Halloween (1978)
Halloween is not quite as fast-paced as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that came before it, but that's fine, because it takes its time conjuring a compelling atmosphere of autumn festivities in a quiet, suburban town that could be just like your own (to contrast all the better with the terror that's about to befall). To my knowledge, Halloween also pioneers the popular slasher trope of the killer who just keeps getting up and coming at you, no matter what you throw at him. Jamie Lee Curtis is fantastic as Laurie Strode, Donald Pleasence plays a captivating Dr. Loomis - the only man who truly knows how dangerous Michael Myers is - and John Carpenter's score is simple but hauntingly memorable.
Halloween II (1981)
The first Halloween ends abruptly, without resolution, but it suits the atmosphere of the film, as if to spook the audience one last time by saying "and he's still out there". It also sets up the sequel perfectly, which picks up immediately where the first film left off, in order to give the audience another hour and a half of scares, as Michael Myers continues his rampage through the night. As such, the tone of the second film is very much in line with the first one, minus the big buildup to the inevitable confrontation (although there are pockets of down time, to give the audience a breather), and with the mayhem eventually transposed from the suburban streets to the nearby hospital where final girl Laurie Strode ends up after the events of the last film. Despite the couple of years separating their releases, Halloween and Halloween II make for a really good double feature.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Halloween III is an anomaly among the slasher sequels, in that it exists entirely outside the narrative of the other Halloween movies. It doesn't feature Michael Myers or any of the other characters we've been introduced to. It's not even really a slasher. It's a movie about some evil corporation's plot to kill the world's children (because modern Halloweens don't have enough human sacrifice), and the pair of amateur detectives who must stop them before their plan goes into action on Halloween night. But don't despair, it's actually pretty good - if you can get past the fact that it's not Halloween III: Michael Myers Kills Some More. It's got a pretty ridiculous premise, but it makes for a fun and creepy story that blends elements of horror and science-fiction. Rumor has it that the original concept for Halloween was to be an anthology series of stand-alone horror stories focused around the holiday, but Michael Myers proved to be so popular, that instead, the series turned into a flagship for the crowd-pleasing villain (for better or worse). It's almost too bad, because I would have relished the opportunity to see more variations on horror movies that focus on Halloween.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Not to be outdone by Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, both of which were rapidly churning out sequels, and after that failed attempt at turning Halloween into an anthology series, Michael Myers returns to the screen. Compared to the wide open ending of the first Halloween, Halloween II seemed determined to finish the saga, with Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers both burning up in a blazing explosion. But here they have both miraculously survived to spar again, and the movie pretty closely follows the formula set out in the first Halloween - with Michael Myers once again breaking out of confinement on the eve of Halloween, ten years after his first rampage, and Dr. Loomis tracking him back to his home town of Haddonfield. But, with Jamie Lee Curtis absent as Myers' primary target, Laurie Strode (who it was revealed, in retcon fashion in Halloween II, is his long lost sister), we have in her place her allegedly orphaned (and adopted by a foster family) 7-year-old daughter Jamie, played by the adorable Danielle Harris. Although there's no explanation as to why she has nightmares about Michael Myers, who has been locked up her entire life, or why she would imagine him in his Halloween mask, when she wasn't even alive during his previous rampage. Still, Halloween 4's adherence to formula brings a welcome familiarity, like visiting old friends, with enough new faces to keep it interesting. The movie is actually pretty good, and builds to an exciting climax, with a haunting, if somewhat incredulous, ending. I may have even enjoyed it a little more than Halloween II.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Halloween 4's shocking ending seemed poised to put Jamie in the position of following in the footsteps of Michael Myers (much like Tommy following Jason in the ending to Friday the 13th Part V - an idea that was also scrapped). But here, it's established that she has some kind of psychic link with the killer (providing a much-needed explanation for her telepathic visions in the last movie). She's also somehow lost her voice - thankfully only temporarily, because she made for an excellent scream queen (scream princess?) in the last movie. In fact, Danielle Harris is fantastic here; I think I like her even better than Jamie Lee Curtis. Dr. Loomis, on the other hand - I've always liked his bristly personality. It demonstrates the effect looking after Michael Myers has had on him, and reflects the singular urgency he possesses as the only one who truly understands just how dangerous Michael is. But in this movie he does begin to become obnoxious, mostly due to his inability to deal with children properly. Halloween 5 has a long running time, and drags a bit in the middle, but it starts out strong, and finishes with a bang, featuring what I consider to be the most gripping (if unexplained) ending in any of these slasher movies. It's not the best Halloween sequel, but I feel it's worth sitting through.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
All the way back in Halloween II, there was a scene where the ancient name for Halloween - Samhain - was invoked, alluding to ancient pagan rituals, and suggesting a possible cause for the evil behind Michael Myers' murderous rampage. But back then, it was more of a symbolic element, that even the philosophizing Dr. Loomis brushed off as superstition. But lurking in the background of Halloween 5 was an element that comes to the forefront in The Curse of Michael Myers. Namely, that there is a secret druidic cult pulling the strings. After countless rehashings of the same basic formula, it's fitting that we should get some more insight into the force that drives Michael to hunt those of his own blood on Halloween, killing anyone who gets in the way, but recasting Michael Myers as a demon on a leash and not an independent agent ultimately hampers his image.
The sixth installment of Halloween opens on a chilling note, with Jamie (disappointingly not reprised by Danielle Harris) grown up (to the ripe, old age of 15) and giving birth, in the custody of the cult that controls Michael (to the extent that he can be controlled), who are most likely breeding her for infant human sacrifices (if not some other nefarious purpose - ironically, explanations in this movie that tries to explain things are often not very clear). But she manages to escape, and so the typical hunt begins. Here we find little Tommy Doyle from the first Halloween all grown up, and Dr. Loomis can't resist returning from retirement when news of Michael Myers' return to Haddonfield reaches him. This movie also debuts the "cult of Michael Myers" in a very different sense, with his previous rampages entering the public consciousness, and certain obsessed fans fawning over his "mystique". A radio station schedules a live broadcast in Haddonfield which is having its first Halloween in 6 years. Guess who shows up for the party. The Curse of Michael Myers has some jumbled ideas, a confusing ending, and I think this is a case of "curiosity killed the cat" - Michael Myers was simply more interesting as a mystery - but it's not a terrible movie, and it has its fair share of thrills and kills. It just kind of misses the mark in trying to make sense of some of the unanswered questions in the franchise.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Sadly, Donald Pleasence passed away during the later stages of production on The Curse of Michael Myers, and the absence of his character Dr. Loomis is felt here. I wonder how much the loss of his name being attached to the next Halloween movie inspired the idea to bring Jamie Lee Curtis back to the series. After the deviations in the fourth, fifth, and sixth parts of the Halloween saga, H20 wipes the slate clean (largely ignoring the events of those movies), and returns to familiar ground, picking up the story of Laurie Strode (whose alleged death in a car crash was faked so she could go into hiding) all grown up with a teenage son. Going by the new name of Keri Tate, she is headmistress of a "very posh, secluded private school". But she is haunted by memories of the trauma she endured twenty years ago, and by the thought that Michael Myers may still be out there, and that one day he might find her. Well, you can guess what happens come Halloween night. Although there is a side story involving Keri's son and his friends that plays out in typical slasher fashion, this movie is really about Keri's redemption, and not Michael's rampage. Indeed, she picks up the slack felt by Dr. Loomis' absence, as the tortured soul who can never rest until she's faced Michael Myers and beaten him. H20 is a good movie, and a good Halloween sequel, though it stops short of being as thrilling, captivating, or original as the original. But as a movie that explores the long term fate of the first Halloween's leading protagonist, it can't be missed.
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Perhaps not surprisingly, Michael Myers' ostensibly definitive demise-by-decapitation at the end of H20 was not as final as it seemed, as he is resurrected once again by a rather unsatisfying retcon of that ending. It's hard to fault Jamie Lee Curtis for demanding that her character be unambiguously finished off within the first fifteen minutes of Halloween: Resurrection, but it doesn't bode well for the rest of the film. Indeed, this is the first film since the first one (before Laurie Strode became Michael's sister) that doesn't have Michael hunting anyone in particular (i.e., surviving members of his family), but rather defending the sanctity of his home. And without Dr. Loomis' superstitious pontifications about evil, either (instead we get a university professor briefly lecturing about Jungian archetypes - in particular, the shadow), he may just as well be any old serial killer - that is, beside the resurrection of his status as a sort of macabre pop culture icon like we saw in Halloween 6. So instead of Jamie Lee Curtis or Donald Pleasence, the lead actor in this movie is Busta Rhymes (alongside Tyra Banks), and that pretty much tells you all you need to know. Busta plays the host of a webshow titled "Dangertainment", whose brilliant idea it is to lock several volunteering university students in the old Michael Myers house on Halloween night. And like all reality shows, the host has some tricks up his sleeve to guarantee an exciting program. What he doesn't count on is Michael Myers coming home.
The surveillance footage and first person perspective cameras give the film, in sporadic bursts, the vaguest semblance of a found footage film, but the footage is too grainy and lo-fi (and not even in a mood-enhancing way) to add much in the way of intrigue to the story. It comes off more as an attempt to be all "this is the 21st century", than to instill the film with an in-the-middle-of-the-action sense of urgency. However, what it does accomplish is to successfully blur the line between fiction and reality, when we see a subset of the internet audience - watching the events in the house as we are - cheer on what they imagine to be a Halloween prank but we know is actually Michael Myers going on a killing spree. And while to us it's still only fiction, to the fictional audience this is real violence that they are unwittingly enjoying. Which is a chilling thought, and could be the setup for some great commentary on the nature of violence as entertainment, especially as ubiquitous and easy to access as it is on the internet. Unfortunately, Halloween: Resurrection simply leaves it at that without making a statement, because otherwise, it's a pretty run-of-the-mill slasher with mediocre characters, and doesn't even particularly have the feeling of a Halloween movie. I actually didn't hate it as much as the first time I watched it (maybe my standards are being eroded by this point in my slasher mega-marathon, with all the Freddy's Deads and the Jason Xs...), but it's still not that good.
Conclusion: My favorite aspect of the Halloween movies is the way they conjure the suburban atmosphere of the holiday, whether it's teens going to costume parties or kids trick 'r treating. Yet, Michael Myers embodies a faceless evil - the bogeyman that can't be killed - and reminds us that the roots of Halloween go deeper than pranks and candy. Here are my picks for the entries in the Halloween series that I think are most worth your time:
Halloween (1978)
Halloween II (1981)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
(I also recommend Halloween III, but you should watch it as a stand-alone film, and not consider it part of the Halloween series).
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