Tommy reconnects with Dr. Loomis and they head to Mrs. Blankenship’s where they expect to find Kara, Danny, and the baby. They are shocked to also find the Man in Black, who is revealed to be Dr. Wynn. The cultists kidnap Kara and the children while drugging Tommy and Loomis. Upon waking, the men head to Smith’s Grove and find their way into the facility’s dungeon sanctuary from the opening sequence. Loomis confronts Wynn, who tells of his role as Michael’s guardian protector, a job he hopes his colleague will now assume. Outraged, Loomis tries to shoot Wynn but is knocked unconscious. The cult then stages a ceremony to commemorate a shift in power. Michael shall murder the baby – the last of his bloodline – as his final sacrifice. The curse of Thorn will then transfer to Danny, who will murder his mother as his first sacrifice. Tommy rescues Kara, Danny, and the baby using runes (small stones with ancient symbols on them) of protection and light to counter Thorn, which completely immobilizes the Shape. They escape Smith’s Grove, though Loomis stays behind to settle unfinished business. Inside, he finds an unconscious Wynn dressed as the Shape. His crazed colleague insists that Loomis is now Michael’s protector. Loomis screams in agony as the mark of Thorn appears on his wrist. Elsewhere, Michael escapes disguised as the Man in Black.
In some ways, this Halloween 6 was doomed from the very start. The promise of its premise – to finally reveal the dark evil behind Michael Myers – was never going to turn out well. Some questions are better left unanswered. Why does Michael kill his family? Why does he only kill on certain years? How has he survived this long? Despite good intentions, Halloween 6 sacrifices much of the mystique surrounding the Shape by answering these questions. In doing so, the film ignores what made the original Halloween so special to begin with.
According to internal studio notes, producers mandated that Michael “be humanized” in Halloween 6 as opposed to animalistic in order to “develop a sense of sympathy” from the audience. Within this film’s story, Michael is at the mercy of an evil cult. In hindsight, it’s easy to fault the filmmakers for their efforts to “humanize” the Shape in Halloween 6. But in their defense, the rules of the series weren’t all that clearly established at the time, not like they are today. Not to mention, other major franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street were constantly reinventing themselves (with mixed results). It’s entirely possible Halloween’s producers saw fit to do the same.
In a certain sense, it can be difficult to define such rules until they’ve been broken. For the most part, the second and fourth Halloweens avoided such discrepancies by closely aligning themselves with the original. Halloween 5, on the other hand, had much larger issues than simply Michael shedding a tear. No one in 1989 was counting on the passionate critiquing of fans to dictate the Shape’s actions or whether or not he should be presented as a mere human. In a sense, Halloween 6 – and its over-explanation of events – was an exercise that needed to happen in order to truly appreciate the simplicity of the original.
Having said that, the film further errs by dragging the series deeper into the realm of the supernatural, even more so than its predecessor. Once grounded in reality, Halloween’s mythology now includes telepathy, evil spells, black magic, and multiple superpowered beings. And those Thorn cultists aren’t crazy, either. Eccentric, yes - but not crazy. These magical elements actually exist within the reality of the story. All things considered, it’s a step in the wrong direction. Yet this isn’t to suggest there’s nothing to appreciate in Halloween 6. Despite its flawed premise, there are some wonderfully nuanced touches within the script and film.
If nothing else, Halloween 6 contains a slew of rich characterizations, some of the best in the franchise. Tommy Doyle functions nicely as a young Van Helsing-type in the tradition of Dr. Loomis. It’s clear he never recovered from his encounter with the Shape as a child, an experience that now defines him as an adult. Tommy’s inclusion here helps to cement a strong connection to Carpenter’s original. The franchise has thus far sorely lacked a likable young male protagonist. They’ve either been clueless dopes (Bob, Jimmy, Bud), annoying (Mikey), or outright jerks (Brady, Spitz). With Tommy, we finally have a young male hero worth rooting for. Like Loomis, Tommy is consumed by his dark obsession.
Speaking of Loomis, Halloween 6 benefits enormously from a supporting appearance by the good doctor. In the years since Halloween 5, he has undergone plastic surgery to fix the burns he incurred back in Halloween II (a clever way of sparing Donald Pleasence arduous hours in the makeup chair) and begun work on a manuscript titled Evil Incarnate: A Study of the Crimes and Pathology of Michael Myers. With Loomis, Farrands manages a new take on an old character. Halloween 6 finds “the revered Rasputin of Smith’s Grove” retired and living a life of solitude. He still struggles with the fact that he was unable to prevent Halloween 1989 from being among the bloodiest yet. Even worse, he was unable to prevent Michael from vanishing into the night and taking Jamie Lloyd with him.
Loomis is terrified at the prospect of another slaughter. Helpless to stop it, he’ll once again be forced to watch on as innocent blood is spilled. He makes a desperate plea for Wynn’s help: “As my colleague, as my friend, please. I can’t go through this again. Not alone. I need your help to stop him.” These scenes are both endearing and wrenching given how things turn out. If Halloween 6 blunders at all with the character, it’s that he never comes face to face with his former patient in the film, a disappointing franchise first.
With Dr. Wynn, Farrands gives Halloween something it’s never before had – a secondary villain. As chief administrator of Smith’s Grove, Wynn was supposed to protect society from Michael Myers – yet he and his colleagues did exactly the opposite. This leads us to question everything we thought we knew. For example, did Michael truly escape in 1978 or was he set free? Loomis has spent decades trying to either kill or recommit his patient to Smith’s Grove. The incredible irony is that, per Halloween 6, Michael has been there all along – just not officially. As a fellow doctor, Wynn provides a terrific counterweight to Loomis. His reveal as the Man in Black constitutes a profound betrayal of his old friend. Loomis might have been successful in stopping Michael decades ago had Wynn not been secretly working to sabotage his efforts.
Another strong addition to the story is new heroine Kara Strode, who would technically be first cousins with Laurie Strode (adopted, of course). As this film’s final girl, Kara breaks the mold we’ve grown accustomed to in this franchise. A virginal teenage babysitter, she isn’t. Rather Kara is a single mother in college studying psychology. Like the rest of her out-of-towner family, she is unaware that her abusive father has moved them into the old Myers house. In addition to being a dick move, this imperils them all – including Kara’s young son Danny, whom the cult targets to replace Michael. Interestingly, Halloween 6 wasn’t the only slasher sequel to ditch the prototypical final girl around this time. 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell and 1994’s New Nightmare also featured mothers-in-peril protecting their young.
Farrands offers some insight to Michael’s childhood by way of a new character – the elderly Minnie Blankenship. Recall how Carpenter’s original Halloween opened with young Michael heading home from across the street to kill his older sister. What was he doing across the street? According to Farrands, being babysat by Mrs. Blankenship. Hardly your typical sitter, she has long been a secret member of the Druid cult and helped groom young Michael to become an instrument of Thorn. In Halloween 6, Mrs. Blankenship ominously likens young Danny to Michael. (“He hears the voice, you know. Just like the other boy that lived in that house. […] It told him to kill his family.”)
Tonally, Halloween 6 is among the darker sequels in the franchise, which is a welcome change. The focus on twenty-somethings rather than high schoolers makes for a far less juvenile experience than Halloween 5. The filmmakers also keep the humor to a minimum, most of which involves shock jock Barry Simms. The cult storyline infuses the film with great intrigue and mystery despite never clarifying any of the myth
ology surrounding the group. Yet for all its strengths, the producer’s cut of Halloween 6 cannot escape its disaster of a script, which we’ve already established was the result of extensive producer/director meddling. Would Daniel Farrands’ original vision have yielded the greatest Halloween sequel of all time? We can only speculate since he was never able to express that vision without interference from those who felt they knew better. But to absolve the screenwriter of all blame for his film’s missteps would be too generous. Some of the story’s faults must surely owe to his choices, but untangling something this overdeveloped is impossible.
The aforementioned script meddling did not result in a particularly strong narrative blueprint for the film. The producer’s cut is rife with plot holes and ambiguities. Consider how Wynn has taken care of Michael all these years, a job he hopes to pass onto Loomis. (“I protect Michael, watch over him. And now it’s time for another. Now it’s time for you, Dr. Loomis.”) But isn’t the curse of Thorn about to transfer to young Danny Strode? Jamie’s baby ought to be Michael’s final murder, so why would Loomis need to protect Michael? Wouldn’t Danny now need such a guardian? An even bigger mystery is why Wynn would pass off such a labor-intensive role to someone so much older than himself. Let’s face it, a geriatric cane-dependent stroke survivor is an odd choice to babysit one of the most brutal mass murderers in history. Perhaps Wynn should’ve considered someone a little younger for the job. Studio execs also mulled the possibility that Loomis - not Jamie’s baby - would serve as Michael’s final sacrifice.
Studio Notes from 9/18/94
“Idea: Maybe Loomis is brought into picture because the cult has chosen him to be the last of Michael’s sacrifices - which he later (willingly) becomes. Plays off the idea that at the beginning Loomis is retired, his “wounds healed.” He’s in effect waiting for death to knock at his door, which it does in the form of Wynn. At the end, he is anointed the “chosen one.”
Another plot hole demonstrates what happens when filmmakers prioritize kill sequences over story logic. The Shape makes an appearance at the town festival – but why? To what purpose? One early script draft had him following Kara and Danny to the celebration, which would make sense. They would later be written out of the sequence, though Michael would not. Kara and Danny’s absence effectively removes his entire motivation for being there. (And it’s not to kill Barry Simms as Michael would have no way of knowing Barry would unwittingly climb into the wrong van by mistake.) The film’s screenwriter has since confessed that no one on the production had an explanation for the Shape appearing at the festival.
One of the sequel’s biggest missteps isn’t a plot hole, but rather its abysmal treatment of the Jamie Lloyd role. Previously the courageous young heroine of Halloween’s 4 and 5, Jamie is tossed aside in this film with no regard for wrapping her character arc. Her few spoken lines of dialogue aren’t even enough to compose a full tweet on social media. Worst of all is how she dies. Having been imprisoned for six years, Jamie’s hospital room represents the first freedom she has felt in a very long time. Within hours of being admitted, she’s killed with a bullet to the head while sleeping. It’s difficult to imagine a more ignoble end for a fan-favorite character, not that her foster sister fared much better. Both Daniel Farrands and Malek Akkad have since confessed their own disappointment at Jamie’s fate in Halloween 6, placing the blame squarely on the Weinsteins for wanting to minimize all connections to Halloween 5.
This leads us to what is easily the worst creative decision in the entire Halloween franchise. Per the producer’s cut, Michael is established as the father of Jamie’s baby. To restate the obvious, Jamie is sixteen-years-old and also his niece. That means Halloween 6’s filmmakers made the conscious decision to make Michael Myers a pedophile rapist – in addition to already being a ruthless serial killer. This begs the question – was this always Michael’s intention chasing after his adolescent niece? To impregnate her? No one on the production has thus far taken credit for the decision. Farrands notes that earlier drafts handled the paternity of Jamie’s baby differently. Perhaps the only thing cringier than the twist itself is how Shape performer George Wilbur spoiled it to Fangoria with all the subtlety of a brick to the face: “I get to be a papa this time, although I do have my mask on during the love scene.”
Uh... not sure I would call the exhibitionist rape of your captive underage niece upon a ceremonial alter a “love scene,” George. Jesus Christ.
Looking back over the Return/Revenge/Curse trilogy, it’s clear that Jamie has suffered one of the most unforgiving journeys of any character in a horror film ever. (We challenge you to find someone worse off.) Orphaned as a young child, she is hunted by her serial killer uncle, and even briefly possessed by him when she attacks her foster mother. Jamie is subsequently hospitalized and loses the ability to speak. The following year finds her suffering from debilitating nightmares and panic attacks. Her uncle reappears to murder her dog and foster sister. Jamie is soon kidnapped and held captive for six years during which time she is raped by her uncle. Nine months later, she gives birth in an underground prison that she manages to escape. Her uncle follows after and stabs her in the gut. She somehow survives only to be shot in the head while asleep by the Man in Black. Now that is a bleak life devoid of joy and happiness.
Yet another issue with the producer’s cut is its finale, which is underwhelming at best. This lackluster conclusion was cobbled together from several different drafts. In it, Tommy arranges the runes in a circle and mutters “Samhain,” which somehow stops Michael dead in his tracks. (Unlike in Army of Darkness, this incantation still works even if you mispronounce it, which Tommy actually does.) Having frozen Michael in place, Tommy then bolts from the hospital. That’s right – when finally presented with a perfect opportunity to kill his lifelong tormentor – Tommy runs away. Michael was literally standing still in front of him! If that wasn’t anticlimactic enough, the Shape is more or less a prop in the third act. He chases the heroes for all of ninety-seconds and doesn’t kill anyone during the entire ending at Smith’s Grove. (A brief chase and no kills, what franchise is this again?) Farrands himself dislikes the producer’s cut ending and jokingly refers to the runes as “Tommy’s magical acorns.”
Halloween 6 was subject to a neverending onslaught of studio notes throughout its troubled production. Some of these notes were genuinely interesting while others laughably off the mark. Prior to the creation of the Mrs. Blankenship role, one studio note suggested that Tommy visit Michael’s ailing mother in a rest home. Now an invalid, she would have relayed clues about Michael’s connection to Thorn, leading the audience to believe she may be part of the cult. These suspicions are soon confirmed when she goes to stab Tommy. Other suggestions included seeing the Myers house burn down in the finale.
Misguided Studio Note from 7/2/94
“Develop a sense of sympathy for Michael in Act III. Since this is supposed to be the end of his reign of terror, - he’s been a pawn all this time - we could see him at the cult’s mercy during the finale. They’re prodding him, treating him like an animal in a cage. He fights back, leading us to the climax when both Michael and the baby are gone.”
TROUBLE IN HADDONFIELD
On February 2, 1995, actor Donald Pleasence would sadly pass away unexpectedly due to complications following heart surgery. He was seventy-five years old. The franchise star who had joked about appearing in twenty-two Halloween films would make his final appearance after only five. The filmmakers would dedicate the new entry in Pleasence’s memory with a title card before the end credit scroll. The character’s final words: “It’s all over, Michael. It’s all over.” Hardly, Dr. Loomis. Hardly.
Production lore tells that the filmmakers completed an initial cut of Halloween 6 in Spring 1995. The Weinsteins then organized a research screening in New York City to gauge how audiences would receive the film. By all accounts, this screening was a bust. The test audience hated the film, particularly the cult storyline and the entire end
ing. (This focus group was rumored to have lacked diversity in that it was comprised largely of young teenage boys.) The Weinsteins would use this feedback as justification to seize control of the project and dramatically alter the film as they saw fit. They would instruct Joe Chappelle to minimize the cult’s role in the story and completely reshoot the final act. New scenes would be captured across four days of additional photography scheduled for July 1995. The production would shoot locally at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles rather than return to Salt Lake City.
With the film’s September release date less than three months away, the filmmakers were under enormous pressure to deliver a better cut of Halloween 6. Missing the release date would risk delaying the film an entire year. (Historically, only one Halloween has ever debuted outside the August to October window - Halloween Resurrection in July 2002.) Completing the sequel on time was clearly a priority for the Weinsteins. Collaboration, it would seem, was not. The Miramax moguls would ban several colleagues from further involvement with the project. Among the excluded were producer Paul Freeman, associate producer Malek Akkad, executive producer Moustapha Akkad, and cinematographer Billy Dickson. Reportedly unhappy with his performance, Chappelle also recast Shape performer George Wilbur with stuntman Michael Lerner. Having lost control of his own production, Moustapha Akkad immediately sued the Weinsteins, but soon dropped the suit to avoid negatively affecting the film’s release.
Taking Shape Page 20
