Before you read, this turned into a rant where I offer suggestions of what Halloween movies to watch and then rant about sequels that you may have never seen. I wouldn’t say there’s any real spoilers in what I’ve written but I do go into some character details briefly. Just wanted to warn you before you dive in.

 

The Halloween films have been a huge part of my life since I saw the first Halloween probably on TV back in, I think 1980 on something called “On TV” basically it was HBO before HBO. I was like 10 or 11, they had this weekend or night of nothing but horror movies. It was the first time I saw Halloween and Friday the 13th. That night forever changed me. I have been a fan of horror ever since.

Friday the 13th and Halloween were obviously the big two franchises of the 80’s, none bigger than Friday the 13th. But, Jason wasn’t a thing back in the early days. It really wasn’t until he dawned that Hocky mask in Part III in 1983 when Jason truly became a household name. And up until that moment, the Halloween theme and that mask Michael were it. There was nothing like it in horror. And to this day that mask and that music still work.

For me, Michael Myers is and always be the ultimate slasher for many reason. And, many more that I will probably never understand. But of the reasons I do understand, it’s because his strength, his silence and stealth. He doesn’t run and yet he’s relentless. There’s obviously something supernatural about him and yet very human. There’s a curiosity that he seems to have. And an intelligence somehow that just makes him smarter than us all. He knows our next move, he’s somehow a mirror into ourselves and no matter how far we run, he’ll find us, wherever we feel the safest, he’ll find a way.

And for all that we don’t really understand anything about him. There’s just this sense that he knows us more than we do. There’s an inherent mystery to him. This mystery as to why he is? Why he does? How he keeps coming back. And it’s that ‘relentlessness’ that makes him so terrifying. That makes us probably read into him more than certainly what has been presented to us in the films. I believe what makes him so scary is that we don’t really know what makes him tick.

It’s good that we don’t know, we should probably never know, maybe a clue here and there. Some films have gone on to over explain what made him the way that he is. That, I feel like the biggest problem with the Halloween films. I think it’s fine to explore the reasons in the films but the only explanation we truly need to know is that, there’s obviously something supernatural about him and yet very human too. Those are the rules. We can’t really know more than that.

It’s like a good ghost story in many ways. The film makers have to set up some ground rules and never move away from them. The reason being, is that the reality of ghosts is just bullshit. Nonsense we tell ourselves to explain things we can’t otherwise explain. Once you take the view out of the mystery and into the reality of it, you lose them. Because they start asking questions like, “Why don’t the ghosts just fall through the floor?” They’re a ghost, they don’t breathe, they don’t eat, why don’t they explore the galaxy? Hang out on the moon maybe? Hell, visit the bottoms of the oceans. They could swim with sharks and play with dolphins. But no, they’re just hang out in an old house and scare people forever? It get stupidier the more you think about it. So, as a filmmaker you have to set some ground rules first, so the audience doesn’t drift. They did that perfectly in the first 2 films. After that, it often became a little and sometimes a lot strange. Because they just ignored the foundation that had been previously set.

I can’t speak to what John Carpenter thought. At least I can’t as I write this. I’ve seen all the films, the special features and a lot of interviews but it’s been years and in some cases, decades since I’ve seen some of those special features. In this part 1 I am speaking mainly from memory. However, in the past year I have watched from Part 4 and on. My goal currently is to watch them all this month. It’s October 11, 2022 at about 11 in the morning, Arizona time. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. But my goal is watch what I can as soon as possible, all the special features as well and then revisit this with a part 2 to clean up any mistakes I may have made in current thinking

Getting back to those inconsistencies. I don’t recall if they stated in Halloween or Halloween II. In one of those films there’s footage of Michael as teen in psych ward. In two there’s talk of Lori Strode being his sister or maybe that was in TV version of the original, I don’t recall. And then there’s that odd moment of the word “Samhain” written in blood on school room chalkboard, and as interesting as that was in part 2, that eventually leads us to crazy town in one of the later Halloween films.

I don’t want to go into, in depth reviews of each film in the franchise in this post. Instead, I will just talk briefly as to what I recommend. Of course, I think you should watch all of them. Even Rob Zombie’s two films as much I didn’t like them. But, if you’re just looking to have a great night of the Halloween movies, you can’t go wrong with Halloween I, II and IV. For me, these were the best, and everything else fell well behind and some were sadly laughable.

There’s the Blumhouse Halloween movies, I’m not really a fan of them. The first one, was not good at all. It ignores completely Halloween II. Basically, stating that Halloween II and all the other films never happened, and that Michael Myers was arrested later that night after the first film. That, entire idea is what I affectionately like to call stupid. Halloween II was by far the best film in the entire series and to just say it never happened was idiotic at best, and to go even further, I think Part IV was better than the original. If I had to rate them, it would be Part II, IV and I.

So, for them to decide, screw it, nothing after the first film happened was dumb. That being said, I am going to rewatch the new BH films again as well, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing Halloween Ends in a few days. I don’t hate the new films; I’ve just been mostly disappointed in them.

My thoughts on the two BH films so far, I didn’t care for the first one. The second, I don’t know how to review it, because overall, I found it hard to watch, I don’t like stupid people, and this turned the entire town into raging idiots. It was so overwhelmingly frustrating, and the whole “Evil Dies Tonight” part just made me want all of them to die, painfully, and have the film end with Myers walking off into the night, after killing them all, as the credits rolled.

But, there were parts that I loved. Seeing them go back to the original film and more or less reshoot some of those scenes. It was brilliantly done. The other day ordered Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills on 4K. I plan to rewatch them both and all the special features that come with them. I’m hoping to maybe gleam some new insights, or maybe see something I missed that makes them worth any of the time that was put into them because as of right now, they did nothing but slap a lot of us in the face.

Sure, I loved seeing Michael again. Of course, I loved seeing Lori Strode, but the way they went with the character, I feel like it made her weaker, not stronger and it was just wrong and far too obvious of a choice.

I want to briefly talk about why I feel that way. You see, in the original Halloween, Lori Strode was kind of an idiot. Now here me out, I know some of you may have just blown a gasket and I understand, but I think you’ll understand why I say this, just give me a minute. Lori was the smart one. We see this, she answered the teacher’s question with some serious depth for a high school kid. She was us, she ws the hero from the moment we first see her. She was our final girl. Then the goes on to do every stupid thing you can do in a horror movie. And worse of all, she literally dropped ever weapon she used. Every single time. Knitting needle, thinks that killed him, she drops it and turns her back. Cheap wire clothes hanger, drops it and turns her back. I mean how in the hell do you think you killed this guy with wire hanger? If you weren’t at least internally screaming at her to pick that shit back up or to run, then well, you’re kind of… Well just leave at, you probably wouldn’t survive a horror movie.

Now, in Halloween II, Lori knew. Lori ran, she was afraid, but she was a fighter. She kicked ass, she survived, she shot his twice in the eyes! That’s the Lori I Iove. What they did to her in Halloween 2018, they made her someone that gave in to her fear. That instead of dealing with her emotional trauma she moved out to the boonies and became a crazy person.

You can have a person deal with trauma, and live a life not surrounded by guns and booby traps. I felt that was such poor way to her handle it. The Lori I felt I knew, that straight A student, that reader of books in class that obviously no one else read, would have been all over therapy. Probably would have become a mental health advocate or a lawyer who fight to make sure that people like Michael remained locked up and that victim of violence had the resources they needed. Instead, they turned her character into a person so haunted by her past that she couldn’t function normally within society. So damaged that she was at odds with her family.

And the overall message that film sends is, “Yep, all the crazies are right and we’re all wrong.” I don’t think that’s the message they intended but I’ve talked to people, who I also think are crazy, and were like, “That’s exactly why I carry my guns!” I understand that Lori Strode has reason to be afraid. Her fear wasn’t unwarranted. What I am saying is that I don’t believe Lori would have handled it the way that she did. Lori was smart, she would’ve fought, she would have changed laws, she wouldn’t have banished herself to the corn f’n corn fields. It was just horrible bad take in my humble opinion.

I think this is where I leave off. I plan to start watching the other films soon. As I’ve mentioned I’ve got a lot going on. My mother is ill and I help take care of her. My dad isn’t get any younger, we’ve got construction going on in the house, I’m trying to run a business, I’m in my 50’s and taking a class in the middle of all of this. I’ve got my own health issue as well. But, I really want to get through the Halloween films this month. No promises, but I offer my sincerest of efforts.