Halloween 3 Explains Its Own Title In The Silliest Way
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is the only movie not to feature Michael Myers, so it needed to justify its status as the third Halloween film.
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Since Halloween III: Season of the Witch was the first (and only) Halloween movie not to feature Michael Myers, the film had to find a subtle way to justify its title. All Hallows’ Eve is the basis for the Halloween movies and the beloved horror series has itself become a staple of the real-life celebration. However, the essence of the franchise is actually the iconic duo Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, and it’s no coincidence the entries featuring the pair tend to be the best received. The Halloween franchise has been so successful that Michael has become one of the horror genre’s most famous slashers.
After Halloween II, John Carpenter and co-writer Debra Hill wanted the threequel to be an original story with no appearance from Michael Myers, who was presumed dead following the fiery climax of the sequel. In fact, John Carpenter once planned for Halloween to become an anthology of stand-alone horror stories, each centered on a different tale that took place during Halloween itself. However, the studio did a poor job explaining in its marketing that the third movie was actually standalone, leading angry audiences and critics to pan it upon release.
Instead of Michael Myers stalking another luckless victim, Halloween III: Season of the Witch saw an evil warlock manufacturing cursed masks and planning a mass sacrifice with them on Halloween night. These three masks are manufactured by Silver Shamrock Novelties, with a line-up that includes a jack-o-lantern, a skeleton, and a witch. Since the franchise was originally planning to be an anthology, numbering each installment still made some sense, whether the third movie was breaking away from the previous installments or not. Still, director Tommy Lee Wallace felt the need to justify the numeral by calling the Silver Shamrock masks “the Halloween 3,” which can be heard on the various commercials spread through the story.
Wallace’s “Halloween 3” namedrop was by his own admission something of a desperate attempt to link Season Of The Witch to the others, and while it’s a clunky move it’s admittedly kind of funny. While the sequel was not well-received critically or financially upon release, recent years have seen Halloween III reaccessed on its own merits as a bizarre, creepy little horror movie. While it has its share of defenders now, the series ditched the anthology approach and went back to basics with Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers six years later.
Although the franchise continued to have as many misses as hits, it always managed to find a way to reinvent itself. Director David Gordon Green’s Halloween 2018 proved to be a huge hit and he will round out a planned trilogy with the upcoming sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. Proving just how far Halloween III: Season Of The Witch’s reputation has come, the 2018 movie even featured a couple of homages, including children wearing the “Halloween 3” masks.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/halloween-3-season-witch-movie-title-explained/