Over almost 45 years, there have been a total of 13 Halloween films. The franchise has been growing with new entries since 1978, and potentially concludes for good with Halloween Ends. To celebrate the franchise and its long and convoluted history of retcons, remakes, and sequels, it’s best to look at the 13 films that have come out, including its ultimate conclusion.
Ever since the original Halloween, there have been 12 more films in the franchise. Some are appreciated, some are laughed at, and others are just average on the scope of the franchise. Halloween movies are loved for their slasher tropes and the iconic horror character of Michael Myers.
13 Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
A lot of fans of the Halloween franchise have a mutual disinterest in Halloween: Resurrection for many reasons. The main glaring issue is the opening scene, which undoes all of the work that H20 does. The film follows a group of teenagers that spend a night in Michael Myers’ sacred childhood home for the internet.
What they believe to be some fun and publicity ends in frights and deaths. It’s a premise that seems to work for Halloween, but due to a disregard for continuity, corny acting, and ridiculous scenes, it’s at the bottom of the list. Many could have gone without seeing Michael Myers have a kung-fu fight with Busta Rhymes.
12 Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (1989)
Michael Myers’ year-long coma ends, and murder awakens. He returns to Haddonfield, wanting to murder his niece, Jamie. It opens up further mystery about the franchise, as Dr. Loomis believes a psychic link exists between Michael and Jamie. Loomis teams with Sheriff Meeker to once again try to stop Michael Myers’ rampage.
It’s yet another follow-up and sequel to the Halloween franchise that seems completely needless and tasteless. It changes the somewhat intense slasher franchise into unintentional hilarity and brainless slasher brutality.
11 Halloween 6: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995)
One of the few things that Halloween 6 does right is the fact that it introduced Paul Rudd to Hollywood. The actor has seen much fame and acclaim past his role in Halloween 6, a film that seems to not know what exactly it wants to do with its characters and setting.
Once again, Dr. Loomis attempts to stop Michael Myers. It’s a played-out trope at this point and seems rather comical, with an old doctor sprinting around with a gun to stop a guy in a Captain Kirk mask with a kitchen knife. It’s a tiresome film that remains rather unattractive.
10 Halloween 2 (2009)
The sequel to the Halloween reboot brings together Michael Myers and Laurie Strode once more. The film reintroduces the concept that they are related as siblings and even pays homage to the original film’s first sequel by having part of the film take place in a hospital. However, despite the blood and family reunion, the film lacks the thrills of the first sequel.
The reboot for Halloween was always divisive, but Halloween 2 furthered that divide. The film strangely doesn’t feel like a Halloween movie and feels more like a grunge murder fest. The thing people can remember most is Michael Myers stabbing Octavia Spencer a hundred times.
9 Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)
After skipping out on the third film, Halloween 4 reintroduces Michael Myers to the fray and sees him once again attempting to take out his remaining family members. All the while, Dr. Loomis remains hot on his trail of blood.
Despite the excitement of seeing Michael Myers return to the franchise, the image that was found at the beginning of the franchise was gone, and the joyous tension is absent from the film. It’s not atrocious, but it certainly lacks a high level of interest.
8 Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)
The Halloween franchise takes its most extreme deviation from the Captain Kirk mask-wearing killer. Michael Myers is left on the back burner as the film leans more into supernatural elements. The film follows a mask maker that seeks mass murder through an ancient Celtic ritual, something designed to kill millions of children.
The concept is rather bizarre, especially for a Halloween movie. It seems to betray the core of the franchise, but it isn’t a bad horror. It’s a good horror that is plagued by having an undeserved association with the Halloween franchise.
7 Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
It has been twenty years since the original Halloween, and although it may not be something to celebrate, it surely spurs Michael Myers to hunt the one that got away. October 31st is vastly approaching, and Michael Myers travels to California to get Laurie.
It’s a refreshing sequel, as it focuses on its characters more than the frights and murders. The sequel still cannot live up to the original and remains another attempt to bring a living spark to the franchise.
6 Halloween (2007)
After a convoluted timeline, the Halloween franchise was due for the reboot treatment. 2007 saw Halloween in a new light, where the film makes the mistake of trying to answer who was Michael Myers and why does he the things that he does.
The film is one of the more watchable Halloween entries, but the bold Rob Zombie picture makes the mistake of trying to make a far too long and sympathetic origin story for Michael Myers. What made the character work so well was that he was just plain evil, not that he was abused.
5 Halloween Kills (2021)
After the end of 2018’s Halloween, it seemed as if Laurie Strode had gotten rid of the curse of Michael Myers for good, leaving him to burn in the basement of her trap-filled house. Sadly, a supernatural fate is on the side of Michael Myers, and firetrucks rushed to the burning house. Halloween Kills opens directly where Halloween (2018) left off.
The film gives Laurie a break, who rests in a hospital with protection from the police. Meanwhile, Michael Myers enjoys the Halloween of his dreams and goes house to house murdering people. It’s a sequel that embraces the fun supernatural elements.
4 Halloween 2 (1981)
At the end of the original Halloween, Michael Myers is missing after surviving an attack from both Laurie Strode’s and Dr. Loomis’ guns. Halloween 2 has Michael Myers venturing to the hospital where Laurie is being held, where he resumes his attempt on her life directly after the first film.
The film lacks John Carpenter’s characters and his talent for suspense, and it mainly gives audiences what they would expect. The film has Michael Myers slashing and stabbing his way through a hospital without much substance.
3 Halloween Ends (2022)
After 45 years, the story between Laurie Strode and the deadliness of Michael Myers has to come to an end. The film promises that only one will survive but will have audiences biting their nails at the anticipation of just who that will be.
There's a lot that Halloween Ends tries to do, and some are disappointed about whether it should have been reserved for a finale. The film does divide audiences and critics, but it's an oddly thought-provoking finale to a series spanning decades and leaves viewers wondering if evil ends or kills.
2 Halloween (2018)
After a decade without sequels, Halloween returned, but not to the degree people expected. The film sought to retcon all previous films other than the original 1978 film. As a direct sequel to the original John Carpenter movie, Halloween follows Laurie Strode and the fractured family life of her daughter and granddaughter.
The film takes Halloween’s tropes and twists them and makes Laurie Strode the hunter of Michael Myers. It makes Michael Myers more of a bogeyman and welcomes him back to Haddonfield with a party full of familiar kills.
1 Halloween (1978)
The original Halloween could not be topped. The film introduces audiences to the slasher tropes that they expect in today’s age, such as the “final girl.” The film is a horror but plays more into the intensity of murder rather than the gruesome nature of it all. Michael Myers is a grave threat, and audiences ask why he does what he does without understanding yet that he is the finalization of evil.
The original Halloween film plays on the innocence and youth of its characters and the audiences and relies on their patients to seek fright. Michael Myers proves as a merciless and desperate killer.