It’s fair to say my people, the Brits, don’t embrace Halloween all that much, instead simply dubbing it “an American holiday”. Regardless of this little fact, I love Halloween. I think this stems from a combination of being exposed to Horror films at an early age and living near one of Britain’s more chilling legends – Pendle Hill. And while dressing up, going to parties and just having fun on Halloween is all well and good, I’d choose a great scary film over going out on Halloween any year. There’s nothing better than having a good old fashioned scare put on you in the cinemas or even at home with the lights off and curtains drawn in those early hours of the morning. Hollywood, however, has faltered of late, rehashing the same uninspiring drool and barely putting the effort in. The old saying “they don’t make ’em like they used to” couldn’t be more applicable when it comes to horrors and one of the finest examples of this is the Halloween franchise.
Halloween was one of the most unique films of its time, taking small inspirations from Hitchcock’s Psycho and Canadian horror Black Christmas before it, and creating a whole legacy for future generations to love. Who knew a slightly altered William Shatner mask would be the face of pure evil? The Shape would terrify audiences for years, and still has a knack of putting a good scare on us even today and all by simply hiding in the background.
It’s a heated debated though among film fans; which is the best and worst of the Halloween titles. So here at MovieBuzzers we’ve compiled a list (including the Rob Zombie remakes) to which Halloween film is the worst/best. Easy now, this one could get controversial!
10 – Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Everything about Resurrection screams out ‘this film is going to suck!’. A monstrosity that truly lacks any real passion for the franchise and was a pointless teen slasher to try and make some money by using names such as Busta Rhymes and Tyra Banks (don’t even get me started). Resurrection had some spectacular bad lines and couldn’t help but over-use the slow-motion – especially for shots just involving Michael Myers, which were laughable. Halloween Resurrection‘s diabolical attempt at being a horror film earns it the place of worst Halloween film ever. Excluding the opening 10 minutes which included the awful decision of killing off Laurie Strode and un-doing H20’s fantastic climatic finale, Resurrection has no connection to the Halloween franchise. And while there are some terrible films within the franchise, unlike its predecessors, Resurrection can’t use the excuse “it’s dated”. Sometimes you can’t help but think it should be illegal for studios to touch a franchises name.
9 – Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
I have to admit I have a soft spot for H6, because somehow it was the first Halloween title I saw. Sadly, though, that doesn’t stop it from being a pretty terrible film. The script is simply confused, lost on audiences, critics and probably the cast a like. Controversial issues during production and post didn’t help matters, with 2 additional versions being passed around out in the world somewhere. H6 was simply a disaster. So much so it was probably the reason Halloween 4, 5 and 6 were rather un-subtly ignored in any future films. But it did introduce Paul Rudd to the big screen, so I guess it wasn’t all bad!
8 – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
All the good work done in H4 was completely undone in H5, literally. You can see what they tried to do with the connection between Jamie and Michael, but it just doesn’t work. The awful, awful decision to accompany the police with corny music and sound effects like they were a couple of goof balls from a sketch is an unforgivable decision. The general theme for Halloween 5 is just too light-hearted. Any real horror and tension is almost absent during the film and most of it seems like a way in throwing in some unwanted and unneeded humour that hadn’t been seen before. One question – if Jamie knows where Michael is all the time, why can’t she just avoid him?
7 – Halloween 2 (2009)
Rob Zombies diabolical attempt at a sequel to his re-imagining of the original Halloween. What makes things worse is that Zombie’s remake was pretty good, and in general his horrors have been quite entertaining, so it’s hard to see what went wrong with his second attempt. Zombie criticised the studio for not allowing him full creative control, but maybe that was a good thing. Zombie has an obsession with putting his wife in his films, and he couldn’t resist once more in Halloween 2 – even though her character is dead! While her appearance is actually refreshing from Zombies over the top gore and violence, it’s the fact Judith Myers comes back as a spirit to Michael Myers, oh and she also has a little horse with her! Seriously…a horse. It’s safe to say we’re not too bummed that Zombie won’t be making another Halloween.
6 – Halloween 2 (1981)
While H2 takes off straight from the original, and more information is given on Myers and his relationship with Strode, it’s little moments like mercilessly running down a poor teenager and not even batting an eyelid at the possibility it wasn’t Myers (and how combustible was that car!) that ruin H2. The actor playing Myers has no physical presence whatsoever and in general the story drags out. The films is sloppy, switching from the awesome reveal that Strode and Myers are related – finally allowing the penny to drop – to the ridiculous, such as Myers walking very slowly through a glass door, as well as his goofy attempts at killing Strode while against everyone else he’s a killing machine. H2 was just a poor follow up to Carpenter’s masterpiece by director Rick Rosenthal – who would later bring us Resurrection, surprise surprise.
5 – Halloween 3: Season of The Witch (1982)
As a teen I remember seeing this Halloween title on the TV listing, changing to that channel and getting ready for some Michael Myers madness. 
Cue the opening scene – A man being chased frantically through the streets, a car driving bat-shit crazy behind him – this is promising! The man evades his chaser, no sign of Myers. Half hour later and still no Myers – I must’ve been mistaken, this isn’t a Halloween film, but wait it is a Halloween film…what’s going on? Alas, I gave up on Season of The Witch. It wasn’t until years later I discovered the story behind this confusion and I gave Season of The Witch another chance. And I’m glad I did! With some thrilling scenes and a very mysterious plot, Season of The Witch has all the elements of a classic horror film. The only downside for many fans was that it was branded with the Halloween title. The title which is synonymous with Michael Myers, so Season of The Witch has been cast out by hardcore fans of the franchise. The sad thing is, that direction of using the Halloween title to create an anthology of horrors (John Carpenters original plan) could have really worked, but only if Halloween 2 – a direct sequel to the first – had never existed. Props to Season of The Witch, they acknowledge the Myers character through a TV preview of the first film.
4 – Halloween (2006)
There’s a lot of hate for Rob Zombies Halloween with fans claiming he ruined the franchise (where were these people during Resurrection?). While Carpenter’s Halloween was more subtle, Zombies turns into a true bloody nightmare as Myers butchers his way through Haddonfield. Zombie’s Halloween‘s are bloodbaths massacres, plain and simple. He brought a fresh gritty realism to the title never seen before and he even had John Carpenters blessing! I didn’t like everything Zombie’s Halloween had to offer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the exploration of Michael’s household during his childhood which saw Zombie’s use of his much loved go to White Trash element. But I did enjoy seeing the relationship between Loomis and Myers in Smiths Grove. A lot of love needs to go Tyler Mane‘s way, who is by far one of the best aspects of Rob Zombies remake, and probably the best Michael Myers in general. It never made sense to me why they didn’t have Michael as a monstrous intimidating figure before and Zombie rectifies this. While his style might not be to everyone’s taste, Zombie at least told his own story on Halloween, rather than making a direct scene to scene remake like we’ve seen before.
3 – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Now we get to the series stuff. Halloween has a knack of killing Myers off in one film, then deciding like an impossible miracle, he’s alive! This trend continued in H4, but it was forgiveable because it’s also when Halloween got scary again. Myers looked as creepy as ever, and with that opening dream-like sequence between Jamie and Michael you knew Halloween 4 would be fun. H4 brought about new production value that had been missing up until the release. Myers is smarter, more methodical this time round, but the town know the history and they’re ready too which makes for an interesting game of cat and mouse, but who’s who? The atmosphere and intensity seen in H4 is nearly unparalleled and it’s a shame knowing what was the follow. Of course there are poor points to Halloween 4, but they mostly come in the final 15 minutes which were somewhat rushed and ridiculous, only for it to bring it back in the dying moments with that chilling end.
2 – Halloween H20 (1998)
I’ve seen H20 unfairly slated by fans and critics alike but I fear that’s more through the cynical outlook many people had on the franchise after it 
became just another boring teen slasher series. Everything about H20 made the franchise cool again, finally. From that great opening scene (poor JGL!) to the atmosphere that was brought back. H20 had a great cast, great acting and a great Michael! This could have been my number 1, and it was so so close, because I remember seeing it after so many poor Halloween films that proceeded up and was excited again. It brought life back into the franchise and it was great to see Jamie Lee Curtis return to her iconic role. For me H20 falters when it completely ignores the events of the previous 3 films – something I don’t really agree with – but it still has a fantastic story and captures the essence of Carpenter’s vision. What makes H20 so riveting is, unlike previous Halloween films where we’re all playing catchup and learning who the characters are and their story, we know it all. We’re seeing our heroine from years ago all grown up and still dealing with the scars she’s been left with from ‘the night he came home’. And as the film unfolds we get to see how strong she’s become, being able to face her fears – her brother, and take the fight to him. And that ending was, for its time, one of the bravest moves I’ve seen – although sadly undone in quite a terrible way by Resurrection! Gr I really, really hate that film!
1 – Halloween (1978)
Everyone knows the significance the original Halloween had on cinema, it set the standard. With Halloween, John Carpenter created a whole new line of clichés to be copied and parodied. But in every list similar to this, guaranteed, you will see Halloween taking the top spot, like automatically it has to be number one because it was the film that made it all happen. However it wasn’t that close for me, and full disclosure, H20 was sitting up in first place for quite sometime. I can hear the screams now “What!” “Are you serious”, but hear me out. Halloween is a true testament to independent filmmaking and that iconic music still sends chills down my spine. That being said, while you can watch it back and appreciate the craftsmanship that went into it, this list is about being the most entertaining, and at times Halloween feels dated. Outside Jamie Lee Curtis & Donald Pleasence the acting is of B-movie standard and that wears a little thin – with some truly irritating characters. But what Halloween did for it’s time and on a ridiculously low budget was quite amazing, and it created a whole new way of scarring audiences. It’s a classic for a reason and while the other titles of the franchise are slightly less memorable, Halloween will be etched in the history books for the way it created tension that is nearly impossible to match, and you can still feel it to this day, quite simply it’s a captivating film. That’s why it had to be my number 1.
So, that’s the list. I fully expect a backlash for some of the placements, and I welcome all opinions and criticisms! So feel free to leave you comments and perhaps post your own order. And remember:
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