Review of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) by Thomas H — 29 Sep 2016

Possibly the greatest movie of all time. The theatrical Halloween 6 (not the Producer's cut) is distinctly superior to most other movies, including Alien, The Terminator, Star Wars, The LotR trilogy and Gone With The Wind.

After 20 years, Joe Chappelle's contribution to the Halloween canon is as relevant and visually stunning a work of art as it was in 1995 - the first Miramax instalment in the Michael Myers saga is a spectacle of cinema.

The tradition of great films being the possessor of metaphor and symbolism isn't in any absent in Halloween 6; despite a short running time, H6 is rife with symbolism, and yet the possession of it only helps the literal story being told - specifically, the ideas of H6 are the attribute of being one with the story, yet able to be separate.

The immediate sequel to H5, another powerful work of art, though comparatively lesser to H6, the 1995 renewal simultaneously gives greater power to H5, and is free of all the franchises' previous history: to use the original Carpenter Halloween against H6 would be to serve H6, but it isn't necessary, because H6's thematic and intellectual depth is as much outside the dynamic of the Myers story.

How can I do this movie justice? In truth, I probably can, but it's an absolute testament to the film's quality and status that it provokes such response from a viewer. The root style and vibe of H6 is scary to the greatest degree, but the expression isn't just great for its terror - the vibe of H6 is about reality's destiny, and the very deepest identity of its meaning. The power of H6is to make me wonder about the nature of the universe, and if H6 is an intended act from the source of the universe. From the film's opening with Jamie, and her evasion of Myers, to the events in the Myers house, and then back to the hospital with Kara and Tommy, H6 consistently terrorises, yet more importantly communicates a significant sense of metaphysical meaning. The barn and the hospital alone define the film, but Kara's moments in the Myers house, whether if it's looking for her mother or for her son also make H6 a true masterpiece of art. Marianne Hagan and Paul Rudd are both excellent in this film, the two of them in the hospital doing enough to be greater to watch than Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Pulp Fiction, or Vertigo or 2001 A Space Odyssey. The colours and lighting of their scenes in the hospital isn't just not meaningless, but symbolic in ways that are timeless.

H6 is an actual film that can be experienced timelessly.

I won't say I'm frustrated with the movie's hostile historic status, but I will say that the theatrical H6 is as much a quality movie as any Best Picture Oscar winner since the ceremony's beginning.