Why Halloween III: Season of the Witch Vanished into Horror History—and What the Stars Say About Its Cursed Legacy
Added on October 3, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
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What do you get when you mix an ancient warlock, rigged Halloween masks, and a splash of Stonehenge? No, it’s not the punchline to an offbeat joke, but rather the recipe for the infamous Halloween III: Season of the Witch — a horror movie that had audiences scratching their heads back in ’82. While the rest of the Halloween franchise moonwalked with Michael Myers, this rebellious third act vanished into its own eerie mist, leaving fans bewildered and critics snickering. But here’s the kicker: much like Mercury in retrograde causing cosmic confusion, this film’s initial reception was a chaotic tumble — until a later reboot in appreciation transformed it into a cult gem with spine-tingling charm. Curious how this radical Halloween outlier came to be, and why it still haunts cinephiles today? Buckle up, dust off those masks, and get ready for a deep dive into the strange, twisty making and legacy of Halloween III: Season of the Witch. LEARN MORE
Has any horror movie in history undergone as drastic a reassessment than Halloween III? As we all know, when it first came out in 1982, it was met with confusion and disparagement from critics and moviegoers alike; most people were expecting another entry in the Michael Myers saga and instead got a creepy, bleak movie about a warlock’s intention to kill as many children as possible on October 31st night thanks to rigged Halloween masks and, uh, Stonehenge or something? What the hell did this have to do with those last two movies called Halloween? Only several years later did horror fans begin their reevaluation of the movie; if you accept it as its own thing – which of course it is – it’s a nifty, spooky little thriller with a handful of very memorable sequences, some terrific performances, and, of course, a suitably downbeat finale that flies in the face of the usual happy endings were used to being force-fed to us. So how in the name of Samhain did this thing get made? It’s almost time, kids, don’t forget to wear your masks and tune in for the big giveaway as we reveal what happened to Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
After writing and producing Halloween II, franchise creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill were burnt out on the Shape, Michael Myers. The experience of making the sequel was not a positive one for them, but the film made money, naturally the only thing that truly matters to producers, so a third Halloween film became inevitable. As they had on the second movie, Carpenter and Hill reasoned that if they weren’t involved, the producers would just go get someone else to come with a new one, so they grudgingly agreed to be a part of the third chapter. With one small – well, actually make that big – caveat: this new film would have nothing at all to do with Michael Myers. Instead, Carpenter and Hill wanted to create an anthology of sorts under the banner Halloween, which would allow them to make a new, unique horror movie that took place around the holiday every year. The suits agreed to this quirky new request and Carpenter and Hill set out to make the first in what they thought were going to be a cool anthology franchise that would last years and years.
To direct the film, Carpenter reached out to Joe Dante, then known for Piranha and The Howling. Dante initially agreed to direct, but was eventually tempted away by one Mr. Steven Spielberg, who approached him to helm a segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie. Before leaving, however, Dante had brought in a writer to work on Halloween III, a famed British sci-fi and horror author named Nigel Kneale, perhaps best known for The Quartermass Experiment TV series and films. Kneale was admittedly not a fan of the first two Halloween films, nor the slasher genre in general, but the opportunity to craft a unique horror movie that dealt with witchcraft certainly appealed to him, so he agreed to work with Carpenter and Hill on the project.
Hill’s idea was to blend the world of witchcraft with the modern age of computers, so Kneale came up with the concept of an evil warlock who wants to sacrifice the world’s children on Halloween night using a chilling cocktail of advanced technology and ancient spells. The overall story of Halloween III that we know today was all Kneale’s plotting, and eventual director Tommy Lee Wallace has claimed that Kneale deserves credit for approximately 60% of the script.
Not that he wanted that much credit, or any credit to be precise. After his initial drafts were thought to be too stuffy, too dour, too British, Kneale bristled at the notion of rewriting his work to make it more palatable. According to the author, word came down on high that the movie needed to be more violent, more targeted to the youth of America, which his British sensibilities simply couldn’t compute. Kneale eventually left the project and requested his name not show up in any of the credits, but the structure he left behind gave the existing creative team something to work with.
Enter the aforementioned Tommy Lee Wallace. Wallace was a longtime friend and collaborator of John Carpenter’s, having been editor and production designer on both Halloween and The Fog. He was, in fact, in line to direct Halloween II at one point, but he hated the script so much that he refused to be a part of it, which temporarily caused a rift in the relationship with Carpenter and Hill. Once Joe Dante jumped out of the director’s chair, however, the duo went back to their old friend Tommy, offering him the chance to direct their new Halloween film with the understanding that the Shape was being left behind and an all new story was in the works. That aspect of it appealing to him, Wallace came on board to direct his first feature film, which was budgeted at around $2.5 million.
Carpenter rewrote a good chunk of Nigel Kneale’s script, bringing in some more violence and gore before handing it over to Wallace, who did his own rewriting on it. Though he gets sole writing credit on the finished product, Wallace has acknowledged it was a complete team effort between himself, Carpenter and Kneale, even as the latter had thoroughly washed his hands of the project. The film already had a greenlight by the time he came on board, so Wallace didn’t have a ton of time to prepare, getting only a few weeks to cast and crew up the film before shooting was to begin.
His film was going to be more of a “pod people” movie than a slasher, according to the producers at the time; Wallace’s main influence was clearly the 1955 classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with its emphasis on paranoia rather than scares. In fact, the creepy corporate town at the center of Halloween III is called Santa Mira, which is the name of the main location in Body Snatchers. The ending thoroughly pays homage to the black-and-white thriller as well, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
For their leading man, the producers went to an old friend, Tom Atkins. Having worked with Carpenter and Hill on “The Fog” and “Escape from New York,” Atkins was like family to the pair and of course also knew Wallace very well too. Wallace loved Atkins’ grizzled charm, the fact that he wasn’t a pretty boy or typical movie star, but a believable, blue-collar type who audiences would gravitate to. I mean, who wouldn’t gravitate to that ‘stache?
The producers had a difficult time casting the role of Ellie Grimbridge, the heroine of the piece. Evidently, they were down to the wire, only two weeks to go before production, and they still hadn’t found the right actress. At the time, a make-up artist on the film was friends with actress Stacy Nelkin and asked if she’d considered auditioning. She was hesitant to do so for a while, not being a fan of the genre, but her agent eventually convinced her to go read for the part. She auditioned and got the role later that day.
To play the evil Conal Cochran, the production cast Daniel O’Herlihy, a legendary stage and screen actor who’d later be best known for his role in the first two RoboCop movies. Casting him was evidently Debra Hill’s idea. While he is phenomenal in the movie, O’Herlihy would later admit he didn’t think much of the film after seeing it. But, like everyone else, maybe he just needed to reassess it…
The other crucial members of the cast would be the deadly Halloween masks themselves. These were provided by legendary mask-maker Don Post, who actually created the William Shatner mask that famously became the Michael Myers mask we all know and love. The skull and witch masks were already in existence, but the jack-o-lantern mask was made especially for the film. Post even let the production shoot in his warehouse, so the sequences in Halloween III within the mask factory are set in the actual place Post made his fortune. In return for providing the masks and location, Post didn’t ask for money, he asked for merchandising rights to the masks, which were mass-produced in conjunction with the film’s release.
The majority of the film was shot in Loleta, a sleepy town in Northern California with a population of only a few hundred people. The town’s main industry was its milk factory, and the exterior of said factory serves as the facade of Conal Cochran’s warehouse of horrors. Cast and crew would later relate that shooting in the little town was definitely an unsettling experience, as they always felt like the townspeople were creepily watching them from behind curtains.
Ironically, when the film was first announced in Variety, it was stated that there would be “no gore, no violence, no knives.” Well, two out of three ain’t bad, because as we all know the film has a handful of extremely unpleasant scenes, including the death of Marge Guttman – who was played by Tom Atkins’ real-life wife at the time – and the very unfortunate demise of Little Buddy Kupfer, whose head melts into an unseemly stew of insects, reptiles and melted mask. The demise of the Kupfer family was in Nigel Kneales’ original script, but was not close to as graphic as Wallace’s version, as the director wanted to call upon some biblical plague imagery to hammer home just how insidious Cochran’s plot really is. Apparently, once the crickets were unleashed from Little Buddy’s head, the production had a hell of a time chasing them all down, and the chirping of crickets could be heard for weeks after from all around the studio.
As for the thing the film is best known for, that goddamn earworm commercial jingle for Silver Shamrock, that was created thanks to good old lack of funds. There was no money in the budget to hire a firm to create them an ad, so Wallace went ahead and did it himself. He used “London Bridge” as a base because he knew it was in the public domain, hence no rights issues to worry about, and he even hired himself to do the unforgettable “It’s almost time” voiceover. They had no idea the song would become a cult classic in its own right years down the line.
Another trademark of the film is its pessimistic, ambiguous ending, another callback to Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ famous finale, although without the tacked-on happy ending. Distributor Universal Pictures was unhappy with the conclusion, thinking it was too dark and unsatisfying, so they asked Carpenter if he could persuade Wallace to change it. Carpenter stuck by his friend and used his clout to convince the studio that the downbeat ending wouldn’t be going anywhere, though Wallace eventually admitted it was perhaps because of that ominous conclusion that the movie didn’t do better.
When it was released on October 22, 1982, Halloween III was having trouble marketing what it actually was. The poster made it clear no Michael Myers appearances were forthcoming, but audiences were still apparently under the impression that the Shape would figure into this new installment somehow. Once the cat was out of the bag, however, the film’s box office legacy was cemented. While it opened well enough to the tune of $6 million, it only wound up making $14 million total in the U.S. – compare that to the $34 million Friday the 13th Part III made earlier that summer and the writing was on the wall: audiences were not fond of this new direction for the Halloween franchise.
Naturally, the people involved were gutted, especially Tommy Lee Wallace, who admits to being truly crestfallen by the reception the film received. Not only did it immediately kill any future plans for the anthology idea they’d all had, but the movie was dismissed so harshly by the public that Wallace thought he might never work again afterward. Only many years later would it become obvious that Halloween III had been enjoying something of a second life, with a new generation appreciating its bold, grim narrative.
Now sit down and put your masks on kids, it’s almost time for the big giveaway!
A couple of the previous episodes of this show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
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