“What scares me is what scares you. We’re all afraid of the same things. That’s why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you’ll know what frightens me.”
John Carpenter
11. Halloween Resurrection
Resurrection is easy to hate because it’s the most blatant cash grab in the series. The casting is trying so hard to be relevant. They even cast Busta Rhymes and Tyra Banks. There are some fun kills in Resurrection, but they are never enough to make the film fun. Michael Myers returns home to murder the cast of a reality show. This film feels like a complete pander to the MTV crowd, but unfortunately, it’s about as deep as a music video.
10. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
I’ll talk about The Return of Michael Myers later on the list, but after successfully rebooting the series, Revenge killed it. The entire plot of Revenge is a mess. Danielle Harris, as Jamie was terrific in Return, but here they forced her to be mute. She not only can’t speak, but nightmares of Myers plague her. The majority of the film is spent in a hospital with Donald Pleasance screaming into the little girl’s face. Michael is almost an afterthought as he speeds around town in a victim’s Camero. The most unforgivable sin is the way Rachel is treated in this film.
9. Halloween (2007)
John Carpenter thought that a faceless, emotionless, and methodical killer was the most terrifying entity on earth. Rob Zombie said, screw that, let’s humanize Michael Myers. Zombie’s reboot follows a young white trash Michael through his formative killing years. I can’t stress how uninteresting the first half-hour of this film is. Once you get past that, the film isn’t terrible. It plays out very similar to Carpenter’s original but with way more brutality.
8. Halloween II (2009)
I enjoyed the sequel to Rob Zombie’s feckless reboot much more than his first film. Michael is allowed to spend most of this movie slashing his way through the cast until he finally meets his end at the hands of his sister Laurie. Scout Taylor-Compton does what she can to make this film work, and I love her performance. Zombie is obviously a fan of the other Halloween films. He took elements of two, four, and five. I have to admit he did execute this better than all of those films, but this film’s ending is predictable and stale.
7. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers Producers Cut
There is no reason to watch the original cut of The Curse of Michael Myers. The producer’s cut was released in 2013, and it’s a much better version. Even though the silly cult plot still exists, it makes way more sense here. Paul Rudd has a lot more to do, and his character Tommy Doyle actually has an arc. The biggest issue with Curse is that it isn’t Michael’s movie. The film relies on a twist and one that isn’t clever.
6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
I know a lot of people adore this film, but I don’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good film, but the plot seems derivative. A few key elements of Season of the Witch are almost carbon copies of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Wicker Man. The plot is insane, and trying to figure out what the villains are trying to accomplish is head-scratching. The social commentary is overt and maybe a little outdated. Television is no longer an enemy of the people. It’s social media’s turn.
5. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
The Return of Michael Myers is exactly what I think of when I think of a Halloween sequel. Myers hears that he has a niece and decides he’s got to kill her. While this may sound silly, it’s handled decently. His niece Jamie is played by Danielle Harris. She is the daughter of Laurie Strode, who has passed away. Her foster sister Rachel is tasked with taking her Trick or Treating while Michael is hunting her down. Outside of a ridiculous thumb through the forehead, killing the slashing is top-notch. Harris is so good as the little girl in distress. While the ending would be undercut in later films, it’s one of the best.
4. Halloween II (1981)
Dr. Sam Loomis is a divisive character, and this film is the main culprit. I think it’s a bit unfair to blame this sequel on the failures of the following films. Making Laurie Michael’s sister really didn’t undercut the first film the way critics said. Halloween II is a fun extension of the first film. Michael stalking his prey in a hospital while Loomis is learning more about the masked maniac. Despite losing Carpenter as a director, his fingerprints are there. The atmosphere and score are chilling, and Jamie Lee Curtis proves that she’s the definitive scream queen.
3. Halloween H2O
Kevin Williamson is known for his ability to write teen angst for Millenials. He penned Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Faculty. He was approached to write the script for H2O, but ultimately the production went another way. Williamson did, however, help with dialogue and rewrites. His involvement is obvious with the casting of Michelle Williams and Josh Hartnett. H20 has perhaps the best cast of any Halloween film. But what really sets it apart is the arc of Laurie. Jamie Lee Curtis is no longer a scream queen but instead decides to fight back. This film was once titled The Revenge of Laurie Strode.
2. Halloween (2018)
If Rob Zombie took cues from movies 4-6, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride took their cues from H20. The plot revolves around Laurie prepping herself for one last showdown with Michael. She’s no longer running, but she is ready for a war. Halloween (2018) is considered the direct sequel to Carpenter’s original. It retcons all previous films and if squashes the brother-sister connection. What makes this film so great is that it feels like more of a love letter than a cash grab. Jamie Lee Curtis is an amazing actress, and this film lets her flex that muscle. Michael once again feels mysterious and unstoppable not because he’s possessed or cursed but because we don’t know why he’s killing. He’s not hunting Laurie. He’s forced into the opportunity to attack her. He’s simply home and doing what he loves… cutting people to shreds.
- Halloween (1978)
The classic that started it all. It’s hard to say something about Halloween that hasn’t already been said. I love this film, and every time I watch it, I get chills. John Carpenter’s score is perfect. The eerie piano notes and the terrific camera work are just the icings on top of the horror cake. Jamie Lee Curtis was a natural choice with her girl next door looks, but she’s also an extremely gifted actress. The gore is left to a minimum, and all the scares shot right to your core. The feeling of someone watching you as you go about your daily business is absolutely terrifying. The Shape, as he’s referred to in the script, is brutality, misogyny, and death personified. There is no better horror villain.
