Halloween 3: Season of the Witch-review

            You might ask yourself.  Why this movie?  Well it’s one of the only Halloween series not to feature Michael Meyers for starters.   Now I love the Halloween movies.  Especially the first two movies this one is good on its own merits.  So what the hell happened?  They even show footage from the first movie in the third like it’s a cruel joke. 

            As you might recall Michael Meyers is immolated at the end of Halloween part 2 when Dr. Loomis blows both he and Michael up in the hospital.  The only reason the first one had a part two was that it was left incomplete (though I think it works on its own still) with Michael escaping after being shot.   That was supposed to be the end of Michael Meyers.  What they intended to do instead was make serial style movies where each Halloween movie told its own scary tale apart from one another.  However, audiences were fucking confused as to where the hell Michael was that they just went back to that format and ran it into the ground. 

            So 1982 much like his slam on consumerism during the Regan era in “They Live” John Carpenter is up to a neat horror show with a message.  This time though the killer isn’t a mad slasher with William Shatner face mask.  It’s a corporate mad scientist.  The company Silver Shamrock is making masks for Halloween and has spent a fortune promoting them.

            Kids all over the country are running out to by these popular masks.  Dr. Challis becomes keen on the notion that something is amiss when a man is killed on his watch.  Through a series of events he comes to realize it’s a conspiracy of the Silver Shamrock Company to use the masks on Halloween night to kill the children wearing them since apparently they all have computer chips containing small fragments of Stonehenge.  It’s to be for the Gaelic Festival of Samhain which is connected to witchcraft. 

            It’s a creepy little tale but I did wonder why the holy hell Cochran, the businessman running Silver Shamrock would go through the trouble of doing this.  He spent years creating a corporate empire getting to this moment.  He has built androids and has found ways to kill people with masks so he is clearly an evil genius.  So what is the plan?  Why kill all these kids which will ruin the empire he built?  At least give me an explanation like he needs souls to become immortal or something. 

            I just don’t get it.  Even if he was trying to bring up some ancient forgotten demon from the netherworld, at least it’s a goal.  Give me a reason man!  I just don’t buy it.  Well, it’s worth looking into if you don’t want to see the whole series and just want to see something unique.  It’s often overlooked because of the 3 on it and really with all the other sequels numbering things have gotten confusing.  I know this may sound stupid but “Halloween H20: 20 years later” makes it sound more like the 20^th movie  rather then the 7^th.  Even Resurrection still makes you research which one came first.  Now there are remakes by Rob Zombie.  But that is another rant for another time.