Masked Marvel: The 40th Anniversary of "Halloween III: Season of the Witch"

 

by Michael Lyons

From divisive to beloved.  That's the journey that Halloween III: Season of the Witch has taken in the forty years since its initial release.

When it first came out in 1982, audiences expected another entry in the Michael Myers storyline (and little did they think that would still be going on today), which this film wasn't, and critics were savage (Roger Ebert awarded the film *and 1/2 out of four and called it "...a low rent thriller from the first frame").

With this, Halloween III sank at the box office, becoming the lowest-grossing Halloween film up to that point.  But, as it can be, time has been kind to this weird, mostly ridiculous, 80s time capsule of a movie, and Halloween III: Season of the Witch has gained its audience, and its place as a seasonal favorite, in the past four decades.

With the first two Halloween films centering on Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, director John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to create an anthology series of films, each with a Halloween theme and containing their distinct storyline.

The first of these was  Halloween III: Season of the Witch, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, in which Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) seeks to uncover a mystery surrounding the death of one of his patients.  He is joined by the deceased patient's daughter, Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), and they travel to the strange small town of Santa Mira, California, and discover a plot by Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), owner of Silver Shamrock Novelties, to use Halloween masks to take over the world.

It seems that on Halloween night, there will be a "big giveaway" broadcast on TV, and as kids sit near the television with their masks on, the broadcast will interact with a computer chip on the mask, which will initiate the takeover of the world.

There are also bugs and snakes that come out of people's mouths when this happens; robot henchmen who work for Mr. Cochran; something about the legacy of witchcraft and, oh yeah, Stonehenge is somehow involved.  

The plot doesn't matter; the fun of Halloween III is how off-the-wall and far-fetched the plot is, in a B-Movie way.  Audiences shouldn't look for logic but, instead, enjoy how illogical the film really is.

This is probably part of the reason why the cult status of the film has grown into something more through the years.  That, and the incredible earworm of the countdown theme song that appears in the Silver Shamrock commercials: "Eight more 'til Hall-o-ween, Hall-o-ween, Hall-o-ween..." sung to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down.

Looking back on the film, recently on the website,  From the Front Row , Mattie Lucas wrote: "No one will ever mistake Halloween III for a great film, but it is a misunderstood one, a curious experiment in franchise filmmaking that was bold as it was ultimately foolish.  Taken apart from the Halloween franchise and evaluated as a stand-alone film, it's a solid piece of 80s horror and a fascinating 'what-if' that offers a window into an alternate universe where the series took a vastly different direction."

And, so, as Halloween III celebrates its 40th anniversary this October, all that's left to say, in the ominous tone of Conal Cochran himself: "Happy...Halloween."

This Halloween, don't be scared that you don't have the perfect gift for that movie-lover in your life for the upcoming Holiday Season! My book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney's Animation Renaissance is now available at Amazon .  AND, signed and personalized copies are available on my website, Words From Lyons

Also on my website, this and other fun Halloween-themed podcasts and articles, check them out here:Words from Lyons .

 

Sitcom Scares: Retro TV Haunts for Halloween Season

The "Fright Night" episode of The Brady Bunch

 

by Michael Lyons

"Halloween Adjacent." That’s what my good friends Scott and Andy call any movie or TV show that isn't about Halloween but is perfect within the Halloween season.

And, there are a lot of classic TV sitcoms that fit within the "Halloween Adjacent" mold.  Sure, there are no Jack-o-lanterns or trick-or-treaters, but watching these feels like October.

Here are just four sitcom scares from the 60s and 70s to make your season a little spookier and maybe even a little sillier.

"It May Look Like a Walnut," The Dick Van Dyke Show,  February 6, 1963

A darkly humorous episode of the classic sitcom. Rob (Dick Van Dyke) watches a science fiction horror film and wakes up the next day to find that the film's events have come true: the earth has been invaded by an alien from the planet Twilo (played by comedian Danny Thomas, sporting a British accent).  The aliens are using walnuts to take over the earth to remove everyone's imaginations and thumbs.

It all culminates in Rob coming home to find a closet full of walnuts, with his wife, Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) floating on top.  Is it all a dream?  No spoilers here.

No wonder this episode is one of the series' most famous and iconic. It's very clever and just plain...well...nuts!

 

"Up at Bat," Gilligan's Island, September 12, 1966

Gilligan (Bob Denver) is bitten on the neck by a bat and becomes convinced he will transform into a vampire.

He is so convinced this will happen that he dreams he is Count Dracula, with the other castaways also appearing in his dream, playing such roles as Nina Harker and Sherlock Holmes.

It's the usual cartoony comedy that was the cornerstone of Gilligan's Island, but, who cares, it's so much fun, and the cast seems to be having a great time re-creating the Hammer horror films in Gilligan's dream.  And, keeping with the theme, there's even a parody of Batman!

 "Fright Night," The Brady Bunch, October 27, 1972

Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz also brought The Brady Bunch to TV, and brought some scary fun to one of this show's episodes, as well.

"Fright Night" debuted in late October and is probably the closest to a Halloween episode of the bunch, even though Halloween is never mentioned.  The Brady kids attempt to scare each other in elaborate ways, using projections, cellophane for ghosts, and scary voices on a cassette recorder (ah, the 70s).

However, things get out of hand when they attempt to frighten Alice (Ann B. Davis), resulting in a usual Brady punishment - revoking the allowance.

The fun of this episode is the creative ways the kids try to scare each other.  Their "home-spun" pranks could have only been pulled off with the assistance of a special effects artist, but we don't come to The Brady Bunch for realism; we come for comfort-food TV, and this episode delivers. 

 "The Exorcists," The Odd Couple, December 7, 1973

Unlikely roommates Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) believe that a ghost is living in their window unit air conditioner.  After Felix's seance fails, they go to an exorcist - the very funny Victor Buono, most famous as the villain King Tut from TV's Batman.

Felix's gullibility and enthusiasm, coupled with Oscar's cynicism, are in full comic effect.  And how Oscar finally removes the ghost is a funny capper to the episode.  Plus, stay tuned for the "special chant" that Oscar teaches Felix at the conclusion.

 

And, there they are, just a few flashbacks from TV past, to help you get prepped this Spooky Season and stay very adjacent to Halloween!

Want to "scare up," some more good reading and podcasts?  Head over to my website: Words From Lyons !

If you're doing that pre-Halloween, pre-Thanksgiving, pre-Black Friday and pre-Holiday Season shopping and looking for the perfect gift for the movie lover in your life, consider my book Drawn to Greatness: Disney's Animation Renaissance now available at Amazon.  AND, signed and personalized copies are for sale at Words From Lyons !