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UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Halloween III Season of the Witch -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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My presumption is that Halloween III - Season of the Witch is for Halloween completists only.

Except for the season, I fail to see any connection to the original films. But I may be missing something.

It's also not a very good film.

But for those completists, Scream Factory's new 4k UHD will service needs beautifully.

It's a new 4k scan, and a high quality presentation, with a ton of extras. Shout/Scream is rivaling Criterion these days.

Image – 5 (DTS-HD MA)

Audio – 5 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 3.75

RAH
 

Doug Otte

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Rendering the movie to not even exist in the world of Michael Myers.


Despite its flaws, I love the movie (especially the score) and I'm glad that horror fans have started embracing it over the last decade.
Yes, the plot is ridiculous. But I also enjoy III. In addition to the great score, it has beautiful Cundey cinematography and a moody Halloween vibe.
 

TravisR

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Yes, the plot is ridiculous. But I also enjoy III. In addition to the great score, it has beautiful Cundey cinematography and a moody Halloween vibe.
Yeah, Halloween III looks great. When I was in high school, me and a few friends had rented pretty much every tape in the horror section at our video store so rented Halloween III and we discovered that we all liked it despite the lack of Michael Myers. By that time, I had Criterion's laserdisc of the original movie so I was able to understand how all the Carpenter movies were destroyed by pan and scanning.
 

JasonRoer

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Rendering the movie to not even exist in the world of Michael Myers.


Despite its flaws, I love the movie (especially the score) and I'm glad that horror fans have started embracing it over the last decade.
I LOVE the movie. Always have. I actually thought the idea of using an anthology approach to the Halloween series was a wonderful one that I believe audiences would have eaten up in modern times. Just look at the phenomenal success of American Horror Story as an example. Halloween 3 definitely has its flaws, as noted above by Travis. However, its positives far outweigh its negatives for me. I usually watch it at two times a year. I give it a 3.25 out of 4.
 

Stephen_J_H

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My presumption is that Halloween III - Season of the Witch is for Halloween completists only.

Except for the season, I fail to see any connection to the original films. But I may be missing something.

It's also not a very good film.

But for those completists, Scream Factory's new 4k UHD will service needs beautifully.

It's a new 4k scan, and a high quality presentation, with a ton of extras. Shout/Scream is rivaling Criterion these days.

Image – 5 (DTS-HD MA)

Audio – 5 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 3.75

RAH
To borrow a line from the hosts of one of my favourite podcasts, "It's not a good movie, but it's a GREAT movie." There is a vocal group of HIII fans in the horror community, including myself. Yes, it's silly; yes, it's borderline batsh!t crazy, but that was kind of the point. I don't know if I'll upgrade to 4K, though I almost feel an obligation to do so. Nice to know it looks good.
 

Malcolm R

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I LOVE the movie. Always have. I actually thought the idea of using an anthology approach to the Halloween series was a wonderful one that I believe audiences would have eaten up in modern times. Just look at the phenomenal success of American Horror Story as an example. Halloween 3 definitely has its flaws, as noted above by Travis. However, its positives far outweigh its negatives for me. I usually watch it at two times a year. I give it a 3.25 out of 4.
The anthology approach might have worked if they started that with the second film. But once they released a sequel that was a continuation of the same story, I think that's what people expected to continue in the third. Or perhaps if they dropped the "III" from the title, and just called it Halloween: Season of the Witch, people wouldn't have been as likely to expect it was a straight sequel.
 

JasonRoer

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The anthology approach might have worked if they started that with the second film. But once they released a sequel that was a continuation of the same story, I think that's what people expected to continue in the third. Or perhaps if they dropped the "III" from the title, and just called it Halloween: Season of the Witch, people wouldn't have been as likely to expect it was a straight sequel.
I totally agree. It was improper marketing at best, and as you noted, should have been the direct sequel at worst. But you know... studios and success... churn out the sequel 15 minutes after the 1st picture makes money. Halloween 2 is always enjoyable for me, but honestly - that must have been the longest night in history to accommodate that much story between the 2 films. :)
 

Stephen_J_H

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The anthology approach might have worked if they started that with the second film. But once they released a sequel that was a continuation of the same story, I think that's what people expected to continue in the third. Or perhaps if they dropped the "III" from the title, and just called it Halloween: Season of the Witch, people wouldn't have been as likely to expect it was a straight sequel.
Preaching to the choir. Carpenter was pressured into delivering a "straight" sequel to Halloween, which he almost immediately regretted. he handed off directing chores to Rick Rosenthal, who delivered a more than competent sequel, but the powers that be [including Carpenter] decided to spice up the film with more gore in the wake of Friday the 13th. I think the anthology approach would have worked much better both now and if they'd been able to do it from the beginning.
 

Dick

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But just what the f**k is the entertainment value in developing a bizarre plot to murder all the children? I found it a bit revolting. Flame barrier up.
 

Stephen_J_H

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But just what the f**k is the entertainment value in developing a bizarre plot to murder all the children? I found it a bit revolting. Flame barrier up.
That's a bit reductive. The plot was about far more than that, and in the words of Conal Cochran, as played by the late, great Dan O' Herlihy: "To us, it was a way of controlling our environment. It's not so different now... it's time again. In the end, we don't decide these things, you know; the planets do. They're in alignment, and it's time again. The world's going to change tonight, Doctor, I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And... Happy Halloween." There's also a great
You may find it revolting; I find it hilarious, but then again, my sense of humour is like licorice. Black and twisted.
 

John Maher_289910

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But just what the f**k is the entertainment value in developing a bizarre plot to murder all the children? I found it a bit revolting. Flame barrier up.
Not all the children, just Silver Shamrock wearers. I think we can all agree that anyone who succumbed to SS's annoying television jingle deserves what they get. Or, you could just keep repeating to yourself, "it's only a movie."
 

TravisR

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Not all the children, just Silver Shamrock wearers. I think we can all agree that anyone who succumbed to SS's annoying television jingle deserves what they get. Or, you could just keep repeating to yourself, "it's only a movie."
Based on the 'test' on the family seen in the movie, it seems like Cochran would also kill many or all of the people in the same location as any masked kids too so I think he'd wipe out a huge part of the population of the west coast. He really should have considered playing the commercial earlier than 9 PM PST so he could have killed a ton of people on the east coast too. :)
 

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