Okay, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers isn’t the most popular installment in the series, hell, it’s probably one of the most hated as far as I know, but it sure fares a hell of a lot better than “Resurrection” and, in this writer’s humble opinion, much better than “H20”. Yeah, I said it. H20 sucks donkey balls, but I digress. I’m not here to bash that film (and I could all day). I’m here to throw a “What If” scenario at ya about another dubious Halloween title.
So…What if the Halloween series continued the “Curse” storyline?
The plot of “Curse” may be a convoluted heap of B.S. and confuon, but that’s not entirely the writer’s fault. Daniel Farrands, who is a fan of the series and understood the Michael Myers mythos, inherited quite a mess thanks to Halloween 5 director Dominique Othenin-Girad, who thought it would be a good idea to add the character of the “man in black” half way through shooting that film. Who the hell does that? And, more importantly, why the hell didn’t anyone bitch slap his ass out of the director’s seat? It happens all the time. Directors fail to deliver and they’re replaced, mple. Oh well, there I go wandering again.
So Daniel Farrands had to contend with the Man in Black storyline, deciding the character needed to be the leader of a super-secret underground cult. I get it. After all, the symbol of the rune thorn does appear on Myers’ wrist in Halloween 5. Remember the scene at the beginning of that movie, when Myers wakes from his year-long coma? Plus, the uber mysterious man in black also sports the thorn symbol on his wrist. So the plot of “Curse” was really almost unavoidable. Plus, director Joe Chappelle did some meddling of his own, further twisting Farrands’ vion. Don’t blame the writer; someone had to continue the mess of 5, and Farrands gave it an admriable approach, but alas, it was not meant to be a great film.
But it's not a terrible movie. Despiite everything, it's one of my favorites, if only because it's so off the wall.
I’m not sure what the particulars are concerning the reason why there are two distinct verons of this film, but I’ve seen them both. A few years ago a friend of mine got hold of the infamous “Producer’s Cut” which is a grainy mess, but this veron might actually be the better of the two. If only Dimenon would clean it up and release it for mass consumption. Oh well…
While there are two different verons of this film, the overall vibe of “Curse” has been described as “Halloween on acid”, which seems fairly accurate if you ask me. And nce the theatrical cut would most likely be the ending to go by, what would a sequel, keeping with continuity of the series, entail? Perhaps, in order to answer that, we would have to ask this question: What if the late great Donald Pleasance would have been alive for another sequel?
Obviously, the ending was changed for the theatrical cut because Mr. Pleasance had sadly passed away. He would have to be alive for a sequel following the “Producer’s Cut” ending, as he was inflicted with the rune thorn on his own wrist, suggesting he would have to continue overseeing Myer’s evil legacy.
So let’s take a trip back in time and pretend you are a fledgling writer given the chance to put together a script for the seventh Halloween film, and the producers want you to continue the storyline from “Curse”. What would you do? nce the producer’s clearly chose to abolish this thorn storyline and start fresh with the atrociously out of place H20 (it just doesn’t feel like a Halloween movie to me), you can pick either theatrical or Producer’s Cut and go from there. Pitch a sequel to either veron of “Curse”.
Would The Shape continue to pursue Tommy and baby “Steven”? What about Danny and his mother? Is Dr. Wynn a.k.a. the man in black dead or alive? Either way, does Michael have his mask? If you recall, no matter the veron, Michael Myers loses the mask. In the theatrical cut the mask is lying on the floor, but his body is gone. In the Producer’s Cut he trades outfits with Dr. Wynn. Seems to me the only thing the producers could have done was disregard “Curse” and start fresh, but this is a “What If”, remember?
So…What if the Halloween series continued the “Curse” storyline?
I first condered this question immediately after watching (the disappointing) H20 in theatres, coming up with a story harking back to “Curse” and tying them together. This would have been my “Resurrection”.
My film picks up directly where H20 left off. Laurie has the touching moment with “Myers” before decapitating him. She then swings the axe and his head goes flying. This is where we would need Jamie Lee Curtis back for that cameo. She blinks and snaps out of it. She had only imagined beheading him. Michael is still pinned between the van and tree, Laurie goes to swing the axe for real, but Michael catches it and twits it around and forces it into Laurie’s stomach.
He yanks her close and she says, “I’ll see you in hell.” For emphas he forces the axe blade deeper and she slumps over dead. We pick up one year later. Laurie’s son John has come to Haddonfield wanting to end Michael Myers. Reseraching his mom's connection to Myers, John meets Tommy Doyle, who is even more unhinged than his appearance in “Curse”. Tommy lays it all out for John, and wants to help John destroy Myers once and for all. Though John is reluctant, he eventually partners up with Tommy.
Meanwhile, “Steven” Jamie’s baby from “Curse” is x-years-old and creepy as hell, not unlike a young Michael Myers before he snapped back in ’63. He’s in a children’s hospital. Myers shows up. The power goes out. He kills a bunch of staff. The boy disappears. He is later picked up by police and put under the care of Loomis’s daughter (nce Donald Pleasance had already passed away when I came up with this little scenario). Loomis’s daughter is trying to reach this boy, who is quiet and just stares out the window, much like young Myers.
Somehow, John, Loomis’s daughter, and Tommy meet up. Tommy forces Loomis’s daughter at gunpoint to retrieve “Steven” from the children’s medical center he is being held. The four will ultimately end up at the old Myers’ house for the finale.
While this is going on, Danny and his mother are stalked by the Shape, who finally gets to both of them, tying up that loose end. Later, Tommy discovers their bodies, which drives him further over the edge, making him even more a loose cannon. Eventually Myers catches up with John and Tommy at the Myers’ house. Michael Myers kills Tommy in the front yard, and John slams an axe into the de of Myers’ head. A dozen cop cars pull up. Myers removes the axe from his head, pulling off the mask with it. He’s stunned and bleeding, but not out. At this point I’m not clear whether it would be a good idea to show his face, but I imagined it to look very milar to the mask itself. Blank and emotionless. Maybe even childlike, but scarred from the burns he suffered in Halloween II, of course.
Myers drops the bloody mask. He’s standing there, surrounded by a bunch of cops with guns drawn. Steven walks up to Myers and takes his hand.
Cut to Smith’s Grove sanitarium, the Day Room…
A bunch of mental patients enjoying some leisure time. We get a crazy guy who ts next to a patient with long hair. We only see this patient from behind. This crazy guy is talking to the patient, asking: “What are you in here for?”
The patient is running a finger along a gnarly scar on her stomach. The camera pans up to reveal Laurie Strode’s face. She’s looking pretty crazy. She looks at the other patient and says: “Waiting for my brother...” The screen goes black, cue the original Halloween theme.
In retrospect this little storyline probably isn’t that great, but I was 17 at the time, so sue me. This is just a very rough outline. Obviously the franchise has gone in another direction, and we are currently awaiting news on the next installment. Until then...
There’s my little contribution to this “What If?”
What’s yours?