Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

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Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joe Chappelle
Produced by Moustapha Akkad
Malek Akkad
Paul Freeman
Written by Screenplay:
Daniel Farrands
Joe Chappelle (uncredited)[1]
Based on characters created by:
John Carpenter
Debra Hill
Starring Donald Pleasence
Paul Rudd
Marianne Hagan
Kim Darby
Bradford English
Keith Bogart
Marieth O'Brien
Leo Geter
and Mitch Ryan
Music by Alan Howarth
Cinematography Billy Dickson
Editing by Randolph K. Bricker
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release date(s) September 29, 1995
Running time Theatrical cut
88 min.
Producer's cut
131 min.
Country  United States
Language English
Budget $5,000,000
Gross revenue $15,116,634
Preceded by Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Followed by Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (also known as Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers or Halloween 6) is a 1995 horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. It stars Donald Pleasence (in his final film appearance) and Paul Rudd. The original music score is composed by long-time Halloween contributor Alan Howarth. The plot of the film largely involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical mark, which is the source of Michael Myers' believed evil.[2]

The Curse of Michael Myers was the first of four Halloween films to be produced by Moustapha Akkad and his son Malek under an exclusive production and distribution pact with Dimension Films. The film was marketed with the taglines: "Six Times the Terror... Six Times the Fear... Six Times the Thrills of the original Halloween" and "Terror Never Rests in Peace".

Contents

[edit] Plot

Michael Myers, his niece Jamie Lloyd, and the mysterious Man in Black have all been in hiding for six years. It is revealed that the Man in Black is the leader of a Druid-like cult, and that after the fiery climax of Halloween 5, the Man in Black kidnapped Jamie and had her impregnated. The baby is born on Halloween Eve and is carried away by the Man in Black. Later that night, however, a nurse helps Jamie and her baby escape. Michael Myers, in pursuit of Jamie and her newborn, kills the nurse by impaling the back of her head to a metal spike in the wall. Jamie, meanwhile, steals the truck of an angry motorist (who quickly becomes Michael's next victim) and flees to a dark and empty bus station where she calls in to a radio show that happens to be doing a broadcast about the Haddonfield murders. Jamie gets on the air, begging for help and warning of Michael's imminent return. Trapped, she proceeds to hide in the bathroom where Michael nearly catches her. She narrowly makes it out alive and again drives away. Jamie is still not safe, as she is forced off the road by a presumably stolen van driven by Michael Myers. Beaten and exhausted, she makes her way inside of an old barn where Michael is waiting for her. He kills Jamie by pushing her into a corn thresher, only to find that Jamie does not have the baby. Meanwhile, Tommy Doyle (the child Laurie Strode babysat in the first film) has his eye on a family who's moved into the old Myers house across the street from the boarding house where he lives. The boarding house is run by a mysterious old woman named Minnie Blankenship.

For seventeen years, Tommy has been obsessed with finding the truth behind the murderous motives of Michael Myers. After hearing Jamie begging for help on a local radio show, Tommy finds her baby at the bus station and takes him into hiding. The people living in the Myers house are relatives of the Strode family (Laurie Strode's adoptive parents), and among the current residents are Kara Strode and her son Danny, Kara's teenage brother Tim, and her parents, the doting mother Debra and her abusive husband and Kara's father John. One by one, Michael stalks each of the Strodes, trying to get to Jamie's baby. Across the street, Tommy reveals to Kara that Michael has been marked with Thorn (or Thurisaz), an runic symbol that originated from a constellation of stars that appear on Halloween night from time to time (whenever it appears, Michael appears, explaining why Michael appears a few number of years after he's been attempted to be killed). It is an ancient Druid curse that represented a demon that spread sickness and caused mad destruction on druid tribes. In order to prevent the tribes from dying, each tribe had to inflicted the curse on "one" child from the tribe, so the child can offer the blood sacrifice of its next of kin on the night of Samhain (A.K.A. Halloween), because the sacrifice of one family meant sparing the lives of an entire tribe, which is the reason why Michael is trying to kill Stephen. If Michael did succeed in killing his entire family, the curse would be passed on to another child. While Tommy is out looking for Dr. Loomis, Mrs. Blankenship reveals to Kara (after talking to Danny) that she was babysitting Michael Myers when he killed his sister 17 years ago, and Danny hears the "voice", just like Michael Myers heard when she was babysitting him (implying that Danny is the next "child" to be cursed with Thorn).

The plot takes a turn when the "Man in Black" finally reveals himself as Dr. Wynn from the original Halloween. After a terrifying showdown between Kara and Michael Myers, Tommy and Dr. Loomis follow Wynn to Smith's Grove Warren County Sanitarium, where it's revealed that Stephen is Michael's child. Dr. Wynn and the cultists took a sperm sample from him and they performed an in vitro fertilization experiment on Jamie, not because they need a blood sacrifice of "innocent blood" (which is said in the Producer's Cut), but because they're trying to pass the curse onto Stephen, because after Michael was in a coma between Halloween II and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, the government came by and found out what they're doing, and found the cult's work behind Michael's madness interesting, so they bribed them to keep Michael's bloodline going or they'll kill them, because Michael's ability to regenerate damaged blood tissue is exactly what they need in case of a global holocaust. Ever since then, the cultists performed in vitro experiments on some of the female Sanitarium patients to keep the Myers' bloodline going, which means the cultists' created Artificial DNA. Whenever adding Michael's sperm to a female Sanitarium patient failed, the cultists took out the fetus and they put it into a fishtank, with the information of what was done in the experiment below the tank so they can tell what they did wrong during the experiment. Realizing that they can try to impregnate Jamie (since she was possessed with Michael's rage/Curse of Thorn by touching his hand at the end of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers), they waited until she was old enough to get pregnant and they performed the in vitro experiment, and it worked.

Michael, who is mad that the people who gave him his power used him for their own experiments, kills all of them, including Dr. Wynn (which is bad because without a guardian to protect the power of Thorn, the curse of thorn would wear off of Michael) during their successful attempt of another experiment, and continues to find Stephen. While searching for him, Tommy injects him with tranquilizers of corrosive chemicals and beats him in the head with a lead pipe. As Dr. Loomis, Tommy, Kara, Danny, and the Baby are about to escape, Loomis tells them to go on without him because he has "unfinished business" to do. We cut back inside the building, where Michael's mask is shown on the floor, and we hear Dr. Loomis's fateful, final scream, and the end of Michael Myers. (Although, it is never revealed if Dr. Wynn, Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis were killed or not. If Dr. Wynn wasn't killed and somehow escaped, then Michael Myers is still alive, but still leaves Dr. Loomis's fate unknown, his scream could've been caused by realizing that Michael is gone).

[edit] Alternate ending

Before Donald Pleasence died, there was a different ending. In this alternate "Producer's Cut" version, Loomis and Tommy go to Smith's Grove Sanitarium and find out that Stephen is Michael's child. Dr. Wynn and the cultists performed an in vitro fertilization experiment on her because in order to perform the "final sacrifice", Michael needs to sacrifice a member of his family that has innocent blood (which Jamie doesn't have since she was possessed by Michael's rage/Curse of Thorn by touching Michael's hand at the end of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers). When Loomis gets knocked out by Dr. Wynn, Tommy continues to find Kara, Danny and Stephen, only to find an occult ceremony, where Wynn and his pagan followers are offering a "final sacrifice" in the name of Thorn. Tommy (disguised as a cultist) interrupts the blood ritual and runs with Danny, Kara, and baby Steven through the sanitarium halls until they are trapped behind a locked gate. Michael continues to come after them until Tommy uses the powers of his rune stones to stop Michael in his tracks. Loomis comes on the scene, firing his gun at the gate, allowing Kara, Danny, Steven, and Tommy to escape. But in this version, after Loomis sees the heroes retreat safely, he goes back inside the hospital where he finds Michael Myers lying on the floor amid the ring of rune stones, presumably dead. "It's all over, Michael," he sighs, pulling the mask off. But in a final twist it is revealed that Dr. Wynn is behind Michael's mask; the real Michael has switched costumes and cleverly escaped. Wynn, injured and near death, says, "Michael's gone. It's your game now, Dr. Loomis." A look of horror comes over Loomis as he pulls up his shirt sleeve just as the mark of Thorn magically materializes on his wrist. As Loomis lets out an ungodly scream, Michael is seen (dressed in Wynn's "Man In Black" costume) walking silently into the night as a flickering jack-o-lantern is shown on the porch of the Myers house. The candle blows out and the screen goes to black.

[edit] Deaths

[edit] Theatrical Deaths

  • Mary - pinned to wall with metal spike through head
  • Motorist - neck twisted
  • Jamie Lloyd - impaled on corn-thresher, threshed to death
  • Debra Strode - axed in head
  • John Strode - stabbed in side, electrocuted on fusebox causing head to explode
  • Barry Simms - stabbed in chest, hanged from tree with lights
  • Tim Strode - throat slashed
  • Beth - stabbed to death in back
  • Lunatic - stabbed in stomach (off-screen)
  • Nine Doctors/Nurses - massacred to death with machete
  • Dr. Wynn - killed off-screen (possibly survived)
  • Doctor - head pushed through gate
  • Dr. Loomis - killed off-screen (possibly survived)

[edit] Producer's Cut Deaths

  • Mary - pinned to wall with metal spike in head
  • Motorist - neck twisted
  • Debra Strode - axed in head
  • Jamie Lloyd - shot in head by Man in Black
  • John Strode - stabbed in side, electrocuted on fusebox
  • Barry Simms - stabbed in chest, hanged from tree with lights
  • Tim Strode - throat slashed
  • Beth - stabbed to death in back
  • Dr. Wynn - stabbed (off-screen)

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

In the early 1990s, the Halloween sequel rights were sold to Miramax Films (via its Dimension Films division). Filming of Halloween 6 started in October, 1994 and wrapped two months later. Donald Pleasance was the only actor who had returned from Halloween 5. Danielle Harris was in talks to reprise her role, but she and Dimension could not come to an agreement, so J. C. Brandy got the role instead.

In early 1995, after filming and editing was completed for what was to eventually become the infamous "Producer's Cut", Halloween 6 was given a test screening which, as described by actress Marianne Hagan, "consisted primarily of 14-year-old boys." During the Q & A afterward, one of them expressed great displeasure at the ending of the film. As a result, the movie was rushed back into production, this time without Donald Pleasence, who died suddenly on February 2, 1995.

The filmmakers re-shot and re-edited the film based on the poor response from the test screening viewers; the ending was also reworked to compensate for Pleasence's untimely passing. In the original ending, Loomis survives; the reworked ending closes the book on his character, but not necessarily the series.

Some early trailers employed the title Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers. Screenwriter Daniel Farrands has stated that the trailer came before an official title was ever decided upon and that the title used in the trailers was a combination of a title from an early script named The Origin of Michael Myers from a writer before Farrands was brought in, and his own, which was simply titled Halloween 666. At one point, executive producer Moustapha Akkad asked Farrands for a title. Due to the troubled production, he suggested The Curse of Michael Myers. Although Farrands was half-joking, Akkad took the name to heart and decided to use it. Farrands also adds that this coincidentally made the subtitles similar to those in The Pink Panther film series, which also used Return, Revenge, and Curse subtitles.[3]

[edit] Music

[edit] Soundtrack

In 1995 a soundtrack album was released by Varese Sarabande Records. The score was composed by Alan Howarth. It is his last contribution to the film series, his work in the series dating back to his collaboration with John Carpenter on Halloween II. The music featured in the album is unusual in that it is a combination of the music featured in the original cut of the film, as well as that of the final theatrical cut. It is also of note that the score features "Laurie's Theme", a piece from the original film's score that had not been incorporated into any soundtrack since Halloween II and would not be used again until by Tyler Bates for the Halloween remake. It should also be noted that this is the first Halloween film to incorporate a hit song into a movie.

Track listing

  1. "Jamie's Escape"
  2. "Birth Ceremony"
  3. "You Can't Have the Baby"
  4. "Empty Stomach"
  5. "Watching Mom"
  6. "Kara Returns"
  7. "Thorn"
  8. "Carnival Festival"
  9. "It's Raining Red"
  10. "Look Upstairs"
  11. "It's His Game"
  12. "Maximum Security"
  13. "Operating Room"

[edit] Reception

Halloween 6 was released on September 29, 1995 in the United States, and brought in a $8,581,000 opening weekend gross. The film grossed a total of $15,116,634 in U.S. box office.

The "Producer's Cut" began circulating as a bootleg and on various fan websites shortly after the official release of the film.

On the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD, it was stated that Dimension was trying to plan an official release of the Producer's Cut, however, no updates have been made on that plan.

[edit] Continuity

The filmmakers of the following film in the series, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, originally planned to follow the continuity established in the previous three films, but as the film developed, they abandoned that concept. They decided to make the new film a direct sequel to Halloween II, and chose to ignore the events depicted in fourth, fifth and sixth Halloween films.

Fans dissatisfied with that decision, however, have offered various explanations designed to allow all of the films to remain within the same continuity. In that vein, Chaos' Halloween comic book series attempted to bridge the continuity between The Curse of Michael Myers and H20 in 2001, but in doing so made the plot of Halloween: Resurrection (unreleased at the time) impossible.

[edit] The Producer's Cut

Copies of the original version of the film (known as the "Producer's Cut"), without the changed ending, have long been floating around in bootleg/collectors' circles. While featuring a different ending which was intended to keep Donald Pleasence's character in the films, it also features longer scenes in several parts of the movie, as well as different music at times.

Major plot points differ between the two cuts. For example, in the Producer's Cut, Jamie Lloyd is not killed by Michael's attack in the barn; she is wounded only to be killed later on in the film by the "Man in Black" after having a dream about how she was imprisoned in Smith's Grove and impregnated with Michael's child.

The Producer's Cut features 43 minutes of alternate footage and takes, but has never been officially released by the studio in any format (with the exception of a few clips in the "Television cut") as of May 2009.

Several scenes from the Producer's Cut can be seen on the "Television Cut" of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, most recently in the U.S. on AMC's MonsterFest. The scenes were re-inserted to increase the running time of the film (originally a scant 88 minutes). The added scenes for the Television Cut include:

• A flashback to Halloween 5

• A slightly extended scene as Kara is changing her clothes and listening to Barry Simms in her bedroom

• An extended scene between Dr. Loomis and Dr. Wynn at Loomis's residence

• Loomis in the halls of Smith's Grove begging Wynn to help him in his pursuit of Michael Myers

• An extended scene in which Kara Strode walks the college campus grounds, unaware that she is being stalked by the Shape

• An extended sequence involving the discussion between Dr. Loomis and Mrs. Strode

• A slightly extended scene that features John Strode looking at a picture of Kara after he hangs up on Debra.

All other aspects of the theatrical cut (including the revised ending) remain intact, although many of the kill sequences have been edited for television.

Fangoria reported that the Producer's Cut may get an official release.[4][5] On the HALLOWEEN 30th Anniversary convention they said that Anchor Bay Entertainment is in talks with Buena Vista Home Entertainment to release the Unrated Producer's Cut, and also Unrated and Extended versions of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Halloween: Resurrection.

[edit] Notes

  • Minnie Blankenship, the woman who runs the boarding house, is presumed by fans to have been the one to tell a young Michael Myers about the Cult of Thorn, thus she would have been the one to have brainwashed him as a child.
  • In the first Halloween film, Dr. Wynn questions Dr. Loomis as to who could have taught Michael how to drive. This is perceived to be humorous, in that it is presumed by many fans that Michael was taught by Wynn himself.
  • The Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD makes reference to the many fans of the series who were disappointed when J. C. Brandy took up the role of Jamie Lloyd, a role played in the two previous films by Danielle Harris.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ An Interview with Daniel Farrands
  2. ^ Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 110.
  3. ^ Dan Farrands interview
  4. ^ Halloween 6 Producer's Cut May Be Heading to DVD
  5. ^ Halloween 6: Producers Cut To DVD?

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Halloween series
Films
Halloween (1978) • Halloween II (1981) • Season of the Witch • The Return of Michael Myers • The Revenge of Michael Myers • The Curse of Michael Myers • Halloween H20 • Resurrection • Halloween (2007) • Halloween II (2009)
Characters
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween:_The_Curse_of_Michael_Myers"
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