- In "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,"
a new nuclear family lives in the old Myers' house.
Well, you know, it isn't exactly the Myers' house,
but it's closer than the monstrosity
they used in "Halloween 5."
The parents are named John and Debra Strode,
the aunt and uncle of Laurie Strode from "Halloween I,"
who are named after the producers of that original movie:
John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
For added authenticity,
John Strode's first line in the movie
sounds exactly like something John Carpenter
would have said after making "Halloween II."
- Enough of this Michael Myers--
bull****!! (ax chopping)
- While Carpenter and Hill did date for a few years
in the late seventies while they made "Halloween,"
the only child their relationship birthed in real life
was one of the top 10 most lucrative
horror franchises of all time.
The sixth entry of this franchise would feature
many more connections to the 1978 original
as well as many other surprising secrets.
To learn the meaning behind this pumpkin and more,
stick around to the end of this video.
(rock music)
(train rumbling)
Thank you for riding the Halloween Express.
The next stop is "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers."
When we pull into the station,
you'll exit to the left on the Producer's Cut platform.
Yeah, I decided to use the infamous producer's cut
as the basis for this episode of "Things You Missed,"
but I will still mention one easter egg
that can only be found in the theatrical cut.
As with all the previous Halloween films
we've passed through on this journey,
I will once again be joined by my co-conductor,
Jimmy Champane.
- So Zac I got these shirts made from "Halloween 6"
and we realized that it had
a not-friendly YouTube word on it,
so I spent all this time taping it out and then I realized,
this is my recording angle.
It's a little known fact that the producer's cut
of my last name has a G in it.
- Yeah, I might need to take that joke out
of the CZ Cut of this video.
I'll ask that everybody please take their seats
and turn your attention to the windows
as we'll be running through some more "Things You Missed."
(blade whooshing)
(eerie music)
As I mentioned, the parent characters in "Halloween 6"
pay homage to the Carpenter-Hill duo,
who went on to collaborate on many more films together
and one of which is the 1980 movie, "The Fog,"
which is also referenced here in Curse, roll it.
- [Tim] This is the famous Tim Strode stomach pounder,
you down for the challenge?
- If you've seen "The Fog,"
the line might sound very familiar.
- Yes, ma'am.
Mom, can I have a stomach pounder and a Coke?
- In 1982, Carpenter and Hill produced "Halloween III,"
which is also honored here.
The woman who runs the boarding house
next door to the Myers' house
goes by the name of Mrs. Blankenship,
the same name as the woman that Mr. Grimbridge
was supposed to have had dinner with
shortly before his disappearance in "Season of the Witch."
- "October 21st, dinner with Minnie."
Minnie Blankenship, he never showed up.
- "The Curse of Michael Myers" begins
as we see an older Jamie Lloyd,
the little girl from "Halloween 4" and "Halloween 5"
escaping from Smith's Grove Sanitarium.
We don't know that it's Smith's Grove yet,
but if you pause the movie right here,
you can see that it's actually a Smith's Grove van
chasing Jamie right before it forces her off the road.
But when we do officially find out later on,
it makes some nice parallels to the previous movies.
In "Halloween" and "Halloween 4,"
Michael Myers is the one who escape Smith's Grove
on a rainy October 30th night.
And now it's Jamie,
the girl once poised to be his successor.
She even steals a car just as Michael did
after both of his escapes.
There's also this very dark detail
in the producer's cut of "Halloween 6"
that implies that Michael Myers
is the father of Jamie Lloyd's child,
or as I learned to call him
in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness, uncle dad.
And you guys aren't going to believe this,
but it gets even darker from there.
So in this movie,
Jamie is played by an actress named J.C. Brandy,
who was 20 years old at the time.
But since Jamie was eight years old in "Halloween 4,"
and this one takes place in 1995,
that would mean she's around 15 years old
when she delivers her baby and that is just dark and gross.
In the theatrical cut, they added the shot
of a bunch of embryos to imply
that Stephen is a test tube baby,
just to make it a little less disturbing
for the general movie going audience.
But then in turn, they also made it more disturbing
for religious movie goers.
So yeah, it's like six in one hand, half dozen in the other,
you're gonna offend someone with a plot point like that.
On a lighter note, there's a weird coincidence
with this trilogy of "Halloween" movies
and the way that they're subtitled.
So the first one is called
"Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers."
The fifth one is called
"Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers,"
and the sixth one is called
"Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers."
And weirdly enough, there's another film franchise
that used the same subtitles
for it's fourth, sixth, and eighth movies,
and that franchise is "The Pink Panther."
Yes, Pink Panther four is called
"The Return of the Pink Panther."
Pink Panther six is called
"The Revenge of the Pink Panther,"
and Pink Panther eight is called
"The Curse of the Pink Panther."
- Each of those Pink Panther movies
came out before it's Halloween counterpart.
And on top of that, there was a Pink Panther remake in 2006,
one year before Halloween's remake in 2007.
And that remake had a sequel, the "Pink Panther 2" in 2009,
just six months before the Halloween remake sequel,
"Halloween II."
But Pink Panther comparison aside,
"The Curse of Michael Myers" features Michael
coming back to Haddonfield under the orders
of the mysterious Cult of Thorn
to steal Jamie Lloyd's baby and sacrifice his half cousin
to pass his curse onto the child.
With the franchise branching away
from the lore of the earlier movies,
this film tries to get back to basics
by tying the modern Michael Myers
back into the Celtic mythology
that backed "Halloween II" and "Halloween III."
Director Joe Chappelle even brought back Donald Pleasence's
blatant mispronunciation of the Gaelic festival Samhain
when Tommy Doyle explains it all to Kara Strode.
- According to Celtic legend, one child from each tribe
was chosen to be inflicted with the Curse of Thorn,
so after the blood sacrifices of its next of kin
on the night of Samhain.
- Halloween.
- The sacrifice of one family
meant sparing the lives of an entire tribe.
- Samhain was explained in "Halloween II"
to be the source of Michael's benevolent evil.
And in "Halloween III," the motivation
for Conal Cochran's terrifying Halloween plot.
Curse takes the involvement to the holiday one step further
by connecting it to these ancient runes
and explaining that the dates of Michael's attacks
are determined by the appearance of the Thorn constellation.
And as Tommy explains this,
his face is way too close to Kara's hair.
I guess he and Loomis have that in common.
- [Loomis] Are you all right?
- Yeah, that definitely is a weird thing
that keeps happening.
- Also every time I watch this part about the runes now,
I'm just going to see the word simp right there.
Thanks internet.
- A good amount of people
are just doing the reasonable thing and just making jokes.
- Anyway, at the end of Jamie's escape from Smith's Grove,
she crashes into a pumpkin patch at a barn,
a very similar location
to where she gave Michael the slip in "Halloween 5."
Only this time, Jamie is not so lucky.
(eerie music)
Throughout this mini series of Halloween franchise
"Things You Missed" episode, Jimmy and I have attempted
to point out all of the lesser known callbacks,
the tributes, the homages to the original Halloween.
Despite everything we've already brought up
in the first five movies,
this sixth entry may be the most derivative of all,
but there is another massively iconic horror movie
that "The Curse of Michael Myers" feels very influenced by,
and that is Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece,
"The Shining."
- It just so happens that your hosts today
are the perfect people to be pointing out these connections
because I have a channel that's practically dedicated
to "Halloween" and Zac never misses a reference
to "The Shining."
Zac wrote that joke to say
he never seems to miss a reference to "The Shining,"
but I'm just going to come out and tell you guys
he never misses one, it's a fact.
- So if you're somehow unfamiliar with "The Shining,"
one, what are you doing with your life?
And two, here's what you need to know.
A former teacher named Jack Torrance moves his family
into an isolated hotel for the winter
so he can take a job as the hotel's winter caretaker.
His son Danny has a psychic and clairvoyant ability
known as the shine,
allowing him to see the ghosts of the hotel's past.
After being shut in long enough,
the ghosts get to Jack, causing him to go crazy
and to chase his family with an ax.
- Halloween is an unlikely franchise to do "The Shining"
because Michael Myers is a slasher villain
and "The Shining" is a psychological horror movie.
But if you keep any franchise going long enough,
you're bound to try something new.
- "The Shining" connection all starts
with Kara's son Danny.
Not only does he share a name with Danny Torrance
from "The Shining," but he's a young boy with a bowl cut
and psychic voices in his head.
Danny Strode hears the voice of Dr. Wynn,
who encourages him to kill for Michael Myers.
While Danny Torrance hears Tony,
his imaginary friend who warns him
about the dangerous posed by his shine.
Danny Strode even has visions just like Danny Torrance does.
About halfway through the movie, Dr. Loomis tries to warn
the Strodes that Michael Myers is going to come for them.
He does so by just straight up walking into their house.
- This dude is out of control, he could have just waited
by the front door for them to come home.
- After warning Debra about this danger,
she wants to get the kids out of Haddonfield.
- I'm getting the children out of here,
at least until I know what's going on.
John, I want you to come with us.
- This is basically beat for beat
the same conversation that Wendy Torrance
has with her husband in "The Shining"
when she tries to suggest that her Danny
should be driven to a doctor in town for his wellbeing.
- I think maybe he should be taken to a doctor.
- You think maybe he should be taken to a doctor?
- Yes!
- Earlier, I talked about the character John Strode
being named after John Carpenter,
but perhaps there is a second meaning here as well.
He seems to represent Jack Torrance in this story,
whose real name in "The Shining" novel is John Torrance.
I first realized the similarity between these characters
when I saw John Strode's first reaction
to his wife's hysteria.
- You've lost it, you know that, Debra?
You've just lost it.
- It's very similar to Jack's response to Wendy's claim
that someone is with them in the hotel.
- Are you out of your (beep) mind?
- They were both alcoholic, abusive father figures.
John Strode even drinks Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey,
the very same beverage selected by Jack in "The Shining."
Heck, they even use the exact same line at one point.
- Come out, come out wherever you are.
- The way Michael Myers approaches Debra
slowly as her back is turned is very similar
to how Jack approaches Wendy as she's reading
through the stacks of paper on the typewriter.
There's no sudden movement or jumps scare,
just the looming realization
that the character is not alone.
Michael eventually takes her out with an ax,
a weapon that he's never used before,
and at the time of making this video has never used since.
Check me on that, Jimmy.
- Yeah, that is the only time Michael Myers uses an ax.
- I'm sure it's no coincidence
that he wields Jack Torrance's main weapon of choice.
Both Dannys go into these hypnotic trances
later in the movie, and both of their mothers
have a similar reaction at the first sight of danger.
- [Kara] Danny run!
- [Wendy] Run and hide!
- Remember how I said I'd be using one thing
from "Halloween 6's" theatrical cut?
Well, the room that Kara escapes from in the sanitarium
is room 237, the same number as the most haunted room
in the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining."
All right, I've had my fun,
I'm going to throw it over to Jimmy Champane
to talk about all of the "Halloween 1" connections.
- Thanks Zac, I'll just start at the beginning of the movie
and move on from there.
When Jamie is escaping the asylum,
a woman who helps her out gets lifted up
and impaled on this thorn like object on the wall,
which is very similar to how Michael took out Bob Simms
back in '78, especially how he just stands there
and admires his work.
- Also, Bob Simms has the same last name as Barry Simms,
the radio show host in 6.
Although I don't think they're related,
it doesn't seem like Barry would be so exploitative
of Haddonfield and Michael Myers if he had a family member
get whacked in the original rampage.
- That night when Tommy Doyle logs on
to the project Michael Myers website,
Michael Myers face flashes on the screen
in the exact same way that he appeared out of the dark
at the top of the Doyle's staircase back in 1978.
- If this came out today, there would be a whole
project Michael Myers ARG
leading up to the release of the movie.
- Yeah, I hope you're paying attention, Night Mind.
Anyway, we're reintroduced to Dr. Terence Wynn,
who appeared as a young administrator at Smith's Grove
back in the first movie.
- After 32 years, guess who is finally relinquishing
his duties as Chief Administrator of Smith's Grove?
- No, it's not the same actor,
but many people don't realize that this is a character
who was featured in the first movie.
And it's definitely not their fault
because he was only in like two shots.
And of course, the other "Halloween I" character
who came back in a big way was Tommy Doyle.
- He's always staring out his window.
Last night I caught him watching me.
- Tommy Doyle staring out a window?
I guess some things never change.
There's even a moment where young Danny
sees Michael Myers across the way from Tommy's window,
just like young Tommy did in the first movie.
Then there's the Haddonfield bus terminal
where we hear this announcement.
- [Announcer] Bus 34 from Peoria, Russellville and Gardner
with through service to Chicago, Illinois,
we'll be arriving in five minutes.
- But Russellville is one of the nearby towns
that was mentioned in Halloween's I and II.
- I remember over in Russellville.
- We've still got a bunch more to cover
like "Halloween I" connections,
crew reference easter eggs and this one single pumpkin,
but Zac is giving me the eye right now,
so I think we're supposed to take a break
and come right back with even more "Things You Missed."
(thunder crackles)
(eerie music)
- In our previous episodes,
we talked about how Michael always seems to appear
in tandem with these bedsheets,
which we theorized is related to his tendency
to go after teenagers, like his sister Judith,
who are always focused
on trying to go to bed with one another.
At this point, I think the meaning is lost
and the bedsheets are just more of a running gag.
We see them hanging up outside
as Debra is chased out of the house
and Mr. Strode later finds one of the sheets
covered in red in the washing machine.
And this one isn't technically a bed sheet,
but Michael notably appears behind a curtain
as Mrs. Blankenship is telling Michael's backstory.
You can only spot him as the lightning is striking outside.
- Remember how in the original, bullies harassed Tommy
and make him fall on his pumpkin?
Well in Curse, something very similar happens to Danny
who is startled and drops his pumpkin on the ground,
only this time, Tommy's the one who causes it.
- Sorry.
- At this point, Barry Simms is well into
his Halloween night radio broadcast from Haddonfield
and during the commercial break,
Michael takes them out inside of a vehicle
in a very similar scene to how we see Annie die
in the first "Halloween" movie.
- Meanwhile, we check in on Beth and her boyfriend Tim,
as she tells the story of Michael's first attack
back in 1963 while walking up the same stairs
that Judith Myers and her boyfriend walked up
that very night.
Then they sleep together on the same bed,
or at least in the same bedroom
where Judith became Michael Myers's first ever victim.
After getting busy upstairs,
Tim jumps in the shower and Michael hands him a towel
pretending to be Beth.
This is something that seems to happen once in each movie.
Michael pretended to be Bob under the ghost costume
to catch Linda off guard in 1.
He pretended to be Bud
to get close to Karen in the hot tub in II.
He poses his Deputy Logan to sneak up on Kelly in 4
and he takes the wheel of Mikey's car in costume
to pick up Tina in 5.
- And finally, when Kara jumps out of a window
to escape Michael Myers and the Cult of Thorn,
we see her lying face down on the ground
just like Michael did at the end of "Halloween" 1978.
- Now being the former Illinois boy that I am,
I've always been interested
in Haddonfield's location in the state.
Haddonfield is not a real place,
but we've seen it placed all over the Prairie State,
including south of Hardin County,
which is way at the bottom,
in Warren County, which is way to the West,
and in Livingston County in the Northeast
closer to Lake Michigan.
In "Halloween 6," we get more of an exact map placement,
thanks to the bus map shown right here.
The order of these stops is pretty accurate
with the exception of Bloomington
and Funk's Grove being switched.
Using this map places Haddonfield right around
where the village of Odell is in real life,
which is part of Livingston County.
I would say that this is a nice attention to detail,
but a newspaper later in the movie still features
Haddonfield news in the Warren County Gazette.
As I've mentioned before, Haddonfield is supposed to be
more of an Everytown, USA sort of place,
so the actual location isn't really that important,
but it can still be fun to analyze this map.
By the way, when we first see the bus station,
there's a sign at the desk that says back in 20.
This is obviously a reference to the franchise coming back
for "Halloween Kills,"
which was supposed to come out in 2020,
but it was delayed one year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Shut up, Zac.
- I'm guessing that joke
will not be in the Jimmy Champane cut.
- Speaking of locations though,
a whole bunch of the Thorn trilogy
was shot in Salt Lake City, Utah,
and we see a reference to this in a magazine on John's desk
that's opened up to Salt Lake City real estate listings.
- There's also a one crew reference easter egg
that I was able to spot in the form of a sticky note
posted by the Strode's phone.
It lists the number for Dr. Duane,
which is likely an odd to Duane Manwiller,
the first assistant camera on "Halloween 6."
While we're talking about the production side of things,
the film was distributed by Dimension Films,
which is part of the production company Miramax.
Dimension was also responsible for other high profile
horror franchises, such as "Hellraiser,"
and it seems they really wanted to push it at the time.
According to "Rivers of Grue,"
one million dollars was taken out of the budget
for "The Curse of Michael Myers"
and given to "Hellraiser: Bloodline,"
which would come out the next year.
In addition to that, "Halloween 6" director,
Joe Chappelle had to come and finish directing "Bloodline"
uncredited after the original director quit.
So it comes as no surprise that they tried to promote
the new "Hellraiser" movie by putting
this pinhead inspired jack-o-lantern on the front porch.
There are actually quite a few
additional horror movie references.
Before Michael Myers is first introduced in this one,
we see his shadow on a staircase, just like the iconic scene
from the 1922 vampire flick "Nosferatu."
I think you probably already realized
Beth and Tim's costumes are supposed to be
Frankenstein's monster and Bride of Frankenstein,
but I'm mentioning it here just in case.
Later on when Tommy takes Kara upstairs
to his boarding room, you'll notice Mrs. Blankenship
watching Phantom of the Opera,
a movie with a very famous unmasking scene,
perhaps a clue about Dr. Loomis' unmasking of Dr. Wynn
at the end of this cut.
- [John Strode] Kids, my dear Debra, are what's ruining this country.
Everywhere you go, it's the same damn thing.
It's no ******* respect.
(soft claps)
(crowd cheering)
- He's talking about millennials.
There are just a couple of other miscellaneous items
that I want to point out.
When Barry is broadcasting his radio show
the day before Halloween, Jamie calls in
and claims that Michael is back and he responds
by saying that it seems like every loonie in the state
is calling tonight.
What's the deal here?
Did radio shows not screen their callers in the nineties?
In any event, I do love the use of nineties slang
to foreshadow the arrival of Michael Myers.
- Tonight's going to be killer.
- Finally, there's this shot that I found kind of cool.
When Kara gets back home to the Myers' house,
you see the coat rack way in the background, which is weird
because why would you put a coat rack upstairs?
But it's dressed to almost resemble the appearance
of Dr. Wynn with the trench coat and the long brim hat.
It seems this was maybe supposed to be
a bit of a psychological trick on the audience.
Like "The Shining" parallels,
another example of this Halloween having a little bit more
of an affinity for psychological horror than the others.
Whether you prefer the producer's cut
where Loomis discovers that Michael's escaped
and sees the thorn symbol appear on his own arm,
or the theatrical cut where Michael turns on the cult
and then gets drugged and beat up by Tommy and Kara,
this is where we reach the end of the line
on the Halloween express.
For connections to the 20 year timeline,
including destinations like "Halloween H2O"
and "Halloween Resurrection," go back to "Halloween II,"
where our linked terminal will be opening in Fall 2022.
In the meantime, make sure you thank Jimmy Champane
for joining us on this entire journey
and sharing his expertise on all things Halloween.
- Also, if you haven't already,
please subscribe to Zac's channel.
I know that he won't say it himself,
but there is a ton of work that goes into
each and every one of these videos
and he totally deserves your support.
- So join us next year.
Yes, I said next year for new "Things You Missed" episodes
on the rest of the Halloween franchise.
Until then I've got a lot of other horror topics to cover.
Make sure you subscribe CZsWorld for new horrors every week.
Ring the death bell for all notifications.
And I will see you in the next one,
assuming we both survive.
(upbeat music)
(eerie music)
(screams)