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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - September 29th

"HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF 

MICHAEL MYERS" released in 1995

Six years after Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) disappeared from the Haddonfield jail with the aid of the mysterious Man in Black, Michael resurfaces in the pursuit of his niece, Jamie Lloyd (J. C. Brandy), who has escaped with her newborn child, in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers!

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On October 31, 1989, Michael Myers (Wilbur) and his niece Jamie Lloyd (Brandy) are shown to have been abducted by the mysterious Man in Black at the Haddonfield Police Station. Six years later, teenager Jamie is about to give birth to her baby on Halloween Eve, but the child is quickly taken away by the Man in Black (who is shown to be leader of a Druid-like cult. Later, a midwife (Susan Swift) helps Jamie escape with her baby, but is soon killed by pursuing Michael. Jamie and her baby flee in a stolen pickup and later stop briefly at a deserted bus station where Jamie makes a frantic call to a local radio station that is doing a show about the previous Haddonfield murders. Despite warning them that Michael Myers is on his way back to Haddonfield, Jamie is largely ignored by the arrogant DJ, Barry Simms (Leo Geter). However, two people listening take Jamie's pleas seriously; Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), now retired, despite the repeated attempts of his friend, Dr. Terence Wynn (Mitch Ryan), to return to Smith's Grove Sanitarium, and Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), whom Laurie Strode babysat for during Michael's very first rampage. Obsessed with Myers ever since seeing him as a child, Tommy now watches over the old Myer's house in Haddonfield, in particular the new occupants, Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan) and her six-year-old son Danny (Devin Gardner). Tommy arrives at the bus station Jamie mentioned on the radio but is too late, as Michael has already killed Jamie by impaling her on a corn thresher after being chased by Michael outside of town. Tommy does however discover Jamie's baby hidden at the bus station - Jamie having sacrificed her life to lure Michael away - and later names him Stephen. Meanwhile, in Haddonfield, Michael has already arrived back at his old home, and killed Kara's mother Debra (Kim Darby), and her abusive husband John (Bradford English). Tommy manages to find Kara and Danny, and the three return to his boarding house across the street, where he explains his theories about the cult surrounding Michael; that he believes Michael has been inflicted with the curse of Thorn, an ancient Druid symbol that represented a demon that spread sickness and caused destruction, and, to prevent this, one child from each tribe was chosen to bear the curse of Thorn to offer a blood sacrifice of its next of kin on the night of Samhain (Halloween). The curse explains why Michael is out to kill his family and also accounts for his superhuman abilities. Leaving Kara and Danny with his landlady, Mrs. Blankenship (Janice Knickrehm), Tommy goes out to look for Dr. Loomis, who has gone to a Halloween party held at the Haddonfield Junior College to look for the last surviving Strode family member, Tim (Keith Bogart). But Michael has already killed Tim, as well as Tim's girlfriend Beth (Mariah O'Brien) and the obnoxious Simms. Unfortunately, Tommy and Loomis return to the boarding house too late to discover that Mrs. Blankenship is one of the cult members in cohots with the Man in Black - revealed to be Dr. Wynn. All four are captured and returned to Smith's Grove, where the cult's ultimate goal will finally be revealed, while Loomis and Tommy must face their darkest fears if they are to save Kara, Danny and Stephen from becoming yet another bloody sacrifice!

[Opening narration]
Tommy Doyle: Six years ago - Halloween night - Michael and Jamie vanished. Most people believed them dead but I believe someone hid them away. Someone who keeps Michael, protects him... tries to control him. If there's one thing I know, you can't control evil. You can lock it up, burn it, and bury it, and pray that it dies, but it never will. It just... rests awhile. You can lock your doors, and say your prayers, but the evil is out there... waiting. And maybe, just maybe... it's closer than you think!

Top:   Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) attacks a sympathetic midwife (Susan Swift) for helping Jamie escape!:

Above:   Meanwhile Jamie Lloyd (J. C. Brandy) manages to call Haddonfield to warn them

After the rushed production that was Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (the filmmakers hoping to capitalize on the success of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers released the year before), series executive producer Moustapha Akkad slowly began to develop ideas for a sixth installment. In 1990, screenwriter and long-time Halloween fan Daniel Farrands gave his script for a Halloween movie to Revenge producer Ramsey Thomas. Impressed with the screenplay, Thomas arranged for Farrands to meet Akkad. Farrad apparently spent weeks preparing for his meeting with the producer, compiling a notebook with research on the series, including a timeline, bios for every character, a "family tree" of the Myers and Strode families, and research on the runic symbol of Thorn. However, a lengthy series of legal battles ensued which delayed plans for any sequel. Later, there was  a bidding war between New Line Cinema & Miramax Films for the franchise, which eventually Miramax Films (via its Dimension Films division) won. Over the next two years, several screenplays from different writers had been deemed insufficient. At one point, Evil Dead II screenwriter Scott Spiegel was going to direct with Quentin Tarantino producing. Spiegal's script dealt with a now homeless Michael Myers, trying to find his way back to Haddonfield so he could gain revenge on those who wronged him. Reportedly when series producer Moustapha Akkad read this draft, he threw it across the room into a waist bin!

Dimensions Films once again turned to Farrands original script. After reading the script, one of the execs at Dimension apparently could not sleep that night and therefore called Farrands immediately and told him that they wanted go forward with it. Farrands has said his initial intent for Halloween 6 was to "bridge the later films (4-5) in the series to the earlier films (1-2) while at the same time taking the story into new territory so that the series could expand for future installments." Having already written several drafts under different working titles, Farrands' wrote a final draft, entitled Halloween 666. Deciding to use the "Curse of Thorn" angle, which is the concept that Myers had been under the influence of an ancient Celtic curse that drove him to murder all family members in his bloodline, Farrands' would eventually write another eleven drafts, until finally the screenplay hardly resembled the moodier and far psychological aspects of his original script. Fred Walton (director of When a Stranger Calls and April Fool's Day) was originally attached to direct Halloween 6 but later dropped out, and replaced with Joe Chappelle, who began his career with the independently produced thriller Thieves Quartet in 1994.

[after the group escape Smith's Grove]
Kara: Where do we go?
Doctor Sam Loomis: As far away from Haddonfield as possible.
Tommy Doyle: Come with us.
Doctor Sam Loomis: No... I have some business to attend to.
[Loomis walks back inside to confront Michael, alone]

Top:   Myers' arch-nemesis, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) returns to Haddonfield to confront Michael;

Above:   Loomis is aided by Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), the boy Laurie Strode babysat for during Michael's very first rampage

Donald Pleasence returned in his last performance as Dr. Loomis. According to Farrands, Pleasence "loved the script for 6, however, and told me that he felt it was the best story since the original." Danielle Harris asked to reprise her role as Jamie Lloyd, but Dimension could not come to an agreement over her salary and ultimately did not want to pay Danielle more than she received in Halloween 4  (which was reportedly only $5,000!). Harris later admitted she didn't care much for the scipt or the director Chappelle (stating they did not see "eye to eye" on things), and was mostly disappointed with the early death of Jamie at the beginning of the film. J. C. Brandy was cast as the teenage Jamie Lloyd instead. The producers of the movie wanted Brian Andrews to reprise his role as Tommy Doyle from the original Halloween, but since Andrews did not have an agent, they could not get in contact with him (an opportunity Andrews regrets losing). Newcomer Paul Rudd was cast as Tommy Doyle, in his film debut and marks the only time in the entire Halloween series to have a male protagonist. Farrands' wanted Christopher Lee to play Dr. Terence Wynn in the film but Lee was busy on another project - the same situation happened when John Carpenter offered Lee the Dr. Loomis role for Halloween in 1978.

The Curse of Michael Myers was also the first Halloween film in the entire series to be filmed in the fall, with production beginning in October 1994 and was shot mostly in Salt Lake City, Utah; the city was experiencing an early winter at the time which proved troublesome for the production company. There was added pressure during production of Halloween 6, when distributor Dimension Films was having budget issues with its other upcoming horror sequel, Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), and reportedly slashed $1 million dollars from Halloween 6's budget as a result. In fact, trouble began on the film during the very first day, when Chappelle, according to many of the crew, told them from the outset that he didn't like the Halloween films, and was only involved in this project because it got him a three-picture deal with Miramax (Chappelle would later direct Hellraiser: Bloodlines and Phantoms (1998) for Dimension/Miramax). Farrands' aslo stated in a later interview that Chappelle used little to no ideas from his script, including cutting back on the scene where Wynn - by then revealed as the Man in Black - states he has always monitored Myers and even taunts Loomis by thanking him sarcastically since Loomis always made sure to capture Michael and bring him back and blatantly reveals that it was him who taught Michael how to drive a car. Chappelle would also completely re-write the entire third act - which included a completely (confusing) different ending - on set with producer Paul Freeman. Freeman would also prove disastrous during production with a series of blunders; sending the crew home when crucial scenes needed to be shot; deleting scripted scenes indiscriminately, rewrote dialogue and action sequences; and took it upon himself to direct second-unit shots as well supervise the post-production phase of the original cut. The original cut also had many of Donald Pleasence's scenes edited out of the film because Chappelle found him "boring".

TRIVIA:   Most of the cast and crew disowned this movie. On the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006) DVD, they stated that the studio, producers, and director interfered and argued to the point of ridiculousness which resulted in a very poorly directed and edited film. Many vowed never to make another Halloween movie again after all the changes.

Top and Above:   Trapped in Smith's Grove Sanitarium, Loomis and Tommy must protect Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan), her son Danny (Devin Gardner), and Jamie's baby "Stephen" from Michael's curse!

In early 1995, Curse 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, which entailed a Celtic ritual and the passing on of the Curse of Thorn to the Dr. Loomis character. The results of the bad test screening of the original work (the famous Producer's Cut), as well as creative differences between Joe Chappelle and the producer, Miramax stepped in and ordered extensive reshoots. Sadly Donald Pleasence had passed away on the 2nd of February in France, so producers ordered a whole new ending, as well as over twenty minutes of other footage being changed as well, leaving gaping plot holes that rendered the film nearly incomprehensible. Critics were almost universal in their negative reviews for the film. Daniel Kimmel of Variety called the film "tired" and "run-of-the-mill", while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film lacked suspense and said that "not even the presence of the late, gloriously histrionic Donald Pleasence can liven things up". Despite this, Curse had the largest opening weekend out of the entire series, grossing $7,308,529 and coming in second to the serial killer thriller Se7en. Curse would gross a total of $15,116,634 at the U.S. box office, from an estimated $5 million budget, making it one the more profitable films in the series.

For years after the theatrical release, the original version of the film (known as the "Producer's Cut") began to circulate in bootleg/collector circles, which had poor video and audio quality rendering it nearly unwatchable. In addition to 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. The major plot points that differ between the two cuts include - Jamie Lloyd is not killed by Michael's attack in the barn, just wounded, and killed later by the Man in Black after having a dream about how she was imprisoned in Smith's Grove, and the revelation that Jamie's child may be the inbred son of Michael Myers. And while Farrands stated that he thinks both versions of the film are poor, he considers the Producer's Cut to be the superior version. On September 23, 2014, the Producer's Cut was officially released for the first time as part of the Halloween Complete Collection Blu-ray box set released by Anchor Bay Entertainment and Scream Factory, with Miramax releasing the producer's cut of the film as a standlone DVD a year later on September 15th. Thus bringing to a close one of the more successful, but most trouble-plagued, films in the Halloween series.

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:    6%

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