Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Michael-Myers.net General Discussion
1

I don’t watch this film much. In fact, next to “Resurrection,” it’s the film I’ve seen the least amount of times. But every time I watch it I can’t help but think just how awful it is! I mean, it barely even makes sense. I know some of that has to do with the fact that the movie went through a lot of cuts in post-production, but I still think the overall idea of the film just doesn’t fit with the rest of “Halloween” lore. It started in #4 with all the psychic-connection bullshit and the idea that Michael had all these magical powers and mind control and whatnot. It carried on through Five and culminated in the atrocious “Curse” where Michael is simply a pawn in some cult’s plans. The psychic crap and the whole idea of the curse of the thorn are very weak in my eyes. I’m still not sure I even understand this whole “Thorn” thing. I know that Michael is supposedly the most recent child to be cursed with “Thorn” and that it’s his duty to sacrifice all of his relatives in order to make the world a better place, but how do Wynn and the rest of the cult members fit in? And how did Michael become their pawn instead of being a terrifying lone psycho? On top of that, Michael looks fat in this movie. I don’t know, like I said, I think this film is terrible and I’m glad they ret-coned the series with H20.

If I had to pick two positive things about this film, they’d be these:

–Michael’s mask in this film is much better than the one in H5, and WAY better than the mask in H4 (which is still my least favorite mask in all the series)

–Paul Rudd’s acting.

So, am I alone? Can anyone maybe defend this film or explain it a bit to me so that I might see it in a better light. You’ll have to work hard if you try! Laughs

2

I agree with you…But, in the 80’s - even now - the whole slasher movie was way worn out. The big series that made it, kept going on & on and copies of them everywhere. So the movies that kept going were making $, and to keep making more $ - you have to “try” to throw something new in the mix. The same formula over and over wouldn’t keep making $$$. I still like them no matter how comic/sad they came to be. I mean characters becoming god-like, pychic battles, mythologies, reincarnations, battles between the other big characters, …even space! :laughing: Even though I feel it all kind of cheapened these characters, made them comic-bookie, it did make them icons. Right up with Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, etc. When you look at those “top” horror icons…how many films were done about them were not up to par? Same with zombie films. But, hey I still like seeing new visions/ideas of the top icons - old/modern!

3

I like Curse. It probably counts as the first Myers movie I ever saw, when I was six. I love the mood and atmosphere, and Michael is pretty scary in it. Especially the mask. :slight_smile:

4

^I will agree with you that the portrayal of Michael in this film was damn good despite the crapiness of the rest of the film. In fact, I think that it ranks as my third favorite Myers performance overall. If you split H6 into parts it would be a good horror film, meaning if you took Wilbur’s performance as Michael (minus the fact that I think he looked fat) and put it in a better Halloween film, you’d have a damn good Halloween film; then you take the rest of the story line, alter it a bit and make it its own film with a different name you’d have an okay horror flick. I think all together, though, it fails as a Halloween flick.

5

The X-files was big around this time and this movie suffers for it. Unexplainable conspiracy elements were everywhere in the nineties. A few years earlier they tried explaining Jason and his family curse in Jason Goes to Hell. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation they try to tie Leatherface’s family to JFK’s assassination. It’s a desperate act of later sequels to try to “answer the questions” that nobody really wants answered. H6 had too many children and cultists plus Jaime’s weak death when she didn’t need to be in the film at all.

That said, H6 had it’s moments. The mask for one, GPW and Tommy Doyle for another. The P-cut is slightly more coherent and completely nuttier. Apparently after trying to kill Jaime for 2 flicks Michael is somehow persuaded to knock up her up instead. Sexualizing the prudish Michael makes no god damn sense. But then neither does making Michael the mascot for a bunch of robe wearing druids who collect fetuses and live under a nut house.

As Mickey Rourke said in the Wrestler “The Nineties Sucked!”

6

Wait, I’ll finish your title: SUCKS!!!

7

I don’t know why or how I never made this connection, but you are absolutely right. :rock:

8

I actually never made that connection, either. It’s an interesting one.

9

Although the theatrical makes no sense and the pc version was weird I still like this movie a’lot. I can’t see how it’s portrayed as the worse in the series when 5 and ressurection are clearly shittier.

10

Going back to the conspiracy/explanatory subject, I’ve been trying to think of some other movies that I think tie into this.

Freddy’s Dead (I think I’ve heard that this took some inspiration from Twin Peaks, couldn’t say for sure, I’ve never seen Twin Peaks)
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Psycho IV
Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh
From what I remember of Highlander II, there seemed to be some sort of horrible, half-assed explanation.
Even Phantasm IV gave us answers to a few things! But, that ultimately just led to more questions. :slight_smile:

Any others fit the bill? I find this pretty interesting.

11

havent seen theatrical in a while, but i have to disagree with you. i hold the producers cut in like 3rd place overall fav halloweens

12

Yes, the Producers Cut is the only Halloween 6 for me. Anything else is just crap. Unfortunately, the version the sucks ass, is the only version easily available on my budget.

13

Agreed!!

14

funny, i remember i LOVED the trailer for this movie when it first came out. i was dumbfounded as to how bad the movie turned out to be.

15

Hey all, long time reader, first time poster here. I don’t normally post, but I felt this was a discussion I wanted to contribute to.

Halloween 6 was the first Halloween movie I was able to watch in theaters (and haven’t missed one since, except for RZ’s Halloween 1, as I was deployed in Iraq at the time). I remember being enamoured with anything Halloween and Michael Myers related ever since I saw Halloween 2 back in the 80’s one Halloween night on the local Fox channel. After watching the rest of the series to catch up, I was anxiously awaiting the next installment to find out what happens to little Jaime, and did not expect to wait as long as I had to. Every year that went by, I grew more and more impatient, and eventually started to think they’d never make another one. Then one day in 1995, I was watching some movie, I don’t remember which one, and a preview for a new Halloween movie came on. I nearly leapt out of my seat with excitement. It was finally happening. I remember being slightly disappointed that I didn’t see Jaime in the trailer, but Loomis was there, and he really made the movies for me.

A few months pass by, and the movie comes out. I take my little brother and my best friend on opening night. There were not many people in the theater, which I thought was a shame as they were about to miss what would surely be an excellent movie. So I sat through the movie, and watched with glee because Michael Myers was back. It was not the best installment, but it was certainly better than Halloween 3. I remember being a little disappointed in the limited role Jaime had, and that it was a different actress, but I loved that they brought some old Celtic lore into the mix, as I was heavily into being of Irish decent back in High School (thank you very much House of Pain). My best friend and brother hated the movie.

Halloween 6 holds a special place with me due to the fact that it was the first one I got to watch in the theaters. It is not my favorite by far, that honor goes to Halloween 2, the first one I ever watched. But now that I’m older and have a better idea of what a good movie is, I will have to admit that the theatrical version of H6 is just a mess. The thing that always bothered me the most was the fact that this cult, who believed that Michael Myers was supposed to kill his entire family in order to appease some god they believed in, decided it would be a great idea to get Jaime pregnant in order for Michael to have MORE family. I mean, I know they wanted to pass the curse on to the kid or what not, but wasn’t the whole idea of the curse to eliminate the WHOLE family in order to make the god happy? Wouldn’t it be better for them if Michael just finished the job, and not had to deal with yet another family member?

Good points for me from the movie:

  1. Paul Rudd’s acting
  2. Donald Pleasence (R.I.P)
  3. The electric guitar version of the Halloween theme
  4. The Celtic rune “thorn” that I eventually got tattooed onto my wrist in the same place Michael has it
  5. the computer program Tommy had on his computer that showed Michael’s mask (i’ve always wanted that as a screen saver)

I also agree that the mask was way better in this film than in the previous two. Sorry for the long post.

16

Where can I get the producer’s cut? I need to see it.

17

Besides 1, 2 and 3, Curse is my favorite. I understand why some people didn’t like or understand the film. Personally, I think H20 and Resurrection are huge piles of crap. I don’t want to offend anyone but it’s my opinion. They are too “Teen” horror. Dimension did that with Scream… and better. Michael was no longer dangerous. H20 could have been good, but it just was’t pulled off well. Resurrection was just a big FAIL from the beginning. I hold Curse in high regards because it introduced a look at Michael that could have taken the series in a way better direction than it went… Even though they tried to explain the beast, they still kept him scary and focused heavily on atmosphere and mood. Something that H20 and Resurrection seriously lacked. The original series ended with 2 in my eyes. Curse would have been a damn good road to drive on for a while. :sunglasses:

18

I never said that Curse is the worst, I just said I think it’s terrible. I do think “Resurrection” is worse than Curse (even though I’m watching Resurrection right now because I’m watching them all this week.) I think there was only one film in the series worse than either Resurrection or Curse and that’s H3, but I only think that one is worse because I don’t consider it part of the series.

19

You know, I’m reluctant to bash H20, but I’ve never warmed up to it. It has my least favorite Michael, a location I don’t care much for, and masks I don’t care much for besides the Curse mask used in the opening. Aside from the first and last fifteen minutes, the movie just feels kind of bland. I think I’ve seen it less than ten full times, whereas I’ve probably seen even part 5 over fifteen times.

I’m not big on that slick, “sexy” nineties style. I never warmed up much to Scream, as a franchise, either. I do like the original Scream.

20

You know, I’m reluctant to bash H20, but I’ve never warmed up to it. It has my least favorite Michael, a location I don’t care much for, and masks I don’t care much for besides the Curse mask used in the opening. Aside from the first and last fifteen minutes, the movie just feels kind of bland. I think I’ve seen it less than ten full times, whereas I’ve probably seen even part 5 over fifteen times.

I’m not big on that slick, “sexy” nineties style. I never warmed up much to Scream, as a franchise, either. I do like the original Scream.[/quote]


Definitely man. I feel the same way. And as for Scream, they are not “good” movies by any means, lol. But, I find them very entertaining. It’s not a franchise that I can watch over and over again, but if it’s on, I’ll watch it.