The "Halloween" Films

[Fat Freddy]

 

It's that time of year and it seems that all of the various "Halloween" films are being played on one cable TV station or another for the entire month of October... so which is your favorite of this classic, yet often confused, film series?

 

I have a special place in my heart for John Carpenter's original because it scared the livin' poop outta me as a young lad and it still holds up pretty well today, therefore it gets my vote.

 

Of the sequels, they're a mixed bag of course... "Halloween II" ramped up the action and gore factor (no doubt due to the competition of the far bloodier "Friday the 13th" movies that "Halloween" inspired) and is still a pretty damn good movie, it would be my second fave.

 

"Halloween III: Season of the Witch," being totally unrelated to the Myers saga, gets a lot of hate from horror geeks but if you watch it without the "Where's Michael?" stigma attached it's a pretty decent '80s style kind of creep-o-rama that they really don't make anymore.

 

"Halloween 4" marked the welcome return of Michael to the multiplex; it's certainly not the best of the series but it is a hell of a lot better than most of the sequels that followed. It was fun to see Michael back again, pursued by the always welcome Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis, waving his big gun around and screaming about "EEEEEVIL!"

 

"Halloween 5" is where the wheels came off the franchise IMO. The subplot involving some weird Druid cult is introduced in this one and Danielle Harris' character "Jamie" (intro'd in "4" as a replacement for Jamie Lee Curtis' character, since JLC decided not to return to the series at this time) is so whiny and annoying that I wished Michael would just come along and lop her little head off before the first reel was over. Not to mention that this one contains the biggest CHEAT of the series, where Michael finally removes his mask and WE DON'T SEE HIS FACE because it's obscured in shadow. The ending, likewise, is one of the dumbest in horror filmdom. But even this installment is "Citizen Kane" when compared to...

 

"Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers," which is just a confused mess all around. I'm told that it was subjected to massive editing/re-shooting during filming due to Donald Pleasance's untimely death while it was in production. Supposedly there's a "director's cut" out there making the bootleg rounds that is way better than the film that was actually released but honestly I don't see how any amount of editing could make this piece of nonsense watchable.

 

"H20" wisely decided to jettison the "Druid Cult of the Thorn" crapola and the entire Jamie Lloyd storyline and brought back Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of Laurie Strode, picking up the story where "Halloween II" ended. This was the best move they could've made because it meant that the events of the preceding three films never took place. The ending to this one would've been a FANTASTIC way to cap off the entire series if this were to be the final film, but nope, they had to screw it up and go and make...

 

"Halloween: Resurrection," which I only rented because I hoped I would see Michael crush Busta Rhymes' head like a grape. The rest of the movie is poo.

 

Finally we have Rob Zombie's "Halloween," which I didn't love, but didn't hate either... it was a nice idea to try and fill in Michael's back story but he spent waaaaaay too much time on that stuff so by the time he finally escaped from the asylum and began to stalk Haddonfield, the rest was like watching John Carpenter's original in fast-forward mode. I guess it was better than yet another crappy sequel with a rapper in it though.

 

So there's my take on 'em... what do y'all think? Release the hounds!!

[Metal T]

 

 

 

"H20" wisely decided to jettison the "Druid Cult of the Thorn" crapola and the entire Jamie Lloyd storyline and brought back Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of Laurie Strode, picking up the story where "Halloween II" ended. This was the best move they could've made because it meant that the events of the preceding three films never took place. The ending to this one would've been a FANTASTIC way to cap off the entire series if this were to be the final film

 

I agree H20's ending was freakin' spectacular...it all should've ended right there-NO MORE !(the only problem i had with that one was the inclusion of one "LL unCool J" -he's an f'n doucebag. I,II,and H20 for me,although i thought IV was solid.

[Clutch]

This may sound like a cop out but I agree with Freddy. The first one rules and so on. Hard to dispute when someone is spot on.

[cdjunky41]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

[Metal T]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

 

[heaven&hell]

The first one is my fav but II was great as well and both H20 and the Zombie remake were very good too.

[Fat Freddy]

I agree H20's ending was freakin' spectacular...it all should've ended right there-NO MORE !(the only problem i had with that one was the inclusion of one "LL unCool J" -he's an f'n doucebag. I,II,and H20 for me,although i thought IV was solid.

 

I'm no LL Cool J fan but I preferred his bit part in "H20" over Busta's starring role in "Resurrection"

[heaven&hell]

I agree H20's ending was freakin' spectacular...it all should've ended right there-NO MORE !(the only problem i had with that one was the inclusion of one "LL unCool J" -he's an f'n doucebag. I,II,and H20 for me,although i thought IV was solid.

 

I'm no LL Cool J fan but I preferred his bit part in "H20" over Busta's starring role in "Resurrection"

 

LL was cool in Deep Blue Sea.

[Fat Freddy]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

 

 

Every time I hear that I break into the Kai Hansen scream that starts Helloween's "Starlight"

[Jez]

1 & 2 for me. After that they started to go down hill with each succesive film, with H20 being the only other one that was quite good.

 

My vote goes with the First one.

[Clutch]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

 

 

Every time I hear that I break into the Kai Hansen scream that starts Helloween's "Starlight"

 

Took the words right outta my mouth. A classic song that rips!

[Nick C]

I suppose the 1st is the best but having seen it so many times I went for the Rob Zombie take on the franchise! It was refreshing and it made the better half jump a few rimes.

[Dark Star]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

 

 

Every time I hear that I break into the Kai Hansen scream that starts Helloween's "Starlight"

 

 

Gee I do too.....

 

Oh and I picked the original from 1978... Though it's a toss up between the first and second Halloween movie, to behonest,and I DID like the 2007 remake too.....

[Metal T]

I agree H20's ending was freakin' spectacular...it all should've ended right there-NO MORE !(the only problem i had with that one was the inclusion of one "LL unCool J" -he's an f'n doucebag. I,II,and H20 for me,although i thought IV was solid.

 

I'm no LL Cool J fan but I preferred his bit part in "H20" over Busta's starring role in "Resurrection"

 

LL was cool in Deep Blue Sea.

but he's still a doucebag...

[Fat Freddy]

I picked probably the worst of them all!!!!

SEASON OF THE WITCH!!!

I got that song in my head!

 

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

 

 

Every time I hear that I break into the Kai Hansen scream that starts Helloween's "Starlight"

 

Took the words right outta my mouth. A classic song that rips!

 

Now I gotta pull out that Helloween CD. It's been a while!

[Faron]

Halloween (1978) is one of my favourite horror movies, great soundtrack and genuinely chilling

 

Halloween II is a good follow up, with Halloween III next on the favourite list!

 

Any others are a little hit & miss

[martinsane]

The first installment is the best of the lot, bar none. Still gets a jump out of everyone today, 30 years after its release and as stated the score is done perfectly and all in all the movie could not have been better!

 

 

The Zombie release has its moments, lets hope he keeps churning out movies, he does a fine job.

 

 

Honerable mention goes to Season Of The Witch. Very catchy commercial jingle and frankl, if it was not assiliated with the Halloween franchise, could probably stand on its own as a good horror movie.

[Fat Freddy]

Bumpin' an oldie cuz it's that time of year again...

[Faron]

Still the classic 1978 release and always will be

[Dead Planet]

I suspect I'm in the minority when I say that none of them are worth wasting 90 minutes on.......

[All Nights Reserved]

I love slashers but I never liked the Halloween series. Okay, the first movie is... okay.

[bangerdave]

The original and the follow up for me.

[Geoff]

There's still a few I haven't seen and sadly I'm not too well-versed on the ones I have seen. There was one that really stood out for me, but I can't remember which one. I believe it was either 5 or 6? Some random one. I do like 'H20' too, though. And is 'Resurrection' the reality show one? I liked that one a lot too. Man, got to see these again, I think.

[Wotty]

Not for me at all.........

[Fat Freddy]

Bumpin' this since it's that time of year again...

 

...and just for the record, I finally saw Rob Zombie's "Halloween II" a couple of weeks ago (which wasn't even made yet when I first started this thread ages ago!) and it utterly, totally, completely sucked rocks. Ugh.