Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

All you want to know about Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joe Chappelle
Produced by Moustapha Akkad
Malek Akkad
Paul Freeman
Written by Screenplay:
Daniel Farrands
Joe Chappelle (uncredited)[1]
Based on characters created by:
John Carpenter
Debra Hill
Starring Donald Pleasence
Paul Rudd
Marianne Hagan
Mitch Ryan
Kim Darby
J.C. Brandy
Bradford English
Music by Alan Howarth
Cinematography Billy Dickson
Editing by Randolph K. Bricker
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release date(s) September 29, 1995
Running time Theatrical cut
88 min.
Producer's cut
131 min.
Country  United States
Language English
Budget $5 million
Gross revenue $15,116,634
Preceded by Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Followed by Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. It stars Donald Pleasence (in his final film appearance) and Paul Rudd. The original music score composed by long-time Halloween contributor Alan Howarth. The plot of the film largely involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical mark, which is the source of Michael Myers' believed evil."[2]

The Curse of Michael Myers was the first of four Halloween films to be produced by Moustapha Akkad and his son Malek under an exclusive production and distribution pact with Dimension Films. The film was marketed with the taglines: "Six Times the Terror... Six Times the Fear... Six Times the Thrills of the original Halloween" and "Terror Never Rests in Peace".

Contents

Plot

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Michael Myers, his niece Jamie Lloyd, and the mysterious Man in Black have all been in hiding for six years. It is revealed that the Man in Black is the leader of a Druid like cult, and that after the fiery climax of Halloween 5 the Man in Black kidnapped Jamie and had her impregnated (although viewers are never told who the father is). The baby is born on Halloween Eve and is carried away by the Man in Black. Later that night, however, a kind midwife named Mary helps Jamie and her baby escape. Michael Myers, in pursuit of Jamie and her newborn, kills Mary by impaling the back of her head to a metal spike in the wall. Jamie, meanwhile, steals the truck of an angry motorist (who quickly becomes Michael's next victim) and flees to a dark and empty bus station where she calls in to a radio show that happens to be doing a broadcast about the Haddonfield murders. Jamie gets on the air, begging for help and warning of Michael's imminent return. Trapped, she proceeds to hide in the bathroom where Michael nearly catches her. She narrowly makes it out alive and again drives away. Jamie is still not safe, as she is forced off the road by a presumably stolen van driven by Michael Myers. Beaten and exhausted, she makes her way inside of an old barn where Michael is waiting for her. He kills Jamie by pushing her into a corn thresher, only after Jamie reveals she does not have the baby.

Meanwhile, Tommy Doyle (the child Laurie Strode babysat in the first film) has his eye on a family who's moved into the old Myers house across the street from the boarding house where he lives. The boarding house is run by a mysterious old woman named Minnie Blankenship. For seventeen years, Tommy has been obsessed with finding the truth behind the murderous motives of Michael Myers. After hearing Jamie begging for help on a local radio show, Tommy finds and locates her baby at the bus station and takes him into hiding. The people living in the Myers house are relatives of the Strode family (Laurie Strode's adoptive parents), and among the current residents are Kara Strode and her son Danny, Kara's teenage brother Tim, and her parents, the doting mother Debra and her abusive husband and Kara's father John. One by one, Michael stalks each of the Strodes, trying to get to Jamie's baby. Across the street, Tommy reveals to Kara that Michael has been marked with a runic symbol called Thorn or Thurisaz, an ancient Druid curse that drives a young man to wipe out his entire family for the good of civilization. The plot takes a turn when the Man in Black finally reveals himself as Dr. Wynn from the original Halloween. Wynn has been experimenting with pure evil and has kept his work secret within the bowels of Smith's Grove Sanitarium (where Michael was held for most of his youth). After a terrifying showdown between Kara and Michael Myers, Tommy and Loomis follow Wynn to the mental hospital where a final bloody conflict erupts, ending with the death of Dr. Wynn and the other 12 doctors and , presumably, Michael Myers himself. The film concludes with the protagonists getting out safely, except for Dr. Loomis, who walks back inside the hospital to take care of "unfinished business." Inside Wynn's secret medical lab, however, Michael's mask has been left on the floor while off-screen we hear the sound of Loomis's final, fateful scream.

Alternate Ending

Before Donald Pleasence died, there was a different ending. In this alternate "Producer's Cut" version, Loomis and Tommy go to Smith's Grove Sanitarium and interrupt an occult ceremony with Wynn and his pagan followers offering a "final sacrifice" in the name of Thorn. Tommy (disguised as a cultist) interrupts the blood ritual and runs with Danny, Kara, and baby Steven through the sanitarium halls until they are trapped behind a locked gate. Michael continues to come after them until Tommy uses the powers of his rune stones to stop Michael in his tracks. Loomis comes on the scene, firing his gun at the gate, allowing Kara, Danny, Steven, and Tommy to escape. But in this version, after Loomis sees the heroes retreat safely, he goes back inside the hospital where he finds Michael Myers lying on the floor amid the ring of rune stones, presumably dead. "It's all over, Michael," he sighs, pulling the mask off. But in a final twist it is revealed that Dr. Wynn is behind Michael's mask; the real Michael has switched costumes and cleverly escaped. Wynn, injured and near death, says, "Michael's gone. It's your game now, Dr. Loomis." A look of horror comes over Loomis as he pulls up his shirt sleeve just as the mark of Thorn magically materializes on his wrist. As Loomis lets out an ungodly scream, Michael is seen (dressed in Wynn's "Man In Black" costume) walking silently into the night as a flickering jack-o-lantern is shown on the porch of the Myers house. The candle blows out and the screen goes to black. When the screen says "In memory of Donald Pleasence", you can hear Lynda from the original Halloween (film) saying: "See anything you like?"

Cast

Production

In the early 1990s, the Halloween sequel rights were sold to Miramax Films (via its Dimension Films division). Filming of Halloween 6 started in October, 1994 and wrapped two months later. Donald Pleasance was the only actor who had returned from Halloween 5. Danielle Harris was in talks to reprise her role, but she and Dimension could not come to an agreement, so J. C. Brandy got the role instead.

In early 1995, after filming and editing was completed for what was to eventually become the infamous "Producer's Cut," Halloween 6 was given a test screening which, as described by actress Marianne Hagan, "consisted primarily of 14-year-old boys." During the Q & A afterwards, one of them expressed great displeasure at the ending of the film. As a result, the movie was rushed back into production, this time without Donald Pleasence, who passed away suddenly on February 2, 1995.

The filmmakers re-shot and re-edited the film based on the poor response from the test screening viewers; the ending was also reworked to compensate for Pleasence's untimely passing. In the original ending, Loomis survives; the reworked ending closes the book on his character, but not necessarily the series.

Some early trailers employed the title Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers. Screenwriter Daniel Farrands has stated that the trailer came before an official title was ever decided upon and that the title used in the trailers was a combination of a title from an early script named The Origin of Michael Myers from a writer before Farrands was brought in, and his own, which was simply titled Halloween 666. At one point, executive producer Moustapha Akkad asked Farrands for a title. Due to the troubled production, he suggested The Curse of Michael Myers. Although Farrands was half-joking, Akkad took the name to heart and decided to use it. Farrands also adds that this coincidentally made the subtitles similar to those in The Pink Panther film series, which also used Return, Revenge, and Curse subtitles.[3]

Music

Soundtrack

In 1995 a soundtrack album was released by Varese Sarabande Records. The score was composed by Alan Howarth. It is his last contribution to the film series, his work in the series dating back to his collaboration with John Carpenter on Halloween II. The music featured in the album is unusual in that it is a combination of the music featured in the original cut of the film, as well as that of the final theatrical cut. It is also of note that the score features "Laurie's Theme", a piece from the original film's score that had not been incorporated into any soundtrack since Halloween II and would not be used again until by Tyler Bates for the Halloween remake. It should also be noted that this is the first Halloween film to incorporate a hit song into a movie.

Track listing

  1. Jamie's Escape
  2. Birth Ceremony
  3. You Can't Have The Baby
  4. Empty Stomach
  5. Watching Mom
  6. Kara Returns
  7. Thorn
  8. Carnival Festival
  9. It's Raining Red
  10. Look Upstairs
  11. It's His Game
  12. Maximum Security
  13. Operating Room

Reception

Halloween 6 was released on September 29, 1995, and brought in a $8,581,000 opening weekend gross. The film grossed a total of $15,116,634 in U.S. box office.

The "Producer's Cut" began circulating as a bootleg and on various fan websites shortly after the official release of the film.

On the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD, it was stated that Dimension was trying to plan an official release of the Producer's Cut, however, no updates have been made on that plan.

Continuity

The following film in the series, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, ignored the continuity established in the previous three films with characters stating that Michael Myers disappeared altogether after Halloween II. Though the idea was to ignore the other movies and branch off the first two movies nothing in the next two movies makes it impossible for the previous movies to work. In a way the thorn does effect Michael's victims. He still only goes after family members, people in his house, and people in his way.

Chaos' Halloween comic book series attempted to bridge the continuity between The Curse of Michael Myers and H20, in 2001, but in doing so made the plot of Halloween: Resurrection (unreleased at the time) impossible.

The Producer's Cut

Copies of the original version of the film (known as the "Producer's Cut"), without the changed ending, have long been floating around in bootleg/collectors' circles. While featuring a different ending which was intended to keep Donald Pleasence's character in the films, it also features longer scenes in several parts of the movie, as well as different music at times.

Major plot points differ between the two cuts. For example, in the "Producer's Cut" Jamie Lloyd is not killed by Michael's attack in the barn; she is wounded only to be killed later on in the film by the "Man In Black" after having a dream about how she was imprisoned in Smith's Grove and impregnated with Michael's child.

The Producer's Cut features 43 minutes of alternate footage and takes, but has never been officially released by the studio in any format as of October 2, 2008.

Several scenes from the Producer's Cut can be seen on the "Television Cut" of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, most recently in the U.S. on AMC's MonsterFest. The scenes were re-inserted to increase the running time of the film (originally a scant 88 minutes). The added scenes for the Television Cut include: a flashback to Halloween 5; Loomis in the halls of Smith's Grove begging Wynn to help him in his pursuit of Michael Myers; and an extended scene in which Kara Strode walks the college campus grounds, unaware that she is being stalked by the Shape. All other aspects of the theatrical cut (including the revised ending) remain intact, although many of the kill sequences have been edited for television.

Fangoria reported that the Producer's Cut may get an official release.[4][5]

Notes

  • Minnie Blankenship, the woman who runs the boarding house, is presumed by fans to have been the one to tell a young Michael Myers about the Cult of Thorn, thus she would have been the one to have brainwashed him as a child.
  • In the first Halloween film, Dr. Wynn questions Dr. Loomis as to who could've taught Michael how to drive. This is perceived to be humorous, in that it is presumed by many fans that Michael was taught by Wynn himself.
  • Halloween: 25 Years of Terror makes reference to the many fans of the series who were disappointed when J.C. Brandy took up the role of Jamie Lloyd, a role played in the two previous films by Danielle Harris.

References

  1. ^ An Interview with Daniel Farrands
  2. ^ Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 110.
  3. ^ Dan Farrands interview
  4. ^ Halloween 6 Producer's Cut May Be Heading to DVD
  5. ^ Halloween 6: Producers Cut To DVD?

External links

v • d • e
The Halloween series
Films
Characters
Media tie-ins
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween:_The_Curse_of_Michael_Myers"

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