This sixth Halloween entry is a tough one to call. On the one hand we have a fairly interesting version of the film that has never been officially released and a released version that is mediocre at best.
The fifth film introduced a man dressed in black (and sporting a weird tattoo) who freed Michael from jail. What the heck was that about? Well, it seems that Michael belongs to some sort of cult who adore him and once the stars in the sky form some sort of pattern Michael gets the urge to kill. On the next Halloween night the baby of Jamie Lloyd, Michael's niece, has to be sacrificed and Michael is the one who has to make the kill.
I really can't make much sense out of this drivel. Giving Michael a supernatural background story was always going to end up badly and here the script (for the released version) is all over the place and nothing makes much sense. It does have a number of effective murder sequences and director Chapelle (who all Halloween fans hate, by the way) does an OK job at giving the film a stylish look.
Then there's the infamous Producer's Cut version which made better sense of the whole supernatural element behind Michael's origins (initially the film was to be called "Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers). Ironically that version is much more similar in style and atmosphere to the original. There's less bloodletting and mayhem and the supernatural element is handled pretty well and it has a shocker of an ending. It's more stylish, somewhat Gothic and caps the whole story off in a much better way.
Why this "Producer's Cut" was axed and a more confusing version released is baffling. Everybody seems to agree that the released version is inferior and much more senseless. I have to jump on the bandwagon and support those who like the unreleased version better.
Donald Pleasence is very old here but he's a joy to watch as Dr. Loomis, Michael's main nemesis in the series. It was reported that director Joe Chapelle had no respect for Mr. Pleasence and tried to keep him out of the movie as much as he could. Apparently the guy thought it was beneath him to direct a Halloween movie and somewhere he stated that this was merely a price he had to pay to move on to bigger and better things. Nice! No such problem was with the film's screenwriter Daniel Farrands, a big fan of the series. He relished the chance of writing a Halloween movie and his original script (used for the Producer's Cut) is actually very decent. The whole Thorn aspect is explained in as good a way as possible (although I never liked the concept).
Other actors are pretty good, especially Mitchell Ryan who gets a much bigger role in the unreleased version. Paul Rudd pulls off his role well but it bugs the hell out of me the way the actor has talked about this film after it's release. He and Chapelle must have been big pals as Rudd offered to refund those people who had paid to see the movie. This to me is an arrogant and unprofessional move from this overall very decent actor.
The verdict here is that the unreleased version is a solid film overall. The released version, while not all bad, is mediocre at best with some effective set pieces that compensate for a truly confusing story. The "Producer's Cut" should be released on DVD so every curious horror fan can take a glimpse at what should have been.
The fifth film introduced a man dressed in black (and sporting a weird tattoo) who freed Michael from jail. What the heck was that about? Well, it seems that Michael belongs to some sort of cult who adore him and once the stars in the sky form some sort of pattern Michael gets the urge to kill. On the next Halloween night the baby of Jamie Lloyd, Michael's niece, has to be sacrificed and Michael is the one who has to make the kill.
I really can't make much sense out of this drivel. Giving Michael a supernatural background story was always going to end up badly and here the script (for the released version) is all over the place and nothing makes much sense. It does have a number of effective murder sequences and director Chapelle (who all Halloween fans hate, by the way) does an OK job at giving the film a stylish look.
Then there's the infamous Producer's Cut version which made better sense of the whole supernatural element behind Michael's origins (initially the film was to be called "Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers). Ironically that version is much more similar in style and atmosphere to the original. There's less bloodletting and mayhem and the supernatural element is handled pretty well and it has a shocker of an ending. It's more stylish, somewhat Gothic and caps the whole story off in a much better way.
Why this "Producer's Cut" was axed and a more confusing version released is baffling. Everybody seems to agree that the released version is inferior and much more senseless. I have to jump on the bandwagon and support those who like the unreleased version better.
Donald Pleasence is very old here but he's a joy to watch as Dr. Loomis, Michael's main nemesis in the series. It was reported that director Joe Chapelle had no respect for Mr. Pleasence and tried to keep him out of the movie as much as he could. Apparently the guy thought it was beneath him to direct a Halloween movie and somewhere he stated that this was merely a price he had to pay to move on to bigger and better things. Nice! No such problem was with the film's screenwriter Daniel Farrands, a big fan of the series. He relished the chance of writing a Halloween movie and his original script (used for the Producer's Cut) is actually very decent. The whole Thorn aspect is explained in as good a way as possible (although I never liked the concept).
Other actors are pretty good, especially Mitchell Ryan who gets a much bigger role in the unreleased version. Paul Rudd pulls off his role well but it bugs the hell out of me the way the actor has talked about this film after it's release. He and Chapelle must have been big pals as Rudd offered to refund those people who had paid to see the movie. This to me is an arrogant and unprofessional move from this overall very decent actor.
The verdict here is that the unreleased version is a solid film overall. The released version, while not all bad, is mediocre at best with some effective set pieces that compensate for a truly confusing story. The "Producer's Cut" should be released on DVD so every curious horror fan can take a glimpse at what should have been.