Horror by Harrison

  After the relative failure of Halloween III , producer Moustapha Akkad ( Lion of the Desert ) wanted to return the series to its slasher roots and thus brought Michael Myers back to the franchise. Ultimately John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis declined to return to the franchise. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was written by Alan B. McElroy ( Wrong Turn ) and directed by Dwight H. Little ( Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home ). Halloween 4 was released on October 21, 1988 to generally negative reviews (though contemporary analyses of the film are decidedly more mixed). Halloween 4 was made on a budget of $5 million, made $6,831,250 upon opening, and went on to make $17,768,757 worldwide.  Halloween 4 picks up ten years after the events of the first two films. Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child ) has been in a coma and Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence, You Only Live Twice ) has suffered serious injuries from the explosion ...

Here we are, the weird step-sibling of the Halloween franchise: Halloween III: Season of the Witch . For those who don’t know Halloween III is the oddball of the series as it doesn’t feature Michael Myers and follows a completely separate narrative. With Michael and Dr. Loomis presumably dead at the end of Halloween II , the idea was to continue the franchise as an anthology series. With the poor reception of the film, those plans were scrapped and Michael returned in the next entry (more on that next week). Halloween III was written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace ( It ) and was released on October 22, 1982. Halloween III received largely negative reviews upon release, but has gone on to be regarded as a cult classic. Halloween III was made for a budget of $2.5 million, made $6,333,259 upon opening, and went on to make $14,400,000 worldwide. Halloween III follows Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins, Lethal Weapon ) as he investigates the death of a man who is murdered at his hospit...

  “More of the night He came home.” Has a tagline for a film ever been more appropriate? Off the top of my head I can’t think of one. With that in mind why don’t we dive headfirst into the second film of the October theme month: Halloween II . Halloween II was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and directed by Rick Rosenthal. Halloween II was released on October 30th, 1981 and received mixed reviews upon release. Halloween II was made for a budget of $2.5 million, made $7,446,508 upon opening, and went on to make $25,533,818 worldwide. Halloween II picks up at the exact moment it’s predecessor left off (well, technically it begins a few minutes before the original ends, playing out an abridged version of the film’s final scene). Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda ) is taken to the hospital while Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence, You Only Live Twice ) continues his search for Michael Myers (Dick Warlock, Escape from New York ). Meanwhile, Michael stalks Laurie thr...

“The night He came home.” Welcome to the first theme month from Horror by Harrison. During the month of October I will be covering the first four Halloween films, continuing with the rest of the franchise during the next couple Octobers. Halloween was written by John Carpenter ( The Thing ) and Debra Hill ( Escape from New York ), directed by Carpenter, and released on October 25, 1978. Halloween was made on a budget of $325,000 and went on to gross $47,000,000. While many were critical at the time, the film was a financial success and the film has earned acclaim in retrospect and went on to inspire the slasher craze of the 80s.  Halloween follows teen babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda ) and her friends as they are stalked by Michael Myers (Nick Castle, Escape from New York ), a masked man who recently escaped from a psychiatric facility where he’d been held since killing his older sister when he was child. After finding her friends dead, Laurie must f...