[Owner of a Lonely B.A.T.]

Halloween

The plot:
Michael Myers has been in an institution since he was a young boy, after murdering his sister Judith Myers. Now he's escaped and is heading back home to Haddenfeild IL. to terrorize babysitters in the quiet community he once lived in.

Staring:

Donald Pleasence .... Dr. Sam Loomis
Jamie Lee Curtis .... Laurie Strode
Nancy Kyes .... Annie Brackett (as Nancy Loomis)
P.J. Soles .... Lynda van der Klok
Charles Cyphers .... Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Kyle Richards .... Lindsey Wallace
Brian Andrews .... Tommy Doyle


How many ways can the words absolute classic be used?
This movie is a must see.
It sets the tone for so many imatators out there, many of which come close to the genius of Halloween, but never really surpass it.

John Carpenter, and Debra Hill deserve alot of the credit for this movie. It builds suspense like a spring being wound up, and yet leaves the blood and guts many of it's sequels overuse behind. As Carpenter puts it, "You imagination gives you a picture more disturbing than anything I could show you."

Now there are two differant versions you'll see out there. The original 1978 Theatrical release, and the TV version.

The differance? TV cut so much out in terms of violence, or sex content, that new scenes were filmed during the filming of Halloween II, to pad out the TV version. Most DVD releases this day have the TV scenes added as at least an extra if not edited directly in to the film.

You'd think tampering with the film would have been bad, not so in this case. All the added scenes enhance the backstory very well.

You really should just go rent it, if you haven't seen it. By the way it also holds up pretty well over the test of time.

[Owner of a Lonely B.A.T.]

Halloween II

The Plot:
You'd think six bullets, a crochette needle to the neck, a hanger to the eye, and a two story fall would be enough to stop Mr. Myers, wouldn't yeah?

Uhmmmm yeah I don't think so.

The movie all though made 3 years later continues that horrible night in 1978, when babysitting became a job you needed a hell of a lot more money to risk your life for.

Dr Loomis continues his hunt for the escaped mental patient Michael Myers, who for the record has now killed his sister years earlier, and now a mechanic, and 3 teens babysitting (or fooling around), and at least one dog, and one other animal.

Weird thing here, since they reshot some off the end of H1 nobody counted the shots fired so previously 6 shots fired oddly becomes 7, even though Loomis later states he fired 6 shots, go figure.

Anyway Michael continues his killing spree at the hospital where the object of his obsession Laurie Strode was taken after he attack and nearly killed her.

Some serious family secrets are revealed here. Jamie Strode is really Jamie Myers the third Myers child! And suddenly all of this falls into place Mr. Mike killed one sister years ago, and now he's here to kill the other one!

Starring:
Jamie Lee Curtis .... Laurie Strode
Donald Pleasence .... Dr. Sam Loomis
Charles Cyphers .... Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Jeffrey Kramer .... Graham
Lance Guest .... Jimmy Lloyd
Pamela Susan Shoop .... Karen Bailey
Hunter von Leer .... Deputy Gary Hunt
Dick Warlock .... The Shape/Patrolman #3
Leo Rossi .... Budd
Gloria Gifford .... Mrs. Alves
Tawny Moyer .... Nurse Jill Franco
Ana Alicia .... Janet Marshall
Ford Rainey .... Dr. Frederick Mixter
Cliff 'Fatty' Emmich .... Mr. Garrett (as Cliff Emmich)
Nancy Stephens .... Marion Chambers

Now first off the original Halloween was never meant to spin off into endless sequels. The ending of Myers dissappearing is much more menacing if he is always out there somewhere. But pressure for another movie will make things happen, and Carpenter who declined to direct, (rumor has it he did endup doing some of the directing after disputes with director Rick Rosenthal), only agreed to do this if he could kill Myers off, and make room for what his franchise vision was. A Halloween movie series that would have a differant scary story each film.

So with that said the ending of Halloween 2 has Dr. Loomis blowing himself, and Mr Myers up along with a good portion of Haddenfield Memorial Hospital, presumably. Later films would find both alive, and well.

What else have we got here. More gore for sure. Laurie meets presumably a love interest. Jimmy the dashing if not somewhat dorky ambulance driver. Oddly Jimmy's fate in this movie is a bit vague depending on which edit of the film you see. In the theatrical version Jimmy is last seen passing out behind the wheel of a car he can't start. I ain't saying he died, but we never see him after that so who knows. But there is a TV edit version that shows Jimmy in the ambulance with Laurie alive and well at the end of the film. Either way future sequels would seem to confirm Jimmy did indeed survive.

Is this the classic H1 is? Mmmmm possibly. It's a damn good movie, but it litterally is a hair off from the original. It's hard to recapture lightning in the bottle, but H2 doesn't do to bad a job.


Halloween III: Season of the Witch

The Plot:
A maniacal toy maker plans to sacrifice children via masks on Halloween night!

Starring:
Tom Atkins .... Dr. Daniel 'Dan' Challis
Stacey Nelkin .... Ellie Grimbridge
Dan O'Herlihy .... Conal Cochran
Michael Currie .... Rafferty
Ralph Strait .... Buddy Kupfer
Jadeen Barbor .... Betty Kupfer
Brad Schacter .... 'Little' Buddy Kupfer Jr. (as Bradley Schachter)
Garn Stephens .... Marge Guttman
Nancy Kyes .... Linda Challis
Jonathan Terry .... Starker (as Jon Terry)
Al Berry .... Harry Grimbridge
Wendy Wessberg .... Teddy
Essex Smith .... Walter Jones
Maidie Norman .... Nurse Agnes
John MacBride .... Sheriff

Ugh where to start.
Is this a bad movie? Mmmmm no. At it's heart it's an incredibly creepy movie, with some damn frightening scenes. Atkins screaming his head off begging and pleading for the broadcast to be pulled, and the movie ending is amazingly scary. We never find out if Cochran's sacrifice happens or not.

However.

It is a dammmmmmmmn slow movie. And can be really boring in parts, if not downright silly. Man sized automitons filled with green goop? How do you make that and not seem silly? Not to mention Stacey Nelkin's Ellie Grimbridge is nearly obtuse. If her character dissappeared 20 mins into the film it would have made little differance. She litterally is dragged from scene to scene, for an extremely anti climatic turn near the end. Hey the make her in to an automiton the movie came out in 82 for god sake.

Anyway this movie suffers from some silly ideas (not all), some bad acting (not all), and an audience that just stopped and said, "Where's Michael Myers?". In away it's kind of a shame that audiences couldn't evolve past the formula sequel where it HAS to continue the story.

As HIII landed with a huge thud in the theaters thus ended Carpenter's grand idea of a new story every movie. Both him and Debra Hill cashed out, and left any future films (if any) to Moustapha Akkad.

It would be 6 years before Moustapha Akkad would bring Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise back from the dead.

[Owner of a Lonely B.A.T.]

Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers

The Plot:
Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece on Halloween. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?

The Cast:
Ellie Cornell .... Rachel Carruthers
Danielle Harris .... Jamie Lloyd
Donald Pleasence .... Dr. Sam Loomis
Beau Starr .... Sheriff Ben Meeker
George P. Wilbur .... Michael Myers
Sasha Jenson .... Brady
Kathleen Kinmont .... Kelly Meeker
Michael Pataki .... Dr. Hoffman
Jeff Olson .... Richard Carruthers
Karen Alston .... Darlene Carruthers
Gene Ross .... Earl
Carmen Filpi .... Jack Sayer
Raymond O'Connor .... Security Guard
George Sullivan .... Deputy Logan
Nancy Borgenicht .... Woman Attendant

Better than you'd imagine.
The biggest issue is you really need to suspend disbelief here. Loomis, and Myers simply didn't die in H2.
Ok.
That was some fucking explosion, and Mikey was walking about completely engulfed in flames he looked pretty dead to me.

But put that aside. Donald Pleasence has returned, and he really is a great actor. The addition of Danielle Harris, and Ellie Cornell if not the explaination of them is a big help. Both are seriously talented, and do a great job taking up the mantle of girl in distress. Harris is introduced as the daughter of Laurie Strode from H1, and 2. She is possibly the child of Jimmy Loyd from H2, or at least that what is infered. We are told that both Jimmy, and Laurie died in a car accident, and Jamie has been adopted by the Carruthers family. Of which their teen daughter played wonderfully by Cornell gets chased all about by Myers (the kids uncle).

We get a genuinely good movie, if not a bit sketchy. All in all a worthwhile movie likely one of the better in the series for sure.

At any rate we are left with little Jamie Loyd attacking here step mom with scissors, implying that Myers who has again been dispatched.....silly town you can't kill Mikey, has somehow had an influence on his young niece.




Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers

The plot:
One year later, and Michael is still out to kill his niece on Halloween.

The Cast:
Danielle Harris .... Jamie Lloyd Carruthers (also archive footage)
Donald Pleasence .... Dr. Sam Loomis (also archive footage)
Ellie Cornell .... Rachel Carruthers (also archive footage)
Wendy Kaplan .... Tina Williams
Beau Starr .... Sheriff Ben Meeker
Tamara Glynn .... Samantha Thomas
Jeffrey Landman .... Billy Hill
Max Robinson .... Dr. Max Hart
Betty Carvalho .... Nurse Patsey
Karen Alston .... Darlene Carruthers (also archive footage)
Jonathan Chapin .... Mikey
Matthew Walker .... Spitz
Frank Como .... Deputy Nick Ross
Harper Roisman .... Hermit
David Ursin .... Deputy Tom Farrah

In my opinion this one sank the ship.
Remember that scary ending from 4? Jamie attacks her step mom? She might be the new killer? Yeah well forget it. Instead were treated to a story about a psychic link that for some reason causes Jamie to not speak half the movie. Good idea lets not have the star talk at all. Then we lose Ellie Cornell as Rachel is killed early in the flick. Bad idea. And in he place we get Wendy Kaplan as Tina Williams, Rachel Caruthers best friend.

Yeah well she stinks. Sure she's sexy, but the point of having Jamie attached to her sisters best friend is a bit silly. Quite honestly Wendy Kaplan wasn't half the actress Cornell was, and having a plot that was nearly a carbon copy from the previous film didn't help. The only redeeming plot point is the mark of the Thorn introduced on Michaels wrist early in the film. Clearly that and the identical mark on the mysterious man in black, that arrives and free's Myers in the bloodbath ending are meant to set up the next flick.

However.

Due to the bomb that this movie is it would be 6 years before any one got any answers.

Which killed me. I mean come on. The flick end with a captured Myers being set free by the man in black who fucking slaughters all the police in the station, and blows a hole in the wall. When Jamie ventures in to see dozens of dead cops, a flaming wall, and the empy cell they end the movie with her crying, "no."

I'm not even gonna bring up the Keystone Patrolmen comic relief in this film. Just bewarned if you see two patrolmen in a scene, it's a injection of lame comedy.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers / Halloween 6 / Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers - Producers Cut

I'm gonna skip the plot here, because this movie is a mess. First Halloween 6, stops the numbering system and just calls itself Halloween: The Curse of Michale Myers, second the Producers cut which only aired a few times on TV, is a RADICALLY DIFFERANT movie than it's theatrical release. This comes from a house divided. The writer had one idea, the Producer another, and the director a third idea.

What we got in the movies was a bit of all, but mostly the directors ideas. The P-Cut is the producers take of the film, and is dratically differant than the D-Cut. The writer? He got the screen credit, and little else.
The P-Cut was made first, and then the director stepped in and rewrote tons of shit.

And then Donald Pleasence died.

All of this serves to make a pretty choppy unintelligable hunk of movie.

Still want a plot? Ok.

The theatrical plot:
Six years ago, Michael Myers terrorized the town of Haddonfield, Illinois. He and his niece, Jamie Lloyd, have disappeared. Jamie was kidnapped by a bunch of evil druids who protect Michael Myers. And now, six years later, Jamie has escaped after giving birth to Michael's child. She runs to Haddonfield to get Dr. Loomis to help her again, but gets killed and stashes her baby. Meanwhile, the family that adopted Laurie Strode is living in the Myers house and are being stalked by Myers. It's the curse of Thorn that Michael is possessed by that makes him kill his family. And it's up to Tommy Doyle, the boy from Halloween, and Dr. Loomis, to stop them all.

The P-Cut plot:
Nearly the same, Jamie gets killed much later in the film, by the man in black, and the curse of the Thorn is better explained.

Now first off Jamie is played by a completely differant actress than previously, and little is explainded about the ending of 5.

In both versions the man in black turns out to be Dr Wynn, who is the head of these druids that half worship / wanna control Myers.

In the D-Cut Tommy drugs Myers, and beats the crap outta him with a pipe. WTF? And making his escape with Kara Strode her son, and Jamie's baby. Loomis states he has something to finish, and we here cut to the Myers house and hear Loomis scream. The end.

In the P-Cut Tommy uses a ring of rune stones (the Thorn is Michaels rune) to stop him dead in his tracks. Wynn has been Myers keeper for all these years, that is the curse of Micahel Myers, something in his dying breath he transfers to Dr Loomis. Now Loomis will be forced to be Myers keeper, and protect him. Tommy and company escape.

The plan here though was to use the baby as a final sacrifice, to transfer Michaels Thorn curse to Kara's young son Danny. (Effectively making him the next killer).

Both versions have their problems.

Mike being beaten by a pipe, or stopped by a ring of stones? You tell me which is more exciting?
And can these people being offed be any further related to Michael Myers? His nieces inbread rape child? And the brother of the man that adopted his sister, and his family? We are really pushing the kill your relatives angle pretty far here.

Like I said the flick is a mess. For me the P-Cut while not being as exciting of an ending at least makes sense, to a degree. Honestly Wynn makes Loomis Michaels keeper? He's like 90 fucking years old and is hobbling on a cane? Yeah he might get a day or two in on the job. Tommy should have been made the keeper, but either way, they attempted to answer lots of questions here, and made a mess.

For those interested the P-Cut has never been offically released anywhere, however it is readily available via ebay. However it is a bootleg, so quality is a bit off.

[Owner of a Lonely B.A.T.]

H20: Halloween 20 Years Later

The Plot:
Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time and now the life of her own son hangs in the balance.

The Cast:
Jamie Lee Curtis .... Laurie Strode/Keri Tate
Josh Hartnett .... John Tate
Adam Arkin .... Will Brennan
Michelle Williams .... Molly Cartwell
LL Cool J .... Ronald 'Ronny' Jones
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe .... Sarah Wainthrope
Adam Hann-Byrd .... Charles 'Charlie' Deveraux
Janet Leigh .... Norma Watson
Joseph Gordon-Levitt .... Jimmy Howell
Nancy Stephens .... Marion Chambers Whittington
Brandon Williams .... Tony Allegre
Beau Billingslea .... Detective 'Fitz' Fitzsimmons
Matt Winston .... Detective Matt Sampson
Larisa Miller .... Claudia
Emmalee Thompson .... Casey

Much better back on track with this one. Honestly likely the best since the original.

The biggest issue here is the complete unmentioning of H4-6. They don't discredit them, but they don't acknowledge them either. There is no mention of Laurie's daughter Jamie, only John her son.

This again was designed as a final film, and likely should have stayed that way, cause it's a great closer for the series. Laurie has to confront her monster, just like Dr. Frankenstein did.

Great movie if not a bit short.

Halloween: Ressurection

The Plot:
When a group of teens win a contest to spend a night in Michael Myers' childhood home to be broadcast live on the internet, they believe they are in for a little fun and some free publicity. But, things go frightfully wrong and the game turns into a struggle to make it out of the house alive.

The Cast:
Jamie Lee Curtis .... Laurie Strode
Brad Loree .... Michael Myers
Busta Rhymes .... Freddie Harris
Bianca Kajlich .... Sara Moyer
Sean Patrick Thomas .... Rudy Grimes
Daisy McCrackin .... Donna Chang
Katee Sackhoff .... Jenna 'Jen' Danzig (as Katee Sachoff)
Luke Kirby .... Jim Morgan
Thomas Ian Nicholas .... Bill Woodlake
Ryan Merriman .... Myles 'Deckard' Barton
Tyra Banks .... Nora Winston
Billy Kay .... Scott
Gus Lynch .... Harold
Lorena Gale .... Nurse Wells
Marisa Rudiak .... Nurse Phillips


Curtis returns for one last movies in the series, or should I say one last first 20 mins of this movie. As we close out here character, and move on to Michael Myers on the internet.

Enjoyable, It tried something differant, and turned the Myers house into a inescapable game of Cat and Mouse.

Give it a try, likely not the best, but certianly better than average.

I might point out an early Katee Sackhoff pre Battlestar Galactica role. (I said it then she'd go on to bigger things, and was right)





So where does that leave us?

There was talks of yet another Halloween flick called Retribution, but sadly executive producer Moustapha Akkad and his daughter were killed in 2005 in Amman, Jordan by terrorist bombings.

This has sent H9:Retribution into film limbo. His son Malek Akkad has taken the reigns and promised a new film.

Earlier this year it was announcer director / Musician Rob Zombie will direct the next Halloween flick, however it is to be a as he described, "Partial Prequel, Partial Remake of the first film. He intends to retell the tale, and expand more on the years between his first murder, and that fatefull night."

The preview looks pretty good and is up on www.halloweenmovies.com on August 31st we'll see.

[DESTRO]

Im looking forward to the Rob Zombie remake. Im sure it will live up to the hype.

[C.I.A.D.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DESTRO

Im looking forward to the Rob Zombie remake. Im sure it will live up to the hype.

Amen to that!


Great Reviews, Ooalb!

[apacolypse]

Great Reviews..

All I remember from HIII is.....

SILVER SHAMROCK!!

:shifty

[General Scarlett]

I remember the first 'Halloween' movie (the theatrical release) scared the bejezzuss outta me!! Then I didn't want to see any of the other ones..........until much later..but then I watched them and it was OK....

H20 was funny and scary....but on a whole new level.....I was stoked to see Jamie Lee Curtis back and how much crap Michael Meyers went through.....

Beyond that, I can take 'em or leave 'em......


I will tell you however that the theme music of Halloween is programmed into my cell phone.....and it's what plays when my parents call me!! :p ;)