History FranchiseOriginalSin / Halloween

* Another point of criticism many had with Rob Zombie duology is how Dr. Sam Loomis had been flanderized into a self-absorbed {{Jerkass}} by the second film. The thing is, it can all be traced back to [[Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers the fifth film]] where Loomis had become desperate (and delusional) enough to stalk Jamie Lloyd and even use her as a bait to trap Michael. Some even take it further to [[Film/HalloweenII1981 the second film]] where Loomis caused an innocent person's death by confusing him for Michael. But the Ben Tramer incident was a clear case of PoorCommunicationKills because Loomis had a solid reason to mistake him for Michael (wearing a similar mask, no audible response, trying to flee instead of explaining the situation), as well as Tramer's death being entirely accidental by being hit with a patrol car driven by another person entirely. The fifth film, despite his flaws, still tries to paint Loomis as a WellIntentionedExtremist who [[CharacterRerailment gets better]] in [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers the following film]]. As for the second Zombie film, it feels out of character for Loomis and when he does have a JerkassRealization, it's a bit too little, too late. Just like many cases above, the [[Film/Halloween2018 second reboot trilogy]] reduced Loomis's appearances to flashbacks while still trying to paint him as less sociopathic and more pragramic person while still maintaining his likeability.

While many claim that the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series underwent a truly gruesome and Michael Myers-worthy death in later installments, it would be wise to remember that the better-received earlier installments were what drew first blood.

* More broadly, there was a time when ''Halloween'' was seen as this for the horror genre in general. The SlasherMovie genre was very unpopular with contemporary critics, who saw them as little more than "dead teenager movies" (Creator/RogerEbert's famous description of them) that swapped suspense, characters, and plot for graphic violence, nudity, and strangely reactionary attitudes towards such. As such, when slashers took over horror in TheEighties, those critics directed their ire back at ''Halloween'', blaming it for unleashing all of the worst trends of the decade's horror. ''Halloween'' itself was a [[BloodlessCarnage comparatively bloodless film]], however, and Carpenter relied heavily on the old-school tricks to get viewers on the edge of their seats, tricks that fell by the wayside in the '80s as later slashers, including many of its own sequels, instead emphasized the carnage. As for its politics, Carpenter himself acknowledged how the film came to be seen as having injected into horror a moralistic conservatism in which teenagers were killed for [[TheScourgeOfGod smoking pot and having premarital sex]], saying in [[https://old.post-gazette.com/tv/20001013romero2.asp a 2000 interview]] for IFC's documentary ''American Nightmare'' that "if I ended the sexual revolution, I apologize." As Carpenter's quote suggests, it was unintentional, and Laurie's lack of participation in her friends' drunken sexcapades is used to paint her less as a "good girl" (she gives in and smokes a joint in one scene, only to immediately start coughing) than as [[CuteBookworm a bookish, socially awkward nerd]]. Opinions started to [[PopularityPolynomial turn around]] in TheNineties, however, with the broader critical reappraisal of the slasher genre, such that these criticisms of ''Halloween'' have largely fallen out of fashion.