Halloween 3 : The 30th Anniversary Silver Shamrock Edition Blu-ray!

Back in 1982, a very interesting decision was made in regards to the Halloween franchise that Michael Myers made famous.  Ya see, John Carpenter never planned on turning Halloween into a franchise, but decided to write a sequel after the surprise success of the little low budget indie hit.  So after the star of the show was 'killed off' at the end of the sequel, Carpenter decided that he only wanted to have involvement in the third part if it tried something new with the Halloween name, and shed the Shatner faced villain completely.

Thus, Halloween 3 was born, which was set to be the first of several Halloween franchise installments that were centered around the holiday, but had nothing to do with Michael Myers and his slashing ways (which I would've loved to have seen).  Not surprisingly, fans and critics alike weren't pleased with 'the shape' being replaced by a mad mask maker who set out to kill as many children on Halloween as possible, with the help of latex, robots and fragments of Stonehenge, and subsequent Halloween installments returned to form, with Michael Myers going around killing teens.

For years, Season Of The Witch has remained the bastard of the bunch when it comes to the Halloween franchise, with many horror fans simply unable to look past the fact that it's called Halloween 3, and yet doesn't have Michael Myers in it.  And for years, I have tirelessly defended the film, in an attempt to turn on as many people to it as possible, and help get out there a simple message; It's OK to love Halloween 3.  Michael won't be mad at you.

Ya see, Halloween 3 is a terrific piece of 80's awesomeness, with the only downside to the film being that it is a part of the Halloween franchise.  The bottom line is that fans of the previous two installments in the franchise went/go into this one expecting more of the same, and when they don't get that, they're incredibly disappointed and enraged.  'Where the hell is Michael Myers?!' they say.  'This shit aint motherfucking Halloween!!', they scream.

Now it's funny because so many people are completely in love with even the worst of the Halloween sequels, the ones that go through the same old dull routines, but they can't seem to embrace and allow themselves to fall in love with this one, simply because it strays from the stalk 'n slash formula.  To that I say, get over yourself.  Every horror fan is always annoyed with formulaic sequels and unoriginal movies, and yet when filmmakers try new things, those same people get pissed off.  Lay off it.  And enjoy the film for what it is; something entirely new and different.  Go into Halloween 3 pretending it's titled Season Of The Witch, and knowing that it has nothing to do with Michael Myers killing people, and I challenge you to not fall in love with the movie.

That's the way I've always felt about the film, an opinion which I am happy to see more and more horror fans coming to agree with me on.  How do I know this?  Because Scream Factory just released the film on Collector's Edition DVD & Blu-ray today, and the internet horror community has been absolutely abuzz with excitement about it.  'Halloween 3!! Holy shit, I love Halloween 3!!'  It makes me so happy to see that finally, 30 years later, the film is starting to be embraced the way it damn well deserves to be.  So yea, that's awesome, even if I did kinda dig it being that movie that I loved, but everyone else seemed to hate.

So then.  Scream Factory's new Silver Shamrock Edition of Halloween 3 ... let's take a look at what the Blu-ray version has to offer, shall we?!

First off, gotta give serious props to Scream for the incredible cover art, which comes courtesy of artist Nathan Thomas Milliner.  Is that beautiful or what?  The art is featured on a slipcase as well as on the cover of the disc box itself.  Now what's coolest about this release is that Scream Factory has taken a page out of Arrow Video's playbook, by having reversible cover art, which allows you to show off either Milliner's new art, or the original poster art for the film.  As seen above, you can even give love to both at the same time, by having the case with the original art housed inside the slipcover with the new art.  Always great to see distribution companies go that extra mile with their releases, as it's the little bells and whistles that really make a release stand out.

Happy to say that Halloween 3 looks terrific on Blu-ray.  I actually was fortunate enough to see the film back in 2010 on the big screen, in 35mm, and it was as much of a pleasure to watch this disc as it was to watch that print.  The idea with a Blu-ray disc is to get the film to look as close to a 35mm print as you can get, so that's pretty much the highest praise I can give this disc.  There is some digital smoothing of the print going on here, but it only serves to help make the film look better than ever, rather than impact it in any negative way.  You can see every freckle on Tom Atkins' back as he makes love to Stacey Nelkin, and that's a gosh darn beautiful thing.

Speaking of Tom Atkins, one of the big highlights of this disc is an Atkins commentary, which every movie ever made should come equipped with (whether Atkins is in it or not).  I listened to that commentary tonight, and it was a real treat to kick back with a couple pumpkin beers and watch Halloween 3 with Atkins, as he tells stories about his life, his career and his experiences making the movie.  He's oftentimes talking about other movies, rather than this movie (a solid 10 minutes is spent talking about The Ninth Configuration), but it's Atkins and Atkins can do what Atkins wants to do.  There's also a commentary on the disc with director Tommy Lee Wallace, which I'll likely be listening to before Halloween passes this year!

The other big highlight of the disc is a nice little 33 minute making of documentary called Stand Alone, which features interviews and recollections from most of the members of the main cast and crew (including the actor who played 'little buddy'!).  What's really awesome about this, and about all the features on the disc, is that no previous home video release of the film has come packaged with any bonus features.  So this was really the first time I've ever heard any of these people talking about the movie, which was another real pleasure of this release.

Also included is a 20 minute Horror's Hallowed Grounds segment, where host Sean Clark takes us on a tour of the filming locations.  Horror's Hallowed Grounds started as an online feature, which made its way into HorrorHound Magazine, and is now starting to pop up as a DVD special feature, which is pretty cool to see.  I'm totally fascinated by movie filming locations, so I love this kinda stuff.  Tommy Lee Wallace even pops up and hangs out with Sean for the majority of the tour.

Rounding out the features are three vintage TV spots, as well as a still photo gallery and a couple trailers.  Do want to mention that the DVD version of this release has all the same features.

Scream Factory's Halloween 3 Silver Shamrock Edition is the epitome of the total Blu-ray package; awesome original art, great new bonus features and a beautiful transfer.  So happy to see Halloween 3 get this loving treatment, and for it to be re-introduced to audiences in such an incredible and respectful way.  If you're a fan of the movie, you NEED this disc.  If you're not a fan of the movie, you need to buy it anyway, and become a fan.  Stop denying yourself the pleasures of a true 80's gem!!
 

Thank you, Scream Factory, for understanding the importance of giving beloved horror films the love, care and respect of a release such as this.  If only all my favorite horror movies could be so lucky!