The Night Nobody Came Home

Even with the telling tagline people were a little more than bemused when, while sitting down to the third instalment of Halloween, that Michael Myers was nowhere to be seen. The white mask doesn’t make an appearance (apart from a clip of the first Halloween film being shown on a service station TV) and there are next to none teenagers to be found ready to be knifed up.

The premise of Season of the Witch is odd to say the least. Surprisingly enough it’s Halloween and kids all over America are dying to get their hands on (or faces into) the Silver Shamrock masks that have been heavily marketed due to some TV advertising with an annoying jingle. However the masks are not what they seem as Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) finds out when he meets up with Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) who’s father has mysteriously disappeared since supposedly visiting the Silver Shamrock factory to see the mask maker Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy). Despite his cheery exterior the dastardly Mr. Cochran is hell bent on making this Halloween bloodier than all others as the masks in question have this tendency to kill whoever is wearing them by the form of snakes and all manner of unpleasant insects. Apparently this is keeping the tradition of All Hallows Eve when the ‘rivers ran red with blood’, or something to that effect. It is up to Daniel and Eddie to try and thwart the plans of the crazed mask masker and avoid a Halloween that will leave children with more than an upset stomach from stuffing their faces with chocolate.

Despite the premise being ridiculous it remains fairly interesting yet the film ignores this for the most part and focuses on the relationship between Ellie and Daniel for a good chunk of the film and relies on them to piece together the mystery without us viewing it ourselves. It wastes screentime by pointing out Daniel has problems with his wife and kids which, to me, its just too clichéd and a waste to mention, if only to get him off the hook for sharing a bed with Ellie one night. This being a horror film, or at least advertised as one, you do expect some horror but it just isn’t there. There is little threat posed by Cochran, and while he certainly could be threatening the script and surrounding cast wont let him, or his henchmen. Tension fails to build up, despite the interesting inclusion of a ‘curfew’ imposed on the town, it is not used to full effect with Daniel goes out after dark and just becomes another chase. The film is also predictable and so you are expecting the unfolding events so you can go on autopilot throughout most of the film. You know they are going to find Cochran out and you know Cochran will tell of his diabolical plans to one of the leads and you know there will be a big showpiece at the end to halt the plans. There are no big scares or interesting side plots to keep you going. Although Halloween was kept simplistic its atmosphere unmistakenly horror and if you have watched a lot of films like it you know what will happen but it still has the tension and suspense needed for interest. Season of the Witch doesn’t.

Apart from O’Herlihy the cast of characters don’t really shine through. Playing the villain always allows for a bit of fun to be had and it shows when O’Herlihy is on screen. He plays the mix of caring Grandfather and pure and twisted nemesis spot on and, like all good villains, always remains calm no matter what turn of events may happen. The two other leads fair less well. Atkins just seems to breeze through the role, thinking of the pay check it will get him, his performance is good but not wholly believable and. The role of the female heroin, so brilliantly played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the previous Halloweens, must have spoilt us. Nelkins lead female character is devoid of such things that made Laurie’s character so great, the way she can play helpless victim and steadfast survivor for example, while the script is to blame for some of Nelkins performance it cannot solely be the main cause. She just acts like a silly little woman most of the time and her wide-eyed expression and always-open mouth (in the gawping sense just in case you were wondering) gets tiresome quickly. The other notable characters are the test subjects Buddy (Ralph Strait) Betty (Jadeen Barbor) and ‘Little’ Buddy Kupfer Jr. (Bradley Schachter) who do little than add a bit of comedy to the film, some of which is intentional some not. While they do a decent job you cant help but think the casting of Bradley Schacheter as a typical bratty American child misses the mark if you are supposed to feel empathy towards all the other children in line for what he has to go through.

Many fans of the Halloween series disregard Halloween III and choose to ignore it whether they think it has no place because of its lack of Myers or because its just not that good is up to them. No matter which you do have to commend Carpenter and Hill for taking a risk with the well-known franchise. They chose to do something different and I would have been happy to have an odd Halloween theme film from them now and again it is just a shame that Season of the Witch was a good idea but poorly crafted. Nevertheless Halloween III does stand as the weakest of the Halloween films in terms of quality and entertainment value. It isn’t a total loss and there are a few good moments to be had from this but, ultimately, it isn’t good as a film whether it has the Halloween name above it or not.