August the 28th will mark seven years since the last new Halloween movie (Rob Zombie’s Halloween II) has been released. This is the longest gap we have ever seen between films in the Halloween franchise’s history.
Rob Zombie’s Halloween II mask
At first, this fact can sound concerning but the franchise’s film history might point toward optimism instead.
John Carpenter’s original Halloween came out in 1978 and was a HUGE hit, Halloween II followed and kept the momentum going. As a result, Halloween III was released just one year later. However, unlike the sequel to the original Halloween, this second sequel (although a great movie) wasn’t met favorably by movie goers due to the absence of Michael Myers.
Because of Halloween III’s poor reception, more time was taken before releasing the next film – 1988’s Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The movie wasn’t released until six years after Halloween III. Halloween 4 proved to be a success both with fans, critics and the box office.
Halloween 5 and 6 followed but neither were very successful nor considered to be high points of the franchise by most movie goers, fans or critics.
Once again a high point in the franchise’s history came when the next entry (Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later) followed the lukewarm performance of the last film.
Resurrection came next and (unfortunately) was another let down. The film made money but likely did so due to following the very successful H20.
Another longer period between movies occurred and in 2007 Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN was released. Once again the franchise had another hit on its hands.
Two years later Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN II was released and like Resurrection it made money but most likely due to following the success of HALLOWEEN.
Now we find ourselves near seven years since the last entry in the Halloween movie franchise. In most cases, longer waits between installments following a poorly received film has proved to be a good thing for HALLOWEEN fans. I am hoping this trend continues with the next film and am awaiting anxiously the return of Michael Myers to the big screen!
