Halloween: The Troubled History Behind the Franchise 

I remember seeing the original Halloween with my future wife on our 1st date. After we were married we watched it every Halloween night until her death in 2013.

Donald Pleasance was simply *perfect* as Dr. Loomis.

I think they blew Halloween 3 by not letting any of the audience know that Michael Myers wasn’t in it. They should have explained their idea of a different film each Halloween. That is a great idea.

Halloween (2018) is not only the highest grossing Halloween film, it's the highest grossing R rated slasher film, and the 4th highest grossing R rated horror film, as well as the second highest grossing Blumhouse film. Absolutely incredible after so many failures and struggles, this series came back bigger and better than anyone expected!

they offered danielle harris only $1000! thats just plain evil

I'm sorry...they wanted to pay the actress a thousand bucks to appear in a multi million dollar film franchise? Yeah I'd drop out too

They dropped the ball not getting Danielle Harris, Rachael and Loomis back together for a few movies battling Thorn.

Lots of behind the scenes controversies. Fascinating stuff and well put together video.

Donald Plesance wow who could not love him he was a great part of Halloween and always will me rip Mr Plesance 😢

when you hear the powers that be saying that" Donald Pleasance should be cut because he's boring", or, "let's make this film more for the MTV generation", you know you are safely in the hands of clueless incompetent fools - and that's what part 6 was, an incompetent mess put together by clueless idiots.

Halloween II is a classic. It's funny how much JC hated Halloween after it's success, but now he's back giving it a lot of love with music and direction.

That Silver Shamrock song used to give me the creeps as a kid whenever the commercial came on.

Unlike all the other movies that have rebooted their films on a regular basis, it actually works for the Halloween franchise. It gives the impression that each film is a story being told around a campfire on a cold dark night, like the opening of The Fog. Each storyteller tells the tale of Michael Myers a little differently.

“Despite Harvey Weinstein thinking she was too thin for the role”.....................yeah..................ummmmmmm........

Pouring a cup of coffee for this, 40 minutes? Awesome

Watching this made me really appreciate the OG movie and cast and the 2018 movie even more. I've been a long time fan of the franchise and I didn't even know production for movies like H5 and 6, for example, were so careless, passionless and flat out messy. Boy, am I happy H18 came out the way it did with a crew that actually cared about the franchise.

So much madness in the 2nd half of this video. lol Great video.

Great recap of the franchise... I even learned a thing or 2... Thanks!

4:39 you see Donald Pleasence character in a James Bond movie holding a cat. And that absolutely has to be the inspiration for Dr. Evil.

Danielle Harris went as far as getting herself legally emancipated from her parents to play Jamie again in Halloween 6. Dimension wanted someone over 18 to play the role so the actress can be worked as an adult, since minors can only legally work a limited number of hours each day. Harris was 17, but she didn't want anyone else playing Jamie, so she spent about $3,000 of her own cash to get legally emancipated from her parents. But then Dimension low-balled her since Jamie dies early in the movie, not even offering her enough to cover the $3,000 she had spent. They didn't even seem to know or care that she had already played the role in two previous movies and was essentially a legacy character. That ultimately pissed her off and she gave up on pursuing the role.

Man the Halloween franchise really gone through hell

Thank you for a very informative and engaging history of the franchise. This was very well-done and wasn't a rehash of info we all know, as fans. There were new interesting facts that made this feel like a fresh take on a very familiar subject. Entertaining and enlightening, this is well worth 40 minutes of time, for any fan of the franchise. Thanks, again.

That was very well fleshed out, so to speak. Good job.

I grew up in Kansas City, saw this on opening night at Watts Mill. Incredible experience for an 11 year old lol

I love these series retrospectives. Thanks for your hard work.

Michael still stayed quiet and walked faster than any of them ran throughout all the ups and downs of the series

The 1990s was coming to an end 20 years ago.. Dam I feel old..

It's worth noting that despite what people think, 3 and 4 turned almost the exact same amount of profit. Akkad may act like 4 proved his theory people only wanted Micheal, it really didn't.

Jason Vs Michael makes a great amount of sense after the events of Halloween 2018

I follow your essays and I am always impressed what a big mess franchises are. As an average moviegoer I never had any idea how much is going on behind the scenes. I never was into horror movies. I know Halloween 1 but I never felt any urge to watch any of it's sequels. So thanks for the essay. Seems I spared a lot of lifetime by not watching these films.

That head exploding in the basement in Curse of Michael Myers is the most cringe moment in the series....till Busta Rhymes karate kicks Michael in that abomination.

That is so well done... you guys are doing such a great job keep up the work.

I was going to skip past the section for Halloween 6 because I have seen so many videos about it but you managed to provide mostly new material, and any old was presented in a new way. Fantastic work!

The only thing you got right about Danielle Harris is she was only offered $1000 to return for Halloween 6. I've read interviews with her and also being on her Myspace A LONG time ago and follow her on Twitter she found out her character of Jaime Lloyd was being recast in Halloween 6, she was never called at all, they were recasting her role and never contacted her, Danielle's agent saw the break down and informed her that her role was being recast for Halloween 6. She raced to Akkaad's office and wanted to know why she was never called back. she was then giving the Jaime role, and when she started reading the script she was shocked and mad her role was short lived in this one and she was having a big attitude how she was the star of the last two and the studios said "you are not anybody" , than when they only offered her $1000 she finally said forget it. She CHASED after the Halloween owners to be in Halloween H20 even if it was only an extra and they told her NO, she chased after the production AGAIN for Halloween Resurrection and they said NO, she was NOT almost cast in it. NOW the remakes, as she put it, she broke in on casting and demanded to audition for Annie, they said NO, she was very aggressive and they finally let her, after that Rob could have chosen any actress for Annie but decided since she had a raw deal in 6 even though he didn't want anyone from the other franchise in his film he will give her the part and she does have a small following. But any unknown actress could have said Annie's five lines "whoah dude" " oh Laurie bitch, Ben Tramer thinks your hot" and get attacked by Micheal. Five minutes in the whole film and she was not good. I cringed at her line "Ben Tramer thinks you're fucking hot" and the way she was talking down to Lindsay. I cringed, she did ok in the attack scene. They didn't call her "oh Mrs Harris please be in our movie" that's not how it went down. Only because most of her other films are so low budget and such crap fests, and such stinkers and crap budgets, with no theatrical releases she chases after the Halloween franchise. and NOBODY contacted her to be in this recent Halloween, she made a fuss all over her Twitter how they didn't even call her for it. so she was NOT almost in this ,she bothers them to be in these films every time she finds out there is one in the make. . she tries to pry her way into every Halloween film, she is not a big name or a major star, she lives in the past and all over her twitter about Halloween, she is middle aged with two kids, time to move on, they are not breaking down her door, she should leave them alone. Jamie Lee is a major star, they paid her 8 million for a few minutes in Halloween Resurrection and she didn't want to be in the film but for a short few minutes, Danielle is not a major importance to them, once they pissed on her she should have enough dignity to just move on. She is a middle aged woman , she is not a little child anymore and she is not Jamie Lee Curtis, Danielle should stop bothering this franchise unless they contact her and go on with her life. Danielle lives in the past , has H4 stuff all over her twitter like that was 40 years ago, don't she have anything else to do, she has kids, she is not a major star, get over it, Curtis is. so they will jump up at Curtis and give her a big pay out. and they contact Jamie Lee Curtis, she don't go plowing them down every minute. Danielle made a broad post about how she will never get to meet Jamie Lee Curtis and how there was another Halloween and she didn't even get a call, I am sure she was at their production office trying to get a role bothering them AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN, she isn't even leaving them alone after she floundered her way in RZ films, YEARS AND YEARS and every time a new Halloween film comes to announcement, she is trying to dig her way into the movie, they are NOT calling her. she still thinks she is on the same wave as Jamie Lee Curtis, very deluded, she does not even have that kind of talent, she was cringe worthy in most of her stuff and is a bottom feeder actress after a little short lived success a billion years ago as a kid. . Poor thing, move on. YIKES Scout Taylor Compton never got big either, I guess it takes a very special person to make it BIG, they both just flounder in very low budget scraps. Scout and Danielle. And you don't see Scout stalking the Halloween production every time the news of a new movie is in the making. and Scout played Laurie Strode, Jamie Lee's role, she does not go off "oh, remember me, use me" she does her other films and isn't pathetic. And Danielle was 30 back in Halloween reboot 2007 and even though Nancy Loomis played Annie at age 28 and PJ Soles played Linda at age 29, the maturity in Danielle's voice and face made me cringe more trying to act like a teen, PJ and Nancy Loomis didn't have that old voice and maturing face, they sounded immature and than those few bad lines, I almost spit out my coke cola and laughed. Time to move on Danielle ....and Danielle, how did you really feel about Scout, fresh young girl in the lead role while you had five minutes as her side kick and fought for the little role. Don't this woman have any dignity left? Every time a new Halloween movie is in the make, she is begging like a starving dog with a steak dangling but then does not get any.

I had just seen the new film last night, and no surprise, I had immensely enjoyed it, it was great to see a simple, old-fashioned _Halloween_ film with a large crowd of people in a theater-room, a great few laughs and screams. Even as a huge loving fan of the 1978 film, I'd say that the new 2018 film may possibly be the best _Halloween_ sequel to have ever happened since the 1981 _Halloween II._

I still love Halloween H2O Even tho it's hated on!

I’m pretty sure Rick Rosenthal actually wanted Halloween 2 to feel more like the original, and it was actually Carpenter who added the bloodier scenes in later.

Laurie in college would have been AMAZING. And the impact it could have had on young girls on campus would have been so strong. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I wish these film companies weren’t so scary in terms of dropping their ideas out of fear because some of them would have been way better storylines than the films we got.

Every time I hear Jaimie Lee Curtis is back I immediately yell “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!”

Halloween 4 has SO much potential to start a really cool trilogy. We could’ve had Jamie be a new slasher in the 5th with maybe a ghost or shadow of Michael following her actions, asfor the 6 I don’t know what the plot would be but it better then the crazy cult, incest story.

I'd love to see you put together a video like this about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. It's in such a mess at the moment and has had more remakes and reboots consistantly than any other movie series I can think of.

Halloween 3 was actually a pretty solid horror film. What was it's only problem? Having "Halloween" in the title. They should've just called it "Season of the Witch."

Instead of retconning 2 I wish they made the 2018 Halloween a sequel to Halloween h20 writing resurrection out as Halloween 1, 2 h20 and the 2018 movie would actually be an awesome continuity.

We need a Halloween anthology movie series, like what was intended for H3, that idea is simply brilliant

Season of the Witch probably would have worked with audiences and helped establish Halloween as an anthology franchise if it had been the second movie instead of the third. Because the second movie was a direct sequel to the first, audience expectations had been set. At that point, they were just there for Micheal.

I would love to see Danielle Harris and Jamie Lee Curtis in the Halloween movie

Rob Zombie: Horror icons aren't scary anymore, so lets make Michael Myers "relatable" and "charismatic"... o_O

Everyone forgets Black Christmas (1974)

To this day, I’m not sure if Carpenter likes, or ever liked Michael Myers. Totally understanding him not liking the sequels, but I also get the impression the original to him was just meh. But I get it, he had to run with someone else idea, which was only used as a steppingstone to get him to do projects he really cared about. Kinda closely parallels Wes Craven with A Nightmare on Elm St, even though Freddy was more of his child. All this stuff is fascinating.

Halloween 3 is an excellent, standalone film. For all the 'gory' re-edits the script is still very true Kneale in many ways.

It's videos like this that really inspire me to push myself to make better videos. Great work man!! New Subscriber!!

Best. Intro. Ever.

Excellent overview of the Halloween franchise. The original Halloween remains my favorite out of all the movies & I faithfully watch it annually every October

I didn't see HALLOWEEN until was about 15. I just could never find it in any video store near me. But when I finally got to see it (in all it's faded, pan-and-scan VHS glory) it still gave me the willies.

Thoroughly enjoyed this history of the series, some things I had no clue about. Thanks!

Dr Loomis aka Dr Evil, always trying to get the best of Mike Myers

Danielle Harris was 30 playing a high schooler. Lol.

The best thing about the remake was Tyler Mane's performance as Michael. He found a lot of expression with that mask, and doesn't get the praise he deserves.

Halloween III: $14 million box office against a $2.5 million budget. Earns 5.6 times its budget back. Status: FAILURE TO THE FRANCHISE Halloween 4: $17.7 million box office against a $5 million budget. Earns 3.54 times its budget back. Status: SUCCESSFUL RETURN TO GLORY What the hell?!

It's amazing how many people along the way were attached or in control of these movies while being completely out of touch with the fan base.

i LOVE this franchise so much.. the first and second ones and the newest one (2018) are my favorites :D cant wait to see the next 2

I didn't skip any ads. Support your favorite youtubers!

Great video! I thought I knew pretty much everything about this series but there were some bits in here that were new to me. Awesome as always!

Zombie Halloween were a great refresher. Until the 2018 back to roots version. I liked his take and made a new horror flick more modern

Halloween may have a troubled history but it’s still better than the Friday The 13th franchise.

No, it was confirmed that John Carpenter put the violent content in Halloween 2 in order to compete with other slasher movies .

This video got me interested in the Halloween franchise, and I'm not really a horror movie kinda guy. Once again, excellent work you guys. One of the best channels on RU-vid.

The only reason why I would continue to watch the Halloween Franchise is the fact that John Carpenter, Jamie lee curtis and nick castle are back. The fact that they are continuing from the 1978 version and disregarding the rest is the reason why I would watch.

The Michael Myers mask was HORRID for 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. It was comedic at absolute best.

The end of Halloween 6 needed a setup for a Hellraiser crossover just as Jason Goes To Hell setup the eventual Freddy VS Jason.

Halloween III is an underrated classic. Change my mind.

Excellent documentary guys, I would love to see more of these!

Its funny how producers want their films to make money but their arrogant meddling loses it. There should only be 1 bus driver, else it will crash. As of today, they still haven't learned.

This Documentary was fantastic.......awesome job, and of course, thanks!!

0:59 you did not just say that the town that dreaded sundown is a ripoff film, it predates halloween by 2 years, and is based around a true story,

Killing Ellie Cornell was one of the biggest mistakes. I wish part 5 was never made lol.

Good research buddy, thanks for the hard work I will watch this again!

They only wanted to pay her $1000? Did they miss a zero on that.. or two.

Anna Lockhart, was Lt Sheba from Battlestar Galactica. Damn, met her years ago, never knew she was up for Myer's sister in the Halloween films.

Great overview of the series and the various troubles it went through. All very interesting. Oh, and Halloween 2018 was damned good!

Damn good documentary! I never heard of the Halloween 6 Producers cut, gotta track that down. Cheers!

Great work dude. I really enjoyed this backstory of Halloween, most of which I knew about and most I didn't.

I miss this version of Midnight’s Edge

What’s scary about the first Halloween is that everyone has the lights off for no reason.

A great accounting of the Halloween franchise. I think the 2018 film is a great sequel to the original but I do miss Donald Pleasance.

Jeez that was a thorough and well done documentary

Halloween III was great...... Said no one EVER.

I'm in the circle that still believes Rob Zombie's second film is still one of the best in the entire franchise. It's raw and visceral take on Myers just adds much more terrifying depth to the character and the creepy version of "love hurts" at the end of the film still gives me chills. Yeah I could have done without the dead mom leading the pale horse metaphors but overall I still think this movie holds up.

great work on this one, really interesting

We need a more videos like this for all the other horror franchises! Brilliant work!

$1000 doesn't even cover the hour spent even if she was a cleaner on set lol what were they thinking?

Such a shame how the 1978 masterpiece ended with this Atrocious franchise... Great Video Tho

I still love Halloween 4 and although I've always liked 3.. I hate how only in recent years (as of this decade) that now you see it getting so much praise, how come??? I see an increasing amount of fans these days who want the idea of an anthology said NO ONE ever after Halloween 3 in the 80's, 90's and even early 2000's. Halloween 4 used to be the second or third favorite film in the franchise but as time goes on its becoming more underrated.

"Future Director of Free Willy 2"

Couldn't get Danielle Harris, so they got Busta Rhymes. Ok.

I actually really enjoyed the Rob Zombie films. I liked the take on Michael being this fucked up kid, and seeing his "rise" to being the monster we all know him as. Also, I am just a huge fan of the aesthetics that Rob Zombie put into the film, everything having this dirty film on it. It leaned into the gross, horror, aspect. And while the second one was more out there, I just thought that it explained some of Michael's delusions in a way we hadn't seen before.

I recently re-watched the Zombie films. I was expecting to confirm my original beliefs: That they were terrible. After further review, I still don't care for them. But I think that the 2007 remake was better than I remembered. I still do not like Zombie's Halloween 2 at all. I don't know why some people think it was a decent film. For me, it's either Resurrection or Zombieween 2 that's the worst film in the franchise. Thoughts?

Fantastic overview of the franchise without overly personal outtakes. Great job

That was so damn informative lol. Loved that.

This is my favorite type of ME vídeo. Good work!