Beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, the film will be showcased alongside a short film and trailers.
Advertised as “the night no one comes home,” a tagline alluding to the original Halloween’s “The night he came home,” the third film in the series shocked fans by not featuring the iconic villain Michael Myers. In fact, the film featured an entirely new cast and storyline.
Focused on a plot by the Silver Shamrock Novelties company to brainwash children across the country, “Season of the Witch” is described by horror movie fan site Nightmare Nostalgia as “witchcraft meets the computer age.”
According to a Den of Geek article by Jack Beresford, this shift in direction came directly from series creators Debra Hill and John Carpenter. As the story goes, the duo wanted the franchise to be an anthology, a series of unconnected films only linked by the date they take place.
Despite being a box office success, earning $14 million against its $2.5 million budget, the lack of the knife-wielding, William-Shatner mask-wearing killer earned the film a negative reputation among fans and critics.
In the Den of Geek article, “Season of the Witch” director Tommy Lee Wallace told Beresford “I knew we’d made a good movie and just felt we’d stumbled badly on its release.” He continued, saying “I think an ad campaign that would have explained what we were up to, that we were trying to start something new, really laying it out for the fans, might have helped.”
After its release, the Halloween franchise returned to the status quo with “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” and hasn’t looked back since. Despite multiple reboots and revivals, the series’ third entry has been rarely acknowledged outside of small nods and references.
However, in the decades since its release, “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” seen a critical reappraisal, becoming a cult classic of its era. The film has even appeared on multiple “Best Horror Movies of the ‘80s” lists, from outlets such as Slashfilm and Esquire.
The film’s newly earned reputation is shared by the Neon, with its website calling it “cleaver, unsettling and ahead of its time” and hailing it as “the perfect film to countdown to Halloween.”
Fans wearing their Halloween costume to the event will also get the chance to win a secret prize.
This event is the second in a duology presented by the Neon, with the previous Cult Movie Night showing the horror anthology “Trick ‘r Treat” earlier in the month.
Tickets for the event are $13 and can be purchased online. The film is also rated R, with intense imagery and adult content.
How to go
What: Cult Movie Night presents “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch”
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24
Location: The Neon, 130 E. Fifth St., Dayton
More info: neonmovies.com
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