Richard Christy Ranks The ‘Halloween’ Film Franchise
The Stern Show staffer and horror film enthusiast runs down his favorites
July 20, 2015
Not all “Halloween” movies are created equally — and thus there is a hierarchy to the iconic film franchise.
Stern Show staffer and horror film enthusiast Richard Christy ranked the films from top to bottom … though he maintains that he really does love all of them. Take a look below!
1. Halloween (1978)
Greatest film ever made. Greatest Music ever written. John Carpenter is a genius. Enough said.
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Beautifully shot and directed by the great Tommy Lee Wallace. Tom Atkins is a stud as the lead actor, and once again the John Carpenter/Alan Howarth soundtrack is pure genius.
3. Halloween II (1981)
A perfect continuation of “The Night He Came Home”, the synth version of the original soundtrack in this film is haunting and beautiful, and once again Donald Pleasance is masterful as Dr. Loomis. His Samhain story gives me chills ever time.
4. ‘Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers’ (1995)
Paul Rudd’s performance is over the top and a lot of fun. The look of the town of Haddonfield is creepy and foreboding. Donald Pleasance’s final performance is great and the producer’s cut of this film is original and different from the other films with the Druid back story.
5. “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” (1988)
The opening sequence in this film is beautiful, featuring shots of an abandoned farm in the fall along with simple, eerie music, I could just watch the opening sequence over and over for an hour and a half. Fortunately the rest of the film is great too.
6. “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers” (1989)
The cheese factor of a lot of the characters in this film is what makes it so great. Many of the characters are VERY 1980’s which is pretty funny. The Jamie Lloyd “Psychic Link” with Michael Myers in this film is a departure from the other films and adds an interesting twist to this sequel.
7. “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998)
The return of the GREAT Jamie Lee Curtis. The fact that Jamie Lee Curtis and her legendary mother Janet Leigh from the famous shower scene in Psycho are in this film together is enough to make it a classic, just like John Carpenter’s The Fog, which features both Jamie Lee and her mother.
8. “Halloween: Resurrection (2002)”
Technically part 8 in the series. I like the idea of the reality show in the Michael Myers house, although the fact that Busta Rhymes kicks Michael Myers ass is a little far-fetched. I still like this film though and it’s required viewing in the Christy household every October.
