Halloween Timelines

Summary: Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.

The Original Halloween film in the entire franchise, and the reason why the Slasher Genre itself was changed with it for the new generations! The 1978 film was NEVER suppose to create a franchise, it was suppose to be a cliffhanger type of film meaning the original is its own Timeline for a reason and you need proof?

John Carpenter himself said this...I didn’t think there was any more story, and I didn’t want to do it again. All of my ideas were for the first Halloween – there shouldn’t have been any more!

And to also give a statement for a later section if this article...John Carpenter went on to say this...

John Carpenter wrote:He's part person, part supernatural force."

Keep that in mind for the Blumhouse Section and why Halloween 4-6 Timeline is so vastly different from John's original vision.


Summary: After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie Strode and taking a bullet or six from his own former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim, it's revealed that Laurie is his blood-related sister.

This is where the "Michael is Laurie's Older Brother" came into existence, and so for those who "didnt" know about how this film came into production it was for money grabs, this was a work that John personally didn't truly try for again HIS this is from his own words of Carpenter saying...

John Carpenter wrote:An abomination and a horrible movie.

He was drinking and doing whatever he can to fulfill a deadline for a sequel, John doesn't like premise of giving Michael any character, Michael is after all Purely and Simply Evil.

The ending of this timeline was that...Michael being killed in a burning glory along with Samuel Loomis, yes both these characters were supposed to die and this is why in my Chart it's seperate!



Summary: Hospital emergency room Dr. Daniel "Dan" Challis and Ellie Grimbridge, the daughter of a murder victim, uncover a terrible plot by small-town mask maker Conal Cochran, a madman who's planning a Halloween mass murder utilizing an ancient Celtic ritual. The ritual involves a boulder stolen from Stonehenge, the use of Silver Shamrock masks and a triggering device contained in a television commercial -- all designed to kill millions of children!

This film from 1982 does share the title of "Halloween" but is where the people behind the film themselves wanted to branch into a Movie Anthology series and shifting away from Michael, yes the film shows Halloween on a TV screen in-film and in their universe, but Halloween is "Fictionalized" for them, this is heavy on Celtic Magic and Rituals more than the previous until the later series.


Summary: Ten years after the events of the original Halloween films, Michael Myers awakens from a coma while being transferred between facilities. He escapes upon learning of his young niece, Jamie Lloyd, daughter of Laurie Strode. Michael returns to Haddonfield to find her, leaving a trail of carnage. Dr. Sam Loomis, scarred but determined, pursues Michael, warning the town of his return. Jamie, living with her foster family, experiences nightmares about Michael. As Halloween night progresses, Michael kills several people, including Jamie's foster sister Rachel's friends. The climax occurs at the Carruthers' house and a school, ending with Michael being shot and falling into a mineshaft. However, in a shocking twist, Jamie, now in a trance-like state, stabs her foster mother, mirroring Michael’s first murder. A year later, Michael survives and returns to Haddonfield, targeting Jamie again, who is now mute and traumatized in a children's clinic, with a telepathic link to Michael. Michael resumes his killing spree, murdering Rachel and others. Dr. Loomis uses Jamie to lure Michael into a trap at his childhood home. A showdown ensues, with Loomis capturing Michael. However, the mysterious Man in Black frees Michael, leaving Jamie in terror. Six years later, Jamie, kidnapped by the cult of Thorn, escapes after giving birth, but Michael kills her and continues to hunt her baby. Tommy Doyle, who was babysat by Laurie Strode in the original film, finds the baby and names him Steven. Dr. Loomis, now retired, is drawn back into the hunt by Tommy. The cult of Thorn is revealed to be behind Michael's supernatural abilities, aiming to use Steven in their rituals. Michael kills several people, including members of the Strode family. The final showdown occurs in Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where Tommy and Dr. Loomis confront Michael and the cult. Tommy uses runes to stop Michael temporarily. The film ends ambiguously with Dr. Loomis's fate uncertain, implied to be either killed or taken by the cult, while Michael's mask is left behind, suggesting he might still be alive.

This will be the only time in any of the actual Michael Myers Timelines where he is full-blown supernatural and that a cult is ever established as the film in this Trilogy is having a "Continuation" of events and will start the 1st and only Retcon for the franchise, and is the 2nd in the timelines to follow the "Brother and Sister" trope.

 

Summary: Twenty years after surviving her brother Michael Myers’ murderous rampage, Laurie Strode is living under the alias Keri Tate in California, where she is the headmistress of a private boarding school and the mother of a teenage son, John. Although she has tried to move on, Laurie is still haunted by the trauma of her past. On Halloween, Michael discovers Laurie's new identity and travels to the school, where he begins killing John's friends. In a final confrontation, Laurie overpowers Michael and seemingly kills him by decapitating him.

Three years later, it is revealed that Michael had swapped places with a paramedic, so Laurie mistakenly killed an innocent man. Traumatized and institutionalized, Laurie is eventually found and killed by Michael in a psychiatric hospital. The focus then shifts to a group of college students participating in an online reality show set in Michael Myers' childhood home. Michael returns and begins killing the students one by one. Sara Moyer, one of the students, survives using her wits and with the help of Freddie Harris, the show's organizer. The film concludes with Michael seemingly defeated by electrocution, but in the morgue, he opens his eyes, indicating he is still alive.

This Retcon would completely erase the existence of Halloween 4-6 and will be the direct continuation of Halloween and Halloween II and will be the 2nd time that Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her return twice for Two films in the series, and this is the 3rd time they use the "Brother and Sister" trope.


Summary: Rob Zombie's reimagining of "Halloween" begins with an in-depth exploration of Michael Myers' troubled childhood in Haddonfield, Illinois. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, Michael is subjected to bullying and abuse, showing early signs of violent behavior. On Halloween, ten-year-old Michael brutally murders his sister Judith, her boyfriend, and his stepfather, sparing only his baby sister, Angel. Committed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium under Dr. Sam Loomis' care, Michael becomes increasingly withdrawn, focusing on making masks and ceasing to speak.

Fifteen years later, Michael escapes during a transfer and returns to Haddonfield to find his baby sister, now a teenager named Laurie Strode. Michael embarks on a killing spree, targeting Laurie's friends. Laurie discovers her true identity as Angel Myers during a climactic confrontation with Michael and Dr. Loomis. Laurie seemingly kills Michael by shooting him.

"Halloween II" picks up immediately after the first film, then jumps ahead one year. Laurie, now living with Sheriff Brackett and his daughter Annie, is traumatized and suffering from PTSD. Michael, presumed dead, has been living in hiding. He is drawn back to Haddonfield by visions of his deceased mother, Deborah Myers, urging him to reunite with Laurie. Dr. Loomis has become a controversial figure, having published a book about Michael.

As Michael resumes his killing spree, Laurie experiences disturbing dreams and hallucinations, eventually learning her true identity as Angel Myers. The climax occurs at an abandoned shed, where Michael captures Laurie. A final confrontation ensues, with Laurie ultimately killing Michael. The film ends ambiguously, with Laurie in a psychiatric institution, displaying signs of the same madness that afflicted Michael, hinting at the continuation of the Myers' legacy of violence.

This is the 4th time in the franchise seperate continuity timelines where the continuation of "Michael and Laurie" being siblings, and hopefully will be the last in the franchise of this trend, this Michael is very much Human, there is no legitimate hint of anything "Supernatural" and just that he is a giant of a man who happens to be a Massively Violent Psychopath.



Summary:  Set 40 years after Michael Myers' original killing spree, Laurie Strode has spent the intervening years preparing for his return, living in a fortified home with numerous traps. Michael escapes from a prison transfer bus and returns to Haddonfield on Halloween night, resuming his killing spree. Laurie, her daughter Karen, and her granddaughter Allyson ultimately confront Michael in Laurie's home. This ends with Michael trapped in the basement as the house is set ablaze, with his fate seemingly ambiguous picking up immediately after the events of the same night, Laurie is taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing Michael is dead. However, The Shape survives the fire and continues his rampage through Haddonfield. The town bands together in an attempt to hunt him down, driven by collective trauma and mob mentality. Despite their efforts, Michael proves nearly unstoppable, killing many, including key characters like Tommy Doyle and Karen this ends with Michael returning to his childhood home and killing Karen, setting the stage for the final confrontation. Set four years after the events of "Halloween Kills," "Halloween Ends" depicts a more subdued Haddonfield, still haunted by the past. Laurie is attempting to move on, writing her memoirs and trying to live a normal life with Allyson. Meanwhile, a young man named Corey Cunningham becomes the focal point of new violence after being blamed for the accidental death of a child he was babysitting. Corey encounters Michael, who has been in hiding, and becomes influenced by him. As Corey spirals into darkness, he forms a bond with Allyson. As he tries to leave that Darkness by taking the Mask, and killing those who did him wrong, some indirect kills, he tries to Kill Laurie, masquerading as Michael so he and Allyson can run away, but Laurie was prepared, injuring Corey, but Corey tried to have the last as he tried to frame Laurie for his death by stabbing himself, but as Laurie retreated to collect herself, the real true Shape of Evil appears, Corey tries to fight off but dies, as Michael reclaims his knife and mask,This will culminates in a final showdown between Laurie and Michael, leading to Michael's ultimate defeat and death as the town gathers to watch the end of Evil, and as Laurie and Allyson survive, aiming to finally put the past behind them.

These three films form a cohesive trilogy, focusing on themes of trauma, the consequences of violence, and the enduring legacy of Michael Myers! As mentioned this film is exactly what John envisioned for Michael no humanization, and no legitimate motives, this Trilogy did truly give off what John remarked about as earlier stated that Michael is Part Human and Part Supernatural Force, the "More he kills the more he transcends." Perfectly fits his character and adds to his abilities.

Pretty crazy, just looking at the pic you posted. Now is the right time to stop making more movies and focus on a TV series similar to the Bates Motel. Any more movie with Michael Myers in it ain't going to scare nobody. The last time people were scared of him was a long time ago, way before the last three movies were made. And yes, this comes from a lifelong Halloween fan, who has simply realized too much is too much. I'm stupid enough to pay for a ticket should there be another Halloween movie, but right now I just hope they put MM-related movies to rest for a seriously long time. Should they make another one, they should go the Season of the Witch way.

Great write up! This is a topic I've thought about posting on myself a few times, but it's... Complicated, to say the least. I personally only recognize the four official timelines... Well five, I guess if you count P3. In my head-canon it's its own standalone film living in its own universe, but I guess that still technically counts. I just find it weird to see a timeline that has one individual movie in it since the very concept of a movie timeline would dictate that it has more than one film involved, tough I suppose having one film like H3 that's completely disjointed from the other films in the franchise is the one instance where that concept might work.

I understand your reasoning for the additional two timelines, even if I don't personally agree with them. As much as I respect Carpenter, I don't think we want to start carving out movie timelines and separate cannons based on the original creator's intentions. A lot of films spawn franchises without much input from the original creators. It's a Pandora's box I'm not sure that we want to open. I mean, just look at Friday the 13th. Neither Cunningham nor Victor Miller ever intended for the franchise to continue with Jason as the killer... Miller openly resented the idea of turning Jason into a monster, and Cunningham allegedly wasn't a fan of the Jason led movies. Do we have to consider the original F13 a separate timeline from the rest of the films? Do we have to start carving up the timeline based on intent? I know I don't want to see it. F13's cannon might be messy, but at least it's cohesive and digestible for fans who care about continuity, and you don't usually have to worry about what's cannon to the particular movie you're watching like you do with the Halloween films.

I have mixed feelings in general about having alternate timelines and cannons in film franchises... On principal, though, I don't usually like it because it's confusing for casual fans. I feel like these films should be accessible to everyone, and arbitrarily changing what is and isn't cannon to a particular film multiple times can really take the casual viewer out of it. I speak from experience as someone who spent years as a casual horror fan before becoming a hardcore fan in early adulthood. I've been on both sides of the tracks, and remember what it was like being a casual. I might not have been swimming around in the deep minutia of my favorite franchises, but I knew the general lore bits... And one of those big bits was an understanding that Michel and Laurie were siblings. It was a detail so engrained into the franchise at that point, and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that detail wasn't even revealed until Halloween 2... So I wasn't all that surprised to have conversations with several causal horror fans when Halloween Kills came out, and discover they didn't seem to understand why Michael and Laurie were no longer siblings, even though 2018 dedicated an entire scene to half-heartedly explain it, viewers still missed it. They also wondered how Laurie was alive, or what happened to Jamie's character. Nor did they recognize who some of the minor legacy characters or who they were supposed to be. Wasn't Marion already dead? Lol.

That being said, I also feel like Halloween had no other choice. The original retcon in H20 was necessary to bring Laurie back and write out Jamie to avoid that potential mess... As was retconing Halloween 2 was important to eliminate the sibling connection... Which was a much more important detail to the lore and more difficult to look passed if you're not a hardcore fan who completely understands what they were trying to do. Still, as much as I'm not a fan of the practice, I do see why they were necessary changes in these cases since the franchise was already crowded, and there was nowhere to really take the franchise with fresh stories without taking some liberties. Other franchises, not so much. TCM is a mess of sequels that act more like reboots, desperately trying to recreate something that just can't be recreated. The original TCM was a lightning in a bottle, once in a lifetime film... A product of its time that just can't be duplicated. The Netflix film, I felt work better than many of the other TCM films because it was one of the few that seemed to recognize this and did its own thing instead. The only franchise I felt did the alternate time-line, cannon breaking gimmick right was the Evil Dead franchise, since they basically made it their identity and ran with it.

Ivan1987 wrote:Pretty crazy, just looking at the pic you posted. Now is the right time to stop making more movies and focus on a TV series similar to the Bates Motel. Any more movie with Michael Myers in it ain't going to scare nobody. The last time people were scared of him was a long time ago, way before the last three movies were made. And yes, this comes from a lifelong Halloween fan, who has simply realized too much is too much. I'm stupid enough to pay for a ticket should there be another Halloween movie, but right now I just hope they put MM-related movies to rest for a seriously long time. Should they make another one, they should go the Season of the Witch way.

As much as I disliked Halloween Ends and felt like it was a slap in the face to Michael himself, Halloween fans, and the two movies that came before it ironically... The one good thing to come out of that movie that I liked was the idea that the fallout from Micheal's rampage damaged the psyche of the town, causing the violent crime and the suicide rates in Haddonfield to rise. If they do make a show based around Halloween, it should build upon this premise. The actual curse of Michael Myers, with the stain of his evil seeping so deep into the soil of Haddonfield that the town itself has been corrupted. It would open the door for the anthology series Halloween was always meant to be, and Michael wouldn't necessarily have to be involved... A good thing seeing as Myers popping up on screen every episode would seriously devalue the character. It felt like that movie was planting roots for that premise, but it never really had a payoff.

The different timelines are always a little jarring, at least for ME. I think a movie was made that took hold of people's imaginations, and then the Hollywood " cash grab " attitude set in.

Then the writing had to go off on different tangents to try and keep the money flowing in, like when Halloween 4 was made to appease the " There's no Michael " crowd who didn't like Season of the Witch. After a while, things get so watered down, and new variables are introduced making fans disagree on what a good movie for the franchise is, when it was never meant to be a franchise in the first place.

But, having said that, I'll take what I can get.

Ivan1987 wrote:Pretty crazy, just looking at the pic you posted. Now is the right time to stop making more movies and focus on a TV series similar to the Bates Motel. Any more movie with Michael Myers in it ain't going to scare nobody. The last time people were scared of him was a long time ago, way before the last three movies were made. And yes, this comes from a lifelong Halloween fan, who has simply realized too much is too much. I'm stupid enough to pay for a ticket should there be another Halloween movie, but right now I just hope they put MM-related movies to rest for a seriously long time. Should they make another one, they should go the Season of the Witch way.

If they do a TV Series it would have to be either a Anthology where it's different stories or what I believe should be based on John Carpenters idea of making Michael what he was a "Boogeyman".

John did an interview where they asked what direction could be explored, and Carpenter went in to state why not just make him a "Boogeyman" a full blown supernatural force where he's conjured based on the fear, hate, and chaos of Haddonfield where Michael randomly kills, I mean that could work as a TV series too each episode is a different exploration of Fear, Hate, and Chaos from a random Haddonfield Resident like a major slasher and psychological based series, the Residents could be framed for murder? Mass hysteria of "IT WAS MICHAEL MYERS!" But they know he was put into a grinder so he couldn't be alive, it would be interesting to see how that could play off based off of John's mindset.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:Great write up! This is a topic I've thought about posting on myself a few times, but it's... Complicated, to say the least. I personally only recognize the four official timelines... Well five, I guess if you count P3. In my head-canon it's its own standalone film living in its own universe, but I guess that still technically counts. I just find it weird to see a timeline that has one individual movie in it since the very concept of a movie timeline would dictate that it has more than one film involved, tough I suppose having one film like H3 that's completely disjointed from the other films in the franchise is the one instance where that concept might work.

Yeah when it comes to situations like this I always count a timeline as if it's a Marvel or DC Comic exploration of a seperate Universe that's why I have Halloween 3 as it own because it shares the same franchise name.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:I understand your reasoning for the additional two timelines, even if I don't personally agree with them. As much as I respect Carpenter, I don't think we want to start carving out movie timelines and separate cannons based on the original creator's intentions. A lot of films spawn franchises without much input from the original creators. It's a Pandora's box I'm not sure that we want to open. I mean, just look at Friday the 13th. Neither Cunningham nor Victor Miller ever intended for the franchise to continue with Jason as the killer... Miller openly resented the idea of turning Jason into a monster, and Cunningham allegedly wasn't a fan of the Jason led movies. Do we have to consider the original F13 a separate timeline from the rest of the films? Do we have to start carving up the timeline based on intent? I know I don't want to see it. F13's cannon might be messy, but at least it's cohesive and digestible for fans who care about continuity, and you don't usually have to worry about what's cannon to the particular movie you're watching like you do with the Halloween films.

I think that's the difference with Friday the 13th and Halloween.

Friday the 13th all the films are a single continuity until the Remake/Reboot where it has two seperate timelines for us to follow.

Halloween following the many Resets and Retcons is where people are usually confused and always assume "They are siblings." (Again I didn't like this connection at all growing up lol.

Oh and sorry I never want to undermine the films like that it's because unlike Victor Miller who outright says he never watched the future films and made it clear he written it as a solo film, that Jason is dead, and etc, Victor made that perfectly clear but due to Sean Cunningham having the rights, that personally wasnt up to him but it was Sean and he also said this:


People read that or heard it and automatically assumed Sean off the bat didn't like Jason and etc but I believe in his own defense we as an audience only knew Pamela had a dead son and we get a sequel? I personally believe on his part, it would be "stupid" because they basically established Jason is "dead" and no hints he survived so that's understandable and given that Sean actually admitted he tried to have Kane Hodder as Jason for Freddy Vs Jason definitely showed he cared for the series because if he didn't...why would he outright defend Kane to be Jason if he didn't like the character? And he and his team (Horror, Inc.) Had approached Gun Media and not the other way around.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:I have mixed feelings in general about having alternate timelines and cannons in film franchises... On principal, though, I don't usually like it because it's confusing for casual fans. I feel like these films should be accessible to everyone, and arbitrarily changing what is and isn't cannon to a particular film multiple times can really take the casual viewer out of it. I speak from experience as someone who spent years as a casual horror fan before becoming a hardcore fan in early adulthood. I've been on both sides of the tracks, and remember what it was like being a casual. I might not have been swimming around in the deep minutia of my favorite franchises, but I knew the general lore bits... And one of those big bits was an understanding that Michel and Laurie were siblings. It was a detail so engrained into the franchise at that point, and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that detail wasn't even revealed until Halloween 2... So I wasn't all that surprised to have conversations with several causal horror fans when Halloween Kills came out, and discover they didn't seem to understand why Michael and Laurie were no longer siblings, even though 2018 dedicated an entire scene to half-heartedly explain it, viewers still missed it. They also wondered how Laurie was alive, or what happened to Jamie's character. Nor did they recognize who some of the minor legacy characters or who they were supposed to be. Wasn't Marion already dead? Lol.

Oh trust me I dislike it as well especially when it's taken a dramatic and unnecessary turn...and I agree I believe if a Company and etc has a true love for their own franchise they should outright come out and make a full explanation of what's happening, I know Gaming and Comics has their own respective guides and handbooks to explain things we have questions about but with Movies? Nope...

Examples? The Return of the Living Dead 1 and 2 Vs. The rest of the franchise which had established these Zombies are basically unkillable without a specific method (Complete body destruction/very extreme high electrical voltage) but then the later entries into this franchise outright waters all this down and makes them typical head-shot Zombies, I 100% can state that's what made TROTLD Zombies such iconic horror monsters because they were impractical Unkillable and fully functional.

Maniac Cop 1 and 2 Vs Maniac Cop 3: It's still debated amongst the cult fans like myself on ifMatthew Cordell was a legitimate Zombie or not due to the explanation that he was brain dead but was still moving and etc, but then you get into the sequel there's no explanation of how he got unpinned, how he became so rotted, and why there's no hole in his chest, ofc it could be due to the development of shooting, and runtime and etc which we let slide as fans, but then the 3rd film introduces Magic??? Something that wasn't at all explored or explained in either the previous films so it was a complete "huh?"

The Night of the Living Dead is one of the biggest names we all know and love as horror fans be it casual or not but I don't think people understand there is timelines in this franchise and it's hard to explain because there's no explanations for it at all.

Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead

Is a direct Trilogy but then we look at

Land of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Survival of the Dead

They aren't at all connected to his original Trilogy and has 3 timelines again it's confusing when you make a whole Trilogy and then make films set around the same genre type just for them to not be connected, I know it could work as "chronical" issues but then that's still a continuity era due to the modern times vs old times it's like soooo Humanity bounced back after Day of the Dead and then they collapsed AGAIN? It wouldn't make sense, this is why sometimes it should be announced WHAT is and WHAT isn't a sequel and a guide to figuring the timelines.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:That being said, I also feel like Halloween had no other choice. The original retcon in H20 was necessary to bring Laurie back and write out Jamie to avoid that potential mess... As was retconing Halloween 2 was important to eliminate the sibling connection... Which was a much more important detail to the lore and more difficult to look passed if you're not a hardcore fan who completely understands what they were trying to do. Still, as much as I'm not a fan of the practice, I do see why they were necessary changes in these cases since the franchise was already crowded, and there was nowhere to really take the franchise with fresh stories without taking some liberties. Other franchises, not so much. TCM is a mess of sequels that act more like reboots, desperately trying to recreate something that just can't be recreated. The original TCM was a lightning in a bottle, once in a lifetime film... A product of its time that just can't be duplicated. The Netflix film, I felt work better than many of the other TCM films because it was one of the few that seemed to recognize this and did its own thing instead. The only franchise I felt did the alternate time-line, cannon breaking gimmick right was the Evil Dead franchise, since they basically made it their identity and ran with it.

Don't get me started on TCM...they technically have almost 8 or 9 timelines that I'll also have to make and do research about LOL so many retcons and reboots it's wild for this franchise!

One thing I can't really stand about the new movies is that they literally made Michael a pensionist, even showed his old look without the mask a couple of times. They should have come with something better than making him a 60+ old man.

This is just one of the instances, where I realize how much time have passed. Back in the day I would be crazy about a movie like the last three Halloweens and wouldn't critize a thing about it. I'd be stupid and happy enough that there is a new slasher to be seen on the big screen and that's it. Now I tend to think a bit more than in the past. But then again, when I have seen Alligator 2: Mutation for the first time, even as a kid I realized there is something wrong with that movie. But personally, I can't think of another example, most of the time I was simply happy that horrors are being made. I will keep watching them even in 2024, but with that Roger Ebert kind of approach here and there. There is still the possibility to get back to old movies, when one gets tired of what Hollywood is throwing at us these days.

Oh, and did I mention that I can't wait to see the new Alien in August?

Ivan1987 wrote:One thing I can't really stand about the new movies is that they literally made Michael a pensionist, even showed his old look without the mask a couple of times. They should have come with something better than making him a 60+ old man.

This is just one of the instances, where I realize how much time have passed. Back in the day I would be crazy about a movie like the last three Halloweens and wouldn't critize a thing about it. I'd be stupid and happy enough that there is a new slasher to be seen on the big screen and that's it. Now I tend to think a bit more than in the past. But then again, when I have seen Alligator 2: Mutation for the first time, even as a kid I realized there is something wrong with that movie. But personally, I can't think of another example, most of the time I was simply happy that horrors are being made. I will keep watching them even in 2024, but with that Roger Ebert kind of approach here and there. There is still the possibility to get back to old movies, when one gets tired of what Hollywood is throwing at us these days.

Oh, and did I mention that I can't wait to see the new Alien in August?

Yeah when it comes to sequels it all a hit and miss! Especially when we are younger and noticing things then vs now!

I kinda wish they made a Alligators 3 film to be honest!

Jason Voorhees wrote:

Ivan1987 wrote:Pretty crazy, just looking at the pic you posted. Now is the right time to stop making more movies and focus on a TV series similar to the Bates Motel. Any more movie with Michael Myers in it ain't going to scare nobody. The last time people were scared of him was a long time ago, way before the last three movies were made. And yes, this comes from a lifelong Halloween fan, who has simply realized too much is too much. I'm stupid enough to pay for a ticket should there be another Halloween movie, but right now I just hope they put MM-related movies to rest for a seriously long time. Should they make another one, they should go the Season of the Witch way.

If they do a TV Series it would have to be either a Anthology where it's different stories or what I believe should be based on John Carpenters idea of making Michael what he was a "Boogeyman".

John did an interview where they asked what direction could be explored, and Carpenter went in to state why not just make him a "Boogeyman" a full blown supernatural force where he's conjured based on the fear, hate, and chaos of Haddonfield where Michael randomly kills, I mean that could work as a TV series too each episode is a different exploration of Fear, Hate, and Chaos from a random Haddonfield Resident like a major slasher and psychological based series, the Residents could be framed for murder? Mass hysteria of "IT WAS MICHAEL MYERS!" But they know he was put into a grinder so he couldn't be alive, it would be interesting to see how that could play off based off of John's mindset.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:Great write up! This is a topic I've thought about posting on myself a few times, but it's... Complicated, to say the least. I personally only recognize the four official timelines... Well five, I guess if you count P3. In my head-canon it's its own standalone film living in its own universe, but I guess that still technically counts. I just find it weird to see a timeline that has one individual movie in it since the very concept of a movie timeline would dictate that it has more than one film involved, tough I suppose having one film like H3 that's completely disjointed from the other films in the franchise is the one instance where that concept might work.

Yeah when it comes to situations like this I always count a timeline as if it's a Marvel or DC Comic exploration of a seperate Universe that's why I have Halloween 3 as it own because it shares the same franchise name.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:I understand your reasoning for the additional two timelines, even if I don't personally agree with them. As much as I respect Carpenter, I don't think we want to start carving out movie timelines and separate cannons based on the original creator's intentions. A lot of films spawn franchises without much input from the original creators. It's a Pandora's box I'm not sure that we want to open. I mean, just look at Friday the 13th. Neither Cunningham nor Victor Miller ever intended for the franchise to continue with Jason as the killer... Miller openly resented the idea of turning Jason into a monster, and Cunningham allegedly wasn't a fan of the Jason led movies. Do we have to consider the original F13 a separate timeline from the rest of the films? Do we have to start carving up the timeline based on intent? I know I don't want to see it. F13's cannon might be messy, but at least it's cohesive and digestible for fans who care about continuity, and you don't usually have to worry about what's cannon to the particular movie you're watching like you do with the Halloween films.

I think that's the difference with Friday the 13th and Halloween.

Friday the 13th all the films are a single continuity until the Remake/Reboot where it has two seperate timelines for us to follow.

Halloween following the many Resets and Retcons is where people are usually confused and always assume "They are siblings." (Again I didn't like this connection at all growing up lol.

Oh and sorry I never want to undermine the films like that it's because unlike Victor Miller who outright says he never watched the future films and made it clear he written it as a solo film, that Jason is dead, and etc, Victor made that perfectly clear but due to Sean Cunningham having the rights, that personally wasnt up to him but it was Sean and he also said this:

People read that or heard it and automatically assumed Sean off the bat didn't like Jason and etc but I believe in his own defense we as an audience only knew Pamela had a dead son and we get a sequel? I personally believe on his part, it would be "stupid" because they basically established Jason is "dead" and no hints he survived so that's understandable and given that Sean actually admitted he tried to have Kane Hodder as Jason for Freddy Vs Jason definitely showed he cared for the series because if he didn't...why would he outright defend Kane to be Jason if he didn't like the character? And he and his team (Horror, Inc.) Had approached Gun Media and not the other way around.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:I have mixed feelings in general about having alternate timelines and cannons in film franchises... On principal, though, I don't usually like it because it's confusing for casual fans. I feel like these films should be accessible to everyone, and arbitrarily changing what is and isn't cannon to a particular film multiple times can really take the casual viewer out of it. I speak from experience as someone who spent years as a casual horror fan before becoming a hardcore fan in early adulthood. I've been on both sides of the tracks, and remember what it was like being a casual. I might not have been swimming around in the deep minutia of my favorite franchises, but I knew the general lore bits... And one of those big bits was an understanding that Michel and Laurie were siblings. It was a detail so engrained into the franchise at that point, and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that detail wasn't even revealed until Halloween 2... So I wasn't all that surprised to have conversations with several causal horror fans when Halloween Kills came out, and discover they didn't seem to understand why Michael and Laurie were no longer siblings, even though 2018 dedicated an entire scene to half-heartedly explain it, viewers still missed it. They also wondered how Laurie was alive, or what happened to Jamie's character. Nor did they recognize who some of the minor legacy characters or who they were supposed to be. Wasn't Marion already dead? Lol.

Oh trust me I dislike it as well especially when it's taken a dramatic and unnecessary turn...and I agree I believe if a Company and etc has a true love for their own franchise they should outright come out and make a full explanation of what's happening, I know Gaming and Comics has their own respective guides and handbooks to explain things we have questions about but with Movies? Nope...

Examples? The Return of the Living Dead 1 and 2 Vs. The rest of the franchise which had established these Zombies are basically unkillable without a specific method (Complete body destruction/very extreme high electrical voltage) but then the later entries into this franchise outright waters all this down and makes them typical head-shot Zombies, I 100% can state that's what made TROTLD Zombies such iconic horror monsters because they were impractical Unkillable and fully functional.

Maniac Cop 1 and 2 Vs Maniac Cop 3: It's still debated amongst the cult fans like myself on ifMatthew Cordell was a legitimate Zombie or not due to the explanation that he was brain dead but was still moving and etc, but then you get into the sequel there's no explanation of how he got unpinned, how he became so rotted, and why there's no hole in his chest, ofc it could be due to the development of shooting, and runtime and etc which we let slide as fans, but then the 3rd film introduces Magic??? Something that wasn't at all explored or explained in either the previous films so it was a complete "huh?"

The Night of the Living Dead is one of the biggest names we all know and love as horror fans be it casual or not but I don't think people understand there is timelines in this franchise and it's hard to explain because there's no explanations for it at all.

Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead

Is a direct Trilogy but then we look at

Land of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Survival of the Dead

They aren't at all connected to his original Trilogy and has 3 timelines again it's confusing when you make a whole Trilogy and then make films set around the same genre type just for them to not be connected, I know it could work as "chronical" issues but then that's still a continuity era due to the modern times vs old times it's like soooo Humanity bounced back after Day of the Dead and then they collapsed AGAIN? It wouldn't make sense, this is why sometimes it should be announced WHAT is and WHAT isn't a sequel and a guide to figuring the timelines.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:That being said, I also feel like Halloween had no other choice. The original retcon in H20 was necessary to bring Laurie back and write out Jamie to avoid that potential mess... As was retconing Halloween 2 was important to eliminate the sibling connection... Which was a much more important detail to the lore and more difficult to look passed if you're not a hardcore fan who completely understands what they were trying to do. Still, as much as I'm not a fan of the practice, I do see why they were necessary changes in these cases since the franchise was already crowded, and there was nowhere to really take the franchise with fresh stories without taking some liberties. Other franchises, not so much. TCM is a mess of sequels that act more like reboots, desperately trying to recreate something that just can't be recreated. The original TCM was a lightning in a bottle, once in a lifetime film... A product of its time that just can't be duplicated. The Netflix film, I felt work better than many of the other TCM films because it was one of the few that seemed to recognize this and did its own thing instead. The only franchise I felt did the alternate time-line, cannon breaking gimmick right was the Evil Dead franchise, since they basically made it their identity and ran with it.

Don't get me started on TCM...they technically have almost 8 or 9 timelines that I'll also have to make and do research about LOL so many retcons and reboots it's wild for this franchise!

I guess what you're saying is that continuity hasa way of going out the window.