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I Watched All 13 Movies in the Halloween Franchise.
Here is my ranking:
It was fun and I went crazy all at the same time.
Every review was written in real-time as I watched. Most films I watched twice before reviewing. Some of the better ones, including, of course, the original, I have seen more than twice.
Michael Myers is so sexy when you eliminate the murder sprees. God bless John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Director, John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis behind-the-scenes of Halloween, 1978.
Dean Cundey, P.J. Soles, John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Debra Hill on the set of Halloween, 1978.
13. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Rating: .5/5 stars
If I'm remembering correctly, Jamie Lee said in an interview once that in order for her to have been apart of H20 (1998), she was forced to make a cameo in this film even though she did not believe in it. And after watching it, it's obvious why she didn't.
Freddie was hands-down the best character in this! He had me laughing a couple times. Busta Rhymes gave a great performance!
-Extremely obvious and unfortunate that the director, producers, and writers were trying to gain their share of some of the Scream franchise money, which had been highly successful from the start; So many similarities between this film and the films that had come out of the Scream franchise.
-The opening scene (essentially the first 20 mins), and the entirety of the rest of the movie could have been 2 separate films. Seemed more and more out-of-place as the movie progressed and did not go hand-in-hand w/ the rest of the film.
-So obvious that Jamie Lee was only in this film so it would make more money at the box office.
-Overall, so unorganized and uninspired. The “plot” of the film was weak and overly cliché.
12. Halloween Ends (2022)
Rating: (initial watch: 2/5 stars) (re-watch: 1.5/5 stars)
-Why did Corey magically come back to life when Michael walked into Laurie's house??? She had already shot him and he had stabbed himself in the neck...
-So lazy. Such a disappointment for the finale. Just so lazy, unoriginal, and completely uninspired, even for a Halloween movie.
-Jamie Lee deserved better than this.
-I confidently called this a sellout before re-watching it again, and now that I have watched it again, I don't really disagree. It truly felt like Green, the producers, and writers were just ready for it all to be over and put in the least amount of effort they could. They knew people would watch to see how things end after so many decades, so they didn't need to bring much creativity and originality to the table. They knew they didn't need to do much at all to profit well. And so...they didn't.
-Corey had absolutely no business being one of the main characters. If the writers would've written him to be a main character for the purpose of Michael training him, throughout the film, to take over his place as the mass murderer in the Halloween Cinematic Universe, Corey's role and place in the film would've been acceptable. But given that Corey is killed off in the movie, the amount of screen time he was granted was ridiculous.
-As a big Halloween franchise fan, this was a let down 😐
11. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Rating: 0/5 stars
Looking back, I was probably a bit harsh in my review on this one but it simply didn't do it for me. I went into it with higher expectations than I had for the previous films, given that this is one of the most popular films in the franchise and so many seem to really enjoy it, but I came out of it feeling extremely let down.
H20 was promoted much more than the previous franchise installments had been. It was promoted as the comeback movie of the franchise as this was the first appearance Jamie made in the franchise since 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which she only made a minuscule cameo in. And even though Carpenter and Hill had nothing to do with it, it still wildly outsold the previous installments, excluding the 2007 re-imagining from Rob Zombie.
While Jamie's performance was good, as always, previous films that she wasn't apart of at all I enjoyed more than this.
Was only 86 mins but felt longer.
Michelle Williams' lip gloss was the star of this film.
-Boring and predictable. Predictable as in more-so than the previous Halloween films, excluding the original.
All that said, I would still re-watch this and take it and enjoy it for what it is.
Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasence, behind-the-scenes of 1989's Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.
10. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Rating: 1/5 stars
-Halloween 4 was way better
-Way too fucking long
-The essence of this film was Loomis screaming at a 9 year old
-Fuck Tina and Loomis
-Rachel deserved better!!!!!!!
9. Halloween II (2009)
Rating: 1/5 stars
Rob Zombie's Halloween II (Exorcist Version)
-Somebody get Michael Myers a new mask
-Scout Taylor-Compton gave an insanely good performance. That one star is for her and only her.
-Annie is such a brat. Why did the writers write her character like that??
-Overall, while this film did a great job portraying Laurie's trauma from Halloween night in the first film, every character, besides Laurie Strode, was poorly written. None of the characters, with Laurie as an exception, compared to the ones in the original Halloween and Halloween II.
Unlike the '07 Zombie film which was promoted as a remake of the original, this one was not necessarily deemed a remake of the '81 film. Almost everything about it is different and completely modernized from the original two films. The script and characters don't reflect the original two films at all, again, with Zombie's Laurie Strode being a small exception.
8. Halloween (2007)
Rating: 2/5 stars
-Part 1 of this film, showing insight into Michael's childhood and early days in the sanitarium, was entertaining and well-thought out. Unfortunately, part 2 doesn't carry the same weight.
-Don't understand why this was advertised as a "remake" of the '78 film seeing as there were only a few scenes that were truly similar to the original...
I understand that more-so than a remake, it was considered a re-imagining of the original, but even then so little was taken from the '78 picture and incorporated into this one that it's difficult to compare the two at all.
And then, as mentioned above, when Zombie got to Halloween II, there were barely ANY similarities to the first two films of the franchise.
-A half-decent picture on its own but difficult to be put against the original as the storylines were so different.
7./6. TIE: Halloween (2018)/Halloween Kills (2021)
Rating: (2018: 3/5 stars) (2021: initial watch: 3/5 stars, re-watch: 2.5/5 stars)
These are the only two films tied in my ranking as I have gone back and forth between which I feel is better. Ultimately, to me, they are equal.
2018:
-Watched this at a drive-in theater when it was released in 2018.
-Def watered down compared to the original but still better than the final 2 films of the franchise. Wish it would've been scarier.
-2021 or this one should've been the final film. Preferably, this one.
-Jamie Lee and Andi Matichak gave the best/stand-out performances.
-Wish it wouldn't have been as modernized but obviously I understand why it was. They wanted to appeal to a fresh generation. Also, of course, a lot changes culturally in 40 yrs, and ofc, that's going to bleed into cinema.
2021:
-If there was supposed to be a point to this one, it was to prove that no one could kill/get rid of Michael except Laurie.
-Too long. Audience would have received the point of the film just as much if it was cut down a few minutes. Should've been the last movie in the franchise. Underwhelming ending.
-A couple good moments but overall a letdown.
-Appreciated the return of 3 of the original cast members: Jamie Lee, Kyle Richards, and Nancy Stephens.
-The callback to Halloween II with half of the film taking place in Haddonfield Hospital was nice to see but absolutely nothing happened there. Michael didn't even show up there.
-I understand this film was meant to reflect 2020 America and that is certainly a respectable sentiment, but the execution was so poor. Somewhat of a vision was there but good writing was not.
5. Halloween 4: The Return of Micheal Myers (1988)
Rating: 3/5 stars
Ending caught me off guard for sure. Last 10 mins was the best part of the film. Overall, not bad.
Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris, behind-the-scenes of 1988's Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.
4. Halloween II (1981)
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
1. Why was the hospital so understaffed? I understand that Laurie was admitted in the early hours of the morning and Haddonfield is a small town, but 3 nurses, 1 doctor, and 2 guys (paramedics) who did nothing but take Laurie to the hospital is not enough employees. Maybe it wasn't a 24 hour hospital but they should've clarified whether or not it was...
(Looking back on my review of this movie, I can better understand why there were so few staff members at the hospital, given how small of a town Haddonfield supposedly is. But seeing as a masked murderer was running around town, killing people, it does seem appropriate that there would be, at least, one more nurse working.)
2. Beginning and ending were strong. The middle of the film was not.
3. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Rating: 3/5 stars
-Paul Rudd 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
-Surprised to see this film have fewer stars than Halloween 5 on Letterboxd. Imo this one was (while still containing many flaws), much better than 5
-HOW TF IS LOOMIS NOT DEAD YET??????
-Michael Myers impregnated his niece?! Are we sure he's from Illinois? I'm thinking more like Alabama
-A little slow at the beginning and some of the middle but the last quarter made up for it (for the most part lol)
-Not awful
-One person's review of this film on Letterboxd reads, "This is the only movie in the series that ties Michael Myers to the Halloween holiday in a meaningful way and it's fucking hated for it."
True, true.
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Rating: 3/5 stars
(Tempted to give it a 3.5 but I have to stay true to my INITIAL review/reaction of each of these movies.)
-Completely unique and different from all of the other 12 scripts and plots, and from any movie I have ever seen.
-Gave us the first and only glimpse of what Carpenter and Hill could've brought us, if the Halloween anthology series that they initially wanted to be made, would've been made.
-The people who refuse to watch and support this one, either because it is completely different from the original 2 films or because it is Science Fiction, are missing out. This has such a unique and original script which several of the films that would later be made, lacked.
John Carpenter, P.J. Soles, and John Michael Graham behind-the-scenes of Halloween.
1. Halloween (1978)
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
(It's okay to call it a 5/5, though.)
LAURIE, MY BABYYYY. MY GIRL!!!
COULD ONLY EVER BE PROPERLY PLAYED BY THE ONE AND ONLY, MRS. JAMIE LEE!
Just so iconic. If it weren't for where it all started and the 2018 and 2021 pictures--but mainly this one--I wouldn't have been interested in watching all 13.
My only critique would be, I wish it would've ended a bit differently. The fast-paced ending doesn't bother me at all, but it would've been nice to have a couple more scenes, after the final one, just to see what Carpenter and Hill would've done to Michael, after he got away. But at the same time, I understand that the open-ended ending was intentional, and I like that it allows for audiences to decide for themselves what happens next. Unless, of course, you decide to follow along with the different storylines throughout the rest of the franchise.
And then came the next 12...
JC and DH.
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