Halloween 6: the Curse of Michael Myers

[DrSpengler]

I watched the theatrical cut of Halloween 6: the Curse of Michael Myers yesterday. That's the only version legally available on DVD. I also received the Producer's Cut on DVD in the mail today, I'll be watching it later tonight. I'll review that too.

Theatrical Cut

Widely known as the worst Halloween film in the franchise (before Ressurection came out). So bad it completely ENDED the continuity; H20 was a direct sequel to Halloween 2, ignoring all the other films.

I wouldn't call it the worst in the franchise at that point. Halloween 5 was abismal. It was still a bad movie, though.

H6's problem is that it f*cks with continuity and completely screws up the character of Michael. In all the previous films Michael is hunting down his family and we just don't know why. Explaination? He's f*cking crazy. And I LIKED that explaination.

Then H6 comes along with a bullsh*t theory that makes Hell-Baby Jason look like a work of art.

Apparantly, Michael is a child used by the Cult of Thorn. Once every couple centuries, when the planets are in proper alignment (for god's sake...) a child is born with a thorn-shaped birthmark. That child is magically (and it IS magic) destined to kill off his entire family as part of an ancient ritual during the feast of Samhaine. Problem is, the son of Thorn can only kill on All Hallow's Eve, hence why Michael has to keep taking year-long breaks. The problem is that Michael's taken way too lon to kill is family, so the cult tries to help him along. But they ALSO need an heir to Michael's throne so that the ritual can keep going. So at some point between parts 5 and 6, Michael either rapes Jamie (who was taken prisoner by the cult at the end of part 5) or is artificially insiminated with Michael's sperm. Yeah.

That's just the general outline. Loomis is back but 90% dead. Donald Pleasance's role in the movie is severely shortened, he seems to be there out of tradition. At the end he doesn't even help take down Michael; he gets knocked out and spends the climax of the movie asleep. At the very end Tommy says "Dr. Loomis, please come with us." Loomis replies "No, I have...things to do". He walks back into the hospital, for whatever reason, and the audience is then treated to recycled audio of him screaming in pain as the camera pans of Michael's empty mask.

Wow, what a sh*tty way for Loomis to go. But Pleasance died during filming, so it's not like they had much choice.

Then there's Tommy Doyle, you remember him from the first movie. He was 8 years old back in 1978, and apparantly in 1995 he's only 18 or 19. Must use a lot of skincream. The actor they hired was way too young, but they needed someone to have a romantic involvement with the film's heroine. What also hurts is that int he Halloween 2000 documentary they interview the actor who played Tommy back in 78. Fat, bald and old, hardly what the Tommy in H6 looked like.

Anyway, the main heroine's son is having visions of a mysterious man in black saying "Kill for me Danny".

Who IS this mysterious man in black?

Some guy named Dr. Wynn who appeared for all of 5 minutes at the beginning of the movie. It was Scooby Doo all over again.

Anyway, Danny's Mom and family live in the old Myers house but they don't know it's the Myers house. Michael shows up and kills all of their family. Tommy, Jamie's son, Kara and Danny get taken prisoner and wind up at a sanitarium where Dr. Wynn and the Cult of Thorn plan to do something evil. Michael shows up and kills everyone but don't worry! Tommy has a bag of...something. I don't know, they show it once and then it never comes into play again. Oh the editting.

Anyway, Tommy and Kara lure Michael into a room where they pump him with either tranqs or Drain-o and then beat him senseless with pipes. The End. Oh, and then Michael kills Loomis off-screen.

Wow, what a load of sh*t. Not as bad or uneventful as Halloween 5 of Ressurection, though. At least this movie served a purpose.

I'm watching the Producer's Cut tonight, I'll see if that's any better.

[Jed]

Looking forward to your review of the Producer's Cut How'd you get it by the way?

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by Jed

Looking forward to your review of the Producer's Cut How'd you get it by the way?

Oh, I have my..."sources".

Well, actually it was just eBay.

[DrSpengler]

Halloween 6: the Producer's Cut

Spoiler:

Wow. This movie actually makes SENSE! It's a miracle!

I'll have to agree that the Producer's Cut is without a doubt superior to the Theatrical Cut. The celtic-magic-bullsh*t is still there, and it's even worse, but at least it made sense. I'd rather have that over them mentioning it in passing for no apparant reason what-so-ever.

Here are some of the major differences...

Jamie's Death. In the theatrical cut, she died at the very beginning of the film and that was it. She was done. It was a pretty hardcore death, too. He implaes her on what looks like farming machinery. When she reaches out for him she shoves her further down the blades. And when she says "You'll never have the baby, Michael" he flips the switch and starts the blades a-rotaten'. Ow.

The Producer's Cut's death is much less violent but much more essential to the plot and a much better send-off to the Jamie character who starred in the last two movies. Basically, Michael stabs her in the stomach with a knife and then leaves her. She gets picked up by paramedics and taken to the hospital. A scene gets cut out where Loomis sees Jamie for the first time in 6 years and you see how utterly destroyed he as that she got hurt. Loomis and Wynn spend a good portion of the movie at the hospital and there's an entire arc about Jamie's condition. Eventually she has a dream sequence/flashback of Michael raping her. After that the Man in Black shows up and kills her in her sleep.

Then there's Loomis and Wynn. I was shocked at exactly how much of Donald Pleasence they cut out of this movie. I'd say over half of his scenes got axed. And since Wynn spends most of the movie with Loomis, nearly all of his scenes got cut out, too. Whichis why Wynn has zero characterization in the theatrical cut and seems like such a random character. He's much more fleshed out in the Producer's Cut.

Then there's the second half of the movie. The ENTIRE second half of the movie, or at least the ending at Smith's Grove, was reshot for the theatrical cut. Barely anything similar between the two. This, I believe, is the biggest attraction to the Producer's Cut. It's like watching a completely different movie.

Here's how they differ:

Theatrical-

Kara, Danny and Scott (Jamie's baby) get taken prisoner over at Smith's Grove by Wynn and the Cult of Thorn. Tommy and Loomis go to rescue them but seperate. Loomis confronts Wynn. They have a brief arguement where Wynn asks Loomis to join him. Loomis refuses and gets a blackjack upside the head. Meanwhile, Tommy frees Kara from her cell, all the while avoiding Michael. They stumble across an operating room where a bunch of the Thorn members prepare to do some sort of whacky surgery on Danny and Scott (who are locked in another room). Michael shows up, kills them, and in the confusion Kara and Tommy resuce the kids. After that it's a big chase as Michael persues them. Tommy pumps him full of tranqs/drain-o and then beats him to a pulp with a length of pipe. Loomis shows up, awake, and the group escapes outside. Tommy asks Loomis to come with them but he refuses and says he has business inside. He goes back in only to be killed offscreen, as the camera pans over Michael's empty mask. The End.

Producer's Cut-

Kara, Danny and Scott get taken prisoner over at Smith's Grove by Wynn and the Cult of Thorn. Kara gets dressed up in a sacrificial get-up, along with Scott, and are placed on a table as tribute to Michael. You see, once Michael has killed every member of his family his power ceases to be. Then a new child muct be selected to carry the Curse of Thorn. That kid is going to be Danny. But the kid must also have a protector to watch over him and ensure that he accomplishes his goal. Wynn plans for that protector to be Loomis. Loomis and Tommy follow to Smith's Grove and split up. Loomis and Wynn have an arguement over Loomis' future as Danny's guardian. Loomis gets blackjacked over the head and Wynn leaves him, expecting Loomis to have no choice in the matter. Meanwhile, the Cult of Thorn has gathered to watch Michael kill Kara and Scott. You see, since Michael is a member of the cult he has no desire to kill any of the other members, hence why he never killed any of them during the 6 years he stayed with them (sense!). So he's about to administer the blow when Kara reminds him that Scott is his baby (how did she know?). Michael has a moral dillemma. Wynn gets pissed which gives Tommy time to break in and take him hostage. Kara frees herself and grabs Scott and Danny. The four then make a break for it but can't get past a locked door. Michael closes in. That's when Tommy breaks out the MYSTERY BAG! I mentioned it in my first post. Apparantly, Michael represents and evil rune. And evil runes can be cancelled out by good runes. Tommy lays the runes down and they form an invisible barrier. Loomis then shows up and unlocks the door with his gun. Tommy and the rest escape outside. Meanwhile, Wynn approaches Michael and laments at his failure to the Cult. Michael clenches an angry fist. Back outside, Tommy asks Loomis to leave with them. He refuses, as he has business back inside. Loomis goes back in to find Michael laying dead on the floor. It turns out to be Wynn, Michael switched the clothes. With his dying breath, Wynn grabs Loomis' arm and transfers the Curse of Thorn to him. Loomis is now marked with a rune on his arm, just like Michael. Meanwhile, Michael is seen dressed in Wynn's Man in Black get-up, walking away. Whether Michael retired because the curse was lifted, we'll never know.

It may sound stupid, but it made a whooooole lot of sense. The theatrical cut's ending felt really tacked on and fake, and it left a ton of questions never to be answered.

I thought it made a much better movie, on par with Halloween 4 at the very least. I'm kind of wondering exactly what they had planned for Loomis. Was he going to go on a killing spree or something? Guess we'll never know.

Those magic runes were bullsh*t, though.

[JameO]

Not like I care for the movie but you might want to fix those to make them spoiler tags. Just in case someone doesn't want to know the story fully.