"Happy Happy Halloween. Silver Shamrock".

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter in my Halloween series discussion page. In today's update I wanted to take the time to talk about the ever so controversial Halloween 3 Season of the Witch. The only movie not centered on Michael Myers! So, Let's begin.

Background:

Ok, so first off, a little bit of background for this movie. After the ending of Halloween 3 the producers wanted to make another film in the franchise. However, Carpenter only agreed to work on the film if it didn't involve Michael Myers. (Which is understandable since Michael was killed off at the end of the last movie). So, it was then decided that going forward that the franchise would move towards the anthology angle. An idea that in all honesty sounds more interesting because with each subsequent entry they can go ahead and tell a unique and different story every time with the newer films. So, they went ahead with this approach and instead told a story about killer Halloween masks that had no connection to the first 2 movies (although they did play the first film on the TV. Talk about meta). So, the film came out and people responded very negatively. People got real confused and wondered where in the hell Michael Myers was. After all this was the pre-internet days so people didn't know much about what goes on with the making of films like they do now. So, while the movie didn't bomb per say. It made its money back. However, that wasn't good enough so with the next film they went back to doing the same ordeal by having Michael Myers come back to start the killing again. Now, even though this movie got a bad wrap when it came out. Over the years it has garnered more positive reception and it has in fact become a cult classic on its own.

Plot:

I copied the synopsis because it was easier then trying to go about explaining this crazy plot. "Hospital emergency room Dr. Daniel "Dan" Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin), the daughter of a murder victim, uncover a terrible plot by small-town mask maker Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), a madman who's planning a Halloween mass murder utilizing an ancient Celtic ritual. The ritual involves a boulder stolen from Stonehenge, the use of Silver Shamrock masks and a triggering device contained in a television commercial -- all designed to kill millions of children."

Ok so you read that crazy plot above and that's what it is. Completely crazy. From the plan itself to the movie's ending. So the thing with this plan is that this novelty mask company that sells these things has some sort of chip in them and they want to use the chip to murder all the children who wear them. It's a weird combination of science and witchcraft. It works because the chips inside of the mask coincide with an ad on tv that syncs up with the infamous Silver Shamrock song. This song is so annoying and so catchy that I find myself singing it constantly. No wonder everyone became brainwashed.

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Anyways, so as far as plot's go I don't really understand Cochran's motivations. He's just kind of a jerk. Not to mention how on Earth can they afford this much advertising for 3 Halloween masks!? It's probably that damn song. Towards the end of the movie Cochran gets killed by challis and dan tries to have the commercial taken off the air before all the kids die. We never do find out if the kids die. It's left ambiguous. So, who knows maybe they survive, or they all died. It's left for you to decide.

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The Good:

Halloween 3 has a few good things going for it. The music is done very well. I like that synth score that sets itself apart from the original. They also have that very catchy song. On top of that there is some nice cinematography. Plus, the kills are creative. That one with the TV will always stand out to me. Lastly, I do like how it tries to be something different. It didn't fully work out. But, it at least tried.

The Bad:

This movie does have its issues. The pacing isn't very well executed, the plot holes involved with this plan are glaring, and the characters aren't very likable. Now, I like Tom Atkins as an actor, but Dan Challis isn't the best lead. He isn't all that likable. He acts fine. It's just the character. Also, Cochran as a villain while unlikable doesn't leave much of an impact aside from the scene where he talks his plan to pull the ultimate joke. I also do have issues with the fact that this movie is called Halloween 3 when it has nothing to do with the other movies. I think the anthology idea is a good one, but they should have set this in the same continuity as 1 and 2. Calling it Halloween 3 and not having anything to do with the first 2 films is a bad idea. If you were going to do that then you should have called this something else entirely. Perhaps they could have brought back another character from the first two movies in a significant role but keep the idea of the killer masks. I think that would have helped it out in the long run. But, oh well.

Final Thoughts:

Like Halloween 2 this one is still kind of a mixed bag for me. I'll give it credit for trying something new. But, this had no business being named Halloween 3. I think it's ok. I like aspects of it. But, the execution wasn't done well enough. So, with all that being said. What are all your thoughts on Halloween 3? Do you like it or dislike it? Be sure to post all your comments down below so that we can continue to discuss this further. Once again thank you all for reading this and I hope that you all have a wonderful day!