Franchise Fixation: The Complete Halloween Retrospective (1978–2022)

Thirteen films. Forty-four years. One unstoppable Michael Myers. Explore Reel Fixation's complete Halloween retrospective, with reviews of every film in the franchise, from John Carpenter's 1978 original to Halloween Ends.

Michael Myers stands in a dark doorway, his white mask illuminated by blue light as he raises a kitchen knife above his shoulder.
Michael Myers, the masked killer at the center of a horror franchise spanning thirteen films and forty-four years.

It all started with a low-budget horror movie in 1978, a blank white mask, and a babysitter named Laurie Strode.

For me, it started with a television broadcast in 1981 and a VHS recording I watched so many times that I eventually wore it out. John Carpenter and Debra Hill's Halloween became my favorite movie, and nearly fifty years later, that hasn't changed.

When I launched Reel Fixation, I couldn't think of a better way to introduce Franchise Fixation than revisiting the entire Halloween series. Thirteen movies, several competing timelines, multiple attempts to explain Michael Myers, and more questionable creative decisions than I could possibly count.

Below you'll find every review in the series, presented in release order, from Carpenter's original masterpiece to David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends. Some of these films I've loved for decades. Others I appreciated more this time around. A few reminded me why I've spent so much of my life wondering whether Halloween ever needed to become a franchise in the first place.

The Complete Halloween Reviews

Halloween (1978)
Halloween II (1981)
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Halloween (2007)
Halloween II (2009)
Halloween (2018)
Halloween Kills (2021)
Halloween Ends (2022)

That's thirteen movies and nearly fifty years of Michael Myers. The Halloween retrospective may be complete, but Franchise Fixation is just getting started.

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