Every Halloween Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

There are some who will question this film coming up so high in the list. For many, Halloween III: Season of the Witch was a betrayal, a sequel in name only that bears no relation to any films that came before or after, and only briefly shows Michael Myers in one scene - in a TV commercial for the original Halloween. However, while Halloween III is without doubt an oddity, it's a fascinating and endearing one, and in its own way the weirdest and nastiest entry in the whole franchise.

As we've established, John Carpenter had been reluctant to make a Halloween sequel, so instead sought to advance the series by taking a new approach, presenting unrelated horror stories whose only common ground was being set around October 31st. To this end he and Debra Hill enlisted Tommy Lee Wallace to write and direct this bizarre tale of a novelties manufacturer who are secretly a dark pagan cult, planning to slaughter the children of America via their cursed Halloween masks.

The film may seem to play its bizarre premise a bit too straight, but once you get on its wavelength it proves an enjoyable ride, thanks in no small part to an endearing turn from always-reliable leading man Tom Atkins. Plus, the shockingly bleak conclusion remains quite the eye-opener. How different the rest of the franchise might have been had they carried on down this path.