Headscratchers / Halloween III: Season of the Witch

• Time zones screw up Conal's plot somewhat. If the final commercial goes off simultaneously, then it'll be midnight on the East Coast, and lots of his targets will be in bed. If it goes off at 9 on each time zone, then someone besides Challis should have managed to make the connection between the commercial and the masks — maybe not by Central Time, but almost certainly by Mountain Time. The ending scene would have taken place long before Challis escapes Cochran's factory. Still, though, Cochran's guaranteed to massacre the children of at least one time zone.
  • But the only reason Challis knows exactly what's going on with the masks and the signal is because Cochran's told him. Any parents in other time zones would probably be too frantic and terrified trying to save their children (and themselves, given the now-sudden outbreak of deadly rattlesnakes in people's houses across each timezone) to put two and two together, especially when it comes to something as seemingly innocuous as a television commercial that they've seen about two million times across the past few days. Also, as the 80's Dan episode dealing with the movie suggests - we only see the adverts in one time zone; the others could have been at five, six, seven, or eight dependent upon where they are, and each time zone could have descended into general chaos with no-one thinking or knowing to call other TV stations in other time zones.
• Cochran's whole plan hinges on children all across the country wearing one of three specific types of masks while watching his horror movie marathon. There are far too many variables in this scenario, and each of them seem very unlikely, even on their own:
  • Assuming that every kid in America would want to watch TV immediately after trick-or-treating instead of just gorging on candy and/or going to bed.
  • Assuming that every kid in America has parents that would allow them to watch R rated horror films. Though it may have been a TV-edited version, and the original Halloween isn't an especially gruesome film.
  • Assuming that every kid in America would even want to watch a marathon of horror movies. Yes, kids can handle scary stuff in media better than most people give them credit for, but there are still plenty of kids out there that would be too scared to even try watching a horror movie. However, the ads largely emphasize the giveaway more than the movie marathon (it's never revealed what movies besides Halloween would even be part of the marathon, and if the other films would air before or after the giveaway), and, as seen with the kids in the final scene, plenty of kids will tune in specifically for the giveaway without sitting through Halloween. In this sense, the horror-thon could be read as simply a way to add legitimacy to the otherwise strange event.
  • Assuming that every kid in America would actually buy these masks. As 80's Dan pointed out, a witch, a skull, and a jack-o-lantern are extremely generic, especially with no pre-made costume associated with them. Most kids would far prefer dressing up as their favorite pop-culture figures. The movie actually deals with this somewhat by showing that the masks are a popular accessory item, with many kids wearing them on top of a more traditional Halloween costume, possibly due to wanting to be eligible for the big giveaway.
  • Assuming that every kid in America wouldn't remove the mask out of eventual discomfort or obstructed vision before the Silver Shamrock jingle started playing.
  • To be fair, Cochran never explicitly states that he intends for all children to be affected. Possibly he'd be satisfied to only kill enough of them that people will treat Halloween with the dread and respect he thinks the occasion has been denied.
  • Also, to be fair, the commercial specifically states to kids to "put on your masks and watch." But, that's assuming kids would be wanting to do so, and if they have the masks.
  • Assuming that parents and kids bought the masks at all. This was in the 1980s, there may be parents who wouldn't have been willing to spend a lot of money on something their kids was gonna wear one time, and kids who had allowances probably wasn't going to buy a mask (unless it was extremely cheap). Given the number of kids seen wearing the masks (even in conjunction with other costumes) and the fact that profit isn't Cochran's goal, it can likely be assumed the masks were indeed sold for very cheap.
• The commercials are said to be a part of "The Big Giveaway", presumably of toys and/or candy, and presumably wearing Silver Shamrock Masks are a requirement for this, but that just raises further questions. How did Cochran tell the public or the authorities who regulate such events how he was going to know who watched the commercial wearing one of his masks, and how he was going to provide candy or toys to the presumed millions who would attempt it? The chips in the mask's tags could be some kind of excuse, except people clearly don't know about them, and making the purported prizes too small or won by some kind of raffle would discourage a ton of potential victims.
  • In all likelihood, Cochran is expecting most kids to operate on the honour system. In a similar manner to how putting little to no effort into your Halloween costume doesn't necessarily disqualify you from Trick or Treating, but you'll look like a spoilsport doing it. The commercial encourages kids to do what Cochran wants, and those who refuse might have the masks forced on them by peers, parents or chaperones who want everyone to play along.
• Conal Cochran may have considered his "great prank" something of a suicide mission. The police certainly would have eventually traced the havoc and murders back to Silver Shamrock... and his murders of The Kupfers and Mrs. Guttman would have eventually led to the company. Whatever the actual efficacy of the "prank," Silver Shamrock (and probably Santa Mira) would be finished before Thanksgiving.
  • Cochran didn't seem too disturbed by his factory's destruction and own (apparent) death, so he's either a suicidal fanatic who sees his own life as forfeit to please his gods, or, as was explicit in the original script, he's some kind of supernatural entity himself who has no reason to fear earthly death.
• So did Cochrane's plot succeed or not?
  • Unknown, with him apparently dead and with his factory definitely destroyed the Silver Shamrock may have had no effect whatsoever.