If you weren’t there in the 1980s, it might be hard to grasp just how much people ripped on Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983). Where’s Michael Myers?? What’s this Celtic-witchcraft and killer masks bullshit?? People really didn’t like it. I always did, though! I first saw it on cable TV in junior high school, then rented it on VHS several times through those years, and it was so intensely weird that I couldn’t help but fall for its quirky charms. Once I got past that it wasn’t the sequel to Halloween II I was expecting, Halloween III proved to have plenty to offer and, most importantly, was wildly entertaining. It’s now a certified classic that consistently shows up in lists of favorite Halloween and/or horror movies. I’ll be watching it again this October, that’s for sure.
The poster image has always been a favorite of mine as well. It’s a haunting image, with the silhouetted trick or treaters set against a menacingly flame-orange sky, while a ghastly demonic face seems to be shooting out of the title type above it. Or, possibly, the title is zooming up out of the demon face. Either way, that aesthetic has a very ‘80s appeal, graphically, that I just love. I prefer the full bleed poster to the one that shrinks and crops the image in the middle.
