The Trilogy Within An Ongoing Series

The Dream Child brings to a close a story line that began with A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.  It continued through 3 films.  Among a franchise that sports 8 entries in its original canon is this nice, complete standalone trilogy.  You can basically start fresh in Dream Warriors and work your way through Dream Child and the story lines (I'm not talking film quality here) come to a satisfying and concise conclusion.  With Dream Child we're left with Alice going off happily ever after with her life free of Freddy and with baby and Daddy in tow.  We never hear from any of these characters again.  They leave us with the promise that Freddy is probably still out there, but he'll never be harming Alice again.

Ranking The HALLOWEEN Franchise

Holy friggin' crap.  We're here! Day 31 of 31 Days Of Halloween.  I can't believe it.  This has probably been the most involved and biggest retrospective yet (and maybe ever).  James Bond may have had more movies, but I also had a lot more time (3.5 months).  This has been an awesome undertaking and one of the franchises I always wanted to do when it came to retrospectives.  I want to thank all my guest writers who submitted pieces to enhance and class up this joint.  You guys were all great and didn't even half ass anything when you could have.  It truly means a lot and I am full of gratitude.

I don't really have much more to say, being as I've been talking about this stuff for 31 days now.  At the bottom and at the top of this will be no surprise, but I'm sure there will be a shocker or two here as I don't see eye to eye with a lot of the "safe" rankings of this series by a majority of the fanbase.  I discovered this film and series on my own and I'll do my rankings as...my own.  Happy Halloween, and don't forget to scroll to the end for a tease of November's MUCH smaller retrospective.

My 10 Favroite Kills Of The Halloween Franchise

Okay, so I thought this would be some fun.  He's not as masterful as Freddy or as creative as Jason, but Michael has had some great kills in his run.  Halloween I think is known more for its suspense than its kills for a majority of the series run.  However, they weren't shy about dabbling in what was making its imitators more famous.  This was a bit tougher than I imagined.  If Michael was this tough, I don't know if I'm ready to spend many hours thinking about Jason and Freddy.  There were some omissions that I'm sure you'll point out, but trust me, I thought of them.  I also tried to stay away from deaths that were callbacks to other murders.  I want to point out that these are the ones I enjoyed quite a bit and stuck with me THIS time around (and no..."#1 Tina - Just because" isn't how this list is gonna go).  Opinions, tastes and favorites tend to rotate quite a bit in this life.  I could make this same list and 6 months and I'm sure there'd be some changes and alterations.  And folks, remember with lists like this, its not so much the order, its what's in them that's important.

In Memoriam: Ismael Cruz

Hey mikey, how you doin? Look, you can't let those walls get you down... believe me I know. I spent a little time behind walls. I know they can drive you crazy... you gotta look beyond the walls, you know, learn to live inside your head.

Halloween, Halloween 4 & Halloween 5 Back In Theaters This Weekend!

Hey folks!  Just in time for its 35th anniversary and...the week of Halloween, Screen Vision and Compass International are bringing the original Halloween and 2 of its sequels to the big screen.  They've had a couple showings this month already of these, so I think part of the screenings this week are an encore presentation for those of you who couldn't make it.  Seeing the original Halloween on the big screen is something you just kinda gotta do.  Hopefully you don't get stuck with a shit audience.  The special thing here is...how often do we ever see a revival of Halloween 4 & 5!  Pretty cool to see little Danielle Harris chased by Michael again!  Anywho, check out the link below for theater times near you and preorder yourself some tickets!

http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/halloween/

Enjoy the show!

Michael Myers: From Slasher To Hobo - I STILL Love You! (GuestArticle)

Today, I'm proud to provide a guest piece from the owner of Why So Blu? himself, Brian White!  He is the man I have dubbed "Blu-ray Jesus" as the man blesses us writers not only Blu-rays to review but stellar reviews and unboxings!  Brian provides us a positive look at the effects and history of his personal adventure of loving both Carpenter's original vision of Halloween and Rob Zombie's.

Halloween: A Rob Zombie Film (2007)

Halloween
2007
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon, Tyler Mane, Scout-Taylor Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, Danny Trejo, William Forsythe
Rated: R

Seriously though, on a scale from one to ten...seven-five?

How about...zero!

More like...zero plus 11.

     ~Bob and Linda

The Michael Myers Death Stare (Guest Article)

I'm extremely happy to have Aaron Neuwirth of Out Now With Aaron & Abe fame, Why So Blu? fame, The Code Is Zeek fame and The IchaPod CraneCast fame entertain us on this Saturday before Halloween.  Aaron is one of the best young (to me young, that is) minds of cinema around and someone who's truly helped me big time with a break or two in the criticism field.  Before we move on to his reimagining, let's take one last look at what made Michael tick and work in the original.  I hope you enjoy his first guest appearance here on Naptown Nerd.

In Memoriam: The Original Series' Canon

There's not a single person or word left I'd like to write about regarding Halloween: Resurrection.  However, it did make one big notable kill; the original franchise's storyline.  Yes, there were (to keep things simple) 2 different stories, but they all stemmed from the first 2 films.  Resurrection did open solid and made its money back, but things were much notably down from H20's take.  Plus there was plenty of fan backlash.  Moustapha Akkad pledged to truck on with a further sequel to the franchise.  Akkad vowed never to have remake of the original film.  There were many ideas floating about on how and where to take this film after Resurrection.  There was a popular script that featured Michael Myers in prison awaiting his trial or death row or something.  Another idea was to explore Michael's past as a child through a prequel.  I think another idea kind of combined both of those.  I don't think bringing Busta Rhymes back was ever in the cards.

How HALLOWEEN Became The 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Of Horror Franchises (Guest Article)

Folks, this is kind of a big deal here on Naptown Nerd.  The tables turn here, as I am proud to give you FORBES writer Scott Mendelson's first guest article for the site.  As you all probably know, I got my start doing guest pieces for his old blog Mendelson's Memos.  

In Memoriam: Jimmy Howell

Jimmy's been suspended five times already for gettin' a little crazy with the STICK!
                       ~Jimmy

Halloween: H20 (1998)

Halloween: H20
Director: Steve Miner
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, LL Cool J, Jodi Lynn O-Keefe, Nancy Stephens
Rated: R

I can't, I'm having my nipples pierced.
            ~Will Brennan

Halloween Water? hahahhahahahahah
            ~Every jackass in 1998 who thought they were telling an original joke.

As the stock in this series was seriously plummeting, luck struck the Halloween franchise's side.  Scream came out and resurrected interest and acclaim in the slasher film.  The film also played as a love letter to films like Halloween.  Also, Halloween was happening upon its 20th anniversary.  This brought Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter back out of the woodwork to try and give this thing another go in celebration.  Shit was about to get real.  Dr. Loomis might not be around any more but Laurie Strode was coming home!

Retropolis: Halloween & The Midnight Movies

The great Jim Dietz returns with another terrific guest spot here in the Halloween Retrospective.  This was originally published last week on Jim's blog, but he slid it my way to be an inclusion in this retrospective.  And thank you, Jim for that.  This is a great look back at his experiences with midnight movie revivals and his first taste of John Carpenter's Halloween.

Halloween II (1981)

 

Halloween II

1978

Director: Rick Rosenthal

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Lance Guest, Pamela Susan Shoop, Leo Rossi

He was my patient for fifteen years. He became an obsession with me until I realized there neither reason nor conscious or anything about him that was... even remotely human. An hour ago I stood up and fired six shots into him and he just got up and walked away. I am talking about the real possibility that he is STILL OUT THERE! 

                ~Dr. Loomis

Halloween: The Television Cut

Back when Halloween was to make it's debut on television, the edited cut made the film too short to air in the 2 hour time slot.  Funny enough, Halloween is laughably tame compared to today's television.  But alas, something needed to be done.  The original cut of the film used pretty much everything they shot.  Luckily, Halloween II was in production, so it was easy to pull some players from the first film back to do a few extra scenes.  One scene actually tied the first film in to the second's twist.  Another scene made comments made in the original pretty funny.  The other featured more Loomis.  I like these scenes, but I much much rather prefer the original cut of the film.

A Girl Scout's First HALLOWEEN (Guest Article)

Naptown Nerd trivia aficionados and stat geeks, we now have the answer to the question; Who was the first guest writer on Naptown Nerd?  The answer is Why So Blu?'s latest addition, LANEY FEESER.  This will be the first of a few guest pieces that will be filling out this retrospective.  When I asked Laney to throw me something she mentioned she'd never seen the original.  I thought - BRILLIANT!  It'd be awesome to have someone freshly recollect their first encounter.  Anyways...I'll shut up and let Laney speak!  Enjoy!

John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) - Part II

I met him, fifteen years ago; I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding; and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil. 
                              ~Dr. Loomis

For Part I - Click Here

In Memoriam: Annie Brackett

 Oh Paul, I give you all...no keys...but please, my Paul.

This the first piece of a few in the HALLOWEEN RETROSPECTIVE that will deal with the less fortunate of characters from this series.  Characters who didn't make it to November 1.  

John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978) - Part I

Halloween
1978
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles, Nancy Loomis, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Stephens
Rated: R

Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts, covens of witches with all of their hosts. You may think they scare me, You're probably right.  Black cats and goblins on Halloween night.  Trick or treat!

Things Nobody Wants: SCREAM To Get An MTV Series

According to the Hollywood Reporter yesterday, it appears MTV will be sending a television version of the film franchise SCREAM into production.  If we want to be a bit inside baseball, this isn't the first SCREAM television program.  THE FOLLOWING, airing on FOX, is supposedly a reworked version of what Kevin Williamson had in mind for a 5th SCREAM film before the Weinstein's meddled and he quit SCREAM 4.  If you were ever wondering his why he quit or what his original intentions were for SCREAM 4 and you've seen THE FOLLOWING, you can kind of guess how the 4th installment was supposed to play out.