Line #28 YMMV/Halloween


1	Films with their own YMMV pages:
2
3	* ''[[YMMV/{{Halloween 1978}} Halloween (1978)]]''
4	* ''[[YMMV/HalloweenII1981 Halloween II (1981)]]''
5	* ''YMMV/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch''
6	* ''YMMV/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers''
7	* ''YMMV/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers''
8	* ''YMMV/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers''
9	* ''YMMV/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater''
10	* ''YMMV/HalloweenResurrection''
11	* ''[[YMMV/{{Halloween 2007}} Halloween (2007)]]''
12	* ''[[YMMV/HalloweenII2009 Halloween II (2009)]]''
13	* ''[[YMMV/{{Halloween 2018}} Halloween (2018)]]''
14	* ''[[YMMV/HalloweenKills Halloween Kills]]''
15	* ''[[YMMV/HalloweenEnds Halloween Ends]]''
16
17	----
18	!!The franchise:
19	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
20	** Michael is subject to quite a lot, especially given the multiple timelines of the franchise. Is he just an abnormally strong human psychopath, or something otherworldly? Why does he never speak? Does he have full agency over his heinous crimes, or is he a puppet to some unknown force, as the novelization and "Thorn trilogy" suggests?
21	** There's also his dynamic with Dr Loomis. At least in original films, he never goes after him directly in spite of having several golden opportunities granted, only attacking him when he gets too much in his way. Perhaps this could be Michael having some VillainRespect for Loomis? Or maybe Michael wants to have him be ForcedToWatch as he butchers innocent people left and right?
22	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
23	** The main theme. Seriously, try listening to it without getting the chills. ''Just try it.''
24	** Not as well known but equally iconic to the series is "The Shape Stalks", which has appeared throughout the films as Michael's stalking theme within the films thanks to its feeling of dread and suspense.
25	%%** "Laurie's Theme". The leitmotif of the series' heroine, Laurie. It's a beautiful, calming piece of music that has an ominous undertone that lingers with you, reminding
26	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/{{Halloween}} here]].
27	* CreepyAwesome: Michael is often cited as one of the best slasher movies villains, despite(or probably because of it) being a living and unstoppable abomination with a passion for slaughtering human beings.
28	* CrossoverShip:
29	** A non-romantic example. A lot of fan art portrays Michael as close friends with [[Film/TrickRTreat Sam]].
30	** Unsurprisingly, Michael is also commonly depicted as best friends (or even lovers) with [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees.]]
31	* CryForTheDevil: The remake's timeline depict Michael's childhood as depressingly broken. Whether you ''do'' feel sorry for the guy is up in the air.
32	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Michael never speaks, behaves in horrifyingly violent ways [[MoodSwinger sometimes without warning]], and his obsession with Halloween might link to a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. There is clearly something up with him mentally, but as far as the films are concerned it's beyond human understanding. Loomis is so baffled by what drives Michael that in the end he diagnoses him (possibly correctly) as pure evil.
33	* EvilIsCool: Like all the other horror icons, Michael Myers is definitely this on account of his ability to inspire fear and his array of memorable kills.
34	* FanficFuel: The story of the sixth film was left hanging after its poor box office and critical reception led the [[ContinuityReboot franchise to be partically rebooted]], making the last four films non-canon with the release ''Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later''; but, ''then'', after the sequel to the previously mentioned installment, ''Halloween: Resurrection'', [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed at the box office]], was panned by fans and critics, [[FromBadToWorse ''and'', to add even more salt to the wound]], Moustapha Akkad, the producer for all the films up to that point and the man responsible for carrying the franchise through its AudienceAlienatingEra, was killed in a terrorist attack three years later. The story to the last two films were left hanging and the franchise overall laid dormant until the franchise was rebooted with Rob Zombie's duology. Still, despite the reboot and the fans' hatred for the last films of the Thorn and ''H20'' timeline, there are many fanfics and fan-films that continue the stories of these separate continuities. Aside from fan material, there have also been official continuations of the Thorn and ''H20'' stories through comic books set in those universes.
35	* FanNickname: Michael Myers tends to be referred to as “Mikey” affectionately by fans.
36	* FirstInstallmentWins: The first film is a universally praised horror classic. The sequels...[[ContestedSequel vary]] [[BrokenBase in]] [[{{Sequelitis}} quality]]. How well they hold up varies from fan to fan to say the least, though the 2018 film is generally considered to at least be on par with the original.
37	* FoeYayShipping: Michael Myers and Laurie Strode have quite the following as a pairing, for those who don't follow the timeline where they're siblings. Even Creator/JamieLeeCurtis describes the first time Michael Myers sees Laurie as him ''falling in love'' with her, and that Laurie in the 2018 timeline waits for him and knows he will come back for her. She calls it a love story for the ages.
38	* FranchiseOriginalSin:
39	** A huge negative on the franchise is Michael's inner machinations being explained as they end up downplaying the horror. The explanations start to creep in at around the fifth installment, but all of this actually started with the second film. Michael's reason for attacking Laurie is revealed as [[spoiler: them being siblings and Michael leaving behind graffiti reading "Samhain" suggest that he's connected to the occult.]] These were contested, but it didn't start to become a problem until the fifth and sixth films started adding more plot elements to the point they became convoluted and outlandish, straying far away from the simplicity of the horror and Michael's character in the first film. While the twist was kept for the ''H20'' and Rob Zombie films, the latter perhaps was the breaking point for Michael's inner machinations unraveling as his backstory was showcased, which was heavily criticized for being a far cry from the force of nature he was in the first film. Perhaps because of this, Michael was reduced to being a mysterious killer in ''Film/Halloween2018'' once again.
40	** ''Halloween 2'' was also one for the franchise because it torpedoed the GenreAnthology concept from the start. The massive success of the first movie led to Carpenter making a Michael Myers sequel before his planned new story. Which meant audiences were baffled when what they now thought was a slasher franchise about Michael Myers produced the supernatural conspiracy story ''Halloween 3 '' instead.
41	** The size of Michael Myers. The early movies could get away with this, by framing Michael where his size isn't instantly discernible (against scenery that a viewer can't determine the size of or looks larger than it truly is) or filming scenes of him from an upward angle, making him look larger than he truly is. Later movies didn't realize that and compensated by overly pumping up his mass (Halloween 4 and 5, giving him the linebacker look), or casting an extremely tall person (Rob Zombie movies).
42	* HilariousInHindsight: The success of comedian Creator/MikeMyers makes it a bit hard to take a villain with that name seriously. Indeed, there are a couple of videos on the internet that have Mike Myers voicing Michael Myers.
43	* ItWasHisSled: Michael is Laurie's brother. A lot of people know this by now since both timelines of the original franchise kept this twist and the remake doesn't even bother hiding the fact, although this was subverted with the [[Film/Halloween2018 2018 installment]], where the two are once again not related.
44	* JerkassWoobie: Of all people, The Shape himself albeit only in the Producer's Cut in the Thorn Trilogy. The fifth and sixth films establish that Michael has been cursed since childhood by the Cult of Thorn, and ever since childhood, he has been forcefully driven by an evil rage to murder his entire bloodline and anyone in between. Other than being forced to kill, he was also made to rape his own niece, Jamie and either kill her child or pass on his curse to him. And he knows what he's doing. He knows that he's killing people, but can't stop himself; he even cries near the climax of the fifth film because of this, before succumbing to his rage again.
45	* MemeticMutation: Michael's name and his nature as a SilentAntagonist make him [[https://youtu.be/qTtH9G6Ixyk easy pickings]] for dubbing him with Creator/MikeMyers quotes.
46	* OlderThanTheyThink: Incidently some of the more unfavorable aspects of some of the sequels were implemented prior to said sequels.
47	** The familial aspect: Some may frown upon the aspect of Michael and Laurie being siblings. Even John Carpenter himself says he regrets the twist and that it was the result of an AssPull. However the novelization of the original film, predating the second, shows that Michael was fixated on Laurie for reminding him of his sister.
48	** The sixth film isn't well liked for introducing the idea that Michael was placed under a curse due to dark outside forces beyond his control, yet the novelization of the original film showcases Michael as a victim of DemonicPossession and he kills in hopes he can get the voices to stop tormenting him.
49	** Later down the line, the ending of the Producer's Cut of the sixth film has Michael faking his death by forcibly swapping clothes with someone else. He does the same in the later sequel ''Resurrection''.
50	* ReplacementScrappy: Allyson from the 2018 trilogy is considered to be this in regard to her role as a GenerationXerox FinalGirl taking over from her grandmother Laurie Strode. While in her first two installments she wasn't bad and seemed built up to be a worthy successor, in the GrandFinale, she ultimately turns out to be a {{Sucksessor}} after having TookALevelInJerkass and TookALevelInDumbass, undergone BadassDecay and being DemotedToExtra.
51	* {{Sequelitis}}: Most of the sequels are considered to be unable to measure up to the original, with ''Resurrection'' being regarded as the series' nadir and the Rob Zombie-directed reboots being a divisive affair. The only films in the series that are considered to come anywhere close are the second, fourth, seventh and eleventh films, and that is a point of contention.
52	** The follow ups to ''Film/Halloween2018'' have unfortunately begun to draw this reputation in particular. While ''2018'' does have its critics (especially those actually liked the twist from [[Film/HalloweenII1981 2]] that Laurie is Michael's sister), it was seen by many as one of the best since the original film for removing the supernatural elements to Michael and having a much more grounded personal story while still retaining the exciting kills the franchise is known for. In contrast both ''Film/HalloweenKills'' and ''Film/HalloweenEnds'' had a much more divisive reaction (''Kills'' for stripping away the much more grounded elements of ''2018'' in favor of Michael once again becoming an InvincibleVillain, a messy convoluted plot, and for [[spoiler:killing off Laurie's daughter Karen, rendering a lot of Laurie's struggles in ''2018'' AllForNothing]] and ''Ends'' (which Jamie Lee Curtis has said is her final appearance as Laurie) for spending two-thirds of its runtime [[spoiler:with Michael sitting out while focusing on a different killer only for Michael to come back [[BadassDecay way weaker than he was in ''Kills'']]]] and for having Laurie's granddaughter Allyson become [[TookALevelInJerkass much crueler to Laurie]] and [[TookALevelInDumbass not as smart as she was in her previous appearances]]).
53	* SignatureScene:
54	** In the original, Michael Myers quizzically tilting his head while looking at his kill, who is pinned to the wall with a large knife. The shadows and heavy breathing make it an iconic, creepy moment. Michael's white mask emerging from the darkness as he's about to slash Laurie is also an unforgettable moment.
55	** In the second film, Michael Myers has a similar moment by lifting a nurse he stabbed in the back just by '''the handle of a scalpel'''. Same head tilt, same curious disposition. The scene is even redone in ''H20''.
56	* StarTrekMovieCurse: ''Halloween'' has a tendency to have a film that can serve as a definitive end to the story of Michael Myers that is pretty good, only to follow it up with lower quality sequels that ruin the trajectory of the franchise. ''IV'' was a liked entry following the divisive ''II'' and ''III'' that seemingly killed off Michael for good while setting up Jamie to be the franchise's new killer, only for ''V'' and ''VI'' to back track on both completely and introducing the bizarre and confusing Cult of Thorn storyline. ''H20'' was beloved for the return of Laurie Strode, doing away with the nonsense plot of the previous two films, and seemingly killing off Michael for good while giving closure to Laurie's story from the first two films, only for ''Resurrection'' to undo Michael's death, [[spoiler:killing off Laurie right at the start]], and becoming a goofy {{Narm}} filled cringe fest. ''2018'' was parsed for stripping away the more over blown elements of the franchise to tell a much more personal story and seemingly killing Michael for good (notice a pattern?), only for ''Kills'' and ''Ends'' to then bring him back and overblow his power again and then [[spoiler:take focus off of him for a different killer]] respectively. The only timeline to defy this trend was ironically Rob Zombie's reboot timeline which, while divisive for both films, very definitely kills not only its [[spoiler:Michael and Loomis]] but, depending on the cut, its [[spoiler:Laurie as well]] at the end of its second installment, ending that timeline for good. Assuming you like ''II'', ''IV'', ''H20'', or ''2018'', it's probably best that you pretend the story ended there.
57	* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''IV'', ''H20'' and the 2018 film each received this reception. All three came after heavily polarizing sequels and showed the slasher trends of their time to box office success and improved critical reception.
58	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Though the original film is deservedly a classic, the ''Halloween'' series could have spawned some far more interesting stories if the studio had gone ahead with Creator/JohnCarpenter's original plan of making it a GenreAnthology about stories set on UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve instead of just turning it into (what quickly became) a generic SlasherMovie series.
59	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: No matter what series timeline you follow, Michael ''always'' lives to kill another day, and anyone who survives one film will just die horribly come the next sequel, including Laurie, Dr. Loomis, and Jamie. And unlike ''[[Franchise/FridayThe13th Friday the 13th]]'' or ''[[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet A Nightmare On Elm Street]]'', the series hardly tries to have fun with its superhuman villain and plays his rampages as [[BloodierAndGorier more brutal, dark, and cruel]] with each successive installment.
60	* VindicatedByHistory: At least a few of the sequels have seen new light in recent years:
61	** ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' made good money at the box office, but was ravaged by film critics and fans at the time who were expecting another Michael Myers slash-a-thon, so much that the planned anthology approach to the series was canned in favor of bringing Michael back, writing it off as a disappointment. In recent years, thanks in part to more lackluster Michael filled sequels, the movie has been given a warmer reception from fans who praise the genre change, its amazing music and special effects, wishing the series did go in that direction.
62	** ''Film/HalloweenII2009'' was panned all across the board from critics and fans alike for being a incoherent mess that had no sense of direction and tone. As time passed, more fans have come to appreciate the movie for taking a risk and being a more artsy slasher film, as well as having great, gory kills and for having more character depth to it compared to other entries, establishing its own [[CultClassic cult following]]. The Director’s Cut helped as well for adding more character development and for answering PlotHoles that the Theatrical Cut didn’t answer.
63	* TheWoobie:
64	** Never mind that he is one of the few characters who ''doesn't'' get horribly murdered, does anything good ever happen to Dr. Loomis? The poor guy desperately tries to end any more carnage caused by Michael, [[FailureHero but fails repeatedly]], often due to Michael escaping, being too late to save anyone, or being ignored by most everybody he warnings. His fates in the continuities of the Thorn and ''H20'' timelines have him either killed by Michael in the sixth film (or cursed by Wynn in the Producer's Cut) or dying prior to the events of ''H20'' from heart failure, but not before Michael tortures his love interest in front of him and reveals that he knows that his sister's still alive and is going after her. Honestly, the closest he has to a happy ending is in ''Halloween'' (2018)'s timeline, where he's dead before the events of the film and has died fearful that Michael will escape again, but had at least managed to keep Michael locked up before he died, without him escaping.
65	** Jamie Lloyd. Her mother died in a car accident, her uncle is a monstrous killer who is dead-set on killing her, is [[spoiler:kidnapped by the Thorn cult]] at the end of ''Revenge'' and she is killed off at the start of ''Curse'' (and Producer's Cut of the film reveals that [[spoiler:her baby is the result of ''Michael raping her'']]).
66	** Laurie, especially in Zombie's ''2''. Not only does she lose her friends but, going by canon, [[spoiler:she loses her daughter to Michael (''Thorn'' canon), loses her family (''H20''/''HR'' canon), and either ends up becoming crazy or getting shot dead by the police (Zombieverse)]]. In the 2018 film, she spent decades as a nervous wreck scarred by the events of the first film, which ruined her relationships with her family, [[spoiler:though this timeline at least offers her a potential happy ending mostly dashed by Film/HalloweenKills]]. [[spoiler: Turns into a BittersweetEnding as of Film/HalloweenEnds, as although Laurie loses her daughter, son-in-law, and had to relive the horrors that plagued her forty years ago while also becoming the town pariah, she finally beats her Boogeyman, still has her granddaughter, and will potentially rekindle a romance with Officer Hawkins. And this is the ''happiest'' of all her endings]].
67	** Lindsey Wallace, as depicted in a comic series in the H20 timeline, could easily rival Jamie in terms of having a depressing, downer outcome. [[spoiler:In this series, it shows that after the events in the first Halloween, she became an absolute wreck - getting addicted to drugs, becoming clinically depressed and paranoid of Michael Myers. Her fears come true when he does begin stalking her for real. What does she get for all the grief and pain she suffered since she was a child? Michael slicing her tendons and murdering her anyway]]. If you want this series to end on anything resembling a not depressing ending, you're going to want to stop watching after ''Halloween II'' [[spoiler: or watch [[EarnYourHappyEnding the 2018 film]]]].
68	** Allyson, Laurie's granddaughter. During [[Film/Halloween2018 one]] [[Film/HalloweenKills night]] she loses [[spoiler: both her parents, her friends and her boyfriend ([[TheScrappy Scrappy]] though he was)]] and comes close to death herself more than once.
69	!!The video game:

Context YMMV / Halloween