Halloween is a property of many timelines, and perhaps the loneliest of them all is the one occupied by Halloween III: Season of the Witch. As the only Michael Myers-free installment of the whole horror franchise, the standalone 1982 film was an attempt to rebrand the slasher saga as an anthology series, and fans and critics alike didn’t much care for the change of pace.
After the hostile response received by this departure, the franchise ultimately resumed its regularly scheduled programming with 1988’s tellingly titled Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. In the year’s since, however, the defenders of this red-headed stepchild have only grown in numbers, and among them is apparently writer-director Brandon Tobatto, who pays tribute to this divisive cult flick with his own short sequel, named Return of the Witch.
The 27-minute film is now up on YouTube and available for your enjoyment:
Tobatto has previously offered the following synopsis, which suggests that just as Blumhouse’s new Halloween introduced us to the daughter and granddaughter of Laurie Strode, Return of the Witch also sees the horror pass down between generations:
“After finally coming to terms with the fact that his family’s legacy has been forever tarnished by the events of Halloween 1982, Connor Cochran, grandson of Conal Cochran and heir to the ‘Silver Shamrock’ company, has decided to re-emerge from the shadows and rid the world of the stigma it has placed upon his family name. With this new ‘Shamrock Unlimited’ brand looming over the nation, will Connor Cochran right the wrongs of his grandfather… or FINISH what Conal Cochran started all those years ago?”
Of course, if you see yourself as more of a Halloween traditionalist, there’s a Michael Myers movie in cinemas right now that’s faring well critics and even better with audiences. With a domestic total of over $120 million and counting, David Gordon Green’s film is now the highest-grossing slasher movie of all time, ensuring that while the Season of the Witch may have come and gone, the masked murder that started this whole property still has at least one more October night left in him.
Published: Oct 29, 2018 09:48 pm