''Halloween'' is an American
slasher media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...
that consists of thirteen films, as well as novels, comic books, a video game and other merchandise. The films mainly focus on
Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his sister,
Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of the fictional town of Haddonfield,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
, on which all of the films primarily take place. Throughout the series various protagonists try to stop Myers including
Laurie Strode (primarily portrayed by
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
) and psychiatrist
Dr. Samuel Loomis (primarily portrayed by
Donald Pleasence
Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career.
Pleas ...
). The original ''
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'', released in 1978, was written by
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...
and
Debra Hill—the film's director and producer respectively. The film, itself inspired by
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
's ''
Psycho'' and
Bob Clark
Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film industry, Canadian film history such ...
's ''
Black Christmas'', is known to have inspired a long line of
slasher film
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...
s.
Twelve films have followed since the 1978 original was released. Michael Myers is the antagonist in all of the entries with the exception of ''
Halloween III: Season of the Witch'', a story with no direct connection to any other film in the series. Starting with ''
Halloween II'', most of the various sequels appeared between 1981 and 2002, including a
10th anniversary film in 1988 and a
20th anniversary sequel in 1998. In 2007 writer-director
Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
created a
remake of the 1978 film (and
a sequel released two years later). The franchise would go dormant for nine years until a
direct sequel to the original film, which ignores all previous sequels, was released in 2018. The sequel to the 2018 film, ''
Halloween Kills,'' was released in 2021 with the most recent entry, ''
Halloween Ends'', released on October 14, 2022.
The franchise is notable for its multiple timelines, continuities, remakes and reboots, which can make it confusing for new viewers. ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' Scott Mendelson called it the "
Choose Your Own Adventure
''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...
" of horror movie franchises.
The films collectively grossed over $884 million at the box office worldwide. The film series is ranked first at the United States box office—in adjusted 2018 dollars—when compared to other American horror film franchises. The original film received critical acclaim, while the 2018 film received mostly positive reviews. The other films have received either mixed or negative reviews from critics. A television series is in development.
Films
Overview

Described by Scott Mendelson of ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' as the "Choose Your Own Adventure" of horror movie franchises, the franchise is notable for its multiple timelines, continuities, remakes and reboots, which can make it confusing for new viewers, often leading to articles explaining the previous films before each new release.
The original ''
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' (1978), co-written by
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...
and
Debra Hill and directed by Carpenter, tells the story of
Michael Myers as he stalks and kills teenage
babysitters on Halloween night. The film begins with six-year-old Michael (Will Sandin) killing his older sister
Judith
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
(
Sandy Johnson) on Halloween night 1963 in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. He is subsequently hospitalized at Warren County's Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Fifteen years later, Michael (
Nick Castle
Nicholas Castle (born September 21, 1947 in Kingsport, Tennessee) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers (Halloween), Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film ''Halloween (1978 film), H ...
) escapes from Smith's Grove and returns to his hometown while being pursued by his psychiatrist,
Dr. Sam Loomis (
Donald Pleasence
Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career.
Pleas ...
). Michael stalks high school student
Laurie Strode (
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
) and her friends as they babysit. Murdering Laurie's friends, Michael finally attacks Laurie herself, but she manages to fend him off long enough for Loomis to save her. Loomis shoots Michael off a balcony, but when Loomis goes to check Michael's body, he has vanished.
''
Halloween II'' (1981) picks up where the events of ''Halloween'' left off. Michael (
Dick Warlock) follows Laurie to the local hospital, killing everyone who comes between them. The story reveals that Laurie is actually Michael's sister: she was given up for adoption as an infant. After Michael chases Laurie throughout the hospital, he corners Loomis and Laurie in an
operating room
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
, where Loomis causes an explosion as Laurie escapes. Michael, engulfed in flames, stumbles out of the room before finally falling dead.
''
Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' was an attempt to redirect the ''Halloween'' franchise into an
anthology series
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
; ''Season of the Witch'' does not follow the continuity of the previous two entries, presenting them as fictional movies within its narrative. This installment follows the story of Dr. Dan Challis (
Tom Atkins) as he tries to solve the mysterious murder of a patient in his hospital. Joined by the patient's daughter Ellie (
Stacey Nelkin), he travels to the small town of Santa Mira, California. The pair discover that Silver Shamrock Novelties, a company run by Conal Cochran (
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (1 May 1919 – 17 February 2005) was an Irish actor. His best-known roles included his Oscar-nominated portrayal of the title character in Luis Buñuel's ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1954), Brigadier General Warren A. Black in ...
), is attempting to use the mystic powers of the
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...
rocks to resurrect the ancient witchcraft of the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
festival,
Samhain
Samhain ( , , , ) or () is a Gaels, Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "Celtic calendar#Medieval Irish and Welsh calendars, darker half" of the year.Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Ó hÓ ...
. Cochran is using his Silver Shamrock Halloween masks to achieve his goal, which will kill all the children wearing his masks as they watch a special Silver Shamrock commercial airing Halloween night. After destroying Cochran and his henchmen, Challis desperately tries to convince the television station managers not to air the commercial. The film ends with Challis screaming for a final station to stop the commercial.
''
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers'', as the title suggests, features the return of Michael Myers (
George P. Wilbur) to the film series, and creating a different continuity called the “Thorn Timeline”. This film reveals that Michael has been in a comatose state for ten years since the explosion in ''Halloween II''. While being transferred back to Smith's Grove, Michael awakens upon hearing that Laurie Strode died in a car accident and leaving behind a daughter,
Jamie Lloyd (
Danielle Harris
Danielle Harris (born June 1, 1977) is an American actress. She is known as a "scream queen" for her roles in multiple horror films, including four entries in the ''Halloween (franchise), Halloween'' franchise: ''Halloween 4: The Return of Micha ...
). Michael escapes and makes his way to Haddonfield in search of his niece, while Dr. Loomis pursues him once again. Eventually, the police track Michael down and shoot him several times before he falls down a mine shaft.
''
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers'' picks up directly where the previous film ends and has Michael (
Don Shanks) surviving the gunshots and the fall down the mine; he stumbles upon a hermit who bandages him up. One year later, and showing signs of a psychic connection to Jamie, Michael tracks her to a local child mental health clinic. Using Jamie as bait, Loomis manages to capture Michael. The film ends with Michael being taken into police custody, only to be broken out of jail by a mysterious stranger, all dressed in black (whose black boots were shown throughout the entire film).
''
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' picks up the story six years after the events of ''Halloween 5''. The mysterious stranger who broke Michael out of jail also kidnapped Jamie Lloyd (
J. C. Brandy). Jamie, having been held captive by the man in black, gives birth to a baby boy with whom she escapes, while Michael (George P. Wilbur) pursues them. Michael kills Jamie and continues searching for her baby; the infant is found and brought to safety by Tommy Doyle (
Paul Rudd), the young boy who was babysat by Laurie Strode in the first film. It is revealed that Michael is driven by the Curse of
Thorn, which forces a person to kill their entire family in order to save all of civilization. The mysterious stranger is revealed to be Dr. Loomis's colleague, Dr. Terrence Wynn (
Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American actor. His six decades of television credits, he is best known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic subculture, gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...
), who is part of a cult who protect the chosen individual so that they may complete their task. With the help of Kara Strode (
Marianne Hagan), Laurie's adoptive cousin, Tommy keeps the infant from Michael, who slaughters Wynn and his followers. Michael is finally subdued by Tommy, who injects him with large quantities of tranquilizers inside the Smith's Grove Sanitarium before escaping.
''
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later'' opens twenty years after the events of the first two films, ignoring the other sequels, and establishes that Michael Myers (
Chris Durand) has been missing since the explosion in 1978, creating another new continuity. Laurie Strode (Curtis) has faked her own death so that she could go into hiding from her brother. Now working as the headmistress of a private school under the name Keri Tate, Laurie continues to live in fear of Michael's return. Her son John (
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...
) attends the same school. Laurie's fear become reality when Michael shows up at the school and begins killing John's friends. Laurie manages to get John and his girlfriend (
Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to:
* Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar
* Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child
* Michelle Williams (actr ...
) to safety, but decides to face Michael. After a back and forth fight, Laurie decapitates Michael with a fire axe.
''
Halloween: Resurrection'' picks up three years after ''H20'' and reveals that Michael escaped after swapping clothes with a paramedic, crushing the man's
larynx
The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...
so that he could not talk, and that was whom Laurie killed. Laurie is committed to a mental institution, where Michael (Brad Loree) shows up. He kills Laurie and travels back to his family home in Haddonfield but finds a group of college students filming an
Internet reality show. Michael murders the cast and crew until he is electrocuted by the only surviving student, Sara Moyer (
Bianca Kajlich), and the show's creator Freddie Harris (
Busta Rhymes
Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...
). Michael's body and the bodies of his victims are then taken to the morgue. As the medical examiner begins to inspect Michael's body, he suddenly awakens.
''Halloween'' (2007), a remake of the original film, focuses on the events that led Michael Myers (
Daeg Faerch
Daeg Neergaard Faerch (; born September 27, 1995), also known as GreatDaeg or Dnmrkboom, is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and rapper. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of young Michael Myers (Halloween), Michael Myers in Rob Z ...
) to kill his family. It also identifies Laurie as Michael's sister early on. On Halloween, Michael murders a school bully, his older sister Judith and her boyfriend, and his mother's abusive boyfriend. Committed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium, Michael closes himself off from everyone and stops speaking. Michael's mother
Deborah
According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...
(
Sheri Moon Zombie) commits suicide out of guilt. Fifteen years later, Michael (
Tyler Mane
Daryl Karolat (born December 8, 1966) is a Canadian actor and retired professional wrestler, better known by the name Tyler Mane. He is known for playing supervillain Sabretooth in ''X-Men'' (2000), and '' X-Men: The Official Game'' (2006), Ajax ...
) escapes and heads to Haddonfield to find his sister, with his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's ''if....'' (1968), a role he later reprised in ''O Lucky Man!'' (1973) and ''Britannia Hospital ...
) in pursuit. Michael finds his sister living with the Strode family and going by the name Laurie (
Scout Taylor-Compton). After killing nearly all of her friends and family, Michael then kidnaps Laurie and attempts to explain to her that he is her brother through the use of a picture he has kept of himself and her as an infant. Unable to understand, Laurie fights back and eventually uses Loomis's gun to shoot Michael in the head. Laurie screams in horror as the credits roll.
''Halloween II'' (2009), a sequel to the remake, picks up right where the previous film leaves off before jumping ahead one year. Here, Michael is presumed dead but resurfaces after a vision of his deceased mother informs him that he must track Laurie down so that they can "come home" together. In the film, Michael and Laurie have a mental link, with the two sharing visions of their mother. It is also revealed that Laurie's original name is Angel Myers. During the film's climax, Laurie kills Michael by stabbing him repeatedly in the chest and face with his own knife. The final scene suggests that she has taken on her brother's psychosis as she dons his mask and is committed to an asylum, hallucinating her mother walking with a white horse. In the Director's Cut, Michael and Laurie are both gunned down by the police.
''
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' (2018) is a direct sequel to the original film, ignoring the sibling relationship and other continuities established in previous installments. In this “Universal/Blumhouse” timeline, Michael (
James Jude Courtney) was arrested in 1978 and has spent forty years back in Smith's Grove Sanitarium. During a prison transfer on the night before Halloween, Michael is able to escape the bus after it crashes and returns to Haddonfield for another rampage. After Michael kills his deranged psychologist, who had taken him to Laurie's home, he engages in a showdown with Laurie, her daughter Karen, and her granddaughter Allyson. The trio ultimately trap him in her house, which they set ablaze.
''
Halloween Kills'' (2021) takes place immediately after its predecessor, with firefighters arriving at the blazing building, unwittingly freeing Michael to continue his killing spree. Laurie is taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Karen stays behind with Laurie while Allyson joins a mob who hunts down Michael. Michael slaughters the entire mob except for Allyson. The film ends with Michael stabbing Karen to death.
''
Halloween Ends'' (2022) picks up four years after ''Kills'' and sees Laurie reeling from the events of Michael's rampage by moving into a new home with Allyson and writing a memoir. The film focuses on Corey Cunningham, an ex-babysitter who has been scarred by accidentally killing the boy he was watching and rendering him a social reject. Laurie protects Corey from a group of bullies and introduces him to Allyson, and they immediately develop feelings for each other. Corey encounters a now-weakened Michael in the sewers, ending with the two locking eyes and Michael letting him go. This sends Corey on a murdering spree, with Laurie tracking him and trying to convince Allyson to end their relationship. On Halloween, after making plans to skip town with Allyson, Corey steals Michael's mask in a brawl and goes on a mission to murder everyone that disrespected him. After a fight, Allyson abandons Laurie in a fit of rage, and Corey sneaks into their home with the intent of killing Laurie. She defends herself by shooting him, but Corey stabs himself in the neck to frame Laurie for his death. Michael returns for his mask, kills Corey by snapping his neck, and fights Laurie in a final confrontation in the kitchen. Allyson returns to assist her grandmother, and Laurie gets the upper hand before cutting Michael's throat and slicing his wrist, and he finally dies from extreme blood loss. The townspeople come together to throw Michael's corpse into an industrial shredder, ending his reign of terror for good.
Development
After viewing John Carpenter's film ''
Assault on Precinct 13'' (1976) at the
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
Film Festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online.
Films may be of recent ...
, independent
film producer Irwin Yablans and
financier
An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...
Moustapha Akkad
Moustapha al Akkad (; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian Americans, Syrian-American film producer and Film director, director, best known for producing the original series of ''Halloween (franchise), Halloween'' films and dire ...
sought out Carpenter to direct for them a film about a psychotic killer stalking babysitters.
Carpenter and
Debra Hill began drafting a story. There is an urban myth that the film at one point was supposed to be called ''The Babysitter Murders'' but Yablans has since debunked this stating that it was always intended to be called (and take place on) ''Halloween''.
Moustapha Akkad fronted the $300,000 for the film's budget,
even though he was worried about the tight schedule, low budget, and Carpenter's limited experience as a filmmaker. He finally decided to finance the film after Carpenter relayed the entire film to Akkad, "in a suspenseful way, almost frame for frame", and opted not to take any fees for directing the film.
The low budget forced wardrobe and props to be crafted from items on hand or that could be purchased inexpensively, this included the trademark mask worn by Michael Myers throughout the film.
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...
,
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
,
location scout and co-editor
Tommy Lee Wallace
Thomas Lee Wallace (born September 6, 1949) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror genre, directing films such as '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' and '' Fright Night Part 2'' and also dir ...
created Michael's mask from a
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
Halloween mask, purchased for $1.98.
The limited budget also dictated the filming location and time schedule. ''Halloween'' was filmed in 21 days in the spring of 1978 primarily in
South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 26,943, up from 25,619 at the 2020 census. It is located in the Western San Gabriel Valley. It is in area and lies betwe ...
. An abandoned house owned by a church stood in as the Myers house. Two homes on Orange Grove Avenue in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
were used for the film's climax.
Following the success of ''Halloween'', Yablans and Akkad began working on ''Halloween II''. There was initial discussion about filming ''Halloween II'' in
3-D, but the idea never came to fruition. After ''Halloween II'' was released, Carpenter and Hill were approached about creating a third ''Halloween'' film, but they were reluctant to pledge commitment. The pair agreed to participate in the new project only if it was not a direct sequel to ''Halloween II'', which meant no Michael Myers.
Most of the filming for ''Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' took place on location in the small coastal town of Loleta in
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka, California, Eureka.
Humboldt County compri ...
. Familiar Foods, a milk bottling plant in Loleta, served as the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory, but all special effects involving fire, smoke, and explosions were filmed at Post Studios.
After ''Halloween III'' was released, Michael Myers was brought back with 1988's ''Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers'', where he has stayed for the remainder of the series. Four more sequels would follow, between 1989 and 2002, before the series would take a break for five years. On June 4, 2006,
Dimension Films
Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...
announced that
Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
, director of ''
House of 1000 Corpses'' and ''
The Devil's Rejects'', would be creating the next ''Halloween'' film. Bob Weinstein approached Rob Zombie about making the film, and Zombie, who was a fan of the original ''
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' and friend of
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...
, jumped at the chance to make a ''Halloween'' film for Dimension Films.
Before Dimension went public with the news, Zombie felt obligated to inform John Carpenter, out of respect, of the plans to remake his film.
Carpenter's request was for Zombie to "make it his own
ilm.
Zombie's film would combine the elements of prequel and remake with the original concept, with considerable original content in the new film.
Zombie also wanted to reinvent the character, as he felt Michael, along with
Freddy Krueger,
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the Friday the 13th (franchise), ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-kil ...
, and
Pinhead, had become too familiar to audiences, and as a result, less scary.
Zombie delved deeper into Michael Myers's mythology. Michael's mask was even given its own story to provide an explanation as to why he wears it, instead of having the character simply steal a random mask from a hardware store, as in the original film.
Zombie wanted to bring Michael closer to what a
psychopath
Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...
really is, and wanted the mask to be a way for Michael to hide.
In 2008, a sequel to the 2007 remake was announced, with French filmmakers
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo in negotiations to direct. Instead, Zombie was resigned to write and direct the sequel, with the film taking place directly after the end of his remake. In an interview, Zombie expressed how the exhaustion of creating the first ''Halloween'' made him not want to come back for a sequel, but after a year of cooling down he was more open to the idea. The writer/director explains that with the sequel, he was no longer bound by a sense of needing to retain any "John Carpenter-ness", as he could now do "whatever
ewants to do". Instead of focusing on Michael, Zombie chose to look more at the psychological consequences on Laurie after the events of the remake. As Zombie explains, after Michael murdered her friends and family, Laurie became a "wreck", who continually sinks lower as the film moves forward. Rob Zombie declined to return to film the second sequel to the 2007 remake.
The second sequel, ''Halloween 3D'', was cancelled in 2012.
A new effort to make a Halloween film, ''Halloween Returns'', was attempted in 2015, unrelated to the Rob Zombie films. This ultimately failed, and was cancelled when Dimension Films lost the filming rights to ''Halloween''.
[ On May 23, 2016, it was reported that ]Miramax
Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...
and Blumhouse Productions were developing a new film, which they would co-finance. On February 9, 2017, John Carpenter announced that a new ''Halloween'' film was going to be written by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. Known for his unique acting and writing style, the accolades he has received include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Sat ...
and will be directed by Green. The film will be a direct sequel to the original ''Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'', and will ignore all of the previous sequels. Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
confirmed that she would reprise her role as Laurie Strode, and Judy Greer
Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in Judy Greer filmography, a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for ...
entered negotiations to play Laurie's daughter Karen Strode. Andi Matichak signed on to play Karen Strode's daughter and Laurie's granddaughter. The film was distributed by Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
, their first involvement in the franchise since distributing 1982's '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch''. John Carpenter returned to score the film, saying, "I'll be consulting with the director to see what he feels. I could create a new score, we could update the old score and amplify it, or we could combine those two things. I'll have to see the movie to see what it requires." Nick Castle reprised his role as Michael Myers. Filming began on January 13, 2018, concluding on February 19, 2018. The film was released on October 19, 2018.
In June 2019, two sequels were announced to the 2018 film, with Green returning to write the script and direct and Curtis, Greer, and Matichak reprising their roles. The titles and release dates of two sequels were announced as '' Halloween Kills'', set to be released on October 16, 2020, and '' Halloween Ends'', set to be released on October 15, 2021. Teems was confirmed as a co-writer for ''Halloween Kills'', while Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier were announced to co-write ''Halloween Ends''. However, due to the concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, both films were delayed, with ''Halloween Kills'' released on October 15, 2021, and ''Halloween Ends'' released on October 14, 2022.
Music
John Carpenter composed the music to the first three films. For ''Halloween'', Carpenter chose to use a piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
melody
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
played in a 5/4 time rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...
instead of a symphonic soundtrack. Critic James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...
calls the score "relatively simple and unsophisticated", but admits that "''Halloween'''s music is one of its strongest assets." Carpenter stated in an interview, "I can play just about any keyboard, but I can't read or write a note." In the end credits, Carpenter bills himself as the "Bowling Green Orchestra" for performing the film's score, but he did receive assistance from composer Dan Wyman, a music professor at San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
.
The score for ''Halloween II'' is a variation of John Carpenter's compositions from the first film, particularly the main theme's familiar piano melody played. The score was performed on a synthesizer organ rather than the piano used for ''Halloween''. One reviewer for the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
described the revised score as having "a more Gothic feel". The reviewer asserted that it "doesn't sound quite as good as the original piece", but "it still remains a classic piece of music".
Music remained an important element in establishing the atmosphere of ''Halloween III''. Just as in ''Halloween'' and ''Halloween II'', there was no symphonic score. Much of the music was composed to solicit "false startles" from the audience. The soundtrack was composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, who had also worked on the score for ''Halloween II''. The score of ''Halloween III'' differed greatly from the familiar main theme of the original and its first sequel. Carpenter replaced the familiar piano melody with a slower, electronic theme played on a synthesizer with beeping tonalities. Howarth explains how he and Carpenter composed the music for the third film:
The music style of John Carpenter and myself has further evolved in this film soundtrack by working exclusively with synthesizers to produce our music. This has led to a certain procedural routine. The film is first transferred to a time coded video tape and synchronized to a 24 track master audio recorder; then while watching the film we compose the music to these visual images. The entire process goes quite rapidly and has 'instant gratification', allowing us to evaluate the score in synch to the picture. This is quite an invaluable asset.
Following Carpenter's departure from the series, Howarth would stay on board as the sole composer for the next two sequels, and also acted as the lead composer on '' Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'', with Paul Rabjohns providing additional music when the initial edit of the film was substantially re-filmed. While ''Halloween H20'' credits John Ottman as its sole composer, in reality most of the soundtrack was provided by '' Scream'' composer Marco Beltrami
Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror ('' Scream'', ''Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, Carrie, A Quiet Place'' ...
, using a mixture of music from that film and a few original cues written by Beltrami, after the producers disliked Ottman's score. Danny Lux
Daniel Scott Lux (born June 5, 1969) is an American composer, music composer who has created music for television and film productions.
He has been credited in many movies including ''Halloween: Resurrection'' and ''Stolen Summer'' (both 2002). H ...
provided the soundtrack for ''Halloween: Resurrection'', while Tyler Bates
Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, music producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead'', ''300'', ''Suck ...
composed the soundtracks for both the 2007 ''Halloween'' reboot and its 2009 sequel.
Documentary
''Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'' is a DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
released on July 25, 2006, featuring a documentary on the ''Halloween'' films, narrated by P. J. Soles
Pamela Jayne Soles (née Hardon; born July 17, 1950) is a retired American actress. She made her film debut in 1976 as Norma Watson in Brian De Palma's ''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie'' (1976) before portraying List of Halloween (franchise) charact ...
and featuring interviews from many of the cast members as well as filmmakers of the ''Halloween'' films and a lot of footage from the series as well. It has panel discussions with members from the casts and crews of most of the ''Halloween'' films, plus other celebrities and filmmakers such as Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
and Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...
as well as film critics. All of the panel discussions took place at a 25th anniversary convention in Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
(one of the filming locations of the original ''Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'') in October 2003. It also has extended versions of interviews featured in the documentary and much more. In 2010, The Biography Channel
FYI (stylized as fyi,) is an American basic cable channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (each owns 50%). The network features lifestyle p ...
produced a television special
A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...
titled ''Halloween: The Inside Story'', which premiered on October 28, 2010.
Future
''Halloween Ends'' was meant to conclude the new timeline set forward by the 2018 film, but Jason Blum expressed interest in making further films in October 2021: "I would love to extend it. If Malek kkadwould like us, I'd love to extend it, but we're very busy making sure the third movie is spectacular because that's our immediate job and if it goes beyond that, I'd be thrilled. But there are currently no plans for us to be involved after this third movie." John Carpenter explained that possible future installments were dependent on the commercial success of ''Halloween Ends'', although he acknowledged that Green was adamant in ''Halloween Ends'' being their story's ending.
In an interview with ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Jamie Lee Curtis commented that the four films, commencing with the 1978 ''Halloween'' and concluding with ''Halloween Ends'', were self-contained, although there was still the possibility of a new narrative being adapted into future films. Green stated that he was confident on parting with Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode with the film, though he acknowledged the possibility of eventually some filmmakers creating a "new Laurie" with some plot twist to continue the franchise's mythology. Curtis had previously confirmed in an essay for ''People
The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' that ''Halloween Ends'' marked her last appearance in the franchise; Jude Courtney likewise affirmed to ''Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
...
'' that, alongside Curtis, he feels "done" with the franchise due to both his age and career trajectory, having felt ''Halloween'' and ''Halloween Kills'' as playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
and ''Halloween Ends'' as a Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
win so he decided to retire as the character triumphantly.
Jason Blum later stated that, while it would not necessarily be the final film in the franchise, it will be the last ''Halloween'' film under Blumhouse Productions, with the intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
rights reverting to producer Malek Akkad following the release of ''Halloween Ends''. By October 2023, Miramax had beat out Blumhouse and A24 in acquiring the ''Halloween'' television rights, with the intention to develop a ''Halloween'' television series.
In March 2024, Marc Helwig revealed that the series would serve as a creative reset completely and spinning out of the original film, as opposed to continuing the storyline from the most recent films.
Recurring cast and characters
*
Reception
Box office
The ''Halloween'' series, when compared to the other top-grossing American horror series—''A Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American Supernatural horror film, supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), ''A ...
'', '' Child's Play'', '' Friday the 13th'', ''Saw
A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws.
Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...
'', '' Scream'', and ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, an ...
''—and adjusting for 2023 inflation is the highest-grossing horror series in the United States at approximately $1.09 billion. Next in line is ''Friday the 13th'' at $908.4 million, followed by the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' series with $793.5 million. The ''Scream'' film series is in fourth place with $779.5 million, followed by the ''Saw'' series with $688.3 million, ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' with $459.7 million, and the ''Child's Play'' film series rounding out the list with $305.2 million.
Critical response
Other media
Literature
Novels
When the original ''Halloween'' was released in 1978, a novelization of the film followed just a year later. Written by Curtis Richards, the book follows the events of the film, but expands on the festival of Samhain
Samhain ( , , , ) or () is a Gaels, Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "Celtic calendar#Medieval Irish and Welsh calendars, darker half" of the year.Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Ó hÓ ...
and Michael's time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. In 2024, Printed in Blood published a new edition of the novelization featuring more than 100 illustrations by artist Orlando Arocena.
''Halloween II'', ''Halloween III: Season of the Witch'', and ''Halloween 4'' each received novelizations as well. Jack Martin would write ''Halloween II'', which was released alongside its film counterpart. Martin included an additional victim of Michael's in this novel. Jack Martin also wrote ''Halloween III: Season of the Witch''. ''Halloween IV'', released in October 1988 and written by Nicholas Grabowsky, also followed the events of the film in which it was adapted from. A novelization of the 2018 film by John Passarella was released on October 23, 2018.
Over a four-month period, Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an American imprint founded in 1955 by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein owned by the Penguin Group unit of Penguin Random House.
History
Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Compa ...
published three young adult novels
Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
written by Kelly O'Rourke. The novels are original stories created by O'Rourke, with no direct continuity with the films. The first, released on October 1, 1997, titled ''The Scream Factory'', follows a group of friends who set up a haunted house attraction in the basement of Haddonfield City Hall, only to be stalked and killed by Michael Myers while they are there. ''The Old Myers Place'' is the second novel, released on December 1, 1997, and focuses on Mary White, who moves into the Myers house with her family. Michael returns home and begins stalking and attacking Mary and her friends. O'Rourke's final novel, ''The Mad House'', was released on February 1, 1998. ''The Mad House'' features a young girl, Christine Ray, who joins a documentary film crew that travels to haunted locations, and they are headed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where they are confronted by Michael.
Comic books
The first ''Halloween'' comic was published by Brian Pulido's Chaos! Comics. Simply titled ''Halloween'', it was intended to be a one-issue special, but eventually two sequels spawned: ''Halloween II: The Blackest Eyes'' and ''Halloween III: The Devil's Eyes''. All of the stories were written by Phil Nutman, with Daniel Farrands
Daniel Farrands (born September 3, 1969) is an American filmmaker who specializes in the horror film genre. His first major credit was as screenwriter of ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' (1995). He has subsequently worked as a producer, ...
—writer for ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers''—assisting on the first issue, and David Brewer and Justiniano worked on the illustrations. Tommy Doyle is the main protagonist in each of the issues, focusing on his attempts to kill Michael Myers. The first issue includes back story on Michael's childhood, while the third picks up after the events of the film ''Halloween H20''. These comics were based on Daniel Farrand's concept for ''Halloween: Resurrection''. He had been approached by the producers to pitch a follow-up to ''Halloween H20''. His idea was to have Tommy Doyle incarcerated at Smith's Grove for Michael Myers' crimes, only to escape and reunite with Lindsay Wallace. Together, they study the journals of Dr. Loomis and find out more about Michael's childhood. The movie would have explored Michael's time at Smith's Grove and his relationship with Dr. Loomis, before returning to Tommy and Lindsay, who are attacked by the adult Michael Myers. Upon defeating him and removing his mask, they discover Laurie Strode, who has taken over her brother's mantle. Farrand's logic was that, since Jamie Lee Curtis was contracted to cameo in ''Halloween: Resurrection'', they should make that cameo as significant and surprising as possible. Although the studio did not follow up on his pitch, Farrands was able to tell his story in comic book form.
''One Good Scare'' written by Stefan Hutchinson, and illustrated by Peter Fielding, was released in 2003. The main character in this comic is Lindsey Wallace, the young girl who first saw Michael Myers alongside Tommy Doyle in the original 1978 film. Hutchinson wanted to bring the character back to his roots, and away from the "lumbering Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...
-clone" the film sequels had made him. ''One Good Scare'' came about because Hutchinson wanted to produce a comic book to celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, to be sold as a collectible at a ''Halloween'' convention in South Pasadena. Due to the positive reception to ''One Good Scare'', Hutchinson hoped to use the comic as a "demo" for getting a distribution deal, but was unable to do so, due to rights issues.
While waiting to acquire the rights to publish more ''Halloween'' comics, Stefan Hutchinson worked on the documentary ''Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'' with Malek Akkad. Together, they developed ideas for possible ''Halloween'' stories that would be "connected into a larger tale, so the idea was that it would use the serial aspect of comic books to create different storylines than would be possible in the films."[ On July 25, 2006, as an insert inside the DVD release of ''Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'', Hutchinson released ''Halloween: Autopsis''. Written by Hutchinson, and artwork by Marcus Smith and Nick Dismas, the story is about a photographer assigned to take pictures of Michael Myers. As the photographer, Carter, follows Dr. Loomis he begins to take on Loomis's obsession himself, until finally meeting Michael Myers in person, which results in his death.
Rob Zombie's reboot of the film series ensured that any ''Halloween'' comics would not be contradicted by upcoming films, allowing Hutchinson creative freedom. Malek Akkad was approached by Devil's Due Publishing with the possibility of producing a line of ''Halloween'' comics, and he and Hutchinson worked to make them a reality. Hutchinson was convinced by the strong support of ''One Good Scare'' that the comic books would have an audience.][ In 2008, Stefan Hutchinson released the first issue of his new comic book, ''Halloween: Nightdance''. This is a four-issue miniseries, and it does not contain any characters—other than Michael—from the films.] The four issues are titled, "A Shape in the Void", "The Silent Clown", "A Rainbow in One Color", and "When the Stars Came Crashing Down". The first issue, "A Shape in the Void", takes place on October 31, 2000, so that it falls between ''Halloween H20'' and ''Halloween: Resurrection''. Issue one follows Michael as he stalks Lisa, an eighteen-year-old girl with insecurities and "a chronic fear of darkness". Hutchinson explains that ''Nightdance'' was an attempt to escape the dense continuity of the film series and recreate the tone of the 1978 film. Michael becomes inexplicably fixated on Lisa, just as he did with Laurie in the original ''Halloween'', before the sequels established that a sibling bond was actually his motivation for stalking her. The aim was to once again establish Michael Myers as a "credible and dangerous force".[
August 2008 saw the release of Devil's Due's ''Halloween: 30 Years of Terror'' to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of ''Halloween''. This comic book one-shot is a collection of short stories inspired by John Carpenter's original. "Trick or Treat" features the MacKenzies, ]unseen character
An unseen character in theatre, comics, film or television, or a silent character in radio or literature, is a character who is mentioned but not directly known to the audience, but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and w ...
s from the first film who Tommy and Lindsey run to for help. "P.O.V." shows a murder from the point of view
Point of View or Points of View may refer to:
Concept and technique
* Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronoun used in narration
* Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or ...
of both Michael and his victim, "Visiting Hours" sees Laurie Strode reflecting on how her life could have been had her brother never found her in 1978, while "Tommy and the Boogeyman" reveals that Tommy Doyle grew up to write comic books featuring Michael Myers. In the final story, "Repetition Compulsion", Dr. Loomis tries to predict where Michael will strike next on Halloween 1989. Writer Hutchinson explains that ''H30'' came about because, unlike previous decades, there was no ''Halloween'' film coming out in 2008 to acknowledge the occasion.
Devil's Due released the three-issue miniseries ''Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode'' in late 2008. Written by Hutchinson with artwork from Jeff Zornow, the story bridges the gap between ''Halloween II'' and ''Halloween H20'' by focusing on Laurie Strode in the aftermath of the 1978 murders. Hutchinson explains that Laurie is "trying to get better and trying to repair, but where do you even start after going through such horror? How do you even try to resume normality when you don't know what that is anymore?" Although Michael appears in the series, it is not clear whether he is real or if the traumatised Laurie is seeing things. Hutchinson is not a fan of the revelation that Laurie and Michael are siblings and took steps to address that problem in the story. He wanted to avoid the "bloodline plot of the middle sequels", which he felt demystified the character of the Shape, and approach the story so that "it becomes almost incidental that she's his sister". Hutchinson believed that Laurie Strode's evolution into Keri Tate was fertile ground for a storyline; he says, "it's not the faking of the death that's interesting at all, but it's the fall that leads to that happening. The faked death is just simple mechanics and can be covered in a sentence, but the state of mind and events leading to that are full of rich character and dramatic potential."
Online stories
All of Stefan Hutchinson's ''Halloween'' comic books take place in the ''Halloween H20'' timeline, which retconned ''Halloween 4''–''6'' from continuity. Hutchinson comments that, while the retcon was unpopular with "a lot of fans" for ignoring previous movies, he preferred the "simplicity of this storyline, over the needlessly convoluted mythology that the last three films had created". However, he admits that one of the downsides of the ''H20'' timeline is that fans do not know exactly what happened to Dr. Sam Loomis after ''Halloween II''. To remedy this, Hutchinson pitched ''Halloween: Sam'' as a way of paying tribute to the character.[ Written by Hutchinson and featuring illustrations from ''Autopsis'' Marcus Smith, ''Sam'' is a prose short story available exclusively for download at the website HalloweenComics.com. It explores the life of Dr. Loomis, including his backstory and relationship with Elizabeth Worthington, a journalist he met during ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1995, Michael Myers visits the ailing Dr. Loomis in a hospital and murders Elizabeth in front of him. Loomis attempts to stop him, but dies of a coronary failure.
Video games
In 1983, Wizard Video, who had also released a video game version of ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, ...
'', released a ''Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' game for the Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...
. In the game, the player is a babysitter who has to protect her children from Michael Myers, who has managed to get inside the house. Although the game is called ''Halloween'', and features the film's theatrical poster as its cover art as well as the movie's main music theme, the game itself never refers to any characters, including the killer, by their names in the film.
In August 2024, two new video games from Boss Team Games were revealed to be in development including ''Halloween: The Game'' and ''RetroRealms: Halloween''. ''RetroRealms: Halloween'' was released on October 18, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch
The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
, PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
, PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...
, Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
, and Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...
.
In September 2024, Michael Myers appeared in ''The Haunting'' halloween event in '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III''.
Merchandise
''Halloween'' has also seen profitability through various merchandise like toys, dolls, statues, model kits, bobbleheads, snow globes, movie posters, masks, T-shirts, hats, and more. Michael Myers has made appearances in the form of dolls and toys from McFarlane Toys, Mezco Toyz, Sideshow Collectibles and NECA. Even Dr. Loomis has been immortalized in plastic alongside Michael Myers in a two-figure set produced by NECA.
The Michael Myers mask has been reproduced over the years by Don Post, the mask company responsible for the creation of the masks from several of the ''Halloween'' films (the Silver Shamrock novelty factory seen in ''Halloween III'' was actually shot on location in one of Don Post's factories). While Don Post reproductions of the Michael Myers mask are still commonly found in costume stores every Halloween, the license to produce Michael Myers masks has since been given to Cinema Secrets, the company commissioned with the creation of the Michael Myers mask for ''Halloween: Resurrection''. , Universal Pictures has granted license to Trick or Treat Studios to produce two versions of the Michael Myers mask from ''Halloween II'', one "clean" version and one with the famous "blood tears".
Many versions of the original ''Halloween'' as well as several of its sequels have been released on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
by Anchor Bay Entertainment
The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...
, Universal Pictures and Dimension Films. In December 2007, there were reports that the Producer's Cut of ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' might get a DVD release in the future.
Following the first Blu-ray release of the original ''Halloween'', all other films in the series were subsequently released to Blu-ray, as well.
Home video distributors Anchor Bay Entertainment and Scream Factory released ''Halloween: The Complete Collection'' to Blu-ray on September 23, 2014. This box set brings together all ten ''Halloween'' films released to date. Two versions of ''The Complete Collection'' were released: a standard 10-disc set featuring the first eight original films of the series and Rob Zombie's 2007 and 2009 remakes, and a "Limited Edition" 15-disc set, containing the ten films on ten discs, and five extra discs featuring the television versions of ''Halloween'' and ''Halloween II'', the never-before released ''Halloween 6: The Producer's Cut'', a bonus disc to Rob Zombie's ''Halloween'', and a bonus disc containing all-new special features from all ten films. The box set won the 2015 Saturn Award for Best DVD/BD Collection Release.
See also
* List of films set around Halloween
This is a list of films set on or around Halloween.
Children's and family
* '' A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1966)
* '' The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'' (1949)
* '' The Addams Family'' (1991)
* '' The Addams Family'' (2019)
* '' Alpha and Ome ...
References
External links
*
''Halloween''
at John Carpenter's official website
at Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
* Skylar Gahagan, "", ''Monsters at Play''
* Todd Gilchrist,
Review of ''Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'': This doc chronicles a quarter-century of Michael Myers mania
", ''IGN'' (August 3, 2006)
''Halloween'' on Instagram
{{Authority control
1970s English-language films
1980s English-language films
1990s English-language films
2000s English-language films
2010s English-language films
2020s English-language films
American film series
Horror film franchises
Slasher film series
Mass media franchises introduced in 1978
Mass murder in fiction
Miramax franchises
Splatterpunk
Films about psychopaths and sociopaths