mental manufacturers: halloween iii

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A friend was recently looking through my Blu-rays and remarked, “Of all the Halloween movies, the one you own is the third one?” Yes, the one I own is the third one, because it’s great. My Halloween 2019 rewatch cemented the fact that 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch deserves to be on everyone’s seasonal marathon lineup.

Back in the day, I remember Halloween III being known as “the one that doesn’t even have Michael Myers in it.” There’s no arguing that, unless you count some off-screen tube TV cameo action. I’d love to say that it’s underrated as a result, but I think the general consensus—at least among horror fans—has really come around on this one over the years. And who could blame ’em? It’s got malevolently manufactured masks and the one, the only… Tom Atkins!

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My main takeaway from this watch of Halloween III, despite how great it looks on Blu-ray, is that Tom Atkins is a sex symbol? I think he might be, I just never considered it before. This one may not have The Shape in it like the others, but director Tommy Lee Wallace—who also helmed Fright Night Part 2 (!)—builds some solid tension and makes the most out of a story that somehow manages to connect a missing chunk of Stonehenge to masks that make snakes and bugs explode out of kids’ faces.

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The music is great, too. With Alan Howarth along for the ride, John Carpenter cooked up another solid score with a few particularly memorable tracks. And good luck getting the Silver Shamrock commercial jingle out of your head for the rest of the Halloween season.

If you wanna watch it yourself, it’s available streaming, but if you really dig it you should pick up Scream Factory’s excellent Blu-ray. I wish I had that version; I have the one that just plays automatically and doesn’t even have any extras! Now that’s scary.

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