The Final Chapter, it seems so... Final! It was thought that the previous installment in the Friday The 13th franchise was to be the final movie, because there's something we like about trilogies, but this time they meant it because they put it in the title. It was the final chapter too, until the following year when someone felt a new beginning was in order. The title was somewhat accurate, from a particular point of view, because things would be different after this. This is the one where Jason Voorhees actually dies at the end. In fact, he was so dead, he didn't even appear in the next film. When Jason does return a couple years later (several years in film time) it's a whole new ballgame.

   By this time, the slasher genre didn't have quite the same impact it once did. There wasn't a whole lot of ground to cover, and each film was basically just more of the same. The unstoppable killer needed to be stopped. Jason was human, after all. Regardless of what was to come later, killing off Jason was the right move. It was also wise to break from the "final girl" trope and have Jason's death come by the hands of a young boy about the same age as the young boy who was thought to have drowned in the lake all those years ago. 

   Unfortunately, everything else in this film is just a rehash of the previous movies. The same dull characters are in the same dumb situations, with the only mystery being the creative way in which they be killed. With few exceptions, the kills aren't even all that creative. It was time for a change and Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter ensured that a change would come. The Final Chapter circled back around to the beginning, and for better or worse, set the stage for the future of the franchise.

   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.

   One year after Halloween 4 brought Michael Myers back to the screen, the next installment hit the theaters. Such quick turnaround is usually not a good sign and this film was not the exception. As a young community college freshman, I enjoyed the film, but I was a different person back then. I was desperate for anything to keep the slasher genre alive, and this one went through the motions like a champ. If a mindless slasher with annoying teenagers is what you're looking for, then this film is still a fun little romp. If you want another great chapter in the Halloween story, it wasn't happening this year, or anytime soon for that matter. It took a good five or six years before they dared continue on from this film.

   Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers was the second film in a trilogy of sorts. You can call it the Michael Myers trilogy, as all of the films' subtitles contain the name Michael Myers. You can call it the Dr. Loomis trilogy, ad the Myers/Loomis dynamic is central to these films. You can call it the Jamie Lloyd trilogy as that character ties all of these films together. You might even call this the Thorn trilogy, due to a plot element introduced in this film, but it's absent from the preceding film so that's not really the best descriptor. Whatever you want to call this trilogy, this installment is where it really started to go wrong.

   As I mentioned in the article on Halloween 4, I have a weird fondness for this trilogy. It tried to get it right and at times it came very close to getting it right. In this film, however, I'm convinced that anything it came close to getting right was completely accidental. What's more, it squandered a great set-up from the previous film, then set the next film up to fail. A lot of what happened in between is just painful to watch if you care about this series at all. There's a lot to slog through here, so let's get started.