HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS

’Halloween: the Curse of Michael MYERS’ officially closes out the Thorn timeline while finally deep diving into what the timeline is all about. It’s important to note that there are two versions of this movie. The theatrical version that got released in theaters and on home video was bogged down by reshoots and deleted scenes that make the movie into a colossal mess. If I was reviewing that particular one (and I might next year) then the score would be significantly lower. However, there now exists a producer’s cut with the original vision for the movie in tact and that makes for a much better film all around, or at least one where the plot (ridiculous or not) actually makes sense and makes it way way more watchable.

Warning! - Spoilers Ahead

It Should be noted before I begin deep diving here that this movie suffered before even beginning. Miramax won the bid for the rights to the franchise, gone through several writers and was ultimately rushed during production and went through several reshoots due to mixed test screening reactions. Even the producer’s cut doesn’t totally capture what the actual original total vision of the film was, but it comes very close. And as ridiculous as this one is, it’s important to also note that John Carpenter was attempting to outbid Miramax with New Line Cinema and proposed that this film be about Michael killing people on a space station…so…There’s that…

The film opens by revealing that there is a cult afoot in HADDONFIELD and that this is where Michael was taken after being broken out of jail prior. It’s also revealed that Jamie was kidnapped and brought here also and held captive for years. Now a teenager, Jamie is pregnant and gives birth. Someone who seems to be a nurse or a midwife seems to feel sorry for Jamie and the baby and helps them escape. Michael then pursues. Jamie heads to a bus stop and attempts to reach out to Dr. LOOMIS by calling into a radio station that’s live on the air and then stashes her baby safely in a cabinet before fleeing to a farm, leading Michael away from the baby. In the theatrical version, Michael brutally kills Jamie here. In the producer’s cut, though, she lives after being stabbed and falls into a coma and taken to the hospital.

Dr. LOOMIS is visited by an old friend from Smith’s Grove named Dr. Wynn who is offering LOOMIS a job at his old stomping grounds. LOOMIS is retired, exhausted from hunting the incarnate of evil and is writing a book. Yet, he hears Jamie’s pleas and jumps into action with Wynn in tow.

We then find out that Laurie Strode’s aunt and uncle have moved into the MYERS house with their children Tim and Kara and Kara’s son Danny. Across the street now lives Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd in his first film role) who watches the MYERS’ house around the clock waiting for Michael to return. Michael has done a ton of research and followed Michael’s story for years ever since that fateful night when he was babysat by Laurie Strode on the worst Halloween night of their lives. He seems to rent a space upstairs from Mrs. Blankenship who has lived in the home across from the MYERS house since Michael killed his older sister when he was six years old. Kara’s son Danny is also having visions of the man in black who is telling him to kill his family.

Tommy and dr. LOOMIS locate Jamie at the same time and by now, Tommy is one step ahead already discovering Jamie’s baby. In the producer’s cut, this is where Jamie dies after it’s revealed that her baby is, in fact, Michael’s after the cult forced them to inbreed and conceive (more on this later). The Man in black appears and shoots Jamie with a gun that has a silencer on it.

Michael then goes home and begins wiping out the Strode family as they slowly return home. Kara gets Danny out of the house and they seek refuge with Tommy who reveals that he’s studied a cult he believes is the reason Michael is the way he is. He tells Kara about an ancient rune, Thorn, that is tied to Samhain stating that the cult utilizes it to curse someone into killing their family. He then goes to find Dr. LOOMIS and leaves Kara and Danny at his house. Kara then sees her brother and his girlfriend being murdered across the street while Mrs. Blankenship recounts the history of Halloween. Danny is then beckoned by the man in black to the MYERS house. Kara runs over there knowing the danger and rescues Danny as Michael pursues. Back inside Tommy’s house, Mrs. Blankenship briefly mentions the story of Michael MYERS and is revealed to be a cult member, kidnapping Kara and Danny.

Dr. LOOMIS and Tommy go to Smith’s Grove believing they may be piecing together the mystery at last. LOOMIS confronts Wynn, who is revealed to be the man in black. Wynn is cursed with the mark of Thorn, bounding him to Michael’s power and is revealed to be the reason Michael is seemingly superhuman and also likely the one to release Michael in 1978 in the first place. It’s also revealed that this is where the cult’s headquarters is and where Jamie was held captive all along. Wynn wants Dr. LOOMIS to join the club and replace him given his bond with Michael. LOOMIS refuses and is knocked out by cult doctors. Kara awakens on a stone slab in a cult chamber below ground (this is also wildly different from the theatrical release). Tommy rescues her and Danny and they try and flee as Michael pursues and goes on a killing spree. Along the way, they end up in a room full of fetuses, assuredly failed attempts at cloning or creating offspring of Michael, which is why they decided to breed him with someone of his own blood that was psychically connected to him.

In the producer’s cut, specifically, Tommy, Kara and Danny make it out with LOOMIS’ help but LOOMIS opts to remain behind to make sure loose ends are tied. In the producer’s cut, LOOMIS is warned by a dying Wynn that he’s forever tied to Michael revealing that LOOMIS now bears the mark of Thorn and Michael has once again fled. LOOMIS screams at this realization as the movie ends.

In the theatrical cut, it’s important to note that LOOMIS being forced to join the Thorn cult is all but taken out and the end of the film is really ambiguous. LOOMIS screams as exterior shots are shown and its unclear if he’s screaming just because of the situation or if Michael has killed him on the way out.

The producer’s cut of this movie is actually very watchable and the best of the Thorn timeline. However, the theatrical cut is what got released and that had very mixed receptions. There were plans to follow this storyline up in the seventh movie that were eventually scrapped. Even when Jamie Lee Curtis returned for ‘Halloween: Twenty years Later’ the plan was to honor the Thorn timeline and reference it, but it was scrapped to make way for other plot points in that film that would have created conflict. So, the Thorn timeline ends here. I will say, if Michael absolutely must be supernatural, then this was a solid story to make that happen with.

I definitely recommend only watching the producer’s cut but the original one is good to note the contrasts. The producer’s cut is a great Halloween movie for what it is and at the very least, makes the build up from the previous two films feel watchable and is heavily inspired from novelizations of all the other films which really tie in and close out this era of the franchise in a decent fashion. Give it a watch if Thorn compels you.

6/10

You can find ‘Halloween: the Curse of Michael MYERS’ Producer’s cut on YouTube and other digital platforms now. The original theatrical version is currently streaming on HBO Max.