The third Halloween film tells about an evil corporation who plan to use their Halloween masks to kill millions of children in sort of pagan ritual. Your reaction to that is probably similar to general audiences at the time; where's Michael Myers? After Halloween II properly rounded off the Michael Myers story (both the killer and Sam Loomis are dead) series' creator John Carpenter was finished with the character. Universal naturally wanted to bleed the Halloween name for all they could, but Carpenter only agreed to help if the story was something different. Thus the idea of Halloween as a horror anthology series was created; Season Of The Witch was going to be the first in a run of self-contained stories under the Halloween banner. Audiences were not at all pleased that Myers had been written out, so while the film was a box office success it had a woefully negative reputation. Shunned by fans and the franchise itself, the only official recognition that it even exists is that the The Return of Michael Myers was called the fourth film. Recent years, however, have brought about a reevaluation of the film, with its commentary on consumerism feeling much fresher than the generic slasher action we've become accustomed to from the series.
