Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Chappelle
Written by	Daniel Farrands
Based on	Characters by John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Produced by	Paul Freeman
Starring	Donald Pleasence Paul Rudd Marianne Hagan Mitch Ryan
Cinematography	Billy Dickson
Edited by	Randolph K. Bricker
Music by	Alan Howarth
Production companies	Nightfall Productions[1] Trancas International Halloween VI Productions[2]
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date	September 29, 1995 (1995-09-29)
Running time	88 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million[3]
Box office	$15.1 million (U.S.)[4]

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers^[i] is a 1995 American slasher film directed by Joe Chappelle, written by Daniel Farrands, and starring Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd, Marianne Hagan, and Mitch Ryan. The sixth installment in the Halloween film series,^[5] the plot depicts Michael Myers hunting down the infant son of his niece, Jamie Lloyd.^[6] It expands significantly upon the supernatural horror elements that were sparsely introduced in the previous film, mainly the subplot of a cult that controls Myers and drives him to murder his bloodline using the ancient rune of Thorn. It marks the final appearance of Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis before his death, as well as the feature film debut of Rudd, who portrays an adult Tommy Doyle from the original Halloween (1978). This also marks the last major role of George P. Wilbur before his death in 2023.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers had a protracted development that spanned several years, comprising numerous revisions, drafts, and contributions from different screenwriters, including Daniel Farrands and Scott Rosenberg. Farrands ultimately completed the final version of the screenplay shortly before filming began in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1994. The film also had a troubled post-production: Its original cut performed poorly with test audiences, leading to the film undergoing a series of reshoots and edits. The finished film was distributed by Dimension Films, who would go on to distribute the rest of the series until 2018's Halloween. Pleasance died on February 2, 1995, nearly eight months before the film was released. The film was dedicated to his memory.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was released on September 29, 1995, grossing $15.1 million at the domestic box office on a budget of $5 million. It was lambasted by critics, with criticism focused on its weak story, ending, Rudd's performance, and the origin story given to Michael Myers, though Pleasance's performance was better received. After the film's home media release, the original workprint of the film, which featured 45 minutes of alternative footage and a different ending, was discovered by fans of the series. This version, dubbed the Producer's Cut, developed a cult following, with bootleg DVD copies sold on eBay and online petitions targeting for an official release of it.^[7] In September 2014, the Producer's Cut received its first official home media release by Scream Factory as part of a Blu-ray box set of the Halloween series.^[8]

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was followed by Halloween H20: 20 Years Later in 1998, which does not contain any references to the Jamie Lloyd storyline of the prior three films (although they were featured in the original script and comic book tie-ins published by Chaos! Comics), instead serving as a direct sequel to Halloween II (1981).

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