Scripting the Story: HalloweeN Franchise

Good day CrewMembers and welcome to “Scripting the Story: HalloweeN”

April is Halfway to Halloween, and the 15th is halfway through April, so what better time to talk about the HalloweeN franchise?! The purpose of "Scripting the Story" is to help you unravel franchises that have taken some weird turns and can be very confusing if you just watch them from beginning to end. Here, we try to guide you as to what movies can make a more or less coherent story line.

Here we go!

HalloweeN (1978), HalloweeN II (1981), HalloweeN III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Michael and Laurie's story was supposed to be finished with the ending of HalloweeN II, but people didn't want to give up on the HalloweeN name. Instead of a straight sequel, it was decided that "HalloweeN" would become an anthology series with different stories coming out under one banner. That's why HalloweeN III: Season of the Witch has NOTHING to do with previous plots. I know we said we try to guide you to coherent story lines, but since this was the original idea behind the franchise, we'd be remiss to skip over it. Unfortunately, audiences didn't get the anthology premise and weren't happy with the new direction.

HalloweeN (1978), HalloweeN II (1981)

Since HalloweeN I and II were set to be a single story, you can simply stop after the second movie to get the full account of "the night he came home!"

HalloweeN III: Season of the Witch (1982)

At least the filmmakers tried to do something different. Instead of running Michael and Laurie through the blood soaked mud again, they purposefully went in a totally different direction. Feel free to watch this one by itself as it never had its own sequel.

HalloweeN (1978), HalloweeN II (1981), HalloweeN 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), HalloweeN 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

After the failed anthology experiment, Michael was brought back. Subsequently, the HalloweeN movies actually followed a pretty linear path for a while. Pulling on threads from Halloween II, this set of movies explores a supernatural reason for Michael's killing and introduces new family members.

HalloweeN (1978), HalloweeN II (1981), HalloweeN 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), HalloweeN 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween 6: The Origin of Michael Myers aka The Producer's Cut (1995)

HalloweeN 6 was a movie that went through a bit of studio meddling before it hit theaters. This was like the Snyder Cut decades before. Back in the day of VCRs, you could find bootleg VHS work print copies of Halloween 6: The Producer's Cut at conventions. Then, eBay. Eventually the studio came around and turned the work print into a finished product which was available on an official DVD. This version does change the story line enough that we feel it deserves its own timeline.

HalloweeN (1978), HalloweeN II (1981), HalloweeN H20 (1998), HalloweeN: Resurrection (2002)

20 years after the original HalloweeN, members of the original cast and crew wanted to come back to the franchise and make their movie. Not liking where the current franchise story lines were, they decided to do something that would become pretty common in the horror genre; they created a Legacy Sequel or Re-quel. So HalloweeN: H20 ignored HalloweeN III- 6 and continued from II. This new timeline focuses/relies pretty heavily on the relationship between Laurie and Michael.

Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007), H2 (2009)

Speaking of not liking where the current franchise story lines were...(this will be a theme...) By the time HalloweeN: Resurrection had made its way home, the franchise was feeling a bit played out. Gimmicks were seemingly the focus and Michael was less himself. In comes Rob Zombie to give us his writer/director take on the mythos. His Halloween was a remake of the original, so you don't need to see any of the others first.

HalloweeN (1978), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022)

40 years after the original HalloweeN, members of the original...you get the picture. This story line stems from the idea that John Carpenter had originally thought of calling the first movie "The Babysitter Murders." Since this new legacy trilogy ignores EVERYTHING but the theatrical release of HalloweeN, there is no relationship between Michael and Laurie aside from attacker and victim. I use the term "theatrical release" specifically, because the TV version of HalloweeN has added scenes of a young Laurie visiting Michael while he was in Smith's Grove Sanitarium and establishing them as siblings. That claim is literally denied outright in the dialogue from Halloween '18. For the time being, technically once Halloween Ends is released, this is also a complete story.

There you have it CrewMembers, a very "Choose Your Own Adventure" type of franchise. Later this year, we are expecting Halloween Ends to be released in theaters. Will it truly mean the end for the HalloweeN series? Most likely not. But if/when something else does come along; we'll keep you updated!

~Until then; enjoy the show!