Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Starring Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd, Marianne Hagan, Devin Gardner

Directed by Joe Chappelle

The Story:
After the events in the fifth "Halloween," Jamie Lloyd and Michael Myers are taken by a druid cult, where Jamie gives birth to a boy.  She goes on the run with the child, and Michael chases them back to Haddonfield, where Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) - who was a child when Laurie Strode babysat him the night Michael returned the first time - is now grown up and obsessed with finding and killing him for good.

Going along with that, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) also wants to make sure Michael is dead for good, and travels back to Haddonfield to find Tommy, along with Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan) and her young son Danny (Devin Gardner), who live in Michael's old house and are relatives of Laurie.  Danny has been experiencing visions and hearing the voice of a man who tells him to kill, and when Michael returns home the kills begin again, and we learn there's a method to Michael's madness.

The Synopsis:
Every franchise has to have that proverbial black sheep, and in the case of "Halloween," it's this one (at least up to this point in the franchise history).  It's a laughable story that makes absolutely no sense, there's no scares whatsoever, and they replaced fright and fear with gore and violence.  There's no stalking sense of dread, awaiting Michael to appear out of the shadows.  Now he marches in front of the screen like a one-man marching band, and we're never surprised to see him around.

However, that's not the worst of it.  The whole point of this movie is to give Michael a backstory, a reason for his murderous rampage.  When you take the Boogeyman and try to come up with a reason, you take away from the mystique and fear that he holds.  Michael is an unstoppable killing machine who targets his family, and murders anyone who gets in his way.  That should be enough, but this film tries to introduce the theme of druid sacrifice and an ancient demon called Thorn that marks a child in the family to kill their family to preserve the community, or something stupid like that.  The series took a severe turn with "Halloween 5" and the introduction of the Man in Black, and here the series runs off the rails in a catastrophic explosion of wasted talent and terrible editing.

"The Curse of Michael Myers" is probably best known for being the most heavily edited film in the series, due to severe interference by the studio, producers and director that turned the script into something totally nonsensical, with huge plot holes you could drive the Titanic through.  There's several stories introduced that are never fully flushed out, and by trying to give Michael a reason for his murders, instead turns into a baffling mystery as to why anyone would try it.

Some issues that have come into play with this film - stories that didn't have any resolution - would include the whole druid story.  Michael was taken by the Man in Black and somehow managed to chill out in their lair for all these years without killing anyone?  Also, Danny hears the voices, making it seem like he's the new Michael Myers, but that too doesn't go anywhere.  Michael stalks Tommy, but has enough time to go to a party and kill a totally random character for no real discernible reason.  Then the whole ending, which left me scratching my head in amazement because I was completely baffled over what the heck was going on.


Sadly, this is the last film Donald Pleasence starred in, as he died shortly after completing the film.  His Dr. Loomis character has been synonymous with the "Halloween" franchise and not many people know but he was acting way back in the 50s, and appeared in over 200 other works, including classic films as "A Tale of Two Cities," "The Great Escape," and "Escape From LA."  Yet to millions of horror fanatics, he'll always be known as the lovable, gruff, and darkly serious Dr. Sam Loomis, and this is a terrible way for him to go out on.

Yet, one bright note of the film is that it's the first film of Paul Rudd, who would later go on to much bigger and better things (like "Anchorman," and "Ant-Man") and become a comedic genius in his own right.  Sure, he delivers the laughs here as well, but they're completely due to the outlandish plot he finds himself in, and he's not actually trying to be funny.  Still, watching the film, you can see hints of genius that would later emerge full force.

That's the only good thing about this film.  Everything else is a jumbled mess you'd expect to see from a college freshman's first homemade movie that he forgot was due until two hours before the deadline.  It's a black spot on the "Halloween" franchise, but unfortunately it won't be the last.

The Summary:
Due to heavy edits and trying to concoct a reason for Michael's carnage, "The Curse of Michael Myers" is rather a curse on the franchise, one that haunts it to this day.

The Score: D+