Series Overview:
When people refer to the Halloween series as a whole, they’re usually pinning all those thoughts on Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. It came out during the height of the slasher craze, features the most iconic look for the monster, and features returning characters. It’s the only film in the series that effectively builds on the Halloween myth, while still keeping Michael purely Michael. As a film, it’s pretty rote. As a chapter in the saga, it may actually be the most important. The fifth film, with its psychic links, adds only baffling elements.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is still easily the worst in the series, as the dumb backstory ruins the monster, and extensive studio tampering reduced what could have been an at-the-very-least-cogent feature film into a nonsensical mess. The alternate cut makes way more sense, although it’s no scarier. Had the series ended with Halloween H20, I would have been content. Like most fans, I was upset when Halloween: Resurrection came around, but I feel comfortable that we can all dispense with that film entirely. It’s kind of hard to remember anyway.
The original Halloween is guilty of perhaps having the most home video editions of any film this side of Night of the Living Dead. Technophiles and Blu-ray collectors are concerned that there hasn’t been a really great “definitive” edition yet, and are frustrated by the constant updating of editions that promise new content, but offer very little. My advice to collectors: Pick one at random and cherish it. Ultimately, it’s the film itself that you’re buying, and whether or not the picture is ideal or the features are being reused, you’ll still have a glorious horror classic to revisit for years to come. Don’t concern yourself with having a final definitive edition with something like Halloween. With various formats, anniversary editions, and extended cuts, I think there are maybe nine or ten different versions to choose from. Go for whatever one you feel is right, because that’s the only way to get the “definitive” one.
Me? I still have Halloween on a two-tape VHS, released on the film’s 20th anniversary. They still work. And you know what? The film is still great.
Witney Seibold is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly articles Trolling, Free Film School and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
