Halloween III: Season of the Witch 4K 1982 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The mad toy constructor decides to sacrifice millions of children on Halloween at once and prepares a batch of "Pumpkinhead" masks, which mysteriously work on All Saints' Day.

Review 4K Movie

Quite successful, in my opinion, is the directorial debut of Tommy Lee Wallace (known primarily for his film adaptation of King's It). An old friend of John Carpenter's, Wallace was often involved in his early work, including on the set of the first "Halloween", so it is not surprising that he had to continue the series.

The film, however, turned out to be completely "different". From Carpenter in the third part there is only music (although we will not hear the characteristic Halloween "ta-ta-ta" here) and in some way Peter Atkins, who worked on the epoch-making Carpenter films "Fog" and "Escape from New York". Here, Atkins coped well with his role as a drunken doctor and "reluctant hero", although this is clearly his type. But I didn’t like Stacy Nelkin, who played his girlfriend - the impression was that she was constantly either underplaying or overplaying, besides, almost the entire film was played with her mouth half open, due to which she looked stupid. Of the actors, it’s a sin not to single out the main villain - Cochran performed by Dan O'Herlichi came out as a very colorful character, a kind of infernal pensioner with fire in his eyes.

If we talk about the plot, then, in principle, for me, this is a pleasant example of the cinema of the 80s - a well-knit from all sides and quite an interesting script, even despite all its naive illogicality. In fact, this is something like a horror detective, no matter how strange this phrase may sound. Moreover, I personally noticed in this scenario a rather sharp criticism of the consumer society and the nation's dependence on television (in the end it looks especially bright). Unfortunately, some scenes of the film (first of all, of course, Atkins' massacre of the Cochran's henchmen) looked frankly comical and doubtful, which, in fact, did not allow the film to be given a higher rating.

Among the special features of the "Season of the Witches" I will mention his not the weakest brutality, in some way even compensating for the absence of Myers on the screen - Wallace sometimes offers frankly tough and disgusting moments, but he does it in dosage and does not overdo it with meat and blood. Some of these moments, by the way, look very good visually (the appearance of the same snakes and cockroaches, for example).

Since, due to the originality and independence of the story, this film automatically leaves the Halloween series (although it has a couple of links to the original), for a fan of the Myers franchise, in principle, it is of no value, except that Cochran will once again explain to the viewer what Samhain is, and with what it is eaten. That is, if you like the man in the mask and with the cleaver more than the creative old man who has planned to destroy all American children, then the "Season of the Witches" can be skipped with a clear conscience.

In other words, Wallace's creation is not a brilliant, but quite nice intermission between standard "Halloween", in which, if you wish, you can even dig up some deep thought.

P.S. By the way, the android that Atkins managed to lay down at the factory with his bare hands is the actor Dick Warlock, aka the unforgettable Michael Myers from "Halloween 2".