Tag: Tommy Lee Wallace

Book Review: Halloween 3: “Where the Hell is Michael Myers?” The Definitive History of Horror’s Most Misunderstood Film By Tommy Lee Wallace (BearManor Media)

By: Jesse Striewski

Admittedly, I should’ve had this review of Tommy Lee Wallace’s book Halloween 3: “Where the Hell is Michael Myers?” completed by last October. But to be fair, I didn’t even now the book existed until I actually met Wallace at Spookala 2023 just a few months prior, and even after that it took even more time just to track down a copy (my thoughtful wife actually bought me one for my birthday earlier this year) and then of course actually read it.

But I digress; I’ve always maintained Halloween III: Season of the Witch is not only the best overall film in the Halloween franchise, but also one of the best horror movies of all time. Granted, I could be a bit bias; it was actually the first film in the series I ever saw as a kid after randomly landing on it while flipping through cable channels (the image of Tom Atkins as Dr. Challis casually strolling through a desolate town in the dark of night was the first I recall seeing of the film, and has been forever ingrained in my mind).

So when Writer/Director Wallace stated he had written a book (with a foreward written by the film’s lead Tom Atkins) entirely about the film, it was a downright no-brainer that I’d be reading and reviewing it soon enough. And as a superfan of it, the book is everything you could possibly want on the movie and more.

Wallace leaves no stone(henge) unturned here, detailing every part of the film-making process from initially signing on, re-writes of the script (via both himself and John Carpenter) casting, scouting locations, and any other bumps along the way. There’s even a fun section at the end where Wallace shares original artwork, and a partial section including the film’s original script by Nigel Kneale.

With a recent resurgence in popularity, the film’s lasting effect has been undeniable, making it a fan-favorite on the con circuit these days. This was witnessed more than once firsthand, when Rewind It attended both the previously-mentioned Spookala in 2023, and 2022’s Fantasam Orlando. Not only was there plenty of merch for the eyes to behold and cast and crew meet-and-greets available at each, but a full Halloween III discussion panel featuring Director/Writer Tommy Lee Wallace, Actors Tom Atkins and Stacey Nelkin, and Stuntman/Actor Dick Warlock was dedicated to the film at said Spookala event (see photo below).

Halloween III discussion panel at Spookala 2023 on 6/12/23 with (from left to right) Dick Warlock, Tommy Lee Wallace, Stacey Nelkin, Tom Atkins, and host (photo by Brooke Striewski).

Love it or hate it, there’s no stopping this “little horror film that could,” and just one read of Wallace’s book here is more than enough to convince any reader that Halloween III is here to stay indefinitely.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Retrospective: 40 Years Since ‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ By Jesse Striewski

Unlike the majority of fans, my introduction to the Halloween franchise actually came long before I even knew the first thing about Michael Myers. I was rounding near ten years old, and my family had just finally upgraded to cable television for the first time ever when I was searching through the channels late one October evening to discover Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

It was probably playing on USA Network or one of those other channels like it at the time, and it was well into three quarters of the movie already. My very first impression of a Halloween movie actually had nothing to do with Michael Myers, but was of Tom Atkins stalking around a dark, desolate town, with a creepy synth-driven score from John Carpenter and Alan Howarth accentuating the overall eerie scene. I was hooked, and having no prior frame of reference, it did not matter to me who was or was not in the film, or the previous entries that came before it.

When Halloween III: Season of the Witch, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, first dropped in theaters on October 22, 1982, it was meant to be the first of numerous anthology films centered around Halloween itself, rather than just a monster with a knife. But audiences were not quite prepared for such a drastic change at the time, despite the endless possibilities this concept could have brought (the film was a modest box office success, earning just over $14 million on a $2.5 million budget).

Atkins stars as Dr. Dan Challis, a middle -aged, divorced, drunken physician who gets drawn into a web of evil and destruction after a man dies on his watch at the hospital, clutching a mysterious Halloween mask manufactured by a company called Silver Shamrock. When the deceased man’s sexy young daughter (Stacey Nelkin) starts looking for answers, Challis is more than willing to assist her with the task (and then some).

A display of the fictional town portrayed in the film, Santa Mira, from Fantasm Orlando on 10/3/21 (photo by Brooke Striewski).

The two soon uncover that Silver Shamrock is the work of Conal Cochran (Daniel O’Herlihy), a Pagan warlock hell-bent on unleashing unspeakable evil across the world via the masks on Halloween night. It quickly becomes a race against time to prevent the madman from seeing his destructive plot through and causing harm to an untold number of innocent lives.

While it’s taken some time, Halloween III: Season of the Witch has finally reached a level of cult status it rightfully deserved. Last year at the Fantasm horror convention Orlando, FL, there was not only countless amounts of merchandise from the film for the eye to see, but I was lucky enough to meet Atkins himself (see photo below).

When asked why he thought the film has seen such a resurgence in popularity in recent times, Atkins simply said; “I don’t know why people love it so much, but it just seems to be becoming more popular every year!” His reply might have been modest, but I can easily point to the number of reasons why it’s not only my favorite Halloween film, but also one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Not only does it hold a special place for me for being my introduction to the series, it beautifully emobodied everything about the creepiest day of the year on a level that very few films in the genre have managed to capture before or since.

Actor Tom Atkins with (from left to right) Rewind It’s Jacob, Jesse, and Brooke Striewski at Fantasm Orlando on 10/3/21.