October 23, 1982, a man shows up at the gas station of Walter Jones (Essex Smith). Clutched in his hand is a Halloween mask. He whispers the words “They’re coming, they’re coming” and then falls unconscious to the floor. Jones puts him in his tow truck and takes him to the hospital. The man is Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry). Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) is called in to attend to him. When a commercial for Silver Shamrock Halloween masks comes on a nearby television, Harry becomes agitated and tells Daniel “They’re going to kill us all”. Later that night, a man dressed in a suit comes into the hospital and kills him. The man then calmly walks out, gets in his car and lights himself on fire.
Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) contacts Daniel to find out what happened to her father. Daniel tells her about Harry’s cryptic warning. She tells Daniel that her father owned a novelty store and went to a mask factory to pick up some Halloween masks. The factory is located in a small town called Santa Mira, California. She believes that something happened to him in Santa Mira. She convinces Daniel to go with her to investigate.
The Silver Shamrock Novelties Company is the main business in town. Daniel and Ellie get a room at the local motel so they can scope things out. They pose as a married couple checking on an order for masks. According to one disgruntled resident, the owner of the company is Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy). Cochran built the company and brought with him all the employees. No one working at the factory was from Santa Mira. Also staying at the motel are Buddy Kupfer (Ralph Strait), his wife, Betty (Jadeen Barbor) and their son, Little Buddy (Brad Schacter). Buddy is being honored for selling more masks than anyone in the country.
The next day Daniel and Ellie are at the factory looking for clues. Buddy and his family are also there. Cochran gives the Kupfer family a tour of the factory. Buddy asks if Daniel and Ellie can join them. The tour proves to be informative and deadly.
“Halloween III: Season of the Witch” was released in 1982 and was written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. It is an American horror move produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Although it is third in the Halloween franchise, the story line differs greatly from all the other films in the series. Unfortunately, the film didn’t do very well at the box office. Carpenter and Hill sold the rights to the franchise and Michael Meyers was brought back for the remaining Halloween films. In addition to not featuring Michael Meyers, it also deals with witchcraft instead of the slasher style film. Although it didn’t do well at first, it has since developed a cult following.
Nancy Kyes, who played Daniel’s ex-wife Linda, also played the teenager Annie in “Halloween” 1978 and Sandy Fadel in “The Fog” 1980. Nancy went by the name Nancy Loomis in both of the other John Carpenter films. Nancy was married to Tommy Lee Wallace and was pregnant with her first child during the making of the film. Jamie Lee Curtis did the voice of the Santa Mira curfew announcer and the telephone operator. Director Tommy Lee Wallace provided the voice of the Silver Shamrock Commercial Announcer. Tom Atkins and Garn Stephens (who played Marge Guttman) were husband and wife at the time. The town of Santa Mira, California was also the name of the town in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” 1956. The fluid coming out of the robots' mouths is orange juice concentrate.