Summary: This is Donald Pleasance's last film and he does give his usual convincing performance as Doctor Loomis. We begin 6 years after the last film (1995) as Jamie Lloyd has been captured by some bad guys who worship Michael Myers and Jamie conceives a child. The men in robes take her child and wish to perform sacred sacrifices. One of the society members refuses and ensures Jamie's getaway - but not before she ends up punished for her treachery. She escapes and makes it eventually to a bus station where she hides her baby away. Michael kills her but can't find the child. Meanwhile before her death she makes a phone call to a local radio station, whom most of the town has on, including Tommy Doyle (the boy Laurie Strode was baby-sitting in part 1) and Dr. Loomis. Doyle makes it out to the bus station the next morning and finds the child. Doyle is one who knows of the secret society and their ideas on how to keep Myers going. Doyle knows also that Michael is somehow cursed by Thorn - a demon in which to save others, he must kill every living member of his family. The symbol for Thorn always appears as a constellation on Halloween night. Living in the Myers' home now are relatives of Laurie Strode including Kara Strode and her illegitimate son, Danny - who begins to hear voices. After Doyle finds the kid, he hangs out with Kara and Danny but Michael won't stop till he gets rid of all 4 of them. We do find out that the cult is run by a prominent member of the Sanitarium that Loomis has been employed by. Which doctor will win? And will Loomis make it out alive?
Overall: Theatrical version: This must be the worst of the 6 films and also ranks among the worst horror films of all-time. To actually run out of ideas as to start associating Michael with demons and curses and cults is definitely digging for new ideas and it ultimately fails miserably. Also Michael simply isn't even believable as himself - he drives too well and does too many things out of character from prior films to make us believe that Michael is a real killer. Whereas at least the "Hellraiser" series kept the same actor playing the bad guy in each film, the Halloween's always change actors - that is no doubt why we get shoddy performances. Thank God that Paul Rudd and Donald Pleasance are there to save us. Death Count = 14
Overall - Producer's Cut: I finally got myself a copy of this...downloaded off the net and not exactly the most perfect of visuals either...but it got the job done. Listed below are the specific scenes that make the theatrical version and this version different. And there’s a lot actually: 43 minutes including new beginnings and new endings. Lots of stories on what caused such vastly different films, including fights with our “Jamie” actress, production studio issues, money, and even the idea of incest with Michael and Jamie.
For me, the producer’s cut is a better film. No question, it’s more concise, it’s got fewer holes and it kept a nice pace. I will say I sorta questioned the “acting” of the baby after Tommy took it and hid them away. Seriously...a baby that young will not stay quiet that long, especially since we never see Tommy feed the baby! Or later in the film, as the baby is crying in the crib and he just walks away and has no one taking care of it. Look, yes it’s a horror film and the baby isn’t as important as Michael and the Thorn Curse...but you cannot bend reality that much!! Keep it real. Every small detail counts!
As for the idea of the curse and all, I’m not as upset as the original film made me. I sorta buy a bit more why they added this to change things up and help to define the character and his years of havoc. Not totally a fan of it, but it works much better now.
So when it comes down to watching this film, if you haven’t already, just try and grab yourself the Producer’s cut. Plenty of places on the web to download a copy or find it on YouTube or somewhere. Or just e-mail me for the info! (written 08/15/07)
• Here are the additional/changes from the theatrical cut!
• The movie begins with a flashback to 1989 in which Jamie is kidnapped by the Man in Black before the police station explodes.
• Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) does the voice-over narration at the beginning of the movie, not Tommy Doyle (Paul Michael Rudd).
• Michael Myers does not kill Jaimie Lloyd right away; she lingers in a hospital for half the movie, and is eventually shot by the Man In Black.
• There is a very different ending to the movie which replaces everything after the scene in which Kara is captured by the cult members.
• In the home video version, when the father is killed by Michael Myers in the basement, the massive dose of electricity his body takes causes his head to explode. In the alternate cut, for some reason, this is not shown.
• According to the official Halloween website under the FAQ section, some scenes from the producers cut are shown in the television cut for the UPN network.
• The "strobe light/operating room" scene (only seen in the Theatrical version) was originally going to be longer, and feature more blood and gore. Examples include a shot of a nurse being gutted and Dr. Wynn being beheaded. Wynn's death was cut out of the film, so that his character could return in future films.
• Producer's Cut also expands on certain scenes in the movie. This includes the following:
o There are no "flashes" to previous / upcoming scenes throughout the movie, as with the theatrical release.
o More dialogue between Loomis and Wynn when Wynn visits Loomis at his house. Wynn asks Loomis why he is "listening to this jerk" Barry Simms, and Loomis says he's recording it because it's a program about Haddonfield. He then goes on to say that he recently had plastic surgery, to remove some of the scarring on his face and "not frighten little children anymore". Then Wynn announces his plan to retire, thus bringing on the toast to "old friends".
o More dialogue playing over the radio during this scene. There are also a number of different callers than in the theatrical release.
o Kara performs a "chant" for Danny when he has his nightmare. She warns the "evil spirits" to stay away and reminds them that they "know the rules".
o An extra scene of Debra and John watching Kara through the window as she leaves for college. Debra says "it's not about her, John... it's about you", and that she doesn't care what Kara has done in the past because she's their daughter. John replies by saying that Kara is no longer his daughter.
o The scene with Dawn (Wynn's secretary) telling Loomis and Wynn that Jamie Lloyd's body has been found is extended. Wynn tells her to put the sanitarium on a "Code Red Lock-down" for 24 hours, and then says to Loomis that if Michael is alive, he plans on "bringing him back to Smith's Grove".
o The scene where Loomis and Wynn drive to the farm is also extended. Because Jamie survives Michael's initial attack in this version, she is taken to hospital, and Loomis blames himself for everything as she is wheeled to an ambulance. He also has an encounter with the new Sheriff, who tells him that he and Wynn have "no business in Haddonfield", and to go back to their "loony bin".
o There are a few alternate angles during the scene where Debra finds out whose house they are really living in. Loomis goes into more detail about Michael, and when Debra is on the phone to John, there are again some alternate angles. Also, when she drops the phone, the dial tone can be heard, whereas it can't in the theatrical release.
o Barry Simms' death is also done slightly different. There a couple of alternate angles, and a scene after he is stabbed with the camera panning away to show another van parked nearby with the words "WKNB Radio" on the hood.
o There are more alternate angles when Tommy finds Barry's body. The little girl dancing under the tree also sings "it's raining red" instead of saying it.
o The ending credits are also completely different, with a few changes to the cast list as well.
• Deleted scenes seen only in the Producer's Cut:
Michael is shown impregnating Jamie in a black and white flashback, it shows the man in black forcing Michael to do it. In the finale Kara is tied up to an altar while the Thorn cult performs a ritual, Kara says "The baby is yours isn't it Michael?!" and the man in black turns and yells "Michael!." Originally this was the setup for Michael to kill the members of the Thorn cult.
• The theatrical version ends with Loomis re-enterting the asylum, and we see Michael's body is gone and we hear Loomis scream, suggesting Michael killed him. In the producer's cut, we see Loomis come across Michael's body, suddenly the mask is pulled off to reveal it is Wynn, who passes on his curse of being Michael's guardian to Loomis before he dies. As the rune of thorn appears on Loomis' arm he screams, and the final image is of Michael disguised as the man in black leaving the asylum.
• Because of the very different ending in the producer's cut, the dialogue between Wynn and Loomis in Smithsgrove is different, Wynn's outfit was also changed. The theatrical version simply uses Loomis's reaction shots and had Mitch Ryan reading new lines.
Comparison: Clueless meets Ninth Gate
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