I figured I would kick off spooky season with an appropriate choice. Last year I watched 31 scary films in the month of October. I have something similar planned this year, but more on that at the end of this post.

Film 19: “Halloween III: Season of the Witch”

My excuse for not seeing it: When I was a kid, Freddy and Jason were the Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster of modern horror. Characters like Michael Myers, Chucky, Leatherface, Pinhead, and assorted others were the B-league of 80s slashers (my ranking would be different now).

I didn’t watch “Halloween III” because it wasn’t a Michael Myers movie. I had similar views about the original “Friday the 13th,” since Jason wasn’t the killer in that, though that film was at least an origin story for Jason. But “Halloween III” didn’t even have that tenuous of a connection, since the film establishes that the original “Halloween” is a film in the world of “III.”

I guess you could argue that “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” might be in a similar category to “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween III,” since it’s a meta sequel and the killer is not actually Freddy, but an entity taking on his form. But it’s also Robert Englund as that thing, so it feels more similar to the other films in the series than the first “Friday” and “III.”

Originally, “Halloween” director John Carpenter envisioned the series as an anthology, but the studio wanted Michael back for “Halloween II.” But for the third film, Carpenter got his wish and produced and scored (but not directed) a Michael-less sequel. But at that point “Halloween” and Michael Myers were synonymous, and the under performance of the third film at the box office meant that producers brought Michael back for five more sequels, two reboot films, and then three more legacy sequels.

So “III” was the odd film out, a curiosity in the Michael Myers franchise.

It’s also a curiosity because unlike the other films, it’s not a slasher. It combines folk horror merged with elements of HP Lovecraft cosmic horror and science fiction ala “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” All with an anti-consumerism message.

Tom Atkins starred as a middle-aged doctor (I’m not going to look, but I’m certain Atkins was younger than I am now) treating a man who ends up being killed by relentless assassins. Atkins and the man’s daughter, Ellie (Stacey Nelkins) search for answers and are drawn to a rural town that is home to novelty company Silver Shamrock Industries. The company and owner Conal Cochran have a plan to basically end the world with inexplicably popular Halloween masks and bits of Stonehenge.

Again, this film was not directed by John Carpenter, but rather previous Michael Myers actor (for like one scene) Tommy Lee Wallace. But it feels almost like it could fit in as a precursor to Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy (“The Thing,” “Prince of Darkness,” “In the Mouth of Madness). When Atkins and two horrified parents watch what the masks will do to the children wearing them, their reaction feels like a real mental break, especially when Atkins’ character grasps the full implications for the damage it will do.

It’s not a perfect film. At two hours, it’s a little long for a horror film, and it’s kind of high concept for a sequel to a movie about a guy in a mask with a kitchen knife. It’s a big swing, rather than sticking with a safe formular. The film definitely deserves the reevaluation that it has received in the decades since its release, I would say it’s probably the third best film in the “Halloween” franchise after the 1978 and 2018 films. But the franchise got to the point where Michael Myers faced a kickboxing Busta Rhymes, so the competition for “best” is weak.

PS, one of my favorite Youtubers, Matt Draper (not the Raygun guy), posted a video about “Halloween III” yesterday as a part of what is sure to be a great month of Halloween videos.

Movies it inspired me to check out: I’m tempted to rewatch Wallace’s follow-up film, “Fright Night Part II” for the first time in decades. But my big Halloween project for this year is to watch the 31 films in my newly acquired Universal Classic Monsters Complete 30-Film Collection blu-ray set. Yes, the 30-film set includes 31 films. I’ll explain in that post, hopefully a day or two into November.