Everything You Need To Know About The Halloween Franchise

After nine years away from the screen, the Halloween franchise is set to return on its 40th anniversary with a new movie to be released in 2018. That unkillable boogeyman Michael Myers will be back once again and, best of all, so will Jamie Lee Curtis as his perennial would-be victim Laurie Strode. But the news of this sequel has got many scratching their heads as they try to work out how it will fit in with previous movies. Long running horror franchises are often hard to keep up with for even the most ardent of fans, but Halloween's history is more convoluted than most. Simply put, the ten films so far split up into five different categories. There's the original duo, the lone spinoff, the Michael Myers trilogy, the revised sequels and then the remake and its follow-up. Still lost? No need to worry. We've got you covered with this complete breakdown of all of the Halloween movies to date with everything you need to know about the franchise. Read on and get up to speed before the next flick releases on October 19th, 2018. Halloween (1978) Though not to the extent of, say, Friday the 13th, much of the legend that's grown around Michael Myers is not evident in his first movie, although it amply sets up the bare bones of his backstory and basic drive to kill. This lack of exploration is arguably what makes him so effective though in this film, which is by far the best Halloween movie of the lot. Michael's total lack of motive and human reasoning causes him to be all the more terrifying. Immediately, we learn that at just six years old, Michael Myers murdered his teenage sister on Halloween night 1963. Fifteen years later to the day, Myers (Nick Castle, credited as "The Shape") breaks out of his sanitarium and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. On the way, he kills a mechanic, steals his overalls and pinches a white mask from a local store. Apparently, he won't change these clothes for the next twenty years. In Haddonfield, Michael proceeds to stalk and pursue babysitter Laurie Strode, killing many of her friends in the process. Eventually, Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) comes to her aid and shoots the killer six times in the chest, pushing him out the window. Impossibly, Michael disappears - inferring that there's something supernatural about him. Halloween II (1981) The events of Halloween II follow on directly from the first movie, even set on the exact same Halloween night. As Laurie Strode is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital to recover from her ordeal, Michael Myers (Dick Warlock) manages to track her down and proceeds to work his way through the hospital staff in order to get to her. The big revelation comes when Dr. Loomis, and the audience, learns that Laurie is actually Michael's sister, something that was kept secret from her for her own safety (well, that worked). This information makes it clear that Michael's attacks aren't entirely random - his end goal seems to be to wipe out all his family members. This is also the first movie to use "Mr. Sandman (Bring Me A Dream)," which would go on to be used throughout the sequels - forever turning the once chirpy 1950s song into a chilling horror movie favourite. At the end of the film, Dr. Loomis apparently sacrifices himself by blowing up an operating room with him and Michael inside. We see Michael engulfed in flames and he seemingly dies. And, for the best part of the decade, he would remain that way. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982) After Halloween II killed off Michael Myers, the decision was made to turn the franchise into an anthology series of different horror stories taking place on Halloween. The first of these was Halloween III: Season of the Witch - involving cursed kids Halloween masks. Unfortunately, its mixed reception ended plans for further films in this style, leaving this one as a weird outlier in the Halloween series. There are a couple of nods to the previous movies hidden in the film, though. Jamie Lee Curtis can be heard in a few minor voiceover roles as a curfew announcer and a telephone operator. Meanwhile, in a continuity-smashing move, the trailer for the 1978 original film is played on TV at one point. Due to its lack of slasher elements and Michael Myers himself, fans were not kind to Season of the Witch at the time. In the wake of the endless Halloween sequels since then, however, the film has been retroactively praised for trying something different. Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988) After Season of the Witch's disappointment, John Carpenter threw out his plans to make Halloween 4 a ghost story and instead buckled under public demand and reintroduced Michael Myers. With Laurie Strode having appeared to die in a car crash years before the events of the film, The Return of Michael Myers follows the killer's attempts to murder Laurie's young daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris). Michael (George P. Wilbur) has been in a coma ever since the events of Halloween II, but miraculously wakes up immediately upon hearing that he has a niece. It's also revealed that Dr. Loomis did not die in the hospital explosion. Though significantly injured, he returns to protect Jamie from Michael's clutches. The movie ends on a chilling twist. After Michael is shot down by police and falls down a mine, it looks like Jamie and her family are free. However, the film's final moments see Jamie don a clown mask and attack her foster mother with a pair of scissors. It seems she's inherited Michael's murderous spirit... Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (1989) A year after the events of the last movie, it's revealed that the indestructible Michael (Don Shanks) escaped the mine and fell into another coma. He awakens, of course, just in time for Halloween and once again tracks down his niece. Jamie has since been committed to a children's hospital, having been rendered mute by the psychological trauma of Michael's attacks. It also seems that she shares a telepathic link with her uncle, as suggested by her assault on her foster mother in the previous movie. In one brief moment, their connection allows her to bring out Michael's last shred of humanity, as Jamie is able to momentarily calm him and get him to remove his mask - however, a touch to his face starts him off again. Dr. Loomis and the police manage to create a trap for Michael at his old childhood home. In the throws of his victory, Loomis keels over as he suffers a stroke. Once transported to a cell, it seems Michael has been caged for good. However, the movie ends on an intriguing cliffhanger, as a mysterious black-clad figure wipes out the police station and frees the killer. Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995) The Curse of Michael Myers follows on directly from Revenge, explaining that Michael's rescuer was the chief administrator of his old sanitarium - and a member of an evil druid-like cult. The cult also kidnapped Jamie (J.C. Brandy) and, six years later, they now have plans for her newborn baby. Early in the film, Michael (George P. Wilbur) manages to kill his niece - but he fails to locate his little great-nephew. The baby, Steven, is found by Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), the boy Laurie Strode babysat in 1978's Halloween. Tommy discovers the true reason for Michael Myer's murders - he bears the Curse of Thorn, an ancient power which compels the Chosen One to sacrifice their next of kin on Halloween. It also grants the bearer immortality until they're able to complete their task - thereby explaining Michael's continued survival. It's revealed that Steven is a genetic experiment, a kind of clone of Michael's, intended to continue his great-uncle's murderous legacy. The film ends on a cliffhanger as Dr. Loomis screams, with Michael's mask shown in the foreground. It was a cliffhanger that would never be resolved, unfortunately. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) In a bid to increase the wider appeal of the franchise again, Jamie Lee Curtis was brought back for this special 20th anniversary movie which completely dispensed with the continuity set up by the last three films. The Curse of Thorn backstory is never referenced and, most important of all, it's revealed that Laurie didn't die in the car crash but merely faked her death. Now living in California under an assumed name with her son John (Josh Hartnett), Laurie is a successful high school principal. However, her past catches up with her when Michael Myers (Chris Durand) tracks her down and gets up to his old murderous mischief. At the end of the movie, it seems that Laurie puts an end to Myers' rampage once and for all when she decapitates him. The guy's indestructible but he surely can't come back from that, right? Right? H20's back-to-basics approach worked a treat, as the film turned out to be the most critically and financially successful Halloween movie in years. And its cast isn't too shabby, either - there's Michelle Williams, a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt and even Jamie Lee Curtis' mother Janet Leigh (Psycho). Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Unfortunately, the same success did not befall H20's sequel, which was clearly just a cash-grab laden down by some weird story decisions. For starters, it's revealed that the man Laurie decapitated in the last movie was in fact some poor paramedic Michael had dressed up to look like him. Guilt-ridden over what she did, Laurie's now locked up in a sanitarium herself - leaving her easy prey for Michael (Brad Doree). Yup, after an epic quest that's spread across eight movies, Michael finally manages to kill his sister... within about fifteen minutes of Resurrection. Not that this means Michael can kick back and put his feet up. He proceeds to return to his childhood home where a group of teens are staying for a new webseries. Needless to say, Michael doesn't take kindly to this and ends up murdering the lot of them. Though Bianca Kajlich's Sara Moyer is set up as the new Final Girl for Michael to hunt down, Resurrection's extremely negative reception crushed any hopes for a sequel. The only thing to do, it seemed, was to hit the rest button... Halloween (2007) While Rob Zombie's remake follows the basic plot of John Carpenter's original, he decided to chuck out the film's ambiguous portrayal of Michael Myers and dive deeper into the psychology of the character and his drive to kill (without going into mystical curses and whatnot). It was a controversial decision, to say the least, which turned many fans off the film. As it is, we discover that Michael's from a broken family - his mother was an exotic dancer, his older sister Judith hated him and his stepfather was abusive. The only person he related to was his infant sister Angel - who would grow up to become Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton). Michael also has a deep fascination with masks - in this version, he makes his signature mask out of papier-mache. The movies also marks the first time we ever hear Michael speak, during the extended time spent with him as a child. Zombie was tempted to have Michael talk to Laurie at the film's climax, too, but - rightly - eventually nixed the idea. Michael is also much taller and broader than before, as played by the 6"8 Tyler Mane (X-Men's Sabretooth). Halloween II (2009) Unlike the 2007 movie, Zombie's Halloween II is not a direct redo of the original sequel. Instead of continuing on directly and moving the action to a hospital as with the 1980 version, this film picks up a year later and focuses on Laurie's psychological fallout from Michael's attacks. Halloween II draws a stronger connection between Laurie and Michael - harking back to Jamie's storyline in Halloween 4 and 5, Laurie even begins to suffer violent hallucinations of her brother. Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is portrayed as a slightly less altruistic figure, as he's decided to turn the events of the first film into a bestselling book. In the end, Laurie succeeds in killing Michael - but emerges wearing his mask... Although generally considered superior to the remake by fans, Halloween II didn't make enough at the box office to warrant any more follow-ups. But, as we know all too well by now, you can't keep Michael Myers down forever and soon he's going to slash and slice his way onto cinema screens once again.