Not long ago I watched six of the Halloween movies. I’m going to be spoiling them here, so consider this the warning. Since then I have been rolling around considerations for them in my mind pretty consistently. It probably helps that I play Dead by Daylight usually at least once a week with a long-distance friend I have had since I was a kid.
The Movies
Speaking of being a kid, when I was one I had seen Halloween H20 probably quite a few times. I remember liking it a lot as a kid, and being just as infuriated by the cheap writing when LL Cool J randomly pulls Laurie away. You know the scene. Laurie is just about to deal out some extra beat down to her brother (in this timeline) when suddenly LL Cool J stops her because of reasons? I’m not quite sure what those reasons could be. I feel like if any character would not do that, it would be him. Oh well. Outside of that, I loved the movie then and I kinda love it now. It has a level of camp to it this mixes with some genuinely great stuff, mostly from Laurie. It isn’t a perfect movie, but it fit into the 90’s alongside other greats like Deep Blue Sea. Oh, hey! LL Cool J was also in that! Good times.
The fan-famous CGI mask in H20, used for one scene. The film fan-famously had three different masks.
When I reviewed H20, I placed it just high enough to be in the rankings for what I consider an enjoyable movie. I actually placed the reboot, Halloween (2018) a tiny bit above it. However, I think H20 is way more rewatchable. That having been said, I also have the original Halloween a lower score than both of them. I’ve been worried about my safety since. In all seriousness though, I wonder if this has to do with my earlier viewing for H20 and not having had that for the original film. I wonder if I had seen Halloween (1978) at its release if it would be much higher regarded. Perhaps inverse to that, H20 would be much lower had I not seen it before. While I don’t personally love the original, I do get the appeal and I hope people go on loving it.
There is still the rest of the original line of movies and the Rob Zombie remake series to watch, but I won’t dive into either right now. Being honest, I am not really a fan of Rob Zombie movies and I am kind of terrified of the ratings for the original movies that follow. I am sure each has some merits, but I have already consumed so much Halloween in such a short time. I do think there is a chance I will watch the third though, as it is its own thing and I kinda love anthology stories as an idea.
The Legend
Michael Myers is a very cool character and I get why people wanted more. It is a shame that some of the movies are so bad though. In what I saw, Halloween Ends (2022) is by far the worst because of what it tries to do with the character. I can respect taking a swing, but this one felt completely misguided and out of touch. Even other bad flicks, like Halloween Kills (2021), at least had really cool moments to them. I don’t think I will ever watch Ends again as it is irredeemable.
Having said that, I do not regret my dive into the deep end. I really like The Shape and the subdued mixed with violent flourishes. I don’t think I would be too hard on the idea of rebooting the franchise every lifetime. I would even say I am okay with an entire reboot, like Rob Zombie did. I think Myers is a character that is best kept to as few movies as possible though. Give me one, two, maybe three tops that are all good and probably all take place immediately after what came prior. I know the original intent was to have it be one movie and to leave it open at the end, but Carpenter also wrote the sequel and then complained about having written the sequel so I don’t feel his intent to be something sacred.
Dead by Daylight
I love seeing Myers in Dead by Daylight because the mixture of the music and the immediate alarm when realizing he sees you, it is all just too good. It is actually playing DBD that led me to wanting to watch the movies. I think they call that brand synergy, baby!
Recommendation
If someone had never seen any of the Halloween movies before, I would probably recommend going into it in two ways, with a third bonus possibility. I’m also including a timeline guide by Adam Hlavac, with Rotten Tomatoes scores laid over top. As an H20 fan, I think it over simplifies a bit but it also paints an overall image that I have of the franchise: it gets rough.
Created by @AdamHlavac on Instagram.
H20 Timeline
This means watching the original 1978 Halloween, then its 1981 sequel Halloween 2, and then finishing it with Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later. Now I know there is one more film, Halloween: Resurrection. However, I didn’t watch it in this recent run and I am pretty sure I saw some of it as a kid and even then noped out. H20 is the perfect spot to wrap this up, and I think some may even like it more as a trilogy than I do given how much more people like the original film than I do.
The 2018 Timeline
This is the first movie from 1978 again, but then diverges with three new films. Except you shouldn’t watch all three new films because they aren’t all necessary and aren’t very good. Simply watch the original film and then the first of the new trilogy. Boom, there you go. These two are the highest rated if going by popular sites, and so theoretically you are getting the best Halloween experience this way.
Wild Card Suggestion
I promised a bonus suggestion so here it is. Just watch the highly rated ones and skip the stuff around them. I know some try to bring back characters we have seen before, but I never saw them doing so as super impactful outside of Laruie herself. Want to watch H20? Just understand Laurie went through hell and then her and Michael became siblings. Boom, you just avoided the kinda blah second movie. Want to watch the first movie of the 2018 reboot? Just watch that and know that Laurie survived a very scary night. Boom, your good to go.
Purists fight me. But don’t, because I am frail.
Final Thoughts
I was kind of surprised how many bad things there are in the Halloween franchise but I also get why it is so popular. Myers is just very cool, even when the movies themselves are failing him. Part of me worries that too much of him could ruin the charm, but then seeing what I have makes me believe we have already gone as far as we can with beating the horse so there can only be up from here. I think Myers has a place in the worlds culture now and I hope to see him again before I checkout, but only on the screen. So frail.
