A Michael Myers-less entry into the franchise that bombed on release, "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" has gone on to achieve a kind of cult status in the decades since its release that defies its issues with pacing and plotting. I'm not exactly a purist when it comes to this franchise (Rob Zombie's "Halloween II" is my second fave after the original, remember) and the absence of the killer who makes the series what it is doesn't necessarily bother me, but his replacement with a senseless story about an evil corporation using Halloween masks to sacrifice children in the name of Samhain, played mostly straight in the same year "Creepshow" was released, doesn't exactly amaze me. Granted, Tom Atkins elevates every scene he's in as the protagonist who journeys from relative disinterest to sheer terror, but for a movie with a plot like this, "Halloween III" is almost as stiff as the Silver Shamrock androids who Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlithy) uses to do his evil bidding. There are some good visual moments that alleviate the stiffness but ultimately the movie does little to justify the hype it now receives for deviating from the frankly more entertaining slasher format of the regular "Halloween" entries.
THE HALLOWEEN FRANCHISE
Halloween II (1981)
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