Halloween 6 : The Curse of Michael Myers.

Halloween 6 : The Curse of Michael Myers title

AKA: Halloween 6 : The Curse of Michael Myers, Halloween 666 : The Origins of Michael Myers

Tag Line : Haddonfield is ready to celebrate Halloween - so is Michael Myers.

There have been 6 years of silence since the events of part 5 and the town of Haddonfield is finally ready to celebrate Halloween again. But unfortunately, so is Michael Myers. It turns out that Jamie Lloyd (now played by JC Brandy) was abducted by some satanic religious cult at the end of the last film, along with Myers, and we see her being held at an old hospital, giving birth to a child, who the cult then prepare for sacrifice.

Jamie manages to escape with her baby thanks to the aid of a sympathetic nurse, but Michael Myers comes after them and kills her (seems a shame that having survived parts 4 & 5, she should come to such an untimely end at the beginning of part 6, but there you go!). But fortunately, Jamie manages to hide the baby before Myers could find her.

Enter Tommy Doyle (played by Paul Rudd), who was one of the young children being looked after by Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the first film. He knows that Michael has returned to Haddonfield and why, and manages to find and rescue Jamie's baby before Myers can find it.

In the meantime, the now very much retired Dr Loomis (as played by Donald Pleasance) has heard what has happened and also returns to Haddonfield to see if Michael is indeed still alive and if so to try and stop him. The man-in-black from part 5, has also returned to Haddonfield and has taken a peculiar interest in the young son of Kara Strode, Danny. The Strode's, relatives of the family who adopted Laurie, live in the old Myers house (bad idea) and the mysterious man-in-black, along with Myers, seems to have them under constant surveillance.

After the cult kidnap Danny, Kara and Jamie's Baby, Tommy Doyle and Doctor Loomis trace them back to the Smithsgrove sanatarium. But why are they based there, why is Myers allowing them to look after him and could the man in black be someone they already know?

This is a much better film than part 5, but the only problem is that you really need to have seen ALL the other Halloween films (except part 3) to fully understand all the plot twists. Particularly seeing as all the characters are connected, or related to characters from the other movies. For example Tommy Doyle and the Strode family from part 1, Jamie Lloyd from parts 4 & 5 and of course the man-in-black who was in the previous film.

I actually waited for the film to come on SKY Movies before I bothered watching it, but was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Although released direct-to-video in the UK (as was part 5), this is actually quite a good film and definitely worth a watch, but is let down by all the unnecessary plot twists and the confusing storyline.

The film answers a lot of the questions left open by part 5, such as the identity of the man-in-black but creates a load more such as what has Jamie, or Michael, been doing for all this time. Who is the father of Jamie's baby and where did she learn to drive if she's been cooped up in this old hospital for all these years? Added to that, by my reckoning Jamie was only 14/15 years old at this time, wasn't she too young to be giving birth (legally) and in any case, who was the father?

Poor old Donald Pleasance was knocking on a bit at this point, so much of the action was left to Paul Rudd who played Tommy Doyle, but it was still good to see him crooning on in his old role. Sadly, this was to be Donald Pleasance's final film before his death in 1996 and the film was subsequently dedicated to his memory. A pity that he didn't have a more memorable film dedicated to him.

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Other Information.

Alternate tag line, "Terror never rests in peace!"
Danielle Harris did actually want to return as Jamie Lloyd, but Dimension films refused to pay the $5000 she wanted as payment.
Allan Howarth once again scored the soundtrack, although most of the incidental music was by rock band Brother Cane. Giving a harder edged feel to the soundtrack.
Debra and John Strode were named after Debra Hill and John Carpenter.
The part of Michael Myers was played by George Wilbur, who had also played him in part 4. Don Shanks who played Myers in part 5 was originally mooted to return, but in the end they used George Wilbur. This is the only time that Michael Myers has ever been played by the same actor twice.
Notorious US radio host Howard Stern was offered the role of shock DJ Barry Simms but he declined.
The last 15 minutes of the film where re-shot for its theatrical release, for this ending Michael Myers was played by A. Michael Learner. Interestingly enough, the doctor he chases down the corridor, then crushes his head against the gate railings, was the actors real life father Fred Lerner.
In the original draft of the script, when John Strode comes home drunk near the end, originally he was to have turned on the TV to find a scene from Halloween 3 on, in a cheeky nod the the scene in Halloween 3 were Tom Atkins is watching Halloween on the TV in his local bar. However this idea was dropped.
Halloween 6 was made notorious by the fact that the theatrical release was a totally different cut to the version originally filmed. To find out more about this alternate version, known as the "Producer's Cut", click HERE.