Halloween (franchise)

"Halloween" is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, novels, and comic books. The franchise focuses on the fictional character of Michael Myers who was committed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of Haddonfield, Illinois while being chased by his former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place.

The original film, "Halloween", was released in 1978. Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and directed by John Carpenter, the sequels have had various writers and directors attached to them. Michael Myers is the antagonist in all of the films except "", which has no direct connection to any other "Halloween" film in the series. Carpenter, who had a hand in writing the first sequel, has not had any direct involvement with the rest of the films. The film series is ranked fourth at the United States box office – in adjusted 2008 dollars – when compared to other American horror franchises. The first "Halloween" film is credited with beginning a long line of slasher films inspired by Hitchcock's "Psycho". The franchise began when the first novel appeared less than a year after the release of the film, and seven sequels have followed. In 2007, remake of "Halloween", written and directed by Rob Zombie, was released.

Films

Overview

The original "Halloween" (1978), written and directed by John 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 seventeen-year-old sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) on Halloween 1963. He is subsequently hospitalized at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Fifteen years later, Michael (Nick Castle and Tony Moran) escapes and returns to his hometown where he stalks Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends as they babysit. The film ends with Michael being shot six times by his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence).cite video|people=Carpenter, John (Writer/Director) and Debra Hill (Writer)|title=Halloween|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Compass International Pictures|year=1978] "Halloween II" (1981) picks up where the events of "Halloween" left off. Michael's body is missing from the front lawn, where it fell when Loomis shot him. Michael follows Laurie to the local hospital, killing everyone who gets between him and Laurie. The story reveals that Laurie is actually Michael's sister: she was given up for adoption as an infant. Michael corners Loomis and Laurie in an operating room, where Loomis causes an explosion as Laurie escapes. Michael, engulfed in flames, stumbles out of the room toward Laurie before finally falling dead.cite video|people=Rosenthal, Rick (Director), John Carpenter, and Debra Hill (Writers)|title=Halloween II|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Universal Pictures|year=1981]

The story line of the third "Halloween" film, subtitled "" (1982), has no connection to the previous two "Halloween" films. "Season of the Witch" follows the story of Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins) as he tries to solve the mysterious murder of a patient in his hospital. He, along with the patient's daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), 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), is attempting to use the mystic powers of the Stonehenge rocks to resurrect the ancient aspects of the Celtic festival, Samhain, which Cochran connects to witchcraft. Cochran is using his Silver Shamrock Halloween masks to achieve his goal, which will be achieved when all the children wearing his masks watch the Silver Shamrock commercial airing Halloween night. Challis contacts the television stations and convinces all but one of the station managers to remove the commercial. The film ends with Challis screaming for the final station to turn off the commercial.cite video|people=Wallace, Tommy Lee (Writer/Director)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Universal Pictures|year=1982]

' (1988), as the title suggests, features the return of Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) to the film series. The film reveals that Michael survived the fire in "Halloween II" but has been in a coma since that night. While being transferred back to Smith's Grove, Michael comes out of his coma and overhears that Laurie Strode, who died in a car accident, has a daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris). Michael escapes the transport and heads to Haddonfield in search of Jamie. Fellow survivor Dr. Loomis also goes to Haddonfield after learning that Michael has escaped transfer. Eventually the town residents track Michael down and shoot him several times before he falls down a mine shaft.cite video|people=Little, Dwight (Director) and Allan McElroy (Writer)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Galaxy International Releasing|year=1988] Picking up directly where the previous film ends, ' (1989) 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 metaphysical connection to Jamie, Michael tracks Jamie 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.cite video|people= Othenin-Girard, Dominique (Director), Michael Jacobs, Dominique Othenin-Girard, and Shem Bitterman (Writers)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Galaxy International Releasing|year=1989]

"" (1995) picks up the story approximately six years after the events of "The Revenge of Michael Myers". The mysterious stranger who broke Michael out of jail kidnaps Jamie Lloyd (J. C. Brandy) in an effort to obtain her illegitimate child. Jamie escapes with her newborn, with Michael (George P. Wilbur) in pursuit. Michael kills Jamie and continues searching for her baby; the infant is found by Tommy Doyle (Paul Stephen Rudd)—the young boy who was babysat by Laurie Strode in the first film—who brings it home for safety. 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. Wynn (Mitchell Ryan), who is part of a group of people who protect the chosen individual so that they may complete their task. With the help of Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan), Laurie’s would-be 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. The film ends with Loomis walking back into the sanitarium to find Michael.cite video|people= Chappelle, Joe (Director) and Daniel Farrands (Writer)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Miramax Films|year=1995]

The events that transpire between "Halloween 4" and "Halloween 6" are effectively ignored in 1998’s '. This film opens twenty years after the events of the second film. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has faked her own death so that she could go into hiding from her brother Michael. Now working as the head mistress of a private school under the name Keri Tate, Laurie continues to live in fear of her brother’s return. Her own son, John (Josh Hartnett), attends school where she teaches. Laurie’s fear becomes reality when Michael (Chris Durand) shows up at the school and begins killing John’s friends and eventually he and Laurie come face-to-face. Laurie manages to get John and his girlfriend (Michelle Williams) to safety, but decides to return to the school to face Michael once and for all. Laurie succeeds in stopping Michael, but not satisfied until she knows that he is truly dead, Laurie steals his body and decapitates Michael.cite video|people= Miner, Steve (Director), Robert Zapia, and Matt Greenberg (Writers)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Dimension Films|year=1998] ' (2002) picks up three years after "H20", and reveals that Michael swapped clothes with a paramedic—crushing the paramedic’s larynx so that he could not talk—and that was who Laurie killed. Unable to deal with killing an innocent man, and the fact that Michael was still out there, Laurie is committed to a mental institution. Michael (Brad Loree) shows up at the institution, but Laurie captures him. Her fear of making the same mistake twice gets the better of her, and when she attempts to remove Michael’s mask he surprises and kills her. Michael travels back to his family home in Haddonfield, but finds a group of college students filming an Internet reality show. Michael proceeds to kill everyone, until he is finally electrocuted by the only surviving student, Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich), and the show’s creator Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes).cite video|people= Rosenthal, Rick (Director), Larry Brand, and Sean Hood (Writers)|title=|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Dimension Films|year=2002]

A remake of the original "Halloween" was released in 2007. This film focuses on the events that lead Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) to kill his family. It also identifies Laurie as Michael’s sister early on, which was something not done in the original film, but was retconned into its sequel. Michael shows early signs of psychopathic behavior at the age of ten, possessing an affinity for torturing and killing animals. On Halloween, Michael murders a school bully, his sister, and her boyfriend, as well as his mother’s boyfriend. He does not harm his infant sister, but acts more as her protector. Committed to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, Michael closes himself off from everyone, only concerning himself with his papier-mâché masks. Seventeen years later, Michael (Tyler Mane) escapes and heads to Haddonfield to find his younger sister, with his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) in pursuit. Michael finds his sister living with the Strode family. After killing all of her friends and family, Michael kidnaps Laurie and attempts to explain through the use of a picture that he has kept of himself and Laurie that she is his sister. Unable to understand, Laurie fights back; she is saved by Loomis, who guns down Michael in an empty pool. Michael returns, kidnapping Laurie again, but this time the two fall over a balcony. With Loomis’s gun pointed at an unconscious Michael’s face, Laurie begins firing through the empty bullet casings until firing the last remaining bullet just as Michael’s hand grabs her wrist.cite video|people= Zombie, Rob (Writer/Director)|title=Halloween|medium=DVD|location=United States|publisher=Dimension Films|year=2007]

Development

After viewing John Carpenter's film "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976) at the Milan Film Festival, independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad sought out Carpenter to direct for them a film about a psychotic killer stalking babysitters.cite web|title=Behind the Scenes|url=http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h1bts.htm|publisher=Halloween Movies|accessdate=2008-05-22] Carpenter and Debra Hill began drafting a story titled "The Babysitter Murders", but the title was changed at Yablans request, suggesting the setting be changed to Halloween night and naming it "Halloween" instead.cite web|title=John Carpenter interview|url=http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h1bts.htm|publisher=Halloween Movies|work=Halloween Movies|accessdate=2008-05-22] Moustapha Akkad fronted the $325,000 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, art director, location scout and co-editor Tommy Lee Wallace created Michael's mask from a William Shatner 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. An abandoned house owned by a church stood in as the Myers house. Two homes on Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood were used for the film's climax.cite web|url=http://www.seeing-stars.com/Locations/Halloween/index.shtml|title=Halloween Filming Locations|publisher=Seeing Stars|accessdate=2008-04-05] *Note: Updated June 18, 2008. Please update if necessary.

Critical reception

In addition to weak box office returns, most critics gave "Halloween III" negative reviews. Whereas "Halloween" had broken new ground and was imitated by genre films following in its wake, this third installment seemed hackneyed to many: one critic suggests that if "Halloween III" was not part of the "Halloween" series, then it would simply be "a fairly nondescript eighties horror flick, no worse and no better than many others".cite book|title=Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies|author=Harper, Jim|publisher=Critical Vision|isbn=1900486393|url=http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Blood-Comprehensive-Slasher-Movies/dp/1900486393]

Literature

Novels

When the original "Halloween" was released in 1978, a novelization of the movie followed just a year later. Written by Curtis Richards, the book follows the events of the film, but expands on the festival of Samhain and Michael's time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. [cite book|author= Richards, Curtis|url=http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Curtis-Richards/dp/0553132261/|title=Halloween|date=October 1979|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=0553132261] "Halloween II" 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. [cite book|author=Etchison, Dennis|url=http://www.amazon.com/HALLOWEEN-II-Jack-Martin/dp/089083864X/|title=Halloween II (novel)|date=1981-11-01|publisher=Zebra Publishing|isbn=089083864X] "Halloween IV", released in October 1988 and written by Nicholas Grabowsky, also followed the events of the film in which it was adapted from. [cite book|author= Grabowsky, Nicholas|url=http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-IV-Nicholas-Grabowsky/dp/1555472923/|title=Halloween IV (novel)|date=October 1988|publisher=Critics Choice Paperbacks/Lorevan Publishing|isbn=1555472923]

Over a four month period, Berkley Books published three young adult novels written by Kelly O'Rourke; the novels are original stories created by O'Rourke, with no direct continuity with the films. [cite web|url=http://www.halloweenmovies.com/kellyorourke_lobby.html|title=Interview with Kelly O'Rourke|publisher=Halloween Movies|date=2006-01-05|accessdate=2008-05-22] 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. [cite book|author= O'Rourke, Kelly|url=http://www.amazon.com/Scream-Factory-Halloween-Book/dp/157297298X/|title=The Scream Factory (Halloween, Book 1)|date=1997-10-01|publisher=Berkley Books|isbn=157297298X] "The Old Myers Place" is the second novel, released 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. [cite book|author= O'Rourke, Kelly|url=http://www.amazon.com/Old-Myers-Place-Halloween-Book/dp/1572973412/|title=The Old Myers Place (Halloween, Book 2)|date=1997-12-01|publisher=Berkley Books|isbn=1572973412] 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; they are currently headed to Smith Grove Mental Hospital, where they are confronted by Michael. [cite book|author= O'Rourke, Kelly|url=http://www.amazon.com/Mad-House-Halloween-Book/dp/1572973420/|title=The Mad House (Halloween, Book 3)|date=1998-02-01|publisher=Berkley Books|isbn=1572973420]

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—writer for "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers"—assisting on the first issue; 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". [cite web|url=http://www.iconsoffright.com/Comic_Maniac.htm|title=Halloween — Michael Myers comic book titles|publisher=Movie Maniacs Comic Books|accessdate=2008-05-22]

"One Good Scare" was released in 2003; it was written by Stefan Hutchinson and illustrated by Peter Fielding. 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-clone" the film sequels had made him. [cite web|url=http://www.joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=455|title=The Arrow interviews Stefan Hutchinson|publisher=Arrow in the Head|date=2003-11-28|accessdate=2008-05-22] 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. [cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/6765|title=Halloween: Autopsis|publisher=Bloody Disgusting|date=2006-07-12|accessdate=2008-05-22]

In 2008, Stefan Hutchinson released the first issue of his new comic book, "Halloween: Nightdance". This is a four issue mini-series, and it does not contain any characters—other than Michael—from the films.cite web|url=http://www.comicmonsters.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=864|title=Stefan Hutchinson talks Halloween|publisher=Horror Comic Book News|date=2007-11-20|accessdate=2008-05-22] 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".cite web|url=http://www.halloweencomics.com/|title=Halloween: Nightdance issue titles and descriptions|publisher=Halloween Comics|accessdate=2008-04-06] 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, a fifteen year-old girl with insecurities and "a chronic fear of darkness". Hutchinson explains that "Nightdance" is 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.cite news|url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=145520|title=Halloween in February: Hutchinson and Seeley on "Halloween: Nightdance"|publisher=Newsarama|date=2008-02-04|accessdate=2008-02-04] Devil's Due released "Halloween: 30 Years of Terror" in August, 2008, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the "Halloween" franchise. This comic book one-shot is a collection of short stories inspired by John Carpenter's original. "Trick or Treat" features the MacKenzies, unseen characters from the first film who Tommy and Lindsey run to for help. "P.O.V." shows a murder from the point of view 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" shows what became of Tommy Doyle. 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.comic book reference|writer=Stephen Hutchinson|penciller=Daniel Zezelj, Jim Daly, Brett Weldele, Jeffrey Zornow, Lee Ferguson, Tim Seeley|inker=Nick Bell, Rob Buffalo, Jeffrey Zornow, Elizabeth John|title=Halloween: 30 Years of Terror| date=August, 2007|publisher=Devil's Due Publishing] cite news|author=Steve Ekstrom|url=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080605-Halloween30th.html|title=Celebrating 30 Years of Halloween|publisher=Newsarama|date=2008-05-06|accessdate=2008-06-07]

Merchandise

The "Halloween" franchise 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, Sideshow Collectibles, and NECA. [cite web|accessdate=2008-06-30|url=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S5EXRI|title=Halloween Michael Myers Mcfarlane Movie Maniacs |publisher=Amazon.com ] Even Dr. Loomis has been immortalized in plastic alongside Michael Myers in a two-figure set produced by NECA. [cite web|accessdate=2008-06-30|url=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002RQYL0|title=Halloween Movie: Michael Myers & Dr. Loomis Action Figure Box set by NECA |publisher=Amazon.com ]

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). [cite web|accessdate=2008-06-30|url=http://www.halloween-online.com/costumes/halloween-costumes-michael.html|title=Michael Myers Costume |publisher=Halloween Online ] 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". [cite news|title=Unmasking Copyright Companies Face Off Over Film Prop|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=2000-11-01|page=B01|author=Slobodzian, Joseph A.]

The "Halloween" series also lives on in DVD form. Many versions of the original "Halloween" (often including special extras like free merchandise or additional footage missing from previous DVD releases of the film) as well as several of its sequels have been published by Anchor Bay Entertainment, Universal Studios, and Dimension Films. On October 2, 2007, the original "Halloween" was sold on Blu-ray for the first time by Anchor Bay Home Entertainment. In December 2007 there were reports that the Producer's Cut of "" might get a DVD release in the future.cite web|accessdate=2008-04-01|url=http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=5606|title=December 11: HALLOWEEN: CURSE “producer’s cut” to appear? |publisher=Fangoria ] cite web|accessdate=2008-04-01|url=http://www.moviehole.net/news/20071212_curse_of_michael_myers_reissue.html|title=Curse of Michael Myers re-issued? |publisher=Movie Hole|date=2007-12-12|author=Morris, Clint ] "25 Years of Terror" is a DVD released on July 25, 2006 featuring a documentary on the "Halloween" films, narrated by P.J. Soles 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 and Clive Barker as well as film critics. All of the panel discussions took place at a 25-year Anniversary convention in Pasadena, California (one of the filming locations of the original "Halloween") in October 2003. It also has extended versions of interviews featured in the documentary, and much more.Fact|date=July 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.halloweenmovies.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/officialhalloweenmovies Official MySpace profile]
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* [http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/pages/themovies/hw/hw.html "Halloween"] at John Carpenter's official website
* [http://www.halloweencomics.com/ The Official Website for Halloween Comics]
* [http://www.myspace.com/halloween_comics The Official Halloween Comics Myspace Page]
* [http://www.longislandexchange.com/articles/reviews/halloween091307.html Covers the long-running franchise of tales]
* [http://www.foodisnotlove.com/blog/?p=18 Interview with Tony Moran, the original Michael Myers on a Food is Not Love "Bloody Mary Tyler Moore" episode]
*Skylar Gahagan, " [http://www.monstersatplay.com/review/dvd/h/h25doc.php Review of "Halloween 25 Years of Terror"] ," "Monsters at Play"
*Todd Gilchrist, " [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/723/723247p1.html Review of "Halloween: 25 Years of Terror": This doc chronicles a quarter-century of Michael Myers mania] ," "IGN" (August 3, 2006)