1982 film by Tommy Lee Wallace
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace in his feature-length directorial debut. It is the third installment in the Halloween film series and the only entry that does not feature the series antagonist, Michael Myers. Series creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill return as producers. The film stars Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, and Dan O'Herlihy.
The film departs from the slasher genre of the other installments, instead featuring a "witchcraft" theme with science fiction aspects. John Carpenter and Debra Hill believed that the Halloween series could have been an anthology series of films that centered around Halloween night, with each sequel containing its own characters, setting, and storyline. Director Wallace stated there were many ideas for Halloween-themed films, some of which could have potentially created any number of their own sequels, and that Season of the Witch was meant to be the first.
As with the series' other films, suspense and tension are key themes, exploring violence against young children. On a budget of $4.6 million, Halloween III made a profit by grossing $14.4 million at the box office in the US, but it was also the poorest performing film in the Halloween series at the time. Most critics gave the film negative reviews, though reevaluation in later years has given Halloween III its own reputation as a stand-alone cult film. After the film's disappointing reception and box office performance, Michael Myers was brought back six years later in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).
It was the last Halloween film distributed by Universal Pictures until the 2018 film Halloween 36 years later.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.