Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

John Carpenter tried to extend the HALLOWEEN franchise with this 1982 entry, released, of course, just days before the holiday. His friend Tommy Lee Wallace, who had acted as Production Designer and Editor on both the original HALLOWEEN and THE FOG, made his directorial bow with this film. The original story was written by the great Nigel Kneale, creator of Professor Quatermass, but Kneale had his name removed from the credits when Wallace re-, re-, and then re-rewrote his script. It would have been lovely to see what SEASON OF THE WITCH would have been like with Kneale's original story. In any case, Wallace's version of the story is very much a Fifties-style horror/sci-fi film, with mysterious goings on in an isolated Southern California town (a la INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), a terrible computer-age secret which is obligingly explained by the villain (wonderfully played by veteran character actor Dan O'Herlihy), a lead performer who is not your usual hero (TV character actor Tom Atkins), a damsel in distress (Stacey Nelkin, ditto, TV), and plenty of available victims for the baddies to dispatch in creative ways.

The very atmospheric cinematography in Anamorphic 2:35 to 1 Widescreen is by Carpenter stalwart Dean Cundey, who has also lensed JURASSIC PARK, all three BACK TO THE FUTURE films, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL along with about 65 other films and TV shows. He and Carpenter support Wallace at every turn, making SEASON much better than the usual debut Director feature. And, even though the film had a microscopic budget (courtesy of Universal), the clever use of color, light, shade and available props and standing sets give the film the look of a moderately budgeted feature. Special makeup (by Oscar and Emmy nominated wizard Tom Burman) and effects are used sparingly and judiciously for maximum impact.

The music, surprise surprise, is by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth (and there was even a soundtrack elpee on genuine vinyl, which did contain that "Silver Shamrock" commercial that will bore into your brain by the end of the movie. The music was also reissued on CD on Varese Sarabande, now out of print, but re-reissued on Alan Howarth's own label with 13 bonus tracks, in a limited edition of 1000 (and you can still get it, as of this writing, July 2008, right here on Amazon!)

If you are looking for the further adventures of Michael Myers, you won't find them in SEASON. At the time of release, Carpenter said he hoped that he could start a tradition of a different "Halloween" film every year. SEASON failed miserably at the box office, mainly because, despite the television and print advertising, the public expected The Shape. Too bad.

The DVD edition of SEASON is available in a stand-alone as well as in a double-feature pack with HALLOWEEN 2. Both versions are through Universal. The DVD is in full 2:35 to 1 Widescreen, but has no bonus features, not even the trailer. Darn.

So, if you are in the mood for witches and warlocks and things that go "misfire" in the night, try HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH. And if you want to know what I mean by "misfire", you'll just have to watch the movie. Closely. Heh, heh, heh. . .

What was Hollyweird thinking???
As usual, they weren't.
They saw $$$ with the Halloween name and decided to take the franchise in a different direction, the WRONG direction.
Horrid story, horrid script, horrid acting, horrid directing, horrid EVERYTHING!!!!
An insult to fans of the first two.
An insult to any movie fan with any intelligence.
This is without a doubt the worst Halloween in the series.
It has no redeeming value what so ever.
AVOID!!!!!!!!!!