Mike Myers is one of the oldest and most feared horror film monsters to ever hit the big screen. Since the release of “Halloween” in 1978, the silent murderer has remained alive both in the movies and American culture. The number of “Halloween” movies beats even Rocky in sequels. Plus the theme music is much better.
How has the pale mask remained so popular in horror film history? It could be the relentless manner of his killings or the eerie presence he adds to a room, or maybe it’s the fact that no matter what he does, all you ever hear from him is his deep, unsteady breathing. Whatever it is, Myers doesn’t seem to be running out of victims anytime soon. How did he get to become so scary and immortal?
As explained in the opening of the first movie, Michael Audrey Myers killed his older sister Judith when he was six and was sent to Smith’s Grove Detention Center for 15 years. During his stay, he had no emotion, no guilt, no fear. Oct. 30, when he was 21, he escaped and made his way home. In his hometown of Haddonfield, he stalks a 17-year-old girl named Laurie Strode and her friends. The teens’ only chance rests in the arms of Dr. Loomis, Michael’s childhood psychiatrist, who has a bit of an obsession with the deranged killer.
“Halloween 2” (1981) has the creepy Myers back exactly in the same spot that the first movie ended. He is still chasing the terror-stricken Strode, but more of the killer is revealed, including why he is so devoted to killing Strode. It turns out she is his sister, the one he didn’t get to kill when he was six. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the good Dr. Loomis to help her because of his governor’s order to drop the case.
“Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” (1982) is the only movie as of yet that does not involve Myers in any way. This Halloween takes place in Santa Mira, Calif., where an evil company called Silver Shamrock is trying to take control of all the children in the country through television. (No wonder parents in the ’80s were scared of kids watching too much TV!) A strange rock taken from Stonehenge is focused to cause mutations in people who wear masks created by the evil company.
With the world safe from Silver Shamrock, the movies shift back to the paleness of the childhood killer in “Halloween 4: The return of Michael Myers” (1988). He has survived once again but supposably has slept in a coma for 10 years until word reaches him about a girl by the name of Jamie Lloyd, daughter of Strode. Strode is dead, but her blood lives on. The young girl is having nightmares and visions of her evil uncle and soon comes face-to-face with him. Luckily Dr. Loomis is back and willing to save the girl. Even in the pits of a blazing inferno at the end of the movie, Myers lives on.
In “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers” (1989), little Jamie is alive, but so is Michael. Not only did he survive the explosion, but he also takes shelter with a hermit and waits for another “All Hallows’ Eve.” Once the time comes, he kills the kind man and begins his search for Jamie once more. She is in a children’s hospital where she hasn’t spoken since the encounter one year prior.
When she starts having visions and nightmares again, Dr. Loomis is not far away. Together, the two set a trap for Jamie’s evil uncle, and he ends up in custody; for once, though, Michael is not the unexpected plot twist in the end. A strange man in black appears on the scene with eyes set on Jamie.
In 1995’s “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,” six years have passed, and the man in black, Jamie and Michael have all disappeared. Jamie was captured by the dark man and is now pregnant. She gives birth on Halloween Eve and escapes as Myers finds them. Jamie dies early in the film, but the child survives. An old neighbor, Tommy Doyle, who has been watching other Myers relatives such as Kara and Danny Strode, discovers the baby and takes it in.
Danny Strode begins to hear the same dark voices Michael claimed to have in earlier movies, and the dark secret of Michael Myers is finally revealed. He is cursed with Thorn, where a man must wipe out his entire family for the good of civilization. His curse is somehow related to the man in black who had been experimenting with pure evil and genetic research at Smith’s Grove Detention Center, Michael’s prison.
“Halloween H2O” (1998) turns from Tommy and Jamie’s child back to Jamie’s mother, the legally dead Laurie Strode. She faked her own death in the past and now runs the prestigious Hillcrest Academy. Too bad for her, Michael has discovered her little trick and is making his way to her for a family reunion like no other. After 15 years of hiding, Laurie finally gathers the nerve to lock them both in the school and have at it, one on one where someone has to die, or neither of them leaves.
“Halloween Resurrection” (2002) presents Michael with his easiest kill yet. This time, the mice have all been gathered into one small area and are left to die. An online entrepreneur wants to cash into the Myers’ story by having six college students spend Halloween night in the run down Myers house.
The night is supposed to be a game of haunted house tricks and special effects, but when the host actually comes home, nobody is allowed to leave with their lives. In the finale, the house is burned down with Myers inside, but … you guessed it – he survives. He can’t be killed.
As the now deceased Dr. Loomis stated in the second movie “I shot him six times … I shot him in the heart.”
“Halloween 9” is currently in production, and no official information has been released; however, rumor states the movie is going to be of a film crew trying to recreate his story in a movie in the town of Haddonfield.
Rumor states focus of “Halloween 9” will be Judith Myers with the main characters being a boy named Nathan, his mom and his friend Ashley. This plot line is posted on www.creature-corner.com, but its authenticity is questionable.
The questions on horror moviegoers’ minds, though are who will be the next big victim, and is this movie the last of Michael Myers’ nine lives?