YMMV / Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

• Awesome Music:
  • The rock oriented version of the Halloween theme from the theatrical cut is equal parts scary as it is epic. Complete with electric guitar.
  • The Producer’s Cut version of the theme reincorporates the classic sound of the original two films, bringing it full circle.
  • Also Brother Cane's "And Fools Shine On".
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The lead pipe wielding Tommy Doyle begins beating the crap out of Michael in a scene involving a near seizure inducing strobe light effect. Tommy hits Michael over and over again, eventually causing some kind of viscous green slime (the same stuff he injected Michael with) to begin oozing out of Michael's mask. Later, when Michael's mask is found abandoned, it's completely clean, with no weird sludge coating it.
  • If you thought it was silly to watch, apparently it was equally silly to shoot. Making Of footage reveals a riotous laughing crew as they pummeled the mask and the green stuff flew out of it.
• Broken Base: Over whether the Producer's Cut or the Theatrical Cut is the better version of the film. Some fans prefer the Theatrical Cut for keeping Michael an intimidating force as opposed to The Dragon controlled by the cult, the ramped-up gore and slasher violence, and for leaving the identify of Jamie's baby's father anonymous. Depending on how you interpret the ending it not only explains the various mysteries of the series but gives a definitive ending to it if you accept that Loomis kills Michael offscreen . Other fans, meanwhile, believe the Producer's Cut to be the superior cut for sticking to its cult premise despite not being fully onboard with it, a more consistent tone with the previous entries in the "Cult of Thorn" timeline, better filmmaking (no flashy obnoxious editing), more interactions with Dr. Loomis and an ending that is clear and conclusive compared to the Theatrical Cut's Gainax Ending.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • John Strode's death, especially in the theatrical cut. Even The Cinema Snob and Phelous admitted it was the best scene in the whole film.
  • Speaking of Asshole Victims, Michael ripping apart a room with Wynn and the other doctors who kidnapped Jamie and made her life hell for 6 years can be seen as one of his more satisfying kills, although its hard to see Wynn's actual death due to the seizure-like editing. Thankfully even in the producer's cut(where Wynn is the one to kill Jamie) with this scene removed, Michael still kills Wynn.
  • In a similar vein to Loomis whacking Michael with a wooden plank in the previous film, seeing Tommy beat the living shit out of Michael with a metal pipe and doing the smart thing and striking him while he's down is incredibly satisfying, particularly considering how especially cruel Michael is in the theatrical cut (as shown by his murder of Jamie). It's made better by Paul Rudd's very smug-looking smirk after Tommy finishes the attack.
• Complete Monster:
  • In the theatrical cut, Dr. Terence Wynn is revealed to be as monstrous as Michael himself. Wynn uses the ancient Cult of Thorn as a front for his experiments, using Michael's DNA to create evil in its purest form by impregnating female patients of Smith's Grove Sanitarium with Michael's DNA, most resulting in stillbirths. It is also discovered Wynn helped mentor Michael into being the killer he is today, and helped him escape in the first movie. In the previous movie, Wynn followed Michael in his killing spree, and blew up a police station before abducting Michael's niece Jamie and escaping with Michael. After Jamie successfully births a new baby, Steven, Wynn plans on making Steven the next cycle of evil, and even forms a fascination with Danny Strode, trying to get him to become a killer too.
  • Michael Myers. See here.
• Contested Sequel: Some consider it one of the worst entries for trying to explain Michael's murderous origins with a cult. Others think it's one of the more entertaining entries with good kills and some forward thinking on how it connected all the previous films into one story. Still there are those who think it's slightly above the more despised entries, but not enough to consider it good.
• Fan-Disliked Explanation: Regardless of which cut is better preferred, most fans generally dislike the Cult of Thorn setup for not only being a poorly executed backstory for Michael's killing spree, but also felt it diminished what made Michael scary in the first place.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: A caller on the Barry Sims show has a discussion that ends in Barry mocking the idea of "Michael Myers in Space". A few years later and, while this isn't a Michael Myers movie, Jason Voorhees gets sent into space AND the future in Jason X. Seems someone took the idea of a serial killer in outer space seriously. And not just someone... it was John Carpenter himself who suggested the "Myers in Space" idea.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: In a movie with monsters such as Michael Myers and Dr. Terrance Wynn, the most hated character in this movie is John Strode. He calls Danny a bastard, hits Kara when she calls him out for it, threatens to do the same to Tim, disowns Kara, and is implied to be a Domestic Abuser to Debra. He also put his family in Michael's crosshairs by moving them into the Myers house. Needless to say, his Cruel and Unusual Death in the theatrical cut couldn't have happened to a worse person.
• Just Here for Godzilla: For many fans, the only really interesting or watchable part of the movie is Paul Rudd (in his film debut) as a grown-up Tommy Doyle.
• Narm: The nurse who helps Jamie escape is clearly smiling when she tells her to go.
• Narm Charm: Paul Rudd's acting in this film is very lifeless and unconvincing, which makes a lot of the more serious moments like him promising to protect baby Steven chuckle worthy. But given his character is meant to be the same guy who witnessed Michael trying to kill him and his babysitter as a child back in 1978, his near catatonic performance surprisingly fits well here.
• Never Live It Down:
  • The film is forever remembered as the entry that tried to explain Michael's murderous origins with a mysterious cult.
  • Even if you are able to look past that, it's also remembered for the infamous Troubled Production that plagued it.
  • While the Producer's Cut is seen as the better version of the film in some fan circles, the one thing that first pops up in people's minds when thinking about it is Michael being the father of Jamie’s baby.
• Older Than They Think: In the Halloween franchise, this isn't the first time that Michael Myers' evil is suggested to be supernatural in nature. The novelization of the first movie revealed a backstory where the source of his rage and violence was attributed to an ancient Irish curse, strongly suggesting that his ancestor's spirit had taken over him and had enabled him to commit murder again (possibly even Nordstrom, his great-great-grandfather).
• Retroactive Recognition: Paul Rudd appears in one of his first films. Some joke that the climax of the film is "Ant-Man vs Michael Myers".
• Sequelitis: This film's critical reception is the worst in the entire Halloween franchise, with a mere 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, a huge fall from grace from the original film's 94%. By this point in the series, the story had strayed pretty far from the original film, which was praised for its simple story and its slow building of suspense. This film, on the other hand, was criticized for having a very messy, convoluted story, with some calling the finished film incomprehensible (although that's mostly blamed on Executive Meddling). It's no wonder the next film was a partial reboot. However some fans consider Halloween: Resurrection to be the worst in the series, and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers not far behind, and appreciate 6s more over-the-top death scenes and Michael being a genuinely threatening presence.
• Signature Scene: John's death scene in the theatrical cut (where he's impaled by Michael in a fuse box, causing his head to explode) is so awesomely hilarious and satisfying, that both Phelous and the Cinema Snob agree that it's the only improvement the theatrical cut has over the producer's cut (as John simply get electrocuted in the producer's cut).
• Squick: The implication in the producer's cut that Baby Steven is the result of Michael raping Jamie, his young niece. Even worse, according to George P. Wilbur, who played the Shape, there was an actual "love scene" [his words, not ours] shot, but that he "kept the mask on." There's a damned good thing this didn't even make it into the Producer's Cut.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: For some, this film, particularly the Producer's Cut, is better than the previous film, but this is heavy point of contention and some would say otherwise.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The very idea that Jamie Lloyd has spent six years of her life locked away by the Cult of Thorn. Its sad enough that a little girl has been kidnapped in an attempt to cover up everything at the police station shooting, but add on the fact that everyone she knew is either dead or are unaware of where she is, and then, she is forcefully raped and had a child by supposedly somebody in the cult (the Producer’s Cut is even worse in that it was her own uncle as a way to offer Michael a final sacrifice), and she’s been living a never ending Hell before her untimely death. If anything Dr. Wynn shooting her in the hospital (or Michael killing her on the farm equipment, depending on the cut) was an act of mercy for her not wanting to suffer anymore.
  • The scene in the beginning where Jamie is forced to give birth while tied up. She begs the Man in Black to let her hold her son, but he takes him away, causing her to curse at him.
  • Every scene featuring Dr. Loomis, in no small part due to the knowledge that it would be the last time Donald Pleasence would ever play the character. On top of that, his age is showing with the exhaustion in Pleasence's voice.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Dr. Loomis is very underutilized in this film, particularly in the Theatrical Cut. He barely shows up and mostly exists to serve exposition, not even participating in the climax in the Theatrical version. This was a case of Executive Meddling and Real Life Writes the Plot, as Donald Pleasence died during production and producer Paul Freeman fought with Daniel Farrands over Loomis, as he reportedly did not like the character, and the director didn't like Loomis, either.
  • Jamie Lloyd. In a film trilogy, this third one should have featured her as a main player, especially now that she was a teenager and could more actively participate in the plot rather than just be protected by the heroes or used as a plot device to further the story. Instead, she's unceremoniously killed off in BOTH the Theatrical and Producer's Cuts in the first act without leaving any lasting mark on the plot, leaving the film story to be carried by Tommy Doyle and Kara Strode. This last swap is especially egregious given it makes the film feel less like a polished movie and more like a novice fanfic writer's attempt at a story where they replace a main character with an OC related to the main cast that's never been mentioned before.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Newcomer Marianne Hagan and series regular Donald Pleasence are really giving it their all here.
• Vindicated by History: Sort of. While many agree that the movie isn’t that good and still ranks pretty low compared to others in the series, it has gotten a bit more appreciation in recent years by fans who found it surprisingly more entertaining than Halloween 5 and at least felt Michael’s character wasn’t as badly mangled as he was in Resurrection. The Producer’s Cut also helped in explaining certain Plot Holes that were never resolved in the Theatrical Cut and further expanding on the Cult of Thorn itself. Now, a majority of fans see it as one of the more entertaining sequels despite its major flaws.
• The Woobie: Jamie Lloyd as in the last two movies, her baby Steven, Kara and Danny Strode, and Kara's mother Debra. Especially Debra and ESPECIALLY Jamie, who is finally killed off.

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