It’s the Halloween season once again, and this year, there was no contest when it came to what horror franchise I’d be covering for this site’s annual Halloween post. With its newest installment set to hit theaters this weekend, it’s time to look at one of the most iconic horror franchises of all-time, and it’s the one franchise that the holiday season directly shares its name with, Halloween. It all began in 1978 with writer/director John Carpenter’s low-budget horror film about a man named Michael Myers who killed his older sister when he was a child, breaks out of the Sanitarium that he’s been locked up in, and embarks on a spree of killings in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Upon its release, the film became a staple of the horror genre and spawned numerous follow-ups that underwent a fascinating journey in terms of how they continued the story. But this year, writer/director David Gordon Green helms the latest installment of this series, once again simply titled Halloween, which sees Jamie Lee Curtis return to her role as series protagonist Laurie Strode. The most prominent aspect of this sequel, however, is that it will be ignoring the events of all the sequels and instead serve as a direct follow-up to Carpenter’s original film. Still, even with that in mind, today’s retrospective will be covering every single installment of this franchise so that we can go through the unique history of one of cinema’s most famous slashers. And yes, this includes everything; the franchise’s early installments, Carpenter and co-writer Debra Hill’s promising but failed attempt at an anthology series, not one but two different attempts to ‘revitalize’ the franchise, and Rob Zombie’s highly controversial remake and its sequel. Thus, without further ado, beware of the man in the William Shatner mask (and yes, for those who are new to the franchise, Michael Myers’ iconic mask was originally crafted from a mask of Shatner’s iconic Star Trek character James T. Kirk) as we look at the ten theatrically-released films that currently make up the Halloween franchise.
HALLOWEEN (1978)
The first time that I watched the original Halloween was on October 30th, 2014, when I saw it with my best friends Alex Corey and Danny LaPlante in theaters as a special re-release. By this point, I’d already seen plenty of horror films that have followed in the same narrative footsteps as John Carpenter’s iconic film. Despite this, though, this film still stands as one of the best films of its genre. Instead of relying on violent kills like many of the horror films that came after it, Carpenter instead goes for a horror film that’s light on the body count but is full of suspense from beginning to end, especially whenever we see things from Michael’s perspective (e.g. the opening sequence where a young Michael kills his older sister Judith). As you might have guessed, this helps give the film an incredibly eerie atmosphere that’s only strengthened further by having most of the action take place in a few houses on the same street. And then there are the outstanding performances from the two main leads, Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis. Pleasance, who was considered quite a steal for a low-budget horror film at the time, is fantastic as Michael’s psychiatrist Samuel Loomis, who goes all out, Van Helsing style, to ensure that his former patient is stopped once and for all. Curtis, meanwhile, is also excellent as main protagonist Laurie Strode, who gets put through the emotional wringer once she begins to be hunted by ‘The Shape’. Admittedly, the rest of the cast is more hit-or-miss, but with two strong lead performances and excellent direction from John Carpenter, there’s no denying that the original Halloween is still one of the most effective horror films ever made.
Rating: 4.5/5
HALLOWEEN II (THE ORIGINAL – 1981)
Three years later, Carpenter and producer/co-writer Debra Hill returned to the town of Haddonfield, Illinois for a follow-up, Halloween II, and unlike other sequels that often take place quite sometime after the original, this film takes place just a few hours after the events of the first film. As such, it does do a nice job of continuing the story, which sees Michael Myers escape his apparent demise at the hands of Dr. Loomis to hunt down Laurie at the local hospital. On that note, this film also introduced one of the series’ main plotlines by revealing that Laurie is really Michael’s younger sister before she was adopted by the Strode family following his arrest. While this plotline is set to be retconned for the upcoming film, it isn’t really that bad of a plot twist and did contribute to this franchise having its own identity compared to other classic horror franchises. As for the rest of the film, it’s mostly on par with the first film in terms of its overall quality. The new cast of characters are quite forgettable compared to Loomis and Laurie, but Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis are excellent once again in their respective roles. And while Halloween 2 does lose a bit of the effective suspense and atmosphere that made the first film the classic that it is, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any great suspenseful moments. It’s also worth noting that this film’s death scenes are a lot more graphic compared to those in the first film, which was presumably a decision made by Carpenter, who was not the director this time around. Instead, then-newcomer Rick Rosenthal stepped in to direct, and while his plan to have the sequel be more like the original was ultimately waylaid by Carpenter’s changes, he does do a solid job when it comes to following in his predecessor’s footsteps. Because of this, Halloween II is a respectable follow-up to the original film that served as a fitting conclusion to the story of Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis, and Laurie Strode… for about seven years…
Rating: 4/5
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
With Halloween II providing a very conclusive ending to the story of Michael Myers, Carpenter and Hill decided to take the series in a different direction by turning it into an anthology series a la The Twilight Zone. And thus, this sets the stage for Halloween III: Season of the Witch, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, who had previously served as the co-editor and production designer of the original Halloween and had even done some stunt work in the Michael Myers costume. Instead of being another Michael Myers film, the film instead revolves around a sinister plot by the owner of a Halloween mask company to stage a nationwide series of sacrifices, effectively bringing back the old Celtic rituals that the season originated from. If anything, this film does deserve a lot of credit for being its own unique thing instead of just rehashing the plots of the previous film. However, the overall execution is off in a few places. For starters, the film takes quite a while to properly get going, as it doesn’t really get into its main premise until about 30-40 minutes in. And while this main premise is an interesting one, its overall set-up (which involves the main antagonist utilizing energy from one of the Stonehenge pillars via a series of microchips) ultimately isn’t that well-developed. This also applies to the film’s secondary ‘plot twist’ revolving around another secret project that the main antagonist has been working on. Because of all this, Halloween III is a bit of a mess, though it is far from being the ‘worst’ of the franchise. And to be perfectly clear, none of this film’s shortcomings have to do with the fact that it doesn’t feature Michael Myers (something that, I assure you, always gets brought up in reviews for this film). Like I said before, the potential was there for an interesting new anthology series, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who would’ve loved to see this series go down that route. Ultimately, though, to compare this to another anthology series, this first attempt ends up being more like The Cloverfield Paradox instead of 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Rating: 2.5/5
HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
Halloween III proved to be a major dud with both critics and audiences who were confused by its complete lack of Michael Myers. And while it wasn’t necessarily a ‘box-office bomb’, it also ended up being the series’ lowest-grossing installment to date. Thus, without the direct involvement of John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the series revived its iconic villain in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The film establishes that Michael and Dr. Loomis survived their apparent demise at the end of Halloween II and sees the former embark on another murder spree ten years after the events of the original film to hunt down Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the daughter of Laurie Strode, who died prior to the events of the film. What follows is a far more traditional horror sequel that lacks a lot of the suspenseful atmosphere of the previous films. It does have its moments, however, including a solidly tense climax where the main characters find themselves trapped in a barricaded house with Michael. But then there’s also a lot of oddly over-the-top moments as well, usually due to the repeated use of slow-motion or whenever Michael commits an arguably ridiculous kill. At the very least, the lead duo of Jamie Lloyd and her stepsister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) are a very likable lead duo, with Danielle Harris making a solid first impression in her feature film debut. And, of course, there’s also Donald Pleasance returning as Dr. Loomis. Admittedly he doesn’t get that much to work with this time around, but he is still just as good as he’s always been in these films. In short, while Halloween 4 is as much of a ‘by-the-numbers’ horror sequel as you can find, it manages to coast by with some good lead performances and a few great suspenseful moments here and there.
Rating: 3/5
HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)
While Halloween 4 didn’t necessarily do that better than Halloween III at the box-office, it was clear that audiences were far more receptive towards it given the fact that it brought back Michael Myers as the main antagonist. Thus, the next film was immediately greenlit and released in theaters the following year… as such, you can tell that it was rather rushed. It doesn’t go forward with the previous film’s ‘cliffhanger’ ending in which it’s implied that Jamie Lloyd is becoming more like her uncle when she attacks her stepmother in a similar manner to when Michael killed his sister. Instead, it just has her coping with the traumatic events of the previous film. Now, to the film’s credit, aside from not addressing the ending of the previous film, it still does a decent job of continuing the story the same way that Halloween II did for the original film. However, it’s ultimately just as much of a basic horror film sequel as its predecessor, and in this case, this one is worse. Even with a meager 97-minute runtime, this film drags a lot, and that includes the ending in which Jamie Lloyd is being chased by Michael in his old home that’s ironically the best part of the film. It also doesn’t help that, along with having another bunch of generic supporting characters for Michael to kill off, Jamie Lloyd’s stepsister Rachel is killed off early on, robbing this film of the strong sisterly bond between the two that was a key aspect of Halloween 4. Thankfully, Danielle Harris is still excellent once again as Jamie Lloyd and Donald Pleasance is solid as usual as Dr. Loomis despite a few moments where he acts a bit out of character. Ultimately, though, Halloween 5 is the very definition of a mediocre sequel to the point where it even ended up doing worse financially at the box-office than Halloween III. Not only that, but this film ends up laying down the seeds for an even worse follow-up.
Rating: 2/5
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995)
(Disclaimer: The following review is for the film’s theatrical cut as it is the version that is included in the series’ Blu-Ray box-set that I own. I have, however, viewed scenes from the film’s infamous ‘Producer’s Cut’. Thus, both versions of the film will be discussed here.)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers serves as a conclusion to the story arc that first started in Halloween 4. Because of this, fans refer to films 4-6 as the ‘Thorn trilogy’ given the prominence of a thorn symbol in the latter two films. But while this film does address some of the mysteries that were left unanswered in Halloween 5… it’s also one of the worst films in the franchise. The plot is incredibly messy to the point of being incomprehensible. The reveal that Michael Myers’ actions were the result of an ancient Druidian curse that was laid in place by a cult, thus why he’s been killing all his blood relatives, severely diminishes the character’s long-standing portrayal as an unstoppable, emotionless killer. Other plot-threads are extremely underdeveloped as well, like the reveal that the leader of the cult is Loomis’ former associate Dr. Wynn, the cult’s efforts to kill the infant son of Jamie Lloyd (who’s killed off early), and moments where Danny Strode, the youngest of a group of relatives of Laurie’s adopted family, is starting to hear a voice telling him to kill people just like Michael. This film also suffers from some extremely poor editing, with some of the death scenes being nothing more than a series of flashing images and quick cuts. It also doesn’t help that this film boasts one of the series’ worst cast of characters, with the only saving grace being, of course, Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis in what would ultimately be his last film appearance. Sure, the main character Tommy Doyle, the kid who Laurie babysat in the first film and is now grown up, is played by none other than Paul Rudd in his feature film debut, but Doyle’s extreme obsession over Myers following the events of the original film makes him a little too weird to be likable. Plus, let’s just say that, performance-wise, Rudd got better as the years went on. With all this in mind, Halloween 6 is nothing short of a train wreck, as it does a piss-poor job of trying to continue this franchise.
But, of course, that’s not the end of the story. The film that I just described was the theatrical cut of Halloween 6, which underwent an extremely notorious production that ended up having to go through major reshoots when the initial ‘Producer’s Cut’ was rejected by test audiences. It wasn’t until recently that this version of the film was finally given an official release, and while some feel that it’s the superior cut of Halloween 6, it also has its own share of problems. Most of the reshoots ended up giving Michael Myers a more substantial role in the climax. By comparison, the producer’s cut severely limits him to the point where he doesn’t kill anybody. Plus, it then establishes that the father of Jamie Lloyd’s baby is none other than Michael himself… yes, seriously. This version also gives more for Donald Pleasance to do, as he passed away prior to the reshoots and a lot of his scenes in the theatrical cut were removed as director Joe Chappelle found him to be ‘too boring’. But it also ends on a mediocre cliffhanger where Loomis is set up to take Wynn’s place as the leader of the cult, which obviously must’ve been scrapped following Pleasance’s death. In other words, neither version of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is any good. The Producer’s Cut may give off a more Gothic feel, but its plot twists are terribly handled. And while the theatrical cut gives Michael Myers a more prominent role in its proceedings, it’s still poorly edited and the narrative cuts end up making the film even more incoherent than it already is. Thus, it’s easy to see why this film effectively killed the franchise for a few years as it was very clear at this point that it was running on fumes.
Rating: 1/5
Following the, for lack of a better term, horrendous turnout of Halloween 6, the series was effectively rebooted with a film that straight-up ignored the events of the previous three films. Ultimately, though, the film’s biggest coup was the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween II. Set 20 years after the events of the original film (hence the admittedly awkward H20 title), Laurie is now the headmistress of a secluded boarding school in California, having faked her death to avoid being found again by Michael. But, as she has long feared, her brother ends up coming back to try and kill her once more… this time, however, she’s ready for him, and as you might have guessed, the biggest selling point of this film truly is Jamie Lee Curtis’ triumphant return to the franchise that started her career in the first place. Seeing Laurie evolve from being the timid survivor of the first two films to a more confident woman who manages to fend off her murderous brother makes the film’s finale one of the most satisfyingly entertaining sequences in the franchise’s history. There are also some solid performances from the film’s supporting cast, which include Josh Hartnett as Laurie’s son John, Michelle Williams in one of her earliest film roles as John’s girlfriend Molly, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother Janet Leigh (AKA the OG ‘scream queen’ from Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal classic Psycho) as Laurie’s secretary Norma. After the previous trilogy of films produced several bland supporting characters, this one manages to have one of the series’ better ensemble casts overall, even if a few of them are still just your basic bunch of traditional horror film characters.
With that said, though, admittedly it can be argued that the film is rather light on its horror elements, mostly opting for a bunch of cheap jump-scares. It should be noted that parts of the screenplay were influenced by Kevin Williamson, who of course wrote 1996’s Scream, which effectively revived the slasher genre that the original Halloween kick-started back in 1978. And while he ultimately wasn’t one of this film’s credited writers due to rewrites that nixed his plans to maintain continuity with the previous three films, he was still involved as an executive producer. Plus, the film was directed by veteran filmmaker Steve Miner, who directed the second and third Friday the 13th films along with several episodes of Williamson’s hit show Dawson’s Creek, which coincidentally starred Michelle Williams in one of the lead roles. As such, there are a few instances in this film where it does manage to give off some of the same self-aware vibes that were one of the definitive aspects of Scream. Despite this, though, the film doesn’t quite reach the same suspenseful heights of the original film. At the end of the day, it’s mostly worth watching just to see Laurie finally fight back against Michael, which she does in spectacular fashion. But for what it’s worth, Halloween H20 is easily the best of the Halloween sequels since Halloween II, and thanks to the welcome return of Jamie Lee Curtis, it served as a respectable follow-up to the original that was poised to be a fitting finale to the series after everything that it went through. However, as we’d soon find out, that ultimately wouldn’t be the case…
Rating: 3.5/5
HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002)
After a string of increasingly mediocre sequels, Halloween H20 was very much a return to form for the series, but most importantly, it ended in a way that could effectively end it once and for all. However, it was also the highest-grossing entry in the series to date, and four years later, its ending was officially retconned in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection. And as you might have guessed… this is a low point for the franchise. It’s truly saying something when the high point of this film is Jamie Lee Curtis’ last major appearance in the franchise until the 2018 reboot… and yet Laurie is killed off just 15 minutes into the film. After that, we follow the series’ worst cast of characters (yes, even worse than Halloween 6) on a reality show streamed online as they explore Michael Myers’ old house, clearly capitalizing on the found-footage craze that had begun to set in thanks to 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. Granted, it does give the film somewhat of a different spin to its proceedings compared to the previous installments, but it’s all for naught when you don’t give a single crap about any of these horribly cliched characters. And how does it all end? With Michael Myers, one of the most famous horror antagonists of all-time, getting his ass kicked by a kung-fu fighting Busta Rhymes (yes, seriously…). Simply put, this film is cheesy to an embarrassing degree. Sure, it might have had the distinction of being the second entry in the series to be directed by Rick Rosenthal (who, of course, directed Halloween II), but this in no way saves the film from being one of the cheapest horror sequels ever made. And just like Halloween 6, it effectively killed the franchise, thus paving the way for…
Rating: 0.5/5
HALLOWEEN (THE REMAKE – 2007)
Five years after the Halloween franchise hit rock bottom, musician turned filmmaker Rob Zombie helmed the inevitable remake of John Carpenter’s original film. However, while Carpenter did request that Zombie ‘make it his own’ when the two met prior to filming, ultimately the film isn’t that far off from the original film. The biggest difference between the two films is that the remake starts off with scenes of a young Michael Myers and his family to go into detail over the events that led to him becoming a psychopathic murderer. Ultimately, though, these scenes don’t really add much. As someone who isn’t big on the horror genre, I don’t think that this backstory completely ‘ruins’ Michael Myers like I know a lot of people feel about it, but at the same time, it doesn’t make the character any more interesting than he was in the previous films. And after that, the film then goes for a straightforward redo of all the key moments of the original Halloween with just a few cosmetic differences here and there (e.g. unlike the original, this one immediately establishes that Laurie is Michael’s sister). The only thing that sets it apart from the original is that Zombie’s version is far more gratuitous in terms of both the kills and nudity to make it more in line with the recent horror films that were being made at the time. Thus, this new take on Halloween really doesn’t have any of the subtlety of the original and gives off a far more mean-spirited tone overall. However, despite everything that I’ve just said here, I don’t think that it’s ‘terrible’. If anything, it never really drags at any point despite it boasting a far longer runtime than any of the previous films.
Plus, there are some good performances from the cast. The biggest standout is Malcolm McDowell, who proves to be an excellent successor to Donald Pleasance in the role of Dr. Loomis. And while McDowell’s take on the character is more reserved than Pleasance, he still does a great job with this rendition of the character. By comparison, Scout Taylor-Compton isn’t quite as good as Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of Laurie Strode (despite being more ‘animated’ than Curtis’ take on the character) but she still does a decent enough job with what she’s given. Aside from the two leads, there are also a few notable supporting roles as well. Zombie’s wife Sheri Moon is quite good in the role of Michael’s long-suffering mother Deborah, who’s quite easily one of the sanest and most sympathetic characters in a film that’s full of folks who are arguably even more sadistic than Michael himself. Brad Dourif, who of course played a different iconic horror villain as Chucky in the Child’s Play films, does a good job in the role of Sheriff Brackett, and as for his daughter Annie, she happens to be played by Jamie Lloyd from Halloween 4 and 5, Danielle Harris, who’s just as solid here as she was in those films. In short, Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween is… ‘okay’. Back in 2010 when I was still writing film reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, I gave this film a generally positive review. However, it should be noted that this was back during a time when I hadn’t even seen John Carpenter’s original film. Since then, I’ve obviously now watched the original Halloween and it goes without saying that it is the far superior take on this story. At the end of the day, though, as much of a ‘trashy B-film’ as this one is, it’s far from being the worst remake of a horror classic.
Rating: 2.5/5
HALLOWEEN II (THE REMAKE’S SEQUEL – 2009)
Despite the negative reception towards Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween, it was a hit at the box-office, and thus, Zombie and crew returned for a follow-up in 2009. And save for a sequence that mirrors the previous Halloween II by being set at a hospital, this Halloween II is, at the very least, not just a straight-forward remake of the 1981 sequel as was the case with the second half of its predecessor. Zombie was clearly given the opportunity to do his own Halloween film this time around without having to directly rely on anything from other installments of the series. However, that’s really the only positive thing that I can say about this film because… oh boy. Like the previous film, Zombie’s Halloween II sports one hell of a mean streak with its wide collection of despicable characters. Even previously likable characters like Dr. Loomis and, yes, even Laurie Strode (AKA the main protagonist of the film) aren’t sympathetic this time around. And while I will say that this film does boast more of an artistic vibe to it compared to the previous film, a lot of it just comes off as being visually ugly to look at due to an extremely grimy visual aesthetic that was also apparent in the first film but is more problematic here. It also doesn’t help that this film has an extremely mediocre plot that often veers into nonsensical territory with a bunch of fantasy sequences that often make no sense. Because of all this, I can safely say that this iteration of Halloween II is easily the worst entry in the Halloween franchise. Even Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween: Resurrection, AKA the other ‘worst’ installments of this series, have a bit more to them compared to this, which is ultimately up there with the likes of Darren Aronofsky’s Mother and Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch as one of the worst films that I’ve ever seen. In fact, all three of these films coincidentally serve as prime examples of what happens when you let a director’s creative vision go way too far.
Rating: 0.5/5
And that concludes this retrospective on the Halloween franchise. Yeah, it didn’t necessarily end on the best of notes considering that it concluded with what is now one of the worst films that I’ve ever seen, but if anything, this serves as a great example of what I love about doing retrospectives like this. They provide a unique look at how a franchise has evolved over the years in both good and bad ways. And thankfully, the new Halloween film from David Gordon Green is getting a lot of good buzz, so I think it’s safe to say that fans of the franchise will be getting what might end up being the best follow-up yet to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic. And yes, you can expect a review of the new Halloween sometime in the next few days. Until then, be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own thoughts on this iconic horror franchise.
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