Review: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

People in the Movie:  Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd

Director:  Joe Chappelle

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Slasher

The Basics: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers takes place six years after the events of Halloween 5.  This film attempts to bring back an old character, Tommy Doyle (Rudd), from the original film; continues to use mainstays Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasense) and Michael Myers; and introduce a new plot element into the Michael Myers mythology.  This new facet presents to the audience the idea that Michael has been driven to kill since he was a child, because he has been under the influence of the “Curse of Thorn”.  It is up to Tommy and Dr. Loomis to stop Michael (again) and to protect Jamie Lloyd’s newborn baby, as well as several members of Laurie Strode’s extended family.

Recommendation: Fans of the series and Halloween mythology should see this for the following 2 reasons: Donald Pleasence died shortly after filming had ended, so this Halloween was his last.  It is Paul Rudd’s film debut, so fans of his could enjoy it – although since he is more of a comedic actor and Tommy Doyle is not a comedic role, maybe not. 

Otherwise, the theatrical release** of this film is not-so-great.  It is a disjointed slasher flick that pretends to have a plot, but since it is only 88 minutes nothing gets developed.   

As a standalone (meaning you had not watched any of the proceeding films) you would be completely lost.  ‘R’ rating is for violence, language, and brief sexuality.

** I would recommend finding a copy of the Producers Cut (which would still be considered bootleg right now), either online, a used DVD place, or the like.  There are far fewer plot holes, and had that version been edited and “done up” just a little more, this installment could have been a very good ending to the Loomis character and continuation of Michael Myers storyline. 

My Take:  As cliché as most horror films plots get deep into their respective series, the problems that are reported (after the fact) about what went on behind the scenes is also as trite.  Unfortunately these cliché “behind the scenes” problems lead to a final product that seems to be universally disliked among Halloween fans, myself included.

**spoiler alert**

The Good: The idea of bringing back a character from the original film, who was a child at the time of the original killings and now grown up, was actually a decent idea.  Tommy is shown to be a little obsessed in wanting answers for Michael’s continuing reign of terror in Haddonfield.  Rudd did as good of a job as he could have, seeing that his character was given very little development time. 

The truth is an entire film could have been driven by Tommy’s character alone, using his initial encounter with Michael as the defining moment of his life to that point, and his now desire to move forward.  But, this was not the route taken.

The story and plot on the surface actually seem entertaining.  If I heard a 2 minute pitch for this film or watched a 2 minute teaser trailer with the elements that are here, I could visualize Halloween 6 being one of the better sequels.  It was the execution that failed. 

The Bad:  I do not know why, but it seems like the residents of Haddonfield are not very smart, and have no sense of history considering all the murders that have taken place in their town.  The idea that John Strode and his family moved into the old Myers’ house, and everyone in the family other than John had “no idea” about Michael Myers and the murders was ridiculous.

There was zero development of Jamie Lloyd’s story, other than having the baby while in the “Cult’s” captivity, and subsequently being killed barely minutes into the film after escaping.  It’s a tough enough stretch to believe a teenage girl would give birth then have to go on the run seemingly hours later, but even worse that the character that was built up for the 2 prior installments and was taken out with seemingly little regard.  I still believe that no character should ever be safe in a horror sequel, but disrespecting a character that is central to a storyline, like this, just drives down my appreciation for this film (or any that employ that tactic).

The “Curse of Thorn” plot element was executed horribly.  To me, using this idea is a complete cop-out, and almost excuses all of Michael’s prior murders as him being driven by external supernatural forces, rather than him just being evil incarnate.  I believe it is a much more terrifying thought that a child in Anytown, USA, could pick up knife and stab his sister to death because he chose to do so, rather than him not having a choice because a “curse” forced him to.  Even more absurd, at the end of the film we see this Cult was trying to somehow genetically engineer or control the “evil” that is the Curse of Thorn, using Michael, his niece’s child, and another boy.  But, as always the case in horror films, trying to control or reason with evil most often results in ones death, and fortunately that is the case with the members of the Cult. 

I will note that this element (The Curse), in theory, could have worked if maybe there was more back-story or development.  For example, if the Cult had knowingly allowed Michael to be cursed from the beginning and then lost control of him, so that Haddonfield was an innocent town being victimized by the Curse, like a plague or disease in ancient times, then it may have been more palatable as a plot driver. 

But it was not put forth like this.  Instead we get a clumsy “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” type of story and the bottom line is that this is one of, if not the worst installment in the Michael Myers mythology.    

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Based on the information that is out there (online, fanzines, interviews, etc..), it appears that the film and story were cut, re-cut, and edited so many times – from both internal editing, as well as re-filming done due to reactions from test audiences - that what story/plot was originally intended is probably not even close to what finally ended up on screen for the theatrical release.    

- An original title for the film was Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers, but after a series of alterations the writer Daniel Farrands jokingly noted to call it the Curse of MM, and that stuck.

- Apparently there were plans to release the Producer’s Cut, noted on the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD, however, Disney owns the rights, and nothing is imminent as far as the future release date, as of right now.

- As I noted above, it is sad to see Donald Pleasence, the forever good-guy of Halloween, go out in a film like this.  RIP, Sam Loomis.

- The fates of Tommy, Danny, Kara, and Jamie’s baby are not otherwise tied up here, or in future Halloween films.