a review of 月光光心慌慌3：女巫季节

HOOPTOBER 4.0 NIGHT THREE + PODCAST MACABRE 2025 CATEGORY 31: DEBRA HILL Never really ventured further into the classic Halloweens than the first two, but Halloween III always seemed like an interesting curio based on it being the only one to go along with Carpenter and Hill's original anthology concept for the series. It's kind of a weird mixed-bag entry, on one hand the kind of blatantly silly plot hook that you'd expect to see in a kiddie horror thing like Goosebumps or Who's Afraid of the Dark, but executed with a certain gritty R-rated panache. The opening minutes with Tom Atkins as a hard-boiled/HR-problematic doctor at a poorly-lit hospital feels like an early Garth Marenghi inspiration, although this quickly gives way to more of creepy road trip/small-town mystery feel. Dan O'Herlihy has a great villain turn that makes the most of his particular combo of patrician authority and odd warmth. Ultimately, the movie and its critique of American mass-market advertising culture feels like an imperfect rough draft for Carpenter's THEY LIVE, which captured dynamics that aren't really in this movie's purview.