Mike86

So I’m in the middle of re-watching all the films in the Halloween franchise and with the upcoming release of Halloween (2018) I figured now would be as good a time as any to discuss the existing films.

I’m not completely finished with all of them yet and just finished watching The Curse of Michael Myers (theatrical cut) last night. Overall I’d say at least so far the films have all held up well and most are entertaining for one reason or another.

Halloween- obviously a classic film. I don’t think I have much to add that hasn’t been said already.

Halloween II- honestly this one wasn’t as good to me this last time and I saw more of the issues people have with it. Still not a bad film and it is cool to watch after the first one but definitely has some things off with it.

While I like the brother/sister angle the reveal is really poorly handled and is nothing more than a line of dialogue. That line could be omitted completely and the movie would play out the same. Michael also acts differently in his movements and his kills compared to the first which distinguishes it as different even though it’s supposed to take place the same night as the original film. I also don’t really care for the variation on Carpenter’s classic score in the film.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch- fantastic film that a lot of people overlooked for years. A complete departure from the rest of the franchise but if you understand what it was supposed to be going for it makes sense as it’s own film.

Tom Atkins is great as the lead and I also like the character of Ellie. Cochran is a great villain too, he comes across like the nice guy but has an evil streak in him. His plan overall is a bit cornball but it works and gives the film a cool sci-fi/horror vibe. I also like the score for this film a lot. Probably one of my favorites of the franchise overall.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers- this is one that I’ve overlooked in the past but I really liked it a lot this last time I watched it. I almost would say I like it more than Halloween II actually.

I like most of the characters, and particularly Jamie and Rachel stand out. Donald Pleasance turns in a good performance as Loomis too. You get the sense that he’s tired of the shit but won’t rest until Michael’s dead. Also the ending is one of the best twists in the franchise. Such a shame they crapped on it in the next film.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers- after such a strong comeback with the previous film what a massive disappointment this one is. Killing Rachel so early on was absolutely stupid. One of the best final girls in the franchise and horror films in general and they completely shit on her character. Such a disappointment. Also making Jamie mute for the majority of the film wastes her character. Donald Pleasance gives a weird performance as Loomis and is a bit of an asshole throughout it. The side characters aren’t great either. Overall it’s watchable enough but massively disappointing.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers- I’ll say that while this one isn’t great and far from my favorite I actually don’t hate it. It’s a very weird movie though all around. The whole Thorn cult thing is kind of interesting but sort of stupid too and I don’t exactly like the explanation that they’re essentially behind why Michael does what he does.

Also the whole incest angle with Michael and Jamie and their baby is fucking weird. Jamie’s character deserved better much like Rachel and she should have been portrayed by Danielle Harris. I like the performances for the most part in the film. Rudd is pretty decent as Tommy Doyle even though he hates the film. Donald Pleasance gives a good performance but you can tell he’s weaker in real life and it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t have gone out with a better film. Still not a bad performance from him though. The rest of the cast who plays the Strode family are decent as well. I need to re-watch the producers cut but my initial impression is that this isn’t a terrible film. Just one that’s got some big flaws.

The rest I need to finish and will post my thoughts about later.

Bluelitespecial

It’s kind of hard to do a poll here as the original Halloween is the best movie and nothing else comes close.

Mike86

While I expect that will be the outcome I just did one for the hell of it. I semi thought about just keeping the poll to best sequel to keep things more interesting. There are decent sequels in the series though if you’re a horror fan. The first is great and one of the most iconic in the genre.

Truth be told though I have to find myself in the right mood for it. I actually enjoy Season of the Witch slightly more but it’s a sequel in name only. I really like The Return of Michael Myers a lot though.

kd5

I said Halloween and Halloween II because to me they are 2 halves of a whole movie. Halloween III is.....different. Not bad, just different. The rest are just flogging the monkey as far as I'm concerned.

hdnmickey

Poll would have a chance at being interesting if it focused on the ranking of the movies that came after the original.

Mike86

Maybe I should ask a mod to toss the one that I made up and re-do it.

GoldenJCJ

Obviously the original is tops and the rest can’t hold a candle to it.

I enjoy II, III, 4, and 5 just because they still fill that 80s horror nostalgia for me, though 4 and 5 aren’t great.

Anything made in the 90s-early 2000s are crap. H20 wasn’t horrible but 90s horror movies were mostly trash.

I didn’t hate Zombie’s Halloween though I dont consider it really part of the series. It’s sort of it’s own thing. Zombie’s H2 is an abomination.

Bluelitespecial

For me its always the first movie, followed by #4. I liked the third movie quite a bit but its Halloween in name only. I liked the first Halloween from Rob Zombie, but the second movie is kind of hard to stomach.

VinVega

Poll has been edited. If you already voted for Halloween, need to vote for one of the sequels.

TomOpus

I'll have to wait until I see the new Halloween before I can vote.

rw2516

I agree but all the stuff at the hospital is just as crappy as the rest of the sequels. The scenes around town, stuff happening the same night as first movie are pretty cool. They feel more connected to the original, almost a part of it, while the hospital stuff feels like a separate movie.

Trevor

Similar thoughts here. Halloween II almost seems like an extended cut of the original, where they should have ended it when they were ahead. Still good, but much weaker than the original.

Halloween III is better than most horror films, but should have a different name. Or better, they should have stuck to Carpenter’s idea of yearly films with different characters using the Halloween name.

The next few are serviceable horror fare, but I wouldn’t call them good, although Halloween H2O is a sort of guilty pleasure.

There have been no Halloween films since H20, so I look forward to the new film later this month.

Bluelitespecial

I’m not going to vote in the poll until I see the new movie. Right now it’s Number 4 followed by Season of the Witch.

joeblow69

Interestingly enough, the only Halloween movie I had seen until last night was #3. We just watched the first one on AMC last night ... it was pretty good, but for some reason I was expecting more gore. Going to try to watch the rest before Halloween night, if I can find a way to stream them free.

DthRdrX

Just Halloween and Halloween 4 for me.

The first is untouchable and the fourth had the best "Halloween" atmosphere.

Crocker Jarmen

While the TV version of Halloween II is sloppily edited to re-move violence and bad language, the re-ordering of many of the scenes improve the film quite a bit for me. I think the TV version improves over the theatrical by starting with Laurie being taken to the hospital, and not going back to Michael Myers until about the 10-15 minute mark. This makes the movie feel like it's actually about Laurie, which is my big complaint about Part II, how she nearly spends the whole movie either off-screen, or catatonic.

A few years ago I put together a little video comparing the two versions. (Some NSFW images)




I've also long been curious about the original intention of the school house scene in Halloween 4. If you remember, in the movie, Loomis takes Jamie into the school to set off the alarm so the police will come. Michael arrives, throws Loomis through a glass door and chases Jamie, who is only saved when Ellie appears and sprays Michael with a fire extinguisher. We don't see the aftermath, or how they actually escaped, only a shot of Ellie spraying the extinguisher and then a quick cut to them running out side.

What's off is Michael has obviously already been sprayed with the extinguisher when he attacks Loomis, "before" Ellie has shown up yet. The filmmakers must have shortened this section by editing together a couple different scenes that originally occurred in a different order. I've always wondered what the original intention of that sequence was and why it was changed.

Mike86

Finished up the main sequels (all the movies before the Zombie films) last night.

Halloween: H20- this one doesn’t hold up as well as I remembered. It’s really more like a high school movie for around the first hour or so. The showdown with Michael and Laurie is pretty good at least if not a bit over the top. Just kind of an okay movie if you ask me.

Halloween: Resurrection- this definitely isn’t a great movie, but truth be told it has some fun elements to it. The whole premise is pretty dumb about staying in the Myers house. I think though it’s kind of the right balance of cheese where it’s not a horrible movie to me. Certainly not a great one either but it’s watchable enough.

I’m almost debating just stopping now as I’m not looking forward to the Zombie films at all (especially the sequel). I’ll probably just finish and half watch them only.

Brian T

Having seen the new one, it's now my favorite after the original. Unlike the others, it respects the source and -- for the most part -- the audience, and comes up with a clean, logical continuation of the story that doesn't require superhuman or supernatural feats. It's not perfect, but it beats all the others by a substantial margin. Before this one, I always had difficulty picking any of the sequels as a favorite because they all frustrated me in too many ways, despite various technical proficiencies.

TomOpus

This is probably going to be my experience. That's why I held off on voting.

DWilson

In the trailer for the new one it mentions that Michael killed three people that night, and it struck me how "low-key" that was compared to everything that followed in its wake, in movies within the franchise and outside of it.

raven56706

honestly... H2O just does it for me. i wish they left that movie as part of the story but guess not.

The best part of that movie was when she finally decides to fight back. It was awesome to see in theaters. Music and when she says "Michael!!" and then bam the music plays.

looking forward to the new movie this weekend

Noonan

Same here. It's probably part nostalgia glasses since I was around the age of the kids in the movie at the time and it was the first Halloween film i was able to see in theaters. I still enjoy it quite a bit.

rw2516

That's why the original is brilliant. It scares the crap out of you without the killings.
You know he's there somewhere. Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?
HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU! HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!
The suspense is enough to kill ya. Actual killings pale in comparison.

After Laurie tumbles down the stairs and the piano striking in synch with Michael's steps as he comes down the stairs. Also as he follows her across the street. Not chases, just deliberately paces after her in a walk.
Giving her a limp to create the illusion that Michael is actually faster than he is.

The kid looking out the window and seeing the long view of Michael carrying Annie's body around to the front of the house is better any killing in the sequels.

stvn1974

I guess the poor truck driver that he killed for the overalls doesn't count in the murder tally. Of course they did say "that night" and he was killed earlier.

robin2099

I'm holding off until I see the new one. But here are my rankings so far:

Halloween 2: I think this still holds up pretty well. It does literally feel like a part 2 since it takes place on the same night. It's kind of ruined by the crappy reveal of Michael being related to Laurie. Still has some good scenes and kills though like the needle in the eye and the jacuzzi. 3/5

Halloween 3:I still don't get the love for this. Good concept but it's so ridiculous(the bad guy's plan is to use the Stonehenge rock to kill all children because his masks are so popular?). 2/5


Halloween 4: This is probably my favorite sequel, but like Friday part 6, I've watched it so much that I tend to enjoy it less and less. I thought it represented the season the best and I liked Jamie Lloyd and Rachel. Plus I had a huge crush on Kathleen Knmont. I'll give it a 4/5.


Halloween 5: I hate everything about this. The side characters are awful, Jamie is awful, the man in black plot is stupid. Everything is awful. 1/5


Halloween 6: I hate this movie but it has some good points. I liked Paul Rudd, I liked the Halloween carnival. But the parts that are weird are REALLY weird. Jamie and Michael having a kid? A cult that worships a runic symbol? Michael being beaten with a pipe? 2/5


H6: The Producers Cut: After all the talk about how much better this was over the years I thought it actually made H6 even worse. The cult mumbo jumbo is even more on display and its just so stupid. 1.5/5


Halloween H:20: I didn't like this one either. Outside of the gimmick of seeing Jamie Lee back, that's all it really has going for it. The movie feels more like a Scream sequel than a movie in the Halloween franchise. 2.5/5


Halloween: Resurrection: I always remember this as the movie that when it was in development someone on a message board said it would be revealed that Michael survived by switching places with a paramedic. I thought that was too stupid to be true. I was wrong. I liked the concept of people visiting the Myer's house but stupid shit like Busta Rhyme's karate chopping Michael kills it. 1/5


If I would rank them I would rank them: 4, 2, 7, 6, 3, 8, 5.