Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.

Directors:

Tommy Lee Wallace, Ralph Bakshi (uncredited)

Writer:

Tommy Lee Wallace

Stars:

Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Atkins	...	Daniel Challis
Stacey Nelkin	...	Ellie Grimbridge
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Conal Cochran
Michael Currie	...	Rafferty
Ralph Strait	...	Buddy Kupfer
Jadeen Barbor	...	Betty Kupfer
Brad Schacter	...	Little Buddy (as Bradley Schachter)
Garn Stephens	...	Marge
Nancy Kyes	...	Linda Challis
Jonathan Terry	...	Starker (as Jon Terry)
Al Berry	...	Harry Grimbridge
Wendy Wessberg	...	Teddy
Essex Smith	...	Walter Jones
Maidie Norman	...	Nurse Agnes
John MacBride	...	Sheriff

Storyline

After the death of her father under very suspicious circumstances, Ellie Grimbridge and Dr Daniel Challis decide to investigate the shady activities of Conal Cochran, the owner of the Silver Shamrock Novelties company. Before long, they discover Cochran's diabolical plot to brainwash the children of America into doing his bidding through a mixture of ancient rituals, technology, and witchcraft. This Halloween, wearing the mask of a skeleton, a witch, or a pumpkin can be deadly. Can Ellie and Daniel thwart the plans of the evil toy-maker?

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Plot Keywords:

halloween | stonehenge | factory | northern california | curfew | 

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Taglines:

Witchcraft enters the computer age, and a different terror begins.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 29 mins) When the Kupfers' RV pulls into the motel, the song playing on the radio is "Do The Boogaloo" performed by Quango and Sparky.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 17 mins) As Dr. Challis is confined to a chair in a small room, Cochran gives a lengthy speech explaining the reason for his sinister plans. Before he exits Cochran proceeds to put one of the masks on Challis' head and as he turns on a TV for him in anticipation of "The Big Giveaway", the digital clock above the door states the time as 7:47. 29 seconds after that Challis looks over at the clock and it now 7:49. He spends the next 10 seconds trying to shuffle to the TV and when he looks at the clock again, it is now 7:50.

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Quotes

Daniel Challis: Maybe I ought to get another room.
Ellie Grimbridge: That would look sort of suspicious, wouldn't it?
Daniel Challis: What I mean is, if it'd make you more comfortable, I can sleep in the car... be a lot better than this floor, anyway.
Ellie Grimbridge: Where do you want to sleep, Dr. Challis?
Daniel Challis: [staring at her] That's a dumb question, Miss Grimbridge.

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Alternate Versions

AMC TV version makes the following changes: Walter Jones' line of "I swear to God" is changed to "I swear to you" when he brought Harry to Dan Chaliss's hospital; When Buddy Kupfer tells Dan about Conal Cochran, his line of "sticky toilet paper" is changed to "sticky dwarf toys"; The murders of Harry Grimbridge, Starker and Marge aren't as graphic; Marge's line of "screwed up" is changed to "messed up"; other obscenities are cut as well as the scene where Dan calls Teddy on the morning of the 30th.

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Connections

Featured in Night of the Creeps: Tom Atkins, Man of Action (2009)

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Soundtracks

Do the Boogaloo
Written by Gerhard Narholz and Jean-Claude Madonne (as Jean Claude Madone)
Performed by Quango and Sparky
c/o Sonoton Music Inc

User Reviews

Film-makers can't win

Film-makers can't seem to be able to do anything right. Instead of churning out the same old tired sequels, which they get criticised for, they have tried to be creative here and get abused for that.

Most comments I have read have said that this is a bad film because it doesn't include the old 'favourites', but then they call the rest of the series for being very similar to each other.

I will concede that this film, with the exception of the first ten minutes, is NOT scary; but it's still an ok film. It's different than any other film I can recall seeing, and does have a few surprises and a good ending.

I would say that if you were going to watch with an open mind you may well enjoy this

Details

Official Sites:

HalloweenMovies.com Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Season of the Witch

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,333,259, 24 October 1982

Gross USA:

$14,400,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,400,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino De Laurentiis Company, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1