Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (The Producer’s Cut)

• Directed by Joe Chappelle
• September 29, 1995

Michael Myers stalks the Strode family (how big is this family?!) while Dr. Loomis pursues him once again.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (The Producer’s Cut) is a vast improvement over its predecessor. It embraces the previously obliterated Thorn storyline and has a much better portrayal of Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) as well as a much more thought through overall narrative.

Dr. Loomis is a much more consistent character here. He doesn’t waffle between fatherly and angry towards any particular character nor does he make abrupt conclusions with no information or buildup like in Halloween 5. He starts the movie knowing something is up but his knowledge of the situation grows as information is imparted to him. He just doesn’t go “By Jove! Guess what?” much like he did in the last film with Jamie Lloyd’s psychic connection. 

Paul Rudd becomes the fourth actor to play Tommy Doyle (though the third in Halloween 4 is only given a character name in the credits so Rudd is the third named on screen) and does a good job. I’m not calling him great. He has vastly improved over the years. Anyway..

Rudd’s Tommy Doyle is creepy and weird but there are points here and there that Rudd’s delivery is a little flat and lacks anything more significant than reading the lines. Being the case that this is the producer’s cut and not the theatrical release I’m curious if that was footage that was never intended to see the light of day. Not harmful overall but they are definitely the weaker moments. 

Jamie Lloyd (here J.C. Brandy) gets disposed of in this story though she has a baby much like her mom did. So was the car accident that killed Laurie off screen a plot of the cult? I ask this because Jaime gets killed by Michael at the behest of the cult. This seems likes an obvious conclusion, but one never addressed.

What had started out as a simple slasher film with a crazy killer focused on a family’s babysitter becomes a supernatural horror series with the official introduction of the Cult of Thorn. Courtesy of their inclusion the story of The Curse of Michael Myers (The Producer’s Cut) connects to astrology and chaos in the world and Michael Myers is essentially conducting a sacrifice each time he goes on one of his sprees. In that this movie seems to connect to Halloween III and the whole Silver Shamrock plot and their need for a sacrifice. And much like the post Tokyo Drift movies did in the FF films this brings Halloween III into this timeline and connects it all together a bit.

One thing The Curse of Michael Myers has going for it was that it felt like it was not a one-off adventure but a story that could lead to an end for the series. This is a horror franchise they wanted to milk as long as they could but by building on what came before as well as having a coherent narrative it felt as if things were going somewhere even if they had no real plan in that regard. They dropped in new information and expanded upon old with the most important being as to why he was killing relentlessly and could not be harmed.

The kills are interesting and there’s enough of an edge to them that makes you go “Cool!” as well as good uses of your mind doing the work rather than simply handing you the actual imagery. A good example of this is when Michael kills Debra Strode (Kim “True Grit” Darby). He raises his knife and you hear the noise. All you see however is a spray of red on the white bedsheets outside. Nothing gory but very effective. 

In the story Tommy Doyle has become obsessed with Michael Myers to the point he has followed every conspiracy theory and weird rumor down their assorted rabbit holes and learned the truth. He has even taken to living in a boarding house across the street from the Myers home in the boarding house of the apparently seriously deaf Mrs. Blankenship (Janice Knickrehm).

A surprising moment comes when Mrs. Blankenship reveals she was babysitting Michael on the night of his first kill and is well aware that Danny Strode (Devin Gardner) has been seeing the Man in Black and will inherit the Curse of Thorn once Michael kills Jamie’s baby. It’s a good “Oh crap!”  moment that implies a grander conspiracy and the inability to actually escape the evil.

They also explain why Michael keeps hacking up the Strodes since he is supposed to be just going after family at this point. It is their connection to Laurie and that they cannot sell the Myers house (which they are currently living in). That is pretty weak but helps get you through the apparent inconsistency.

The film ends on a bit of a cliffhanger that teasers at the minimum one more movie but because of the passing of Donald Pleasence we did not get that. Mostly because that bit connects directly to Loomis. The movie itself is a significant upgrade though it does change the nature of the character as well as what happened in the in the first film. I have not seen the theatrical cut, but this version is well done. It has enough excitement and kills with their aftermath shown that you will enjoy yourself. The overall creativity here is much better than before. And the acting of all significant characters is surprisingly good.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (The Producer’s Cut) is a very good film. While more in line with other horror movies of the time with a supernatural powered killer, it’s still a very good Halloween effort with Michael Myers offering plenty of death and destruction with surprises and revelations that expand the mythology in positive directions. This is one of those movies I definitely recommend!