YMMV / Halloween III: Season of the Witch

• Awesome Music: Not just the famous Silver Shamrock jingle but the general musical themes. You could tell this was a John Carpenter movie from the first seconds.
• Base-Breaking Character: Conal Cochran, because of him being a Replacement Scrappy for the iconic Michael Myers many viewers despise him for not being Myers and also find him far less interesting as an antagonist, however since III became more popular in recent years, much of the fanbase has come around regarding Cochran liking how different he is from Myers, his Affably Evil tendencies, him accepting his fate rather gracefully and potentially even winning in the end despite his potential death. In addition, the performance of Dan O'Herlihy is very well regarded as he does a good job at portraying Cochran as charismatic and likable yet deeply malicious beneath the surface.
• Bizarro Episode: For the franchise, being much more fantastical and having nothing to do with Myers. That, and none of the events in the ones before it are mentioned in it (except as a Show Within a Show), nor are any of its own events mentioned in the ones after it. Although, if the original plans for an anthology movie series had continued, this could've been averted, depending on what the other films would've been like.
• Broken Base: Many people were outraged at the lack of any continuity with the first two films, and in general this film is written off as a bizarre non sequitur. Others, though, think that Carpenter's anthology idea was promising, but unfairly killed by close-minded fans who wouldn't accept a Halloween film without Michael Myers. A third group also doesn't mind the anthology idea and even thinks it would have been a great one, but were disappointed by this film as they felt the execution completely botched.
• Complete Monster: Conal Cochran is the CEO of Silver Shamrock Novelties, a company known for its toys, gag/prank products, and Halloween masks, which it shipped all over the United States. Cochran had built these masks with a computer chip made from a fragment of Stonehenge. When Silver Shamrock's commercial would air on Halloween night, the chip was to unleash a lethal radiation and a swarm of insects and snakes, killing the wearer and anyone in the immediate vicinity. Cochran is shown demonstrating how these masks work on an innocent family, causing them to be poisoned and eaten. His plan is to kill millions of children all over the country, partially to bring back the darker aspects of the Celtic festival Samhain, which he connects to witchcraft, but also just because he considers this mass murder to be a fun joke, the best ever in fact, because it's the biggest, deadliest joke ever played on the children who have been turned to treating the once sacred Samhain festival as a big joke about nothing more than candy.
• Common Knowledge: Detractors and fans alike often claim this is the only "Halloween" film without Michael Myers. However, he does actually appear in the film, albeit only for The Cameo as a trailer for the original film plays on television in one scene. However, he isn't the Big Bad and seems to only be a fictional character in this continuity.
• Contested Sequel: While this film has gained a cult following, it still tends to be polarizing to fans of other Halloween films. Rankings of the series tend to have this film either in second position (behind the original) or near the bottom, and that's only the fans who will actually even watch the film. Many self-proclaimed die-hard Halloween fans refuse to even watch it out of principle due to it not including Michael Myers as the main villain.
• Cult Classic: Has arguably the biggest cult following out of all the entries in the franchise, given the amount of love it's gotten in recent years.
• Director Displacement: As with the previous entry, John Carpenter was heavily involved, but didn't direct.
• Evil Is Cool: Many feel that despite the burden of having to replace Michael Myers, Conal Cochran was a good villain in his own right, and the late Dan O'Herlihy delivered a performance that even those who dislike the film cannot help but admire.
• Harsher in Hindsight: When the film was made in 1982, Cochran's usage of surveillance cameras in Santa Mira is depicted as sinister. By the 2000s however, most US cities utilize such cameras in public places, and even then there are widespread concerns about government surveillance, as demonstrated by the PRISM leaks.
• He's Just Hiding: Some people believe Cochran may have survived, with the magic of Stonehenge transporting him to another location rather than killing him at the end of the film, and the novelization takes this option. However, the shot of him seemingly turned into a statue of ash implies his death.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace would go on, eight years later, to direct the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's It— another film about a complete monster who kills children.
  • Dan O'Herlihy plays a Corrupt Corporate Executive, something that O'Herlihy would be well known portraying in the RoboCop films as "The Old Man." Both of O'Herlihy's roles even had companies that are populated with cyborgs (well, Cochran's are robots designed to resemble humans, while "The Old Man" has several that were built from those who used to be human).
  • At the end of 1992 the Italian distributor of Sega products ran in that country a competition involving a Sonic the Hedgehog pin badge that had to be worn during certain commercial breaks: the badge supposedly interacted with a signal in Sega commercials and, if Sonic's eyes lit up and a reproduction of the game's theme started, the owner could be eligible to win some prizes. Sonic with flashing red eyes was creepy, but thankfully didn't kill any kids... on the other hand, the competition lasted only a short while because it was suspected of being a scam, since nobody managed to prove that the badge could actually interact with one's TV.
  • The Silver Shamrock song sounds kinda similar to the Dog Ending credits from Silent Hill 2. Even some YouTube comments on the ending noticed.
• Inferred Holocaust: The ending of the film sees that despite Dan’s pleas, the ad is still broadcasted on at least one channel, meaning thousands of children are likely killed.
• Narm:
  • "Stop it, stop it, STOP IT! STOP IIIIIIT!!!!!", also falls under Narm Charm as Tom Atkins delivers the line in an over-the-top way but he does a good job at portraying the utter despair Challis is feeling over the advert not being stopped making for a rather haunting ending.
  • The fist clench of impotent rage from Challis as he watches the "demonstration" of the Magic Pumpkin advert's effect.
  • Buddy, bar none. Even if he had just watched his kid's head rot away before his eyes, and was now locked in a room full of venomous snakes...
  • The scene where a woman toying with the tag from one of the masks is blasted in the mouth and dies has become notorious. It's completely out of place, as so far the film has been a fairly serious (and realistic, since the ridiculous robots and druids haven't shown up yet) horror film, and then, in the middle of a fairly normal scene BAM! Laser to the mouth. Although the after-effects of the laser are genuinely horrific
• Nausea Fuel: Watching Little Buddy's head rot and become a hive of insects and snakes takes the cake, but Marge's "misfire" incident is a close second. Even the disgusting yellow goop that comes out of heavily damaged cyborgs qualifies.
• Presumed Flop: It managed to turn a profit, but was the lowest grossing film in the series. Its negative critical reception didn't help either.
• Squick: A whole lot of it, both when Cochran's robot mooks decide they want to kill someone, and when the masks' evil spells are triggered on their unwitting victims...
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many who dislike the film admit that the concept of the film and the anthology film series has potential, but feel that the execution is both lousy and laughable, or at the very least they should have went with another idea.
• Vindicated by History: Arguably the biggest example in the whole franchise. While the film performed adequately at the box office, it was absolutely savaged by both fans and critics primarily due to not having anything to do with the Michael Myers story, and its gross paled in comparison to the first two films and some that followed (such as The Return of Michael Myers and H20). It has since picked up a fairly significant cult following for its unique plot, fantastic score and atmosphere, and Visual Effects of Awesome. Many have admitted that after thirty years of increasingly disappointing sequels and no less than three Continuity Reboots, the franchise may well have been better off as an anthology series like Carpenter intended, and that, had it not been called Halloween III (or had the producers of the series not forced the second film to be another Myers story rather than beginning the anthology idea with Halloween II), it would've gotten its due much earlier. Consider the Saw franchise's attempts to pump out a movie every year for Halloween, and the Sequelitis that rapidly set in. Other fans respect that the film at least tried to do something different and will note that while he may not be as iconic as Michael, Conal Cochran is a very entertaining film and Dan O'Herlihy is immensely enjoyable in the role.

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