The final moments of Halloween II had been intended to kill off Michael Myers for good, but the film's box office success all but guaranteed another sequel. The only way creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill could be lured back for another entry was with the promise that they could come up with an entirely new story that had no ties whatsoever to the previous films.
Unfortunately, their attempt to transition into an anthology format didn't sit well with audiences and Halloween III: Season of the Witch was a critical and commercial disappointment. In the decades since its original release, this black sheep transformed into a dark horse and became one of the more beloved installments.
On this episode, we're examining all of the initial miscalculations the filmmakers made about audience expectations, charting the movie's ascent to cult status, and seeing how it holds up when evaluated on its own terms.