HALLOWEEN VI: The Curse of Michael Myers
When Halloween 5’s problematic ending proved too hard to follow, the studio spent years trying to figure out how to carry on. Eventually the rights went to Dimension films even after claims that Halloween 6 would arrive in 1990 or 1991. It seemed that the film would never come thanks also to the low profits of Halloween 5.
Finally, a young writer and fan of the series, Daniel Farrands was attached to the product and the film was launched into production, in 1994. After a tension filled shoot, the film was screened to a negative reaction and rushed back into production, without star Donald Pleasence, and without Farrands writing the pages. Halloween 6 has long been hailed as a low point of the franchise, and most of, if not all, the detractors point fingers at the confusing, disastrous ending sequence, which was not done by writer Farrands. At the end of the day, most people say that it was at least alright up until the final act.
Farrands was tasked with creating a film explaining why Michael Myers did what he did. He crafted a story that would be dumbed down and dumbed down until it was merely a shell of itself, and then a nonsensical ending was attached, creating the fan backlash that we have today. Do the detractors have a point, or does the film stand taller than them?
Ouch
“You can’t have the baby, Michael.â€
He’s coming!
The payoff to the clothesline sequence
"It’s raining red! It’s warm!â€
Farewell, Donald Pleasence
RATINGS
Story - 75
6 years after Michael Myers unleashed hell upon Haddonfield, the holiday of Halloween has been non-existent to the community. But this year, when the town is reviving the holiday, presumed dead Jamie and Michael return to Haddonfield. The family residing in Michael’s home is in immediate danger, and this time, there’s a darker force driving everything.
Atmosphere - 99
After a sloppy atmosphere provided by Halloween 5, the sixth entry returns Haddonfield to a glory that falls just a touch short of Halloween and Halloween 4. The set design was nearly perfect, with a lot of decorations and whatnot to make it actually look like October in Illinois. The campus rally is particularly beautiful. The night scenes are drowned in a heavy blue tinge that looks incredible. Even the day scenes look great. This film features probably the best looking daytime scenes in the series, with a gray washed sky, leaves scattered and blowing all over the place, and a wet ground. Everything looks GREAT. Also of considerable note, Michael Myers’ house is returned to a style closer to its original status. It’s no longer Dracula’s castle, particularly on the outside. The exterior shots of the house are great. The interior still looks a little too big, but it’s close enough. There are also a number of underground sets which have a pretty neat look to them (although I hear they smelled terrible), and Tommy’s apartment is a very meticulously designed set.
Acting/Characters - 87
After Halloween 5’s disastrous selection of victims, er… characters, Halloween 6 provided some decent to good offerings. Starting with Kara Strode and Tommy Doyle (a role revived from H1). They are portrayed by Marianne Hagan, and Paul Rudd, respectively. I’ll get back around to them under the lead character section, but will leave this parting note… they were both fantastic. Kara is toting around her son Danny for most of the film. According to PART of the film, he is next in line to take Michael’s role as an unstoppable killer. Devin Gardner is great at showing the innocence of a child, and ends up becoming a character that you actually care about. Next on the table is John Strode, played by Bradford English. It must be said that John Strode is a complete and total asshole. He is rude and slightly abusive to his family, going as far as backhanding his daughter, yelling at his son and wife, and calling his grandson a “bastard.†He’s just a very unpleasant man, but it’s incredible how well he’s portrayed by English, who, for the record, does not act like that. Speaking of his wife, Debra is portrayed by Kim Darby, and is a character who desperately wants what’s best for her family. She cares a lot about everyone and tries to maintain a normal household. Her plans go awry when Michael returns to Haddonfield and she just happens to be in his home. John and Debra’s son Tim is played by Keith Bogart and he’s the slacker character who occasionally cracks one liners. He plays the part well enough, but he earns his place as a likeable character when he defends his sister from their father’s rampage. His girlfriend Beth is really the only character that I can’t say much about. Sure, she is responsible for bringing Halloween back to Haddonfield, but what does she do beyond that? Oh that’s right, she’s just there to be hacked up without the audience caring much. It’s not actress Mariah O’Brien’s fault, either. There just wasn’t much to the character on the page. Speaking of Mariah O’Brien, though… what IS she doing playing the girl that gets topless? Flat-chested girls aren’t allowed in Halloween films!!! What is this sorcery!? Moving on… Dr. Loomis is back in his final appearance in the series and Donald Pleasence’s final performance before he tragically passed away following principal photography. His character isn’t too prominent in this film, but Donald, thank you, from all of us. No one was more devoted to the series and the fans than you. Tagging along at Loomis’ side is Dr. Wynn, a returning one bit part from Halloween 1, who has a very mysterious agenda, and is played rather well by Mitch Ryan.
Pacing/Direction - 85
Director Joe Chappelle is a tool. There’s no other way to put it. He only did Halloween 6 in order to get a multi film contract. He didn’t honestly care about the film all that much. But upon further review, one would notice that Chappelle’s direction is astoundingly solid. Even good. It could have been great, if not hindered by a large number of random flash cuts in the middle of some shots. While the first couple times it’s a neat effect, it gets to be far too much. On the other hand, Chappelle uses a number of great cuts and angles to great effect, such as the chase through the clotheslines. That’s by far the best cut scene in the film. It races from shot to shot, while still managing to be sensible, in that you can still tell what’s going on. Another scene that gets pointed out is the strobe light scene. Some love it, some hate it, but it certainly hammers home. While the strobe might be slightly overdone, its intercutting of the Shape’s massacre with reactions from Tommy and Kara make it a thrilling sequence. While the film may drag just a touch in a few spots, it’s not enough to fret over, and the film pulses with an amount of adrenaline that Halloween 5 couldn’t ever dream up.
Music - 75
Alan Howarth is back once again, which is why the score for Halloween 6’s theatrical verison leaves me scratching my head. Instead of haunting piano cues, we have plunging guitar lines drowned in strange sound effects and a number of shrieking, screaming sounds accompanying the flash cuts. It’s all very strange, and the Halloween theme doesn’t appear very often. When it does, it sounds as good as ever. It, and a reappearing “Laurie’s Theme†keep the score from being a total disaster. Rumor has it that Howarth was asked to change the majority of the score after the reshoots.
Cinematography - 90
Billy Dickson was Joe Chappelle’s partner in crime, and his work makes Halloween 6 look like photographic genius. Aside from the killer atmosphere (excuse the pun), there are some really well shot sequences in here. The scene with Jamie in the barn is really well shot to build up the intensity, and the clothesline sequence is unbelievable. His shots here really helped Chappelle turn it into a great overall sequence. His angles seem well lined up and there’s nothing to be found that can be complained about.
Dialogue - 92
The film has a great Loomis rave to Debra, and Daniel Farrands’ overally dialogue flows with a nice realistic touch. Kara and Tommy trade some fluid lines, and John and Debra seem like a real married couple due to their dialogue. Tim spouts some funny stuff and even Beth sounds okay in the film. The ending’s dialogue though, I won’t even touch.
Effects - 93
The effects to be found here are pretty gnarly. From a truck driver’s neck being ripped open to John Strode and his electrifying swan song, everything is really good. Simple and effective, there’s nothing too over the top here.
The Shape/Michael Myers - 95
George Wilbur returns from Halloween 4 and he’s just as good here as he was there. Yes, Michael’s packed on a few pounds, but he’s often called “very scary†in this film. He appears and disappears very quickly, and seems to be very violent. He spends a lot of the film lurking in the background, and just when you see him, he seems to be gone. His walk looks a little strange in spots, but the character just feels more frightening in this film than he did in 5. A great job done by Daniel Farrands on this one.
Scares/Intensity - 95
A good amount of Halloween fans have claimed that while it’s not a favorite of theirs, Halloween 6 was quite possibly the most intense and frightening of all the sequels. I can definitely understand that. The film is very hair-raising. It is the sequel that best reinstates the element of The Shape appearing here and there as if out of thin air, which adds a completely shuddering element. It’s loaded with a number of shots of the Shape lurking in the background, helping stretch out the tension until it’s near unbearable. The film also utilizes a number of jumps, but only a few cheap ones when characters unintentionally scare each other.
Lead Character - 90
Kara Strode, portrayed by Marianne Hagan, is an instantly likeable character. She’s doing what she can to provide for her son, while constantly coming under attack from her father. Hagan is a charismatic actress who put a lot of effort into making the character appealing to audiences. Her counterpart is her neighbor, Tommy Doyle, who is returning from Halloween, but is played this time by Paul Rudd. Yes, that Paul Rudd. He’s a very strange character after his experience years earlier, but Rudd is just as charismatic here as he is in any film you can name nowadays. Tommy is hellbent on stopping them impending return of Michael Myers, and he spends much of the film watching over Jamie’s son. Rudd does a great job at making the character someone the fans will pull for against Michael.
Kills - 90
From the truck driver’s neck being broken to a slit throat, there is a little of everything in here. You have a typical Myers stabbing to an axe killing, farm equipment (farm equipment?), a surgical machete, and even an fuse box. It’s quite a sight to behold.
Writing - 50
I won’t hold back here. Halloween 6’s script is an absolute disaster. However, I want to make it very clear, it is NOT to be blamed on screenwriter Daniel Farrands. Farrands was enthralled by Halloween 5 and created a backstory that explains why Michael Myers did what he did, which was inevitable after 5. Taking his outline to Moustapha Akkad, it was instantly approved and Farrands was tasked with cleaning up Halloween 5’s mess. I’ve seen a number (7) of his early drafts, and they’re all phenomenal. The problem? The studio didn’t feel the same when he turned in the first draft. And so, it was re-written… and re-written… and re-written… and re-written. The script went through ELEVEN DRAFTS before the studio was satisfied with it. In the process, they stripped away or changed a number of elements from Daniel’s early drafts. For example, in his early drafts, Farrands had the character of Jamie sticking around until the end of the film, becoming a hero to save the lead characters of the film. As a matter of fact, Farrands, a long time series fan, FOUGHT and fought to have Jamie in the film at all. The producers were not thrilled, so Farrands lobbied harder, and finally they relented under the condition that she perished in the film. He also designed a cult that was trying to protect Michael Myers, not control him. Daniel crafted the idea of Halloween returning to Haddonfield after 6 years, with the town assuming Myers and Jamie dead. It provided a simple but effective backdrop for the story, which also included the element of the Cult of Thorn passing on Myers’ curse to Danny Strode. Farrands also had a number of scares and chilling moments that were thrown out before and during production. Ultimately, what remained was a dark and chilling script with tons of homages to the earlier entries and the creators of the series. Then things got worse. During the shoot, Farrands was turning in pages on a great percentage of shooting days, so things were constantly changing. What we ended up with was a dumbed down version of what Daniel had in mind, but it was still completely manageable as a Halloween film. Late in the shoot, producer Paul Freeman took it upon himself to shoot and direct the ending sequences of the film as the team was running out of time. What resulted was a slightly jumbled mess of the current draft’s ending that felt a bit rushed. When the film was test screened for a young teen audience, the reaction was negative, so the ending was rushed back into production with a few other scenes. Joe Chappelle brought on his own co-writer and completely ambushed Farrands’ ending(s), borrowing bits and pieces from at least 3 or 4 of Farrands’ endings (meshed with their own nonsense), in the process of creating a new, nonsensical ending which included green blood, fetuses/test tube babies, and a super-soldier project that was being covered up by the Cult of Thorn guise. Absolutely horrible. The biggest victim of Halloween 6? Daniel Farrands. I’m putting it at 50 and I’ll explain why. Farrands’ contribution was great stuff, considering his hand was forced to follow the cult angle; and racks up all 50 points. Chappelle’s contributions are terrible and rack up all 0 points.
TOTAL POINTS - 1121/1300
OVERALL - 86 (86.23)
A fairly high rating for an entry in the series that isn’t that popular. Is it biased? ABSOLUTELY. I won’t deny it. I feel as though Halloween 6 is dragged down for its ending obviously, and there are some overall weaknesses with the story, but there can be some good found here, and it carries the film. The incredible atmosphere, good scares, and some likeable characters drive this film along, until its ending becomes a point where you turn the film off.
Overall, it’s one of the love or hate entries, and while I love it, I’m not afraid to admit that there is some total garbage taking up part of this film’s runtime. I mean really, parts of this film make me want to set stuff on fire. You can’t help but feel for Farrands, who himself has called the film “badâ€. First he is forced into writing a strange cult storyline following Halloween 5, and then the ending of the film doesn’t pay off for anything that he wrote.
Some will disagree with me, and that’s okay. Obviously there’s a far better version of the film, and I’ll be getting to it.
Until next time, The Nightmare Isn't Over
Michael Myers, Watching silently from the shadows.
