Director: Joe Chappelle
Writer: Daniel Farrands
Starring: Donald Pleasance
Body Count: 14
Review: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (or, to make it easier, call it Halloween 6) is just too ambitious for its own good. It tries to make too much sense out of a story that was never designed to be complex. There's a few cool deaths as Michael now goes after Jamie (no longer played by Danielle Harris) and her newborn baby, and we learn who the Man In Black is and what he's all about, but the existing film is just too confusing.
According to rumors, this is the fault of director Joe Chappelle. Supposedly, the producers of the film had a very clear vision of what the film should be--a vision that Chappelle butchered and destroyed.
What's good about the movie is its ties to the 80s formula of the slasher genre. There's a certain number of teens in the movie who you just KNOW are going to get it, and that makes it doubly impressive when they do get it. Also, the continuing story of how Haddonfield deals with the constant bloodbaths in their town (in fact, Halloween has been prohibited in years prior to the one the film is set in, we find out). The psychological effects Myers has had on these townspeople is really interesting, and could have been the basis for a really strong movie.
Though the movie did terrible at the box-office and made no sense until you watched it several times, Halloween 6 is still enjoyable--and it was a pleasant return to the fun of 80s slasher movies in the middle of the 90s.
Trivia: The near-legendary "Producer's Cut" of Halloween 6 (which was originally titled Halloween 666) has been floating around the Net for a while (you can usually find it on eBay, and I finally had a chance to check it out. How did it fare? Well, actually, it does help the film make a lot more sense, and the alternate ending is quite different, and adds a special twist on the course of the saga (one that no doubt would have taken the series in a completely different direction--in fact, this is probably the reason the ending was altered). While still not completely perfect, the Producer's Cut does make the film that much better. Check out the Official Halloween Site for more information. Also, sadly, Halloween 6 was Donald Pleasance's last film. He died just a few weeks after filming ended.
