10 Killer Horror Films Now Streaming On Shudder

10. Halloween III: Season Of The Watch

The last Halloween picture overseen by John Carpenter, Season of the Witch takes place in Santa Mira, the fictional setting for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), which ought to tip off viewers that something sinister is happening.

Sure enough, Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy) is preparing the ultimate Halloween prank – masks containing a slither of a Stonehenge monolith that, when activated by a TV signal, turn the wearer’s head into a writhing pile of insects, worms and snakes. Having watched the commercialization of Samhain, Cochran’s plan will turn the clock back 3000 years to a time when the Celtic gods were appeased with sacrifice.

As on the previous films, Dean Cundey was the Director of Photography, and he gives the film the same eerie mood he brought to The Fog and The Thing, a look jettisoned by later sequels in favour of cheap shocks. Also among the cast are Dick Warlock (Michael Myers in Halloween II), Nancy Loomis (Annie in Halloween) and, as the voice of the curfew announcer, Jamie Lee Curtis. Halloween itself gets a cameo, seen on TV before Cochran’s broadcast.

They don't make them like this anymore, so check this out if you're in the mood for old school thrills.