Well, the month of October is behind us, and another Halloween is in the books. I just reviewed eleven Halloween movies in a month, many of them just over the last week, and boy, are my fingers tired. As such, I'll be taking at least a few days off, and I feel that it was well-earned.
But first, I wanted to thank all of you for reading, and for making this series of reviews among my most-viewed articles since I started this blog. I'd also like to thank you for bearing with me when I had to take care of some family matters, which is why I ended up having to review the second half of the list in such a short amount of time, for those who weren't aware.
But I managed to finish it, by the skin of my teeth, so there's that! That's more than our beloved Tom Atkins can say at the end of Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
As such, some of you probably haven't time to read everything, which is fine. To that end, for those who asked and were a bit confused by my reviewing everything out of order, here is a set of links to every review in the series, in chronological order. (For the record, as I mentioned in the intro, technically I was reviewing them by their respective timelines, but I can understand the confusion, nonetheless.)
Introduction
John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)
(Plus- A Bonus Older "Personal" Review: Halloween- Why It's My All-Time Favorite Horror Movie)
Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II (1981)
Halloween III (1982)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)
Rob Zombie's Halloween II (2009)
David Gordon Green's Halloween (2018)
The Halloween franchise is the second highest-grossing horror series ever as of this writing- $366 million and counting- behind only Friday the 13th, which is only one movie up on it to date, clocking in at twelve movies to Halloween's eleven- but you can be sure there's at least one more follow-up to Halloween coming soon, if the box office results of the new one is any indication.
In addition, the creative team (David Gordon Green and Danny McBride) already have some ideas, and the cast said they'd return if at least those two did, so prospects are good all around. The only one I wouldn't hold my breath on participating in another movie is John Carpenter himself, though you never know. While he said this last one was it for him, he's said that before as well, and he might be wooed back, if the price is right. You'd be surprised how quickly people change their tune if money is involved- or enough of it. We'll see.
That said, you'd also be a fool if you think that there won't eventually be another Friday the 13th as well. After all, the next one will be the thirteenth installment- how could they resist? The only thing stopping them is that the rights are tied up at the moment, just as they were with Halloween a few years back, and a few years back before that, and a few years back before that...did I mention in my reviews how much legal troubles there were? I think that I did. In the meantime, Halloween is creeping up on FTT, so watch your back, Jason!
Watching all these movies in a row was quite an experience, and it was fun seeing how some of my feelings have changed over the years, and others haven't. While my least favorites weren't a huge surprise, I was surprised to find ones I had somewhat dismissed weren't as bad as I thought, and ones I used to like a lot didn't hold up as well in retrospect.
To that end, here is my personal definitive ranking, at least for the time being- keeping in mind I've only seen the new one once. My ranking is from my favorite to my least favorite, in the following order:
1. John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)
Still the champ, even after all these years. This isn't likely to ever change, TBH. A perfect horror film, IMHO. Halloween just isn't Halloween without it.
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
No Michael Myers or not, my fondness for this one just seems to grow with each passing year- I honestly think it's a bit of a misunderstood masterpiece. You've got the king of 80's cool, Tom Atkins, a wonderfully bent villain in Conal Cochran and one of the best soundtracks in the series. All this and some of the best gore scenes to boot. What's not to like? Also, there's this nifty fan theory here.
3. Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II (1981)
It ain't perfect, but it's also one of the few in the series I almost always end up watching every year, so it deserves to be ranked accordingly. I love that it takes place on the same night, and the ending is- ahem- explosive. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) It's enough to make you wonder if they should have quit while they were ahead, at least.
4. Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998)
I enjoyed the new movie quite a bit, but I like the subtlety of this one- and of Jamie Lee Curtis' performance- just a little bit more. My main complaint is the mask and the score, to a certain extent. Otherwise, I dig it a lot, even if it doesn't feel very Halloween-ish, as in the holiday element, not the series itself.
5. David Gordon Green's Halloween (2018)
Also not a perfect movie, but it does play like a slightly improved version of Rob Zombie's first Halloween film combined with just enough fan service to the original to pass muster.
It certainly doesn't feel like the original, but the nods to it are enjoyable enough to land it near the middle of my list- and I do love the score and the whole three generations of Strodes banding together to fight evil gambit. I did go back and forth over whether it should rate higher or lower, though, so I really need to see it again.
6. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
This one may come the closest to capturing the Halloween (both the holiday and the series) vibe of the original the most. I like the characters, and it's a fun ride with a great ending. Danielle Harris is also fantastic, and remains one of my all-time fave Scream Queens, even after all these years.
7. Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)
Unlike some people, I don't hate this one, but it just doesn't feel like a Halloween film to me- it feels like a Rob Zombie one. But that's exactly what it should be, and certain elements (the opening half of the film, the cast, the music, the cinematography) are genuinely solid.
8. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer's Cut Version- 1995)
The theatrical cut is a mess, and the so-called "Producer's Cut" isn't that much better, but I did appreciate the writer's attempt to tie in all the previous films together- even H3. Now that the latter version is readily available on DVD/Blu-Ray, I can see it becoming more of an every-other-year watch, which is a definite improvement over my initial reaction to it.
9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
This one isn't great, either, but Harris is good, especially considering she doesn't say a word until halfway through the movie. Pleasence is as bonkers as he's been since the second one, and the film itself has some memorably nutty scenes. (Michael's alternative mask, anyone?) Too bad about that ending, though, and some decidedly oddball Michael behavior.
10. Rob Zombie's Halloween II (2009)
The only thing keeping this from being dead last is the cinematography, music, and that mental scene with Chris Harwick and "Weird" Al Yankovic. Beyond that, it's the very definition of a cash-in. It's bad, but the next entry is unforgivable, on so many levels.
11. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
That opening scene kills it for me, sorry. Even if I just skip it and pretend it never happened, what I'm left with is a bunch of characters I mostly don't care about, and some genuinely ridiculous scenarios, not the least of which is rapper Busta Rhymes getting into a Kung-fu fight with Michael Myers, which is a sentence no one should ever have to type, ever. It's also painfully of its time in a way none of the others is, though Part 6 comes mighty close. I might well never watch this one ever again, TBH.
Now for some stats...
The most read post in the Halloween franchise review to date is: Rob Zombie's Halloween. I guess you guys (and girls) really like that one, as divisive as it is among Halloween fans. Either that, or you were hoping I'd tear it a new one- which, given some of the comments I got, little of which were positive, may, in fact, actually be the case. (The reality lies somewhere in the middle for me- I don't hate it, but neither is it my favorite of the series.)
My review of Rob Zombie's much-reviled Halloween II was a close second, followed by a surprisingly strong showing for Halloween 5- I guess that one has a bigger fan-base than I realized- and Halloween 6, which has had a bit of a cult following after the critical lambasting and fan backlash it received when it was in theaters, since the infamous "Producer's Cut" started to make the rounds as a bootleg.
Now that the "Producer's Cut" is more readily available, I wouldn't be surprised if the acclaim for the film rises with each passing year. It's really not as bad as I thought initially, and writer Daniel Farrands really did a decent job tying all the disparate plot elements of the other films in the series together. Halloween 4 and Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II also posted strong numbers.
The big shocker was the low showing of John Carpenter's original Halloween, despite the fact that I posted it on the 40th-year anniversary of the film's release. Perhaps it was because of that very fact- no doubt the internet was deluged with many such tributes that day, which may have hurt the article's numbers as a direct result.
Or perhaps people were simply tired of hearing about Carpenter's Halloween- at this point, with all the documentaries and books and articles written about it, I can't say I blame them.
That said, I did try to personalize it a bit more than typical articles about the movie, so it may be worth a second look- or a first one, as the case may be- for those who took a pass on it for that reason. At any rate, even my introduction to the series scored higher than my article about the film that started it all, and that's just not right. 😮
So, if there's one article you skipped and want to go back and check out, make it that one- hell, I don't care if you just click on it and don't read it, lol- let's get those numbers up to a respectable level! 👌😉
Moving on, for the month of November, I'll be going back to my regular format. For you newbies, that means Monster Monday, a look at various Creature Features, including critters gone wild (i.e. dogs, cats, snakes, alligators, whatever- possibly our turkey friend up above, you never know..), as well as the more traditional monsters (Frankenstein, Werewolves, Bigfoot, etc.); Wayback Wednesday, a look at more action-oriented movies; and Flashback Friday, a look at old-school cult films, with an emphasis on horror, but allowing for the occasional movie that's just plain strange.
Peppered throughout the week, I also sometimes re-post some of the old articles I wrote for other sites, typically tying them into a specific special date or someone in the movie's birthday or the like. Keep in mind these articles were mostly written at the time of the movie's release, so the reviews are more traditional and on-the-fly, as I had a deadline to meet for those, which didn't allow much time for reflection. Such is the life of a paid movie critic I suppose.
Most anything labeled "Retro Review" is just that: a review I wrote back in the day, not currently. I might occasionally tack on an aside, though, in the cases where my opinion of something has changed, which has been known to happen once in a while. Not often, but occasionally.
In December, I will be taking on the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise, which, thankfully, is a good bit shorter than the Halloween one. Because of that, though, I might also sprinkle in a few other Xmas-themed reviews, like, say, Black Christmas or To All a Goodnight or what have you. We'll see.
In the meantime, thanks again for reading, and be sure to dig into the archives to read some of my older stuff. You can access all my old reviews on the right-hand side of the page by clicking on the respective months and years and then whatever you're interested in.
There's also a search box on the right-hand side of the screen if you want to see whether or not I've reviewed something in particular or not. I also take requests on occasion. For that, Twitter or Facebook is the best place to reach me, though comments on this site are certainly welcome.
See you next week and be sure to get out and vote tomorrow! 👍 😀
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