After a poor response to Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. which featured a story in a completely different continuity from the first two films, the producers of the Halloween franchise decided to bring back Michael Myers as the featured villain of the series. What followed over the next three installments was a story arc that was ultimately abandoned for various reasons, not the least of which was a mistreatment of the series by writers and directors who lacked familiarity with, and I would go as far to say lacked respect for, the franchise.
This trilogy followed the continuity established in Halloween II and abruptly ended in in this sixth installment, released theatrically as Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers. The theatrical release was a confusing end to a confusing trilogy. The trilogy itself was confusing due to some of the choices made by the creative team, but this sixth chapter was confusing because it was two different films joined together.
An earlier cut of this film rated poorly with a test audience, and the series' new owners, Dimension Films, insisted on reshoots. All of the new scenes could not include Dr. Loomis as Donald Pleasence died shortly after the filming of the original cut. For the most part, the film had an entirely different ending. It would take nearly 20 years before the original cut, called The Producer's Cut, would see an official release, and it was long overdue.
I waited six years for the continuation of the cliffhanger from Halloween 5. I was quite interested to see where the Man In Black plot line was going and once I saw the film, I wasn't really sure what I just watched. I don't recall any specific thoughts I had, just a general dissatisfaction with the movie. I'm sure part of the problem was waiting so long between installments causes one to have to get back up to speed with the story while watching it, but also the story just wasn't cohesive. When I finally revisited the series on home video many years later, I found I had very little memory of this film. The previous two installments still stuck with me enough to recall the general plot, but not this one. It was then as I was doing a little research on it that I discovered this alternate version and watched it first before the theatrical cut. This was the film I needed back in 1995. That's not to say it is perfect. It is far from perfect, in fact. It was, however, the one sequel that came the closest to getting it right.
It's difficult to discuss both versions of the film at the same time; they are very different movies. The Producer's Cut is a horror film, the theatrical version is a slasher flick. I think the best way is to focus on the original vision and then reference the theatrical version as necessary. Approximately 45 minutes of new footage was filmed during the reshoot. That's nearly half of the film so you can plainly see there are some significant differences. This might get a little complicated.
What strikes me right from the start of this film, is we have no idea what's happened over the last six years. In all of the other installments, Michael is out of commission during the time that has passed in the interim. That is not the case here. Michael was taken away at the end of Halloween 5, along with young Jamie, by the mysterious Man In Black. We now see an older Jamie. She is in distress. She is giving birth and her baby is being taken away by the Man In Black to take part in some sort of ceremony. Next we see Dr. Loomis, still alive but the worse for wear, writing his memoirs, as clueless as anyone else in Haddonfield as to what became of Michael and Jamie. It's then that the realization hits me that this poor child has been terrorized by this cult, whatever it is, all this time. She is experiencing horrors unknown to everyone in that quiet little town. She then breaks free from that horror and the evil at the center of it is in pursuit. Then Dr. Loomis hears her voice on the radio crying out to him for help. The look on his face makes it clear he just arrived at that same realization. He knows it's not over yet. This is by far the best opening in any of the Halloween films since the original.
When Michael finally catches up to Jamie, who is so desperate to keep her baby away from him, he stabs her with his knife and discards her bloody and battered body on the ground with a thud. That little girl we came to know in the previous two films, our original heroine's daughter, is simply cast aside as if her impending death is of no consequence. This is horror. This is what everyone should expect from Halloween. The theatrical version takes some of that away, simply having Michael impale Jamie on some farm equipment where she dies. It also robs us of the scene in which Jamie is actually killed in The Producer's Cut, where she is executed with a bullet to her head as she lies unconscious in the hospital, no longer of any use to the Man In Black and his Cult of Thorn.
Donald Pleasence was not in good health during the filming of this movie, and of course he died shortly after, but a successor to the role of Dr. Loomis was being groomed, intentionally or not. We are reintroduced to the Tommy Doyle character, the boy from the first Halloween, who has more in depth knowledge of Michael than the average resident of Haddonfield. Had they decided to go forth with this continuity instead of abandoning it, I think Tommy Doyle would have become a Loomis type of character. Even if Donald Pleasence had been able to continue appearing in the series, the original ending suggested his character would take on a very different role. Apparently the seventh installment was to feature the Cult of Thorn more prominently, and with Loomis being pulled into it against his will, someone outside the cult would have to fill his shoes.
While the first half of each version of this film is a lot more similar than the two second halves, there are elements that change the feel of the film. With the necessity of re-cutting the film around Donald Pleasence's scenes, the pieces don't always fit together. For example, in the theatrical version we have Loomis at the hospital even though Jamie is already dead. Seemingly minor edits throw off the pacing and leave other minor continuity points unexplained. There wass a sense of urgency as we go from scene to scene in the original version that doesn't translate to the theatrical version, partially due to edits, but also because of the different background music. The Producer's Cut uses music more reminiscent of the original with all its menace and building tension.
The urgency and tension comes to a head at the reveal of the Man In Black. They really nailed this scene, as the group tries to figure out who else knew about the baby. The pacing of this scene was so precise that the viewers, if they were paying attention, literally figures it out at the same moment Loomis does. The choice of it turning out to be Dr. Wynn might not have been to everyone's liking, but given the circumstances of the Man In Black character's creation, it was the best choice without complicating the plot further.
Let's not pretend the plot as originally filmed isn't complicated. It is. That's probably why it didn't test well. The whole plot with the cult and Michael's child and this other kid that Wynn is trying to get to replace Michael in the cult... You just kind of have to go with it. I think a big part of the problem was there was no follow up in the next installment, which of course was due in part to the cult angle being downplayed in the theatrical version so that the Thorn curse is being studied for some type of medical experiment. I'm not sure how that was considered less complicated, but whatever.
In either version, I like the next-level feel of the second half of the film. We go from the classic horror of the first half to what can best be compared to the final dungeon of a role playing video game. When you went into that last dungeon to face the final boss, the decor was different than anything else you had faced at that point. It gives one a sense that this is it, no turning back now.
I think about trying to create an edit where the two films are combined to make one definitive version, but I'm not sure that's possible. It seems like a daunting task, to say the least. Even the basics, such as defeating Michael, don't have a perfect option. Stopping Michael with the runes in The Producer's Cut is kind of weak, but injecting him full of whatever is in those syringes doesn't have a very Halloween feel to it. If I had to choose, I'd go with the rune ending, but then you have to deal with the role Loomis plays in that one and the fact that the actor was no longer with us to continue the story. Really all that could be done would be to switch to the theatrical ending once Loomis goes back into the hospital, which would assume Michael broke free of the power of the runes and killed Loomis. Not the best ending, but you have to work with the tools you are given.
I would also like to add that the mask in this film is my favorite apart from the original. Of course, none of the masks in parts four through six are the original, that one got destroyed at the end of part two, and in part four, Michael just grabs one from a store shelf. That one looked like a generic knockoff you might find at Spirit Halloween in a bag labelled Maniacal Holiday Killer or something. How that transformed into the one they used in part five is anyone's guess. The one in this film, while not perfect, was acceptable. It comes the closes to the original modified Captain Kirk mask than any of the others.
So whichever version you prefer, this was the end of the line. Donald Pleasence was gone, as was his character, Dr. Loomis. The official version of the film was a complicated, nonsensical mess. Plans for the next installment were, understandably, abandoned. The next installment would ignore the last three, even though it didn't necessarily have to, and put the focus back on Laurie Strode. I have some opinions about this new continuity that would emerge, but I'll save that for another Halloween.