Skip to main content
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
The accepted shorthand for Halloween III: Season of the Witch is long established: It’s the one without Michael Myers.
Mikey’s absence led to an initial wave of antipathy for this anthology-style take, then gradually morphed into curiosity and appreciation by the time Halloween installments hit double figures in the 2010s.
But look closely, and the DNA of Halloween movies is right there. For one, Season of the Witch is a movie entirely about masks—specifically an evil toymaker who plans to murder millions of children on Halloween night via ubiquitously advertised masks. And no horror franchise has experienced as much serendipitous glory and embarrassing pain with its masks as Halloween. Famously, for the 1978 original, Myers’ visage was a store-bought, painted Captain Kirk mask that was later destroyed and never properly replicated across the sequels.
Its plot aside, Season of the Witch is also just a great showcase for prop masks: rubber faces leaking bugs, exploding in a gasoline inferno, getting rearranged by titanically strong robot hands.
If you changed the title and said this was a dark-hearted druid slasher movie made by a guy (writer-director Tommy Lee Wallace) who worshiped John Carpenter, it wouldn’t have taken 30 years to reclaim. Academy—on laser disc no less! Oct. 17.
Also Playing:
5th Avenue: Death By Hanging (1968), Oct. 16–18. Academy: Eyes Without a Face (1960), Scooby-Doo (2002) and The Sentinel (1977), Oct. 14–15. Phantasm (1979), Corpse Bride (2005) and Haxan (1922), Oct. 16–22. Cinema 21: Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Oct. 17. Cinemagic: Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) and The Babadook (2014), Oct. 14. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Oct. 14–15. An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Invisible Man (1933), Oct. 15. Rumpelstiltskin (1987), Oct. 16. Halloween (1978), Oct. 16, 17 and 19. Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Oct. 17–20. Hereditary (2018), Oct. 17 and 20. Dracula (1931), Oct. 18–19. Clinton: Demon Pond (1979), Oct. 15. Poltergeist (1982), Oct. 16. The Lighthouse (2019) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Oct. 17. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Oct. 18. In My Skin (2002), Oct. 19. The Living Dead Girl (1982), Oct. 20. Hollywood: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Oct. 15–16. Race With the Devil (1975), Oct. 16. The Devils (1971), Oct. 16–20. Begotten (1990), Oct. 17. Frankenweenie (2012), Oct. 17–18. Ace in the Hole (1951), Oct. 20. Moreland: Videodrome (1983), Oct. 16. Heavy Metal (1981), Oct. 16–18 and 20. The Last Unicorn (1982), Oct. 16–17 and 19–20. American Pop (1981) and Monster House (2006), Oct. 17–18. An American Tail (1986), Oct. 19–20. St. Johns Twin: Alone in the Dark (1982), Oct. 16. Tomorrow: Hocus Pocus (1993) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Oct. 17. The Lost Boys (1987) and The Craft (1996), Oct. 18.
