Skulls                                                                               (Photo/wiki)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 horror film and the third installment in the Halloween series.  John Carpenter is still a part of this film, but this time is one of the many producers.

The film is directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin and Dan O'Herlihy and is based on an original screenplay by Nigel Kneale focusing on an evil scheme by the owner of a mask company to kill the children of America on Halloween night by using a series of popular Halloween masks - a witch, a jack-o'-lantern, and a skull.

Season of the Witch is unrelated to the previous films featuring the character Michael Myers. The only connection this movie has with the others in the series is a scene where the trailer for Halloween is on TV.

This film abandons the Michael Myers plotline and departs from the slasher film genre which the original Halloween spawned in 1978. The focus on a psychopathic killer is replaced by a "mad scientist and witchcraft" theme.

The main cast is Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin and Dan O'Herlihy. 

Tom Atkins is a television and film actor and his familiar face to viewers is because he is often seen playing police officers.

Atkins starred in two films directed by John Carpenter.  He appeared as Nick Castle in the 1980 ghost story The Fog and as Rehme in the 1981 sci-fi thriller Escape from New York. He also starred as Dr. Dan Challis in the sequel Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Detective Ray Cameron is who Atkins played in the 1986 cult horror film Night of the Creeps, a role he calls his very favorite. He is well known to movie goers for his role as Michael Hunsaker in the 1987 hit film Lethal Weapon. In television, Atkins played Lt. Alex Diehl in the 1970s television series The Rockford Files. He reprised his role of Commander Diehl for a series of Rockford Files movies in the 1990s.

Atkins has also made numerous guest appearances on many popular television shows, including M*A*S*H, Baretta, Harry O, The Fall Guy, Xena: Warrior Princess, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Stage acting is also a talent of TomAtkins.  He performs at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, there he plays the one-man show "The Chief," in which he depicted the late founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney. He appeared on Broadway in David Storey's The Changing Room, for which he received the 1973 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer.

In 2009 Atkins had a supporting role as a retired sheriff in the remake My Bloody Valentine 3D.