After the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween the producer’s looked to try and capitalize on their success by exploring “More of the night He came home.” Carpenter wasn’t interested in continuing the story of Michael Myers but decided to co-write the script with Debra Hill and come on as a producer. He offered the directing job to Halloween editor & production designer Tommy Lee Wallace. Wallace shared Carpenter’s opinion that there wasn’t much more that could be done with the character or story and once the emphasis was placed on upping the blood and less on story by the studio Wallace bowed out.
After Halloween II was a success at the box office they looked into starting Halloween III. Again Wallace was offered the directing job but this time it was different. There was a clean slate and he could do what ever he wanted as long as it was based around the holiday of Halloween. It was decided by Carpenter and Hill that they would continue the Halloween series without Michael Myers but have a brand new story with every new film all based around the holiday of Halloween. This was a very exciting idea that peaked Wallace’s interest.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch was filmed in Northern and Southern California over 36 days in the fall of 1982 with a budget of 2.5 million dollars.
The film opens with Harry Grimbridge running down a road away from a freeway overpass. That freeway is the I-5 freeway and he is running towards the junkyard which is located at 14838 San Fernando Road in Sylmar. The opening titles say that this is Northern California but it is in fact Southern California.
The gas station he runs to is just down the road located at 22124 Sierra Highway in Sylmar. This is where Harry Grimbridge passes out in the arms of the station attendant and where the film’s finale takes place as Dr. Challis screams “Stop it!”
The hospital Dr. Challis works at was a small clinic in Pasadena that no longer exists. This was also used for the interior shots of the hospital in Halloween II.
Next we head to Sierra Madre, California. This area has had some major John Carpenter activity in the 1980’s. The cemetery from Halloween, the church from The Fog and the town square from Halloween II were all filmed in this section of Sierra Madre.
We begin at the bar where Ellie Grimbridge finds Dr. Challis tossing a few back. This is the Buccaneer located at 70 West Sierra Madre Blvd.
As you can see the entrance has been changed but not much else. All of the buccaneer paintings are still there including the large mural behind the bar. Even the bar stools are the same.
They then leave and head to her father’s store. I asked director Tommy Lee Wallace about this location and he believes it was one of the little shops located in Kersting Court but the exact location isn’t certain.
Next we see Dr. Challis making a phone call to his wife. This is in the town square at Kersting Court in Sierra Madre in between West Sierra Madre Blvd and South Baldwin Avenue. The pay phone is almost in the exact spot where Lance Warlock (the kid with the boom box) bumps into his father Dick Warlock (Michael Myers) in Halloween II.
As the camera pans away from the phone booth it lands on the front of a television shop and all the television sets in the window begin to play the Silver Shamrock commercial. Today this store front is home to a Domino’s Pizza located at 17 Kersting Court.
Halloween III pays homage to the original 1955 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Coincidentally this very section of Kersting Court was also used in that film when Kevin McCarthy discovers the town’s people unloading the pods from the trucks.
Now we head about eleven hours away to Northern California to the fictitious town of Santa Mira which in real life is Loleta, California.
Our first stop in Loleta is Rafferty’s Deluxe gas station located at 2457 Eel River Drive.
Just next door is the Rose of Shannon Motel. This is no longer a motel but small apartments located at 2457 Eel River Drive.
The rear of the hotel where Dr. Challis makes his escape.
Next we look at a couple of key locations from around town. First is the Dublin Inn which was located at 366 Main Street. Today there is just an empty lot with a bush covered fence where it once stood. I was told by a local that it had burnt down in the late 80’s.
The phone booth Dr. Challis hides in next to the Dublin Inn was still there when I first visited Loleta back in 1998 but is gone today. You can see the Gilded Rose Tavern located at 512 Main Street in the background.
The walkway where one of the assassins watches Dr. Challis and Ellie pass by in the car is right next door to Blue Coach Antiques at 364-A Main Street.
The store where Dr. Challis buys his booze is located at 356 Main Street.
Dr. Challis and Ellie park across the street staring at the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory.
Also across the street from the factory is the Loleta Cheese Factory located at 252 Loleta Drive. The Loleta Cheese Factory is currently what the town is known for today. The Loleta Cheese Factory opened just months after filming in late 1982.
Last but not least the infamous Silver Shamrock Novelties mask factory. It is actually the Humboldt Creamery located at 281 Loleta Drive.
The dairy industry has always played as important role in the history of Loleta.
The Creamery Association in Loleta was established in 1893 as the Diamond Springs
Creamery, a co-operative of the Golden State Creamery. Today, known as a division of the Humboldt Creamery, Loleta’s creamery has known several owners, company names, and produced various dairy products. The creamery has known as many as seven names before the Humboldt Creamery Association bought it in the late 1980s. Milk, cheese, condensed milk, butter, casein, and powder ice cream mix are many of the products the creamery has produced over its many years of operation.
Probably the most well known product is a powdered milk marketed under the brand
name of “Milkman.” Milkman is a high quality powdered milk which was developed at
the Loleta plant by Golden State in the 1950s and 1960s and was produced there up until the factory ceased operations in January of 2008. Currently it only being used for storage for its products made off site.
The interior of the factory was filmed at the old Don Post Studios mask factory in Los Angeles.
The exterior rear of the factory is also the rear of the Humboldt Creamery in Loleta.
It was very cool to see that the original NO ADMITTANCE lettering was still on the doors of the Final Processing room.
To the left of the front of the factory is the area where Dr. Challis breaks in. This area is fenced off and really overgrown with weeds which made getting these last couple of pictures very difficult. You can also see that the awning above the NO.9 DOOR sign is no longer there nor is the platform Dr. Challis was walking on.
With the factory ceasing operations after being open over a century the fate of the building is unknown. I spoke to one of the lone employees working there that day and he said most of the building is in such disrepair that sections are off limits for safety reasons. He said he would be surprised if it wasn’t torn down.
It would be a sad day for Halloween III fans if the iconic building that looms large over the small town of Loleta was torn down. Let’s hope it’s historical significance is enough to keep it around for years to come.
