Day 3- Movie 3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Well, it's after 1:30am on Friday night, and I am running on fumes. I wanted to get two movies in today to get back on track, but it wasn't easy. For my second film of the day, I went with 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch. This movie is controversial for completely scrapping the Michael Myers storyline for an original story of Halloween horror. Some people praised John Carpenter and the others involved for changing things up and trying a new, unique approach to the Halloween movies. Others decried the absence of Michael Myers and criticized this movie greatly. I'm in the second camp.

I just don't understand how you follow up two praiseworthy horror films by ignoring the main character of the franchise. I do love John Carpenter's intentions, though. Too many franchises play it safe, telling slight variations of the same story over and over again (Friday the 13th, for example). Carpenter rolled the dice with a new idea- every Halloween, come out with a different, unique stand-alone horror movie. Terrific idea, horrible execution. Audiences might have bought that idea if it was implemented immediately after the original film. However, after giving us two Michael Myers films, all of a sudden they wanted to change the direction of the franchise? Not going to work, I'm afraid.

Trying to look past the absence of Michael Myers (and I've never missed a horrible serial killer more in my life), I tried not to let that fact bias me with this movie. I am not sure I was successful. This film gives us some absurd, nonsensical plot about an evil businessman out to ruin Halloween forever. It's so stupid that I'm not even going to go into it. The story just seems silly. I will admit that the film provides some pretty horrifying scenes. I've seen many awful things in movies over the years, but I admit this film had a few scenes that made me cringe. John Carpenter certainly pushed the boundaries of what is in good taste here.

I really can't recommend this movie. I know it is loved by some horror movie fans, but I just don't get it. The acting is atrocious, and in Tom Akins, we get one of the most wooden, boring actors I've ever seen. There are some disgusting deaths in this film, but very little payoff. We get a half baked plot, no one to care about and a cliche-filled conclusion. All this does not add up to a very good movie.

I've done my duty for today, and I am calling it night. The count is now 3 done, 97 left to see. While I've seen worse movies than Halloween III: Season of the Witch, this is still pretty bad. I'd give this film a 4/10.

So here's the big question. Without letting this film sway you, what's the better horror movie franchise- Halloween,  Friday the 13th, or A Nightmare on Elm Street? I definitely have some opinions, but I'd love to hear what you think.