October 22, 1982 Director Tommy Lee Wallace releases the newest incarnation of seasonal horror on the world, Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. A film that would ultimatley leave many fans confused and even angry becasue of it's biggest artistic choice, to leave out series power house Michael Myers. The filmmakers had their reasons for this and had aspirations for what the Halloween franchise could become. But alas, to this day there are many people who are quick to throw this film to the wayside and sever all ties with their beloved movies. Those people just don't know what they're missing out on.
Before I share my disagreeing viewpoints with the rest of the hardcore horror family out there, I have to admit, I certainly didn't care for the lack of Mr. Myers at first either. As an excited and nervous pre teen well into one of his many horror marathons, I was starting in on this masterpiece. My hopes were high as I sat through the movie waiting any minute for one of my favorite horror icons to pop up and start laying waste to the teen cast. But I was left unsettled when there was no teen cast, and as the credits rolled, no Michael. Regardless of what I had just watched it couldn't have been good, the main character was missing! It wasn't until years later as a young man in the military that I re-purchased Halloween 3 and gave it another go. I remember just sitting on my bed in my tiny room cursing my former self for not loving this movie. Looking into this film further also helped me understand the artistic direction and choices made in order to create this film.
John Carpenter was at the helm of the first film in the series and went on to be a producer in several of the sequels to include Halloween 3. In an interview with Deadline he expresses his obvious disdain with the many sequels that were spawned from his original idea. All the story he wanted to tell for Michael Myers was acheived in his eyes in the very first movie. Some fans could argue that to be untrue due to the antagonist getting up at the end and disappearing. But this can easily be explained when Carpenter's and companys' ideas are known. Carpenter had a plan to make the Halloween series into more of an anthology series and not so much of one continuous story. But the powers that be felt the character of Michael needed closure. Carpenter was brought back on to write the film which he mentions his struggles in doing so in his interview with Deadline. After the events of the sequel, Carpenter was free to go the route that he had originally planned.
A fresh director was found in Tommy Lee Wallace. The plot of the film centered around a mysterious mask making company and an evil plan that was ultimately rooted in celtic sacrificial ritual. A ritual that would trick millions of children over the world to buy their masks and watch a giveaway broadcast on the television on halloween night. This broadcast would send out signals to chips in the mask made from a boulder stolen from stonehenge that would end the childrens' lives in gruesome fashion. Obviously this synposis is breif but is a far cry from what we're accustom to in this series.
The story revolves around Dr. Challis who goes on an investigation after the scared old man he was caring for is murdered by a mysterious person. The old man had a mask in his possesion that he clinged to and it had "Silver Shamrock" on it. Dr. Challis travels to the main factory for the mask company to investigate further. He discovers many odd occurrences in his search for answers. One being that the man who killed the man in the hospital was actually an extreamly advanced android created by the owner of the company! In fact all of his employees are entirely made up of artificial inteligence. The final seconds of this movie are intense to say the least. Dr. Challis is calling into major broadcasting companies attempting to get them off of the air. He succeeds in this endevor... mostly. There's only one broadcast left and we're left with Dr. Challis screaming "turn it off!" as the screen goes black. We never really get to see what happens after this moment. Fans have made their own stories and ideas for years to fill in the void of the unknown.
If you haven't seen Halloween 3 in a long amount of time, I emplore you to give it another try. It is lacking everyones' favorite Michael but strategically so. Halloween 3 was in my humble opinion a welcomed change of pace for the series and a seriously intense work of art. I'm looking forward to watching it again in October and also getting my custom Silver Shamrock tattoo...
"8 more days 'till Halloween"
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