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 Halloween III: Season of the Witch 

What grade would you give this film?
A 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
B 25%  25%  [ 2 ]
C 25%  25%  [ 2 ]
D 13%  13%  [ 1 ]
F 38%  38%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 8

 Halloween III: Season of the Witch 
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College Boy Z

Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:40 pm
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Post Halloween III: Season of the Witch
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Quote:
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the only Halloween where the story does not revolve around Michael Myers. Directed and written by Tommy Lee Wallace, the film stars Tom Atkins as Dr. Dan Challis, Stacey Nelkin as Ellie Grimbridge, and Dan O'Herlihy as Conal Cochran. The story focuses on an investigation by Challis and Grimbridge into the activities of Cochran, the mysterious owner of the Silver Shamrock Novelties company, in the week approaching Halloween night.

Halloween III departs from the slasher film genre which the original Halloween spawned in 1978, instead featuring a "mad scientist" theme. The frequency of graphic violence and gore is less than that of Halloween II (1981), but this film's death scenes remain intense.

Produced on a budget of $2.5 million, Halloween III grossed $14.4 million at the box office in the United States, making it the poorest performing film in the Halloween series at the time. In addition to weak box office returns, most critics gave the film negative reviews. Where Halloween had broken new ground and was imitated by many genre films following in its wake, this third installment seemed hackneyed to many: one critic suggests that if Halloween III was not part of the Halloween series, then it would simply be "a fairly nondescript eighties horror flick, no worse and no better than many others." Some cultural and film historians have read significance into the film's plot, linking it to critiques of large corporations and American consumerism.


Eh...

Not a fan. I'm sure most aren't, though.


Tue Sep 12, 2006 8:53 pm
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Extraordinary
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C+

Interesting story and O'Herlihy rocks. The pacing's really off, though.


Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:17 pm
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Jordan Mugen-Honda
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Ugh. Were any of the Halloweens after the first memorable?

This ones sparodically enjoyable.

C

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Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:37 pm
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George A. Romero

Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:30 pm
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even though this edition has nothing to do with myers, i still actually really enjoy Halloween III. Tom Atkins and Dan O'Herlihy kick ass, and i even love that damn annoying silver shamrock jingle!

B

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3 more days 'til Halloween...Silver Shamrock!


Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:20 pm
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The Greatest Avenger EVER
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I voted this as an "F" and tacking on the name HALLOWEEN was a cheap way of trying to sell this piece of shi*...


Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:24 pm
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Carpenter had a great idea, but it just didnt work.

The idea of making a different themed halloween film was very inspired, but did it have to be this one?

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Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:18 am
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Indiana Jones IV

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Ambitious, but ultimately a failure -- inside or outside of the series.

If it were called "Season of the Witch," I'd say the same thing.

D+

*I actually don't like this rating, because I have a soft spot for ambition. The film did seriously want to do something special and different involving the Halloween mythology. I really wanted to enjoy this one. However, the film is a total bore -- sans a couple decent moments built on atmosphere and an interesting ending.

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Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:05 pm
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I actually really like this film. The name Halloween shouldn't have been anywhere near the title, but the suspense and creepiness more than make up for the fact that there is sadly no Michael Myers. So why does the film work for me? Well let's start with the what doesn't. The acting. This is to be expected in most horror films, so it gets a little bit of a pass. Some scenes however do come across as unintentionally funny, and that's the ultimate mistake a horror film can make. The setup. It takes forever to get to the final act. And the small love story feels kind of tacked on.

The film works for me though, because it goes against what made Halloween work (Which is not to say the original is not a great film. It's one of the best horror films of all-time and one of my favorites). This film is more psychologically scary than anything else, and I'm guessing that threw quite a few people off when the film first came out. It works for me though. Why?Because the plan scares the shit out of me. Imagine you're sitting in front of your TV on Halloween night waiting for this show to come on that the mask's makers told you to watch, only to have the mask eat you alive. To spoil the film for everyone, the fact that the film ends on this note, took a lot of balls. The ending is anyone who had a mask on, dies. Simple as that.

So it's not a great film by any means, and I don't even consider it apart of the series. It's a good film though and something different.

B

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Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:05 am
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The Kramer
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Post Re: Halloween III: Season of the Witch
I thought the build-up was pretty strong in this movie. You can see how much it influenced Stranger Things. The opening credits are basically the same.

Yet the payoff is weak. We're gonna murder a bunch of children because ... witchcraft? Would you like to elaborate on that, Mr. Villain? No? Oh well, I guess we'll just bring Michael Myers back.

5.5


Major spoiler-

Was the female lead always a robot? Or was she killed and replaced near the end of the movie? They never bothered to elaborate on that either.


Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:06 am
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