I know the answers are out there for this stuff, but I thought it’d make a good thread to discuss and bring to light all the internal conflict regarding the production of the series as a whole, following the first film.
The most blatant example I can think of is the H4/H5 covers, which feature masks completely different from those used in the films. Why did this occur?
As a second example, I’ll mention how Carpenter saw the second film as a lost cause/shabby remake of the original, and allegedly wrote the script while drunk.
And as a third example, consider Halloween 6 where the unrated producer’s cut was released years later with 45 minutes of new footage…
I’d guess they wen’t with that mask on the covers because it looks just like the original one and that’s what would draw people in. After 7 years of no Michael Myers I’m sure they just wanted something for marketing that would remind people who this monster was. And since H5 was a rushed production right on the heels of 4, I’m sure they just reused the image to save time.
Yeah Carpenter wasn’t happy about doing a sequel, felt he was just doing the same thing as he did the first time and it felt uninspired to him. Got harder to keep going as he went along writing it and eventually had to drink himself to the finish line. Which is surprising, since I think Halloween 2 is the best of the series(just my opinion).
I’ve always thought that they intended the Producer’s Cut of 6 to be the actual film, but may have been edited and re-shot into the cut we’ve all seen due to Donald Pleasence’s death. The Producer’s Cut would have required him to return for another sequel to keep that particular storyline continuing the way it was. The theatrical cut however leaves it open ended for the series to pick up wherever it would want to. That’s my theory at least. A lot of fans wanted to see the other version, so after some struggles to get it polished up and distributed, it was released.
The H4 mask is a Kirk recast painted white. The eye cuts are so round because George P Wilbur had difficulties seeing out of the eye cuts and so cut them larger himself. The H4/H5 poster mask was also an artistically stylized version of this picture:
Which is of Dick Warlock wearing the Hero from H1/2. I also remember reading that somebody told Shatner that the Michael Myers mask was a Kirk mask, and Shatner didn’t like his likeness being used for a serial killer, which put an end to the Kirk likeness being used for Michael Myers masks.
As for H6, yes the producer’s cut was intended to be the final cut when the director called a wrap. However, during studio screenings, execs wanted it to be gorier, so they had to do reshoots.