Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Universal Pictures

## Overview

On October 23, in Northern California, shop owner Harry Grimbridge is pursued by mysterious men in suits, with a jack-o-lantern Halloween mask in his possession. He collapses at the shop of Walter Jones, who calls for help. Harry is taken to a hospital and placed in the care of Dr. Daniel Challis, an alcoholic doctor who has a strained relationship with his ex-wife and two children. Later that night, Harry is murdered by another suited man, who immolates himself in his car. After identifying his body, Harry's daughter Ellie meets Daniel at a bar and reveals that she has discovered suspicious events surrounding Harry's death. To investigate, they travel to the Silver Shamrock factory in Santa Mira, California, where the Halloween masks are made. Upon their arrival, they check into a motel, the manager of which reveals that Conal Cochran and his factory, Silver Shamrock Novelties, producer of the popular Halloween masks, are the source of the town's prosperity. While checking in, Daniel learns that Harry was also a recent motel guest.

Marge Guttman, another motel customer, discovers a microchip on the back of the medallion of one of the masks. The medallion emits a deadly energy beam into her mouth as she picks at it curiously with a hairpin. Her face is left mutilated, and an insec

t crawls out of her mouth. Shortly after, men in lab coats take Marge's body away in a Silver Shamrock van. Daniel overhears the factory technicians telling Cochran that it was a "misfire". While Daniel and Ellie tour the factory the following morning, Ellie finds her father's car, guarded by more men in suits who stop her from getting closer to it. They flee and call the authorities, but Daniel can't reach anyone outside of town by phone. Ellie is kidnapped and taken to the factory; Daniel follows and is captured by the men in suits, revealed to be androids Cochran created. Meanwhile, Teddy, the hospital assistant coroner Daniel entrusted to investigate the car explosion, is murdered by an android.

Cochran takes Daniel to the "special processing" control room and reveals his plan: the microchips on each mask contain a fragment of a piece of Stonehenge he stole. Upon viewing the "Big Giveaway" commercial, the microchips on the masks will activate, killing whoever is wearing them with fatal brain damage and causing a swarm of insects and snakes to emanate from their bodies, also killing anyone nearby. Cochran locks Daniel in a room with a mask on and explains his intention to resurrect ancient pagan rituals of sacrificing children during the age of Samhain from his native Celtic lands. Daniel escapes his bonds and rescues Ellie. He sneaks into the control room, activates the commercial on the screens, and pours a box of the medallions from a ceiling rafter, killing everyone. Then Cochran is also killed by the Stonehenge rune, leading to a massive fire that destroys the factory. As they flee, Daniel is attacked by Ellie, revealed to be an android duplicate. The struggle leads to a car crash, and he destroys the duplicate Ellie with a tire iron. Daniel flees on foot to Walter's shop, where he frantically calls the various television networks to convince them to terminate the broadcast. Two channels abort, but a third station fails to do so, with Daniel screaming into the telephone, pleading with them to make it stop.

## Cast

* Tom Atkins as Dr. Dan Challis
* Stacey Nelkin as Ellie Grimbridge
* Dan O'Herlihy as Conal Cochran
* Michael Currie as Rafferty
* Ralph Strait as Buddy Kupfer
* Jadeen Barbor as Betty Kupfer
* Brad Schacter as Buddy Kupfer Jr.
* Garn Stephens as Marge Guttman
* Al Berry as Harry Grimbridge
* Wendy Wessberg as Teddy
* Essex Smith as Walter Jones
* Nancy Kyes as Linda Challis
* Jonathan Terry as Starker
* Maidie Norman as Nurse Agnes
* Paddi Edwards as Secretary
* Joshua John Miller as Willie Challis
* Michelle Walker as Bella Challis
* Dick Warlock as Assassin Android
* Nick Castle as Michael Myers
* Jamie Lee Curtis as The Voice of The Curfew Announcer