History Franchise / HALLOWEEN

* ''Halloween'' -- Released for the Atari 2600.

The next movie was meant to proceed from Carpenter's original vision of the ''Halloween'' series as a kind of GenreAnthology, featuring different unrelated stories of horror connected only by being related to the spooky holiday that gave the series its name. Thus, this film is the only one in which Michael Myers does not appear at all.

* ''Videogame/CallOfDutyGhosts'' -- Michael Myers is a "Field Order" reward in the {{DLC}} map Fog.

-->-- '''Dr. Samuel Loomis''', ''Halloween'' (1978)

* '''''Film/HalloweenEnds''''' (2022) -- The third and final installment of the new official sequel trilogy. Curtis has gone on record saying that this film contains what will be her final performance as Laurie Strode.

In 1978, writer/director Creator/JohnCarpenter and producer Debra Hill made ''[[http://halloweenmovies.com Halloween]]'', a [[NoBudget low-budget]] independent horror film. The film was a massive hit that effectively popularized the SlasherMovie genre and inspired other similar franchises such as ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', and it also turned the film into the first of a successful major horror film franchise. Since then, the original film, and the series overall, became a celebrated, iconic pop culture staple of horror.

Despite its enormous influence and enduring popularity, the series is also rather infamous for having perhaps the single most confusing timeline in the history of the horror genre (if not ''all of cinema''), with '''five''' distinct [[AlternateContinuity alternate continuities]]. With the sole exception of the OddballInTheSeries ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' (more on that below), the one common thread in the various timelines is psychopathic murderer Michael Myers, who lives solely to make UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve a night of horrific carnage and mayhem.

* '''''Rob Zombie's Film/{{Halloween|2007}}''''' (2007) -- This film, directed by Rob Zombie, reimagines the original film while adding a more extensive look at Michael's childhood in the first half of the film. The second half follows the events of the original film, albeit at a quicker pace and [[BloodierAndGorier with bloodier violence]].

Rob Zombie's second film ended up under-performing at the box office, so Zombie instead moved onto other projects, and thus the franchise once again fell into dormancy - until John Carpenter was approached by [[Creator/BlumhouseProductions Jason Blum]] in 2016 for his input into a new ''Halloween'' film, targeted to be released in 2018, for the original film's fortieth anniversary. Carpenter ended up working with Blum, director David Gordon Green, and Green's writing partner Creator/DannyMcBride to create:

* '''''David Gordon Green's Film/{{Halloween|2018}}''''' (2018) -- This film is meant as a direct sequel to the original ''Halloween'' only, meaning every sequel, including ''Halloween II'' (1981), [[CanonDiscontinuity gets tossed from continuity in this timeline.]] For the past 40 years, Michael has been incarcerated following his recapture on Halloween 1978. While being transferred to another facility, Michael escapes to once again wreak havoc in Haddonfield. Meanwhile, Laurie has spent all that time preparing for his inevitable return. [[MilestoneCelebration Just in time for the 40th Anniversary of the original]], Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode and John Carpenter comes back to the franchise (though not in the director's chair)[[invoked]].

* '''''Film/HalloweenEnds''''' (2022) -- The third and final installment of the new official sequel trilogy.

* ''Halloween'' -- A three-part miniseries by Chaos! Comics.

* DeathBySex: Even though the original film made or at least codified this trope and many sequels have relied on it, according to director John Carpenter, this was actually unintentional in his film.

In 1978, writer/director Creator/JohnCarpenter and producer Debra Hill made ''[[http://halloweenmovies.com Halloween]]'', a NoBudget, independent horror film. The film was a massive hit that effectively popularized the SlasherMovie genre and inspired other similar franchises such as ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' -- and it also turned the film into the first of a successful major horror film franchise. Since then, the original film, and the series overall, became a celebrated, iconic pop culture staple of horror.

* '''''Film/HalloweenEnds''''' (2022) -- The third (and presumably final) installment of the new official sequel trilogy.

* WeaponOfChoice: Knives. Also strangulation.

Despite its enormous influence and enduring popularity, the series is also rather infamous for having perhaps the single most confusing timeline in the history of the horror genre (if not ''all of cinema''), with '''five''' distinct [[AlternateContinuity alternate continuities]]. With the sole exception of the OddballInTheSeries ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' (more on that below), the one common thread in the various timelines is psychotic murderer Michael Myers, who lives solely to make UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve a night of horrific carnage and mayhem.

* BrokenBird: Laurie by ''Halloween II'', Jamie by ''Halloween V'', and Lindsay Wallace gets a really nasty version in one comic strip. It seems for female characters in the ''Halloween'' universe, the lucky ones are the ones who DON'T survive.

** In ''The Return of Michael Myers'', Michael doesn't just cut the phone lines of his victim's house. He cuts the phone lines ''and'' causes a blackout in ''the entire town''.

* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Michael Myers went from a [[SuperStrength super-strong]], [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] human with plans to kill a few nearby babysitters and anyone else in his immediate vicinity, to a [[JokerImmunity completely unkillable supernatural being]] hellbent on hunting down and killing anyone related to him and massacring half of Haddonfield. If you follow the sixth movie's canon, his power is making him grow bigger in each movie.

** The Thorn timeline invokes this the most as Michael is inflicted with the "Curse of Thorn" where, in the age of the Druids, a child from each tribe was chosen to sacrifice their entire bloodline on [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve the night of Samhain]][[note]]pronounced "Sow-wen"[[/note]] to spare the rest from disasters like famine and drought. Any kills outside the family are either an obstruction, a means to get to them, or just sadistic collateral.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Loomis, as per his not-unjustified belief that Michael is nothing but pure evil, calls him an "it" on several occasions and even corrects others when they refer to Michael as a man.

* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Literally, due to various entries in the series being filmed in California and Utah.

** Jamie takes the cake, though. She gets mocked for being related to Michael, becomes mute due to psychological trauma and a powerful connection with Michael, experiences all her friends, her sister, and her dogs being killed, gets kidnapped by a cult and forced to have sex with Michael, and she's finally impaled by farm equipment. Jamie is possibly the most depressing character in the entire horror genre.

** The [[{{Film/Halloween1978}} original]] film and most of its sequels take place in sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois where kids walk to school by themselves and the biggest problem on our protagonist's mind is asking out a boy she likes. Haddonfield is of course also the home of a boy who killed his sister at age six.

* StockSubtitle: Words "Return," "Revenge," "Curse," and "Resurrection" are among the most typical subtitles, and all get used in the franchise.

* '''''Halloween Ends''''' (2022) -- The third (and presumably final) installment of the new official sequel trilogy.

** While all of the sequels are this to an extent, it especially stands out with ''The Curse of Michael Myers'' and the remake. The new ''Halloween II'', meanwhile, [[UpToEleven is even more violent, bloody and brutal than the remake.]]

In all of its continuities, the series (with the exception of ''Season of the Witch'', see below) follows various characters trying to survive the wrath of infamous, psychotic murderer Michael Myers, who lives solely to make UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve a night of horrific carnage and mayhem.

All of the timelines flow (except for the Zombie reboot) from the original film:

In 1978, writer/director Creator/JohnCarpenter and producer Debra Hill made ''Halloween'', a NoBudget, independent horror film. The film was a massive hit that effectively popularized the SlasherMovie genre and inspired other similar franchises such as ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' -- and it also turned the film into the first of a successful major horror film franchise. Since then, the original film, and the series overall, became a celebrated, iconic pop culture staple of horror.

** The Thorn Trilogy, starting from ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' and ending at ''Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers'', [[spoiler:explicitly makes the supernatural explanation canonical. ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' specifically explains that it actually is magic, since Michael's superhuman qualities are the byproduct [[BlessedWithSuck of an ancient, mystical, Celtic curse]].]]

** The Thorn Trilogy, starting from ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' and ending at Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers'', [[spoiler:explicitly makes the supernatural explanation canonical. ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' specifically explains that it actually is magic, since Michael's superhuman qualities are the byproduct [[BlessedWithSuck of an ancient, mystical, Celtic curse]].]]

** The 2018 timeline plays with this. ''Film/Halloween2018'' keeps Michael's nature ambiguous once again. However, in ''Film/HalloweenKills'' [[spoiler:Laurie claims that Michael isn't a mortal man and that Michael gets stronger every time he kills someone; that said, this can be interpreted as Laurie being metaphorical]].

** [[Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers The]] [[Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers Thorn]] [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers Trilogy]] [[spoiler:explicitly makes the supernatural explanation canonical. ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' specifically explains that it actually is magic, since Michael's superhuman qualities are the byproduct [[BlessedWithSuck of an ancient, mystical, Celtic curse]].]]
** On the other hand, both the [[Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater H20]] and the ''Film/Halloween2018'' timelines [[spoiler:keep Michael's background ambiguous, although they slightly favor the more mundane interpretation.]]
** In an inverse of the Thorn movies, the Zombie remakes go for a purely mundane, "realistic" take. Granted, Michael still takes a Rasputinian amount of damage, but there's really nothing supernatural about it [[spoiler:and he's KilledOffForReal at the end of the remake's sequel]].

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Halloween III: Season of the Witch''

!Spin-offs:

!!The ''Halloween'' franchise provides examples of the following tropes:

-> Were you looking for a movie with a ''different'' stiff, pale-faced Michael Myers? Sorry about the confusion, [[Film/TheCatInTheHat it's just over here.]]