die screaming.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch received generally negative reviews. The New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby struggled to apply a definite label to the film's content. He remarks, "Halloween III manages the not easy feat of being anti-children, anti-capitalism, anti-television and anti-Irish all at the same time." On the other hand, he says that the film "is probably as good as any cheerful ghoul could ask for." Other critics were far more decisive in their assessments. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the film was "a low-rent thriller from the first frame. This is one of those Identikit movies, assembled out of familiar parts from other, better movies." However, he did praise Stacey Nelkin's performance. Cinefantastique magazine called the film a "hopelessly jumbled mess".{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Mayo|title=Hack rewrite turns Kneale's treat into dreary chaos. Some trick |work=Cinefantastique |issue=4 |year=1982|volume=13|page=57}} Jason Paul Collum points to the absence of Michael Myers and the film's nihilistic ending as reasons why the film dissatisfied reviewers and audiences alike.Collum, Assault of the Killer B's, p. 133. Jim Harper called Wallace's plot "deeply flawed." Harper argues, "Any plot dependent on stealing a chunk of Stonehenge and shipping it secretly across the Atlantic is going to be shaky from the start." He noted, "there are four time zones across the United States, so the western seaboard has four hours to get the fatal curse-inducing advertisement off the air. Not a great plan." Harper was not the only critic unimpressed by the plot. Roger Ebert wrote, "What's [Cochran's] plan? Kill the kids and replace them with robots? Why?"

Tom Milne of Time Out offered a more positive review, calling the title "a bit of a cheat, since the indestructible psycho of the first two films plays no part here." Unlike other critics, Milne thought the new plot was refreshing: "With the possibilities of the characters [of the previous Halloween films] well and truly exhausted, Season of the Witch turns more profitably to a marvellously ingenious Nigel Kneale tale of a toymaker and his fiendish plan to restore Halloween to its witch cult origins." Although Milne was unhappy that Kneale's original script was reduced to "a bit of a mess", he still believed the end result was "hugely enjoyable".Tom Milne, review of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Time Out, reprinted in 2nd ed., 1991, p. 277.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 50% approval rating and an average rating of 5.3/10, based on 36 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Its laudable deviation from series formula not withstanding, Halloween III: Season of the Witch offers paltry thrills and dubious plotting."{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/halloween_iii_season_of_the_witch/|title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=May 15, 2023|archive-date=January 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127225659/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/halloween_iii_season_of_the_witch|url-status=live}} On Metacritic it has a score of 50% based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.{{cite web |title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch |website=Metacritic |access-date=2022-04-01 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510154355/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch |url-status=live }}

PopMatters journalist J. C. Maçek III wrote that the film "features no serial killers or slashers of any kind ... Still, this could have been somewhat interesting, or at least not condemnable, had the film been any good. It's not. Almost every time it starts to get to the point where we might actually become engrossed in the film, director Tommy Lee Wallace throws in something corny like ... oh, like a human decapitation scene that shows just how much the producers invested in latex. Seriously, could the special effects look a little more fake, please? I was just getting to the point where I could almost tell the robots from the real people ... making a real person look faker than Michael Jackson's nose blissfully confuses me all over again."{{cite web|work=PopMatters|title=Great Movies With Terrible Sequels: Sequels so Bad They're Scary|date=6 March 2015|first=J. C. III|last=Maçek|url=https://popmatters.com/column/190140-great-movies-with-terrible-sequels-part-1-sequels-so-bad-theyre-scar/|access-date=November 15, 2019|archive-date=September 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929121838/http://www.popmatters.com/column/190140-great-movies-with-terrible-sequels-part-1-sequels-so-bad-theyre-scar/|url-status=live}}

Academics find the film full of critiques of late 20th-century American society; historian Nicholas Rogers points to an anti-corporate message where an otherwise successful businessman turns "oddly irrational" and seeks to "promote a more robotic future for commerce and manufacture." Cochran's "astrological obsessions or psychotic hatred of children overrode his business sense."Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 111, {{ISBN|0195168968}}. Tony Williams argues that the film's plot signified the results of the "victory of patriarchal corporate control."Tony Williams, Hearths of Darkness: The Family in the American Horror Film (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996), p. 219, {{ISBN|0838635644}}. In a similar vein, Martin Harris writes that Halloween III contains "an ongoing, cynical commentary on American consumer culture." Upset over the commercialization of the Halloween holiday, Cochran uses "the very medium he abhors as a weapon against itself." Harris also discusses several of the film's other criticisms of big business, including the unemployment of local workers and the declining quality of mass-produced products.Martin Harris, "You Can't Kill the Boogeyman: Halloween III and the Modern Horror Franchise", Journal of Popular Film and Television 32.3 (Fall 2004): pp. 104–105.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch opened in 1,297 theaters in the United States on October 22, 1982, and earned $6,333,259 in its opening weekend. Like its predecessor, the film was distributed through Universal by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. It grossed a total of $14,400,000 in the United States, but was the worst performing Halloween film at the time with approximately 4,897,959 domestic tickets sold during its initial release.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=halloween.htm|title=Halloween Movies at the Box Office|website=Box Office Mojo|publisher=IMDb|access-date=June 17, 2012|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510194900/http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=halloween.htm|url-status=live}} Several other horror films that premiered in 1982 performed far better, including Poltergeist ($76,606,280), Friday the 13th Part III ($34,581,519), and Creepshow ($21,028,755)."1982 Domestic Grosses, at [https://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=limited&view=domestic&yr=1982&p=.htm BoxOfficeMojo.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620001201/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=limited&view=domestic&yr=1982&p=.htm |date=June 20, 2018 }}.

In the 2011 film Livide, a trio of trick-or-treaters wearing the three mask designs from Halloween III walk past a car in which one passenger sings the Silver Shamrock jingle.{{Cite web|url=https://halloweenlove.com/four-awesome-movietv-homages-to-halloween-3-season-of-the-witch/|title=Four Awesome Movie/TV Homages to Halloween 3: Season of the Witch | Halloween Love|first=John|last=Squires|date=October 21, 2015 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehorrorsofhalloween.com/2014/11/livid-aka-livide-2011-poster-trailer-screencaps-clip-review.html|title=LIVID aka LIVIDE (2011) Poster, Trailer, Screencaps, Clip and Review|access-date=October 27, 2021|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027163220/http://www.thehorrorsofhalloween.com/2014/11/livid-aka-livide-2011-poster-trailer-screencaps-clip-review.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url = https://johnnyalucard.com/2017/04/21/film-review-livide/|title = Film review – Livide|date = April 21, 2017|access-date = October 27, 2021|archive-date = October 27, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211027163219/https://johnnyalucard.com/2017/04/21/film-review-livide/|url-status = live}}

In the 2014 American film The Guest, the final battle takes place inside of a high school decorated for Halloween with some decorations based on the masks from Halloween III hanging up on a wall.

In the 2018 Halloween film, a trio of trick-or-treaters are briefly shown wearing the three mask designs from Halloween III. The masks reappear in Halloween Kills, this time with attached Silver Shamrock medallions visible on the rear of the masks.{{cite web |last1=Shaw-Williams |first1=Hannah |title=Halloween Kills Makes Silver Shamrock Canon In The Michael Myers Timeline |url=https://screenrant.com/halloween-kills-silver-shamrock-masks-michael-myers-canon/ |website=ScreenRant |access-date=13 October 2021 |date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024041526/https://screenrant.com/halloween-kills-silver-shamrock-masks-michael-myers-canon/ |url-status=live }} The opening credits of Halloween Ends mimic the font and colors of the text from Halloween III.

The German speed metal group Helloween, which used Halloween-themed imagery, adapted the "Silver Shamrock" ditty from the film, using it as an introduction in their 1985 debut full-length studio album Walls of Jericho.

• List of films set around Halloween

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation |last=Maxford |first=Howard|year=1996|title=The A–Z of Horror Films|publisher=Batsford|isbn=978-0-7134-7973-7}}
• {{citation |last=Paul |first=Louis|title=Tales from the Cult Film Trenches|publisher=McFarland|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7864-8402-7}}
• {{citation |last=Hanke |first=Ken|title=A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series|publisher=Routledge Library Editions: Cinema|year=2013|isbn=978-1-317-92882-9}}
• {{citation |last=Collum |first=Jason Paul|title=Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses|publisher=McFarland|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7864-8041-8}}
• {{citation |last=Counelis |first=Paul|title=25 Underrated Horror Films (and The Exorcist)|publisher=Lulu.com|year=2011|isbn=978-1-105-13932-1}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}
• {{citation |last=Muir |first=John Kenneth|title=Horror Films of the 1980s|publisher=McFarland|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7864-5501-0}}
• {{citation |last=Maltin |first=Leonard|title=Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide|publisher=Penguin|year=2014|isbn=978-0-698-18361-2}}
• {{citation |last=Erickson |first=Hal|title=Military Comedy Films: A Critical Survey and Filmography of Hollywood Releases Since 1918|publisher=McFarland|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7864-9267-1}}
• {{citation |last=Willis |first=Donald C.|title=Horror and Science Fiction Films III|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1984|isbn=978-0-8108-1723-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/horrorsciencefic0000will_f8a2}}
• "The Mask Factor" by Michael Gingold, Fangoria magazine #317, October 2012, pages 60–62. Interview of Stacey Nelkin regarding her role in the film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, conducted at the 2011 Monster-Mania Con, New Jersey. Three-page article has seven photos, four of Nelkin, one of her taken at the Con.

{{refend}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Official website|http://www.halloweenmovies.com}}
• {{IMDb title|0085636}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20171022084121/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/77238/Halloween-III-Season-of-the-Witch/ Halloween III: Season of the Witch] at the TCM Movie Database
• {{Letterboxd film|halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes |m/halloween_iii_season_of_the_witch|Halloween III: Season of the Witch}}

{{Portal bar|Speculative fiction/Horror|1980s}}

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{{Tommy Lee Wallace}}

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