Maxima Sporleder

1. Halloween (1978) Directed By: John CarpenterStarring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee CurtisEstimated Budget: $ 325.0001 Domestic Gross: $ 47 Million1Many critics consider this the film that started the slasher craze in the 1980s. Looking back, it seems like a rather simple idea: an unstoppable psycho stalks his victims and dispatches them in gruesome ways. The idea may be simple, but that is only half of the successful formula. What makes this first film a landmark gem of a horror film are John Carpenter's music and direction. Combing all the elements together creates a great horror flick that has spawned many imitators in the past twenty years.Halloween begins in 1963 on Halloween night. Six year old Michael Myers is locked up in a sanitarium for killing his teenage sister. Fifteen year later, Michael Myers escapes from his prison. His psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis heads back to Michael's hometown with the knowledge that Michael plans to kill again. Enlisting the help of the local sheriff, Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael, who is all ready stalking a group of teenager he plans to make his next victims.This film should be mandatory viewing for anyone who plans to make a horror film. It shows that you do not need a big budget to make a great film. Also, there are a few cinematic techniques in this film that have become standards in the horror genre.2. Halloween II (1981) Directed By: Rick RosenthalStarring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee CurtisEstimated Budget: $ 2.5 Million2Domestic Gross: $ 25.5 Million3This Halloween would be the last film that John Carpenter would have any direct involvement in. He co-wrote the screen play and let someone else direct this film because "I had made that film Once and I really did not want to do it again." 4This film attempted to keep the same style and feel as the first film, but the gore is cranked up a few notches.Halloween II picks up moments after the first film ends. Laurie Strode is rushed to the local hospital to be treated for the wounds she received from Michael Myers. Dr. Loomis and the sheriff are still hunting for Myers, who is on his way to the local hospital to finish off Laurie Strode.This film was to be the end of the Halloween series, but the studios smelled blood in the water. There was money to be made and by damn if the studio was going to let a little thing like continuity them.3 stop. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Directed By: Tommy Lee WallaceStarring: Tom Atkins, Stacey NelkinEstimated Budget: $ 2.5 Million5Domestic Gross: $ 12.8 Million6It may sound a bit strange, but the only thing this film has in common with the first two films is having the word "Halloween" in the title and it uses John Carpenter's music. Gone is pretty much everything else from the first two films. One of the reasons for this lack of key elements is that John Carpenter would only agree to participate in a new Halloween film if it was not a direct sequel to Halloween II. By throwing out all the best elements of the franchise, the studio was able to get John Carpenter as a producer on the film. Needless to say, it really did not help the box office.The plot of Halloween III is a little crazy at times. A large corporation, Silver Shamrock has implemented computer chips in their new line of Halloween masks. These chips contain a small piece of a rock stolen from Stonehenge. On Halloween night, when the Silver Shamrock commercial is played, the masks will kill all the children who are wearing them.Most studios would have been intimate by the poor reception of Halloween III.Some may have even thrown in the towel and moved on to a new franchise. Well, the film makers must have seen the dead horse twitch Because they decide to go back to the well yet again and make another film.4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) Directed By: Dwight H. LittleStarring: Donald Pleasence, Ellie CornellEstimated Budget: $ 5 Million7Domestic Gross: $ 17.8 Million7After the lukewarm reception of Halloween III, someone DECIDED that there was need to bring back Michael Myers and Halloween get the franchise back to its roots. John Carpenter was approaches to make Halloween 4, but left after his script was purposed consider "too cerebral" and rejected. The end result is a film that is neither good nor bad and feels too much like the other slasher films that were made around the same time.Halloween 4 is set in 1988, ten years after the end of Halloween II. Michael Myers has been in a coma since being stopped from killing his sister, Laurie Strode, by the heroic Efforts of Dr. Loomis. As he is being transferred between sanitariums, Michael Overhears that I have a niece in Haddonfield. He wakes from his coma, kills the crew of the ambulance he is riding in and begins to head to Haddonfield to hunt down Jamie. Dr. Loomis gets word that Michael has escaped and he heads to Haddonfield once again to stop Michael Myers.I would think at this point, any more attempts to Wring money from this franchise would just be futile, but apparently if you beat a dead horse long enough, it will give up a few more dollars.5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) Directed By: Dominique Othenin-GirardStarring: Donald Pleasence, Ellie CornellEstimated Budget: $ 5 Million8Domestic Gross: $ 11.6 Million8There was a rush to finish this film Because slasher films were falling out of favor with audiences near the end of the 1980s. As much as I liked the earlier films in the series, I was beginning to get annoyed with the whole Halloween franchise. I was craving something new, but this film did not do much except push how much I could suspend my disbelief.Halloween 5 takes place near Halloween night in 1989. After killing her stepmother in the last film, Jamie has been receiving from Dr. Loomis treated at the Haddonfield's Children hospital. She is shocked to discover she has a mind-link to her uncle, Michael Myers. Her murderous uncle has just woken up from another wound-healing coma and plans to kill Jamie yet again. It is up to Dr. Loomis and Jamie to put an end to Michael Myers Once and for all.I could live telepathic connection with the whole thing, but when the stranger in black showed up at the end to free Michael Myers from the police station , it was a little too much for me. I also hated the cliff hanging ending and having to wait six years to see what would happen next.6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Directed By: Joe ChappelleStarring: Donald Pleasence, Paul RuddEstimated Budget: $ 5 Million9Domestic Gross: $ 15 Million10So, after waiting almost six years to figure out what happened to Michael Myers and who was the mysterious Man In Black, the film makers fed us a film that was convoluted at the best of times and felt even weaker than the last film. At this point, making a Halloween film should not be rocker science. The plot is easy: Michael wakes up. Michael kills people. Tense battle with the hero (or heroine). Michael vanished in the last frame. Somehow, the film makers managed to screw it up and what should have been an easy shoot turned out to be a battle of wills among the crew.This film picks up six years after the events of the last film. Jamie Lloyd has been kidnapped by a group of evil druids who protect Michael Myers. She's gives birth to Michael's child and manages to escape from the druids. She returns to Haddonfield to seek Dr. Loomis' help. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Michael Myers is subject to the Curse of the Thorn. It is what grants him his immortality and the desire to kill his relatives. Will Michael be stopped or will he continue his bloody rampage of terror? Apparently, there is a bootleg "Producer's Cut" version of the film floating around In certain circles. It has a different ending (which I prefer to the one that was in the final cut) and has 43 minutes of alternate footage. I'd be curious to get a look at this cut and see if it is any better than the final piece of garbage that the filmmakers released.7. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) Directed By: Steve MinerStarring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam ArkinEstimated Budget: $ 17 Million11Domestic Gross: $ 55 Million11In a bold move, someone DECIDED that this sequel would take place twenty years after Halloween II and ignore the events of the last three movies. I did not pick up on this until later and I was a bit confused as I watched the film for the first time. However, I rather liked this film and it was great to see Jamie Lee Curtis back in the franchise that launched her career.As the title indicated, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later takes place twenty years after the events of Halloween II. Laurie Strode faked her death after you've spent the last twenty years living a fairly normal life. She still lives in fear of Halloween night and those fears become reality when her brother, Michael Myers, tracks her down and begins to kill her friends. Laurie must face her brother in one last battle and only one of them will survive.The Efforts of the film makers to put this franchise back on track were rewarded with a nice box office and a decent reception to the film, I had a sense of hope that maybe the film makers had woken up and that maybe we might get another decent film out of the Halloween franchise. Boy was I wrong.8. Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Directed By: Rick RosenthalStarring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad LoreeEstimated Budget: $ 15 Million12Domestic Gross: $ 30.3 Million12Instead of building on the new foundation created in the last film, the film makers Decided to crank up the gore, tone down the excitement and use a lot of bad elements from other slasher films. The result was a film that not only killed off Jamie Lee Curtis' character, but also destroyed a lot of the confidence fans of the franchise had in the film makers.This film begins with a battle between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. After I finished off his sister, Michael returns to Haddonfield and to his childhood home. Unknown to the killer, a group of college students have agreed to spend the night in Michael's home as part of a reality show that will be broadcast live over the Internet. When the teenagers meet Michael, the blood begins to flow and it The Game turns into one of survival as Michael begins to hunt down the teenagers one by one.This film managed to make back its budget, so I figured we'd be stuck getting another poor sequel in this franchise sooner or later. What I did not count on was a rocker getting a chance to make it.9. Halloween (2007) Directed By: Rob ZombieStarring: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-ComptonEstimated Budget: $ 30 Million13Domestic Gross: $ 58.3 Million14As much as I dislike gore Rob Zombie and his films, I will give the man credit: he knows his audience. Like Eli Roth, Rob Zombie is a master of the super slasher films that has risen to popularity in recent years. When I heard Rob Zombie was picked to head up a remake of Halloween, I will admit I was curious to see what he had done. The end product is okay, but there is not much horror in this film. Just a lot of blood, a bit of sex and enough gore to satisfy the most bloodthirsty among us.Halloween loosely follows the same plot as the 1978 film by John Carpenter. After spending sixteen years in a mental institution for killing his step father, eldest sister and her boyfriend, Michael Myers escapes and heads back to his hometown of Haddonfield to find his baby sister Laurie. As he is being tracked down by Dr. Loomis, Michaels cuts a path of death and destruction. Will Dr. Loomis Laurie reach her first murderous brother or will reach her before the good doctor can warn her.If I had to say anything nice about this film, I'd like to say that Malcolm McDowell was an excellent Dr. Loomis and I would not mind seeing him again in the role. I keep wondering if we'll ever see another Halloween film from Rob Zombie.Until next time, watch out for on Halloween The Shape night.References1. Halloween at BoxOfficeMojo.com2. Halloween II at Wikipedia3. Halloween II at BoxOfficeMojo.com4. John Carpenter interview, Famous Monsters magazine, quoted at HalloweenMovies.com5. Halloween III at Wikipedia6. Halloween III at BoxOfficeMojo.com7. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers at BoxOfficeMojo.com8. Halloween 5 at BoxOfficeMojo.com9. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers at Wikipedia10. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers at BoxOfficeMojo.com11. Halloween H20 at BoxOfficeMojo.com12. Halloween: Resurrection at BoxOfficeMojo.com13. Halloween (2007 film) at Wikipedia14. Halloween (2007) at BoxOfficeMojo.com