So another October is rapidly coming to a close, as is my annual obsession with Horror movies. As was reflected in my columns, this year I went headlong into the Halloween franchise, which was an interesting experience to say the least. A Slasher series, such as Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street, is usually a very predictable undertaking. Once you’ve seen one entry from the films, the sequels don’t usually stray very far from their source. Halloween seems to very much be the exception to this rule.
The first film is a bona-fide classic, made with passion and craftsmanship from a great director, John Carpenter. This movie kick-started the Slasher genre, which blossomed all the way through the 80’s and 90’s. The second movie was only half as successful at the box office, but still managed to gross ten times what it cost to make. The movie may have started what could be seen as a downward slide in the films, but it was still an entertaining entry into the genre.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch Starring Tom Atkins and Stacey Nelkin. Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace.
With the third Halloween film, there seem to be two differing camps of opinion. After directing the first and then writing the second film, John Carpenter was content to simply produce the series’ third movie. In a bold move, Halloween III had no connection to the rest of the series. There was no Michael Myers or Laurie Strode, instead we were given a film that resembled the paranoia films of the 1950’s and 60’s such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Carpente’s friend Tommy Lee Wallace, the editor of the first movie, directed the film about a company developing a series of popular Halloween masks that are really a power of great evil. The movie has some very goofy machinations, such as an emphasis on robots, but can also be considered an effective exploitation of the popular myths surrounding Halloween. Most consider the movie a complete failure due to its departure from the series’ formula.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Starring Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell. Directed by Dwight H. Little.
The films went back to being independently produced with the series return in 1998. Ten years after the first movie, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers made a pretty decent splash at the box office, and is a decent example of a Slasher picture. Well made, with a terrific twist ending, the movie follows the story of Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) the young orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode, who ends up being hunted by her uncle, Michael, who has come home to Haddonfield to finish off his bloodline.
Filled with gore and a bit of nudity, Halloween 4 may take a low road conceptually, but delivered what fans wanted to see. The film even produced Ellie Cornell’s Rachel Carruthers, who was a smart, more virtuous heroine who risked life and limb as she protected her adopted sister Jamie. Donald Pleasance also returned as the obsessed Sam Loomis, creeping out all in his path on his way to trying to stop Michael.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers Starring Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell. Directed by Dwight H. Little.
Executive Producer Moustapha Akkad, who had bought the rights to the film series, was so pleased with the success of the fourth sequel that he immediately ordered a fifth film, which would come out the following year. Rushed out into theaters far too early, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, was a big let down financially and critically. Whatever had worked in the previous film was completely disregarded in this new movie, as the film’s twist was virtually ignored in favor of more blood and gore. Arguably, this is the worst film in the series, with even standout Donald Pleasance taking Dr. Loomis too over the top.
Halloween 5 is filled with some of the worst characters of the whole run, making you root more for Michael more than anyone else. Unfortunately, this makes any tension the film may have had moot by the time the man with the big butcher knife shows up on screen. The only intriguing portions of the film have to do with a mysterious man in black, who at this point was still kept in the dark. Too bad the payoff for this mystery was very limp indeed. Halloween 5 ended up being the career highlight of Director Dominique Othenin-Girard, who would go on to helm such prestigious projects as Red Shoe Diaries 5: Weekend Pass and the TV movie, Omen IV: The Awakening.
After the failure of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, the series lay dormant for a few years, but just as everyone was beginning to think it was safe, the series was renewed again. This time, the Michael Myers led franchise landed at Miramax, who won a bidding war with New Line Cinema for the franchise. Unfortunately, even with the new address and bigger budget, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is an unmitigated disaster in many regards.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Starring Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell. Directed by Dwight H. Little.
Six years after the events of Halloween 5, Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brandy) and Michael Myers have been missing from Haddonfield, IL. The movie explains that a mystical cult was responsible for their disappearance. In the film’s opening frames, Jamie gives birth to a child, and escapes the cult. Not much is really explained other than the child being the last of the Myers bloodline, and Michael pursuing them relentlessly. The child comes under the care of Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), who is the small child that Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie was babysitting in the very first film. Also mixed up in the situation is Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan), whose family has just moved into the old Myers house. In the end, teamed up with old Dr. Loomis, they must face off with Michael for the fate of the child.
In its current form, this sixth Halloween is an absolute mess. The involvement of the Cult of Thorn is barely touched upon, which heaps much confusion on the film’s audience. The cultists have apparently been letting Michael run free amongst their ranks for years, and yet at the end of this picture, Myers rampages through them, killing all in sight. The Strode family, as in relation to the family that adopted Laurie, has moved into the Myers house for some reason. Bradford Englis’s John Strode may be the most repugnant character in the history of cinema, as he apparently hates his entire family and wastes no time in telling them so. The only thing worse in the film may be a couple of the kills in the movie, one involving an exploding head, which is the most over the top killing of the whole series.
Much of the blame for the film comes from Director Joe Chappelle, who was apparently universally loathed by the film’s cast. Also, the film performed poorly in its original form in front of a test audience, so apparently many cuts were ordered which left the film in its current unintelligible form. For years, a bootleg version of the film’s “Produce’s Cut” has been floating around and is the one that series’ buffs have sided with, as it apparently answers many unresolved question about the reasons behind the Cult of Thorn and why Michael decimates them at film’s end. This was Donald Pleasance’s last screen performance before his death, yet the Theatrical Cut had many of his scenes removed due to Chappelle thinking the actor was “boring”. Hated by much of the series’ fan base, Chappelle has seemingly disappeared into obscurity after going on to helm duds like Phantoms and Skulls II.
Halloween: H20 Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Josh Hartnett. Directed by Steve Miner.
With the series at another low point, it would seems as if another rebirth would be in order if film makers did not want to let the series ride off into the sunset. Enter Jamie Lee Curtis, who had noticed that the twentieth anniversary of the first film’s release was coming up in 1998. Seeing an opportunity to give back to the series that had launched her career, Curtis decided to take up the character of Laurie Strode once more. Asking John Carpenter to sit in the directo’s chair again, she envisioned a film where Laurie would finally stop running away from the boogeyman.
Carpenter would decline the offer, but Halloween: H20 would still end up a very successful film. Directed by Steve Miner, the film follows a very much alive Laurie Strode, who has been in hiding in the witness protection program since that fateful night in Haddonfield, IL. The headmistress of a prestigious school in California, living under the name Keri Tate, Strode has desperately tried to put the events behind her, raising her young son (Josh Hartnett). Of course, if that were the case this would be an even worse Halloween movie than the last two entries. With the school deserted, Michael returns after waiting two decades to take his final vengeance.
In my mind, H20 is without question the best sequel of this entire series. Even without the presence of Donald Pleasance and the fact that this film disregards any continuity in the series from pictures 3-6, this film taps into nostalgia that none of the others even come close to. The film’s style mimics the original film mightily, as suspense is emphasized over gore. The film does have some neat kills, but often the movie works by letting Michael get a little more elaborate with his schemes, as he decides to play with his victims a bit more instead of just taking them out right away. Also, the victims in these films become quite stupid when their lives are on the line, but this is also kept to a minimum.
Halloween: Resurrection Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Busta Rhymes. Directed by Rick Rosenthal.
The film’s conclusion would have put this series out on a high note. With Laurie finally taking her stand, the movie could have ridden off into the sunset, bringing a sense of finality that it had previously never had. This was apparently not in the cards, as in 2002, Myers made a miraculous recovery in Halloween: Resurrection. Also making his big return was Director Rick Rosenthal, who had previously been behind the camera for Halloween II.
To go into much detail about Resurrection would be pretty pointless. Seemingly every weakness the series has ever had (pale characters, poor direction) rears its ugly head, as Myers takes out a series of people on a reality show spending the night in the Myers’ house. One should wonder why this house hasn’t been burned to the ground already, but that would be putting in more thought than went into this pointless sequel. Not to spoil the ending, but the film’s climax features Rapper Busta Rhymes kung fu fighting with Michael, giving me more laughs than any intentional joke the series has ever had.
So at series end, what are my feelings on this series? Well, to some degree the Halloween series is already superior to any other Slasher entries simply due to the strength of its first film. H20 also solidifies this position with its classy direction and good performances, especially from Jamie Lee Curtis. Other films in the series range from mediocre to absolutely horrid, but most still contain some interesting twists and entertainment value. On a visceral level, there are some gruesome kills, sometimes even containing some wit.
As I’d said before, everything always seems to come back to that first film. When John Carpenter unleashed Halloween on unsuspecting audiences, no one probably realized what a phenomenon it would be. With a planned remake on the way, audiences will get to see if the series’ legs have finally run out. Michael Myers is nearly an institution as far as Horror fans are concerned, but with another failure, the character may finally be put away for good.
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