A deep dive into the origins of the two cuts present on Scream Factory’s 4K UHD set
With the release of Scream Factory’s latest 3 UHD Halloween set chronicling the last phase of the pre-Rob Zombie films (Halloween 6, Halloween H20, Halloween Resurrection), I thought I would give a bit of background on the production of these films over the next few weeks just in time for spooky season. Starting with Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, a personal favorite of mine and probably the most troubled of these films, which are all housed in hard slips, similar to the previous 4Ks housed in a large slip case. This week I am going to attempt to explain why there’s producer’s cut and a theatrical cut included in that first set and why the producer’s cut, which has been unavailable legally until recently, is the one for fans of the series should see.
As far as tumultuous development cycles go, few films in the Halloween franchise come close to Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. Producer Moustapha Akkad had envisioned elevating the series by baking in a more serialized storyline and asking for elements to be added to the script to allow a story that would span multiple films and keep the fans coming back for more. This element in particular was the infamous “man in black”, a trench coated figure who stalks around Halloween 5 and was added by request of the producer. The shadowy figure was of similar build to Myers and sporting the same tattoo as the shape, and when they finally catch Myers and lock him up, the man in black breaks him out. Like all horror franchises, the Halloween films had reached a fork in the road and Akkad, who had become the architect of the series, wanted to explore Micheal’s origin story, and as exemplified by the current conversation around Halloween Ends, this is always a divisive path.
Well after the lackluster reception to 5, Akkad decided not to rush 6 and because of that, the rights to the series were back up for bid. This had John Carpenter returning backed with New Line’s checkbook in tow, who currently owned Leatherface and Jason — against Akkad, who sought backing from Dimension and the Weinsteins. Before you get too excited about what Carpenter would have done with the series, he was extremely vocal about sending Myers to space. While that might sound hilarious or morosely fascinating, it’s something that might have taken the series into more of a parody of itself. While Akkad was able to hold onto the rights, he did so at the cost of introducing the meddlesome Weinsteins, who were well known for their own form of pushing their own agendas on filmmakers.
The most exciting what-if however to come out of this particular acquisition was a pre-Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino who was brought in to pitch, and whom the Weinstein wanted to take the reins. The rough pitch was a sort of road movie on Route 66 paved with carnage, that was quickly scrapped once the director took the Palme d’Or for Pulp Fiction and immediately exited. By this time it seemed like both production parties were in a near stalemate with one another, which makes it even more surprising a film was actually made. The Weinsteins were really into somehow incorporating a VR element, while Akkad was looking to tie up the man in black storyline from the previous film and by doing so imbue the film with a canon mythology.
Five years and two nearly shot scripts later, we finally got our writer Daniel Farrands and our director Joe Chappelle. Farrands was a fan of the series and loyal to Akkad, whereas Chappelle was more loyal to the Weinsteins who would later hire him for Phantoms and Takedown. This just added to the volatile mix as the two camps spent the entire production fighting over what film to make, which birthed two very different versions of the same film which are both contained here on Scream Factory 4K UHD set. The Weinsteins however would eventually seize control of the project near completion to assure their version made it to screens, this involved reshooting and re-editing a substantial bit of the film to fine tune it. This muddled vision was compounded even further, by a flurry of studio notes that offered conflicting visions of what the film should’ve been even after 10 drafts of the script had been passed between camps.
What ended up on screens September 29, 1995 with a resounding flop was effectively the Weinstein’s version of the film. A leaked work-print being labeled The Producer’s Cut would be more in line with what Akkad and Farrands were attempting to craft with the property before the project was hijacked. For fans like myself that were invested in the mythology of the series and the questions 5 had served up, The Producer’s Cut finally attempted to address that and clumsily attempted to deconstruct some of these and the larger questions of the series. Extremely bleak and downright upsetting, the film introduced the Cult of Thorn and attempted to explain the dark power that rested in Micheal Myers’ bloodline. That version was effectively thought to be lost for nearly two decades with only a VHS workprint copy that was countless generations old. That is, until a 35mm print of that cut was discovered, which after the festival rounds made its home debut on Scream Factory’s previous box set. If you had told me that one day I would own a 4K copy of that, I would have thought you were nuts.
Needless to say thanks to all of these production issues the film was doomed before a frame of film was shot. Of the two versions I personally prefer the “Producer’s Cut”; it’s a bit clunky, but it actually tries to tie everything in the past four films together and offer up some explanation for Michael Myers. My biggest issue with this film honestly is the absence of Danielle Harris who was unable to reprise her role as Jamie Lloyd, daughter of Laurie Strode, who here is forced to have a child here with her uncle Michael Myers to continue the bloodline. If that wasn’t strange enough this is all laid out by a very young, and not much different looking Paul Rudd in one of his first roles post Clueless as Tommy Doyle the boy Laurie was charged with that fateful night. Oddly enough his role as the keeper of the Myers mythology, is one that was in more than a few versions of the script and was something that was carried forward each time.
Scream Factory have preserved both versions in 4K on two separate UHDs on their latest 3 film set, along with a plethora of extras that further delve into this oddity. It’s great for completionists and also for those looking to compare and contrast with this bit of background info. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers would effectively kill this thread of the series forcing the first soft reboot that would erase everything from Halloween 2 onward and bring back Jamie Lee Curtis proper in H20: 20 Years Later. I personally have a soft spot for this film because its simply a miracle that now we have both versions of the film available to us in stunning 4K and I love when we get a peek at what could have crafted these monsters.
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995) DISC ONE (4K UHD — THEATRICAL CUT):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
- In Dolby Vision (HDR 10 Compatible)
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- NEW Audio Commentary With Screenwriter Daniel Farrands And Actress Marianne Hagan, Moderated By Filmmaker Michael Perez
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995) DISC TWO (4K UHD — PRODUCER’S CUT):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
- In Dolby Vision (HDR 10 Compatible)
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- Audio Commentary With Screenwriter Daniel Farrands And Composer Alan Howarth
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995) DISC THREE (BLU-RAY — THEATRICAL CUT):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- NEW Audio Commentary With Screenwriter Daniel Farrands And Actress Marianne Hagan, Moderated By Filmmaker Michael Perez
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
- Electronic Press Kit
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995) DISC FOUR (BLU-RAY — PRODUCER’S CUT):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- Audio Commentary With Screenwriter Daniel Farrands And Composer Alan Howarth
- Jamie’s Story — An Interview With The Original “Jamie” Actress Danielle Harris
- The Cursed “Curse” — An Interview With Producers Malek Akkad And Paul Freeman
- Acting Scared — A look At The Film’s Cast With Actresses Mariah O’Brien And J.C. Brandy
- The Shape Of Things — A Look At Michael Myers’ Murders And Mayhem With Special Make-Up Effects Artists John Buechler And Brad Hardin And Actor George P. Wilbur (Michael Myers)
- Haddonfield’s Horrors — The Sights Of HALLOWEEN 6 With Director Of Photography Billy Dickson, Production Designer Brad Ryman, And Director Of Photography (Additional Scenes) Thomas Callaway
- Full Circle — An Interview With Composer Alan Howarth
- Cast And Crew Tribute To Donald Pleasence
- Archival Interviews And Behind-The-Scenes Footage
- Additional Behind-The-Scenes Footage Shot By Screenwriter Daniel Farrands
- Alternate And Deleted Scenes (Not Present In Either Cut Of The Film)
- Teaser Trailer: HALLOWEEN 666: THE ORIGIN OF MICHAEL MYERS
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is now available on 4K UHD as part of a new box set from Scream Factory.
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