Halloween III: Season of the Witch wasn’t the flop people think it was

Here at JoBlo – many of us have a soft spot for Halloween III: Season of the Witch. In his rankings of the Halloween franchise, our own Tyler Nichols ranked it in the top five of the series (not bad considering there are thirteen films to date – I’d rank it at number two myself). It remains controversial among horror fans because it’s the only installment that doesn’t feature Michael Myers, with it instead the story of a demonic sorcerer who makes a line of demonic Halloween masks meant to kill children all over the world when they hear the “Silver Shamrock” jingle (good luck getting that one out of your head). 

It was intended to mark a new direction for the franchise, where it would have evolved into an anthology of horror tales centred around Halloween. It was godfathered by original franchise director John Carpenter (who composed a killer score with Alan Howarth), and directed by the man who played The Shape himself, Tommy Lee Wallace. It’s presumed failure stung many, including Carpenter, who told Vulture:

“I wish it had (taken off) because we could start telling other stories. People wanted to see Michael Myers once again. So there you go. The Halloween movie I love the most is the one I made back in 1978, the one I directed. Others are other people’s visions. That’s the way it goes. That’s what happens when you give up. I didn’t want to direct sequels. I didn’t think there was story left. Boy, was I wrong, huh?”

Well, actually, the movie wasn’t as huge a flop as some may think. Shot on a pretty threadbare $4.6 million budget, the film actually grossed $14.4 million domestically. It made more than a few other sequels that came out that year, which were generally considered successful, like Death Wish II and Amityville II: The Possession. On VHS, it performed well as a rental, and time has since judged it to be a significant success. Indeed, there are a lot of reasons to love the movie – such as the score, the cool Silver Shamrock masks, and the movie’s great hero and villain combo, Tom Atkins (the studliest horror movie hero of the decade) and Dan O’Herlihy. 

Tonight is Halloween, so if you’re looking for a cool, underrated horror flick to watch, make Halloween III: Season of the Witch your pick. It’s a spooky good time! Here are a few videos we’ve done on the movie over the years:

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