With the upcoming release of Halloween Ends this Friday, October 14th, I thought it would be a good time to go through and take a look at the different timelines of the Halloween franchise. Coincidentally there are 5 distinct timelines within the Halloween Franchise, so today continuing on is part 3 of a five part series every day this week. Welcome to Halloween Timeline part three.
In 1978 the original Halloween, directed and scored by John Carpenter, was released independently by Compass International Pictures. Who could have imagined that this independent horror film in 1978 would spark a franchise that would span over four decades, thirteen films with five distinct timelines. Here is Halloween timeline part three.
This timeline begins the same as the first timeline in the series so for a breakdown of Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981) you can check the original post by clicking here. This timeline skips the whole Jamie Strode and Thorn films and picks up in 1998 with Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
Halloween (1978)
Halloween II (1981)
Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
This film in the series was directed by Steve Miner and is written by Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg. The film brings back Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of Laurie Strode going under the alias of Keri Tate, as well as Nurse Marion Chambers played by Nancy Stephens. The film begins with Nurse Chambers arriving to a house in Langdon, Illinois and she sees that the light is broken and the door is open on the house. She goes next door to ask the kids to check out the house for her and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt checks out the house and sees no one there. She goes in and sees that the Laurie Strode file is missing. Michael Myers is there and starts hunting her down. She runs next door and Jimmy and Tony are both dead. As cops arrive to check out the house, Michael kills her and takes off in the car.
Laurie is now using the name Keri Tate and is the headmistress of a boarding school in California. The kids of the school are going on a trip to Yosemite national park. Laurie (Keri), Will Brennan her love interest, security guard Ronny Jones played by LL Cool J, her son John (Josh Hartnett), Molly (Michelle Williams), Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd) and Sarah (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) remain at the school. Side note, secretary Norma Watson is played by Jamie Lee Curtis’ real life mother Janet Leigh. Michael arrives at the school, gets in and proceeds to go after the kids. He kills off Charlie and Sarah, John and Molly are saved by Laurie and Will. After mistakenly shooting Ronny, Will checks on him and Michael proceeds to kill him off. The finale of the film has Laurie realizing that she needs to end this with Michael. She stabs him numerous times, pushes him off the balcony and when the authorities arrive and load him into the coroners van, she steals the van sends him through the windshield, hits him with the van and decapitates him with an axe. It seems like Laurie has seen the last of Michael Myers.
Halloween Resurrection (2002)
Halloween Resurrection is the last film in the Halloween timeline part three. This film begins with a retcon of the killing of Michael Myers at the end of Halloween H20. We learn from nurses at the psychiatric facility Laurie is confined in that the man she decapitated at the end of the last film was a paramedic that Michael switched places with. Michael arrives at the facility to kill Laurie, but she has a trap set for him to spring. She is on the roof and has Michael right where she wants him (man this would be a short movie) and with the guilt of killing the wrong person, she goes to take off his mask to make sure it really is him. Michael gets her with the stab and tosses her off the roof killing off Laurie in this timeline.
A year later there is an internet show called Dangertainment that is run by Fredddy (Busta Rhymes) and Nora (Tyra Banks). They will be having several college students spending the night in the old Myers house. The students are Sara (Bianca Kajlich), Bill (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Donna (Daisy McCrackin), Jen (Katee Sackhoff), Jim (Luke Kirby) and Rudy (Sean Patrick Thomas). While setting up the cameras, Michael shows up and kills Charlie the camera guy. As the students enter the house, Sara gets a glimpse of Michael peering through the window. They split up into groups of two and start exploring the house. Michael starts picking them off, Sara is the only left alive and is being assisted by her friend Deckard (Ryan Merriman) over a Palm messenger type device. Freddy (stabbed by Michael) and Sara are the last two alive, Michael is after them and Freddy fights with Michael and electrocutes him. Michael presumed dead is taken to the morgue and awakens as the coroner is about to examine his body.
Thoughts of the Halloween timeline part three
This version of the timeline is an interesting one. We get the original Halloween and Halloween 2 and then we bring it to a feel with H20 and Resurrection of Michael having unfinished business with his sister and killing unwanted visitors in his old home. This timeline for me ranks pretty high of the five as it is more focused on Michael and his “quest” to kill his family without getting into the cult/supernatural stuff.
What are your thoughts on this version of the timeline? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting us up on our Twitter account by clicking here. As always stay tuned to Culture Splat for more like this. Don’t forget to check out our store by clicking here for our Michael Myers mug which is perfect for some hot chocolate or coffee while watching Michael going on his killing sprees.
