{"id":24327,"date":"2023-11-21T12:48:14","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T17:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/?p=24327"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:27:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T16:27:50","slug":"my-ranking-of-the-halloween-movie-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/21\/my-ranking-of-the-halloween-movie-franchise\/","title":{"rendered":"My Ranking of the Halloween Movie Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I was late to the horror genre.\u00a0 I always stayed away from it, but in the last 20 years and even more so in the last few years, I’ve become more a fan of it and am still discovering horror movies.<\/p>

Having said that, Halloween is definitely my favorite horror movie franchise.<\/p>

There is just something about it that really grabbed me.<\/p>

And I’ve been showing my girlfriend Mariah all of the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th movies (yes she’s been patient watching these) and we discussed ranking them so I decided to do just that on this site.<\/p>

Of course, these are only opinions and it’s OK to agree or disagree.<\/p>

I really like most of them, I’ll admit, but there are few that I’m not wild about.<\/p>

So, here is my ranking of the Halloween movies:<\/p>

  1. \u00a0Halloween (1978)-This is the first movie of what became a franchise.\u00a0 It will always be the template.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, all the cast are great.\u00a0 The killer, Michael Myers, is human, but yet, he’s unstoppable, and he gets more unstoppable as these movies go on.\u00a0 Directed, co-written (along with Debra Hill), and scored by John Carpenter.\u00a0 It’s just a straight up thriller with a simple but solid story.\u00a0 For such a low budget movie, it was still ambitious with great camera work and editing.\u00a0 Even the mask of Michael Myers is a William Shatner mask, which I love.\u00a0 I will say after having revisited these movies, the mask kept getting changed and it should not have been.\u00a0 I’m fine with them, but the first one, and a few of the way later ones are the only ones that truly got it right.\u00a0 Anyway, back to this movie.\u00a0 To be a horror movie, there’s almost no blood at all in this.\u00a0 No gore.\u00a0 And it works!!!!\u00a0 And it stands alone.\u00a0 You really don’t need to see any of the others because it’s it’s own story.\u00a0 However, if you like this, I recommend watching the others.\u00a0 Great movie and no other Halloween movie will top this.<\/li>
  2. Halloween 4:\u00a0 The Return of Michael Myers-This is my 2nd favorite.\u00a0 After a solid sequel and a movie that had NOTHING to do with the franchise, other than it’s on Halloween night (I do like it though), the franchise hit the reset button with this movie.\u00a0 Like the first, I think the story is solid and the actors are good.\u00a0 Donald Pleasence returned after being absent in the 3rd movie.\u00a0 And if you’re a fan of Halloween as a franchise and of the killer, Michael Myers, then I think you should like this one.\u00a0 If not, fair enough.<\/li>
  3. Halloween:\u00a0 The Curse of Michael Myers-This is the 6th Halloween movie.\u00a0 It was also Donald Pleasence’ last movie.\u00a0 There are two versions of this movie.\u00a0 The theatrical cut, which most people probably know if you’ve seen these, but there is also “The Producer’s Cut”, which was heavily bootlegged for years, but eventually, was released.\u00a0 Personally, I really like The Producer’s Cut more than the theatrical one.\u00a0 The story is mostly the same, however, there are big differences, especially the endings of both.\u00a0 I think The Producer’s Cut flows better, and there is more of Donald, which is always welcome.<\/li>
  4. Halloween 3:\u00a0 Season of the Witch-The 3rd movie of the franchise, HOWEVER, it has nothing to do with the first two or any of the later ones.\u00a0 It really is it’s own story.\u00a0 The only mistake I see with this movie is the title.\u00a0 It should’ve just been called Season of the Witch and maybe it would’ve been more successful.\u00a0 But at this point, you had two hit movies featuring the killer Michael Myers, Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and none of them are in this.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with those movies.\u00a0 That doesn’t bother me, but it bothered a lot of people.\u00a0 I’ve seen trailers of this movie and this is very clear, but somehow, the audience did not get that message and went into theaters with expectations and got none of them.\u00a0 Having said that, I think it’s a great, scary movie.\u00a0 Everyone did a great job in front of and behind the camera.\u00a0 I was hooked immediately.\u00a0 I think it’s one of the scariest.\u00a0 Luckily, this movie has become a cult hit with a lot of people, but many will always hate it because it has nothing to do with Michael Myers.\u00a0 Fair enough, but I think if you watch it as a stand alone horror movie, then I think you would like it.<\/li>
  5. Halloween 2 (1981)-This is the 2nd Halloween movie, if you hadn’t guessed.\u00a0 It picks up right where the 1st one left off, continuing the story of Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).\u00a0 I’m actually ranking this one higher than I initially intended because it was never one of my favorites, but in more recent times, I’ve given it a little more attention and I think it is a very good sequel, but not as good as the first one.\u00a0 Jamie Lee is in it a lot less, which I don’t like, but all the kills that Michael does in this are very good.\u00a0 His mask looks very wicked in this one. This one is definitely more explicit in it’s violence.\u00a0 And the storyline definitely changes and I don’t mind it.\u00a0 It’s not my favorite and I don’t love it like many do, but it is a very good sequel and could have been the end.\u00a0 It was intended to be the end.\u00a0 Hence why Halloween 3 is so different.\u00a0 But the reset button was pushed for 4 and beyond.<\/li>
  6. Halloween 5:\u00a0 The Revenge of Michael Myers-Many people seem to dislike this one, but I still think it’s good and a good follow-up to Halloween 4.\u00a0 Some of the actors from 4 return in this one and it picks up where 4 left off.\u00a0 Donald Pleasence’ character Dr. Loomis is wayyy more aggressive in this one, but I think it works because he’s always been obsessed with tracking down Michael and either wanting to kill him or putting him back into the asylum.\u00a0 So I’m fine with it.\u00a0 I like it and I’m not apologizing for it.<\/li>
  7. Halloween H2O:\u00a0 Twenty Years Later-This movie is set 20 years after the first one (and it was released 20 years later in 1998).\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween 2 and this movie ignores every movie past 2, in terms of storyline.\u00a0 I really like this one.\u00a0 And I especially love the ending.<\/li>
  8. Halloween (2018)-This movie ignores every Halloween movie past the first one, again Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween:\u00a0 Resurrection.\u00a0 This was a great return to the franchise after Rob Zombie’s interpretations of the characters from the original first two movies.\u00a0 It’s simple, straight forward, definitely bloodier than the original, but a very good story and seeing Jamie Lee back is great.<\/li>
  9. Halloween Kills-The perfect sequel to the 2018 Halloween.\u00a0 Continues that storyline but goes further with it.\u00a0 Anthony Michael Hall is awesome in this.\u00a0 I really like this one a lot.\u00a0 I could rank this one higher, but I give some of the others seniority.\u00a0 But ask me some other time and I’ll probably rank this one higher.\u00a0 I did rank it higher recently, but for this post, this is my ranking of it.\u00a0 But it is great and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.\u00a0 These first two movies of this latest trilogy I think are great.\u00a0 The last one not so much, but I’ll save it for last because that’s where it belongs.<\/li>
  10. Halloween (2007)-This is Director\/Writer Rob Zombie’s interpretation of John Carpenter’s original classic.\u00a0 Rob added a lot more to the story, but also told the original story as well.\u00a0 He did a great job, I think.\u00a0 I really like this one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>
  11. Halloween 2 (2009)-The sequel to Rob Zombie’s first Halloween movie.\u00a0 Great follow-up, although I definitely prefer the Unrated Director’s Cut, particularly with it’s ending.\u00a0 Initially, I didn’t like this one, but after seeing Halloween Ends, I thought it can’t be that bad, and I was right.\u00a0 It’s actually very good.\u00a0 The originals are the best, as they usually are (I HATE remakes) but if you do something different with it, which Rob did, then I appreciate that.\u00a0 I’m glad Rob did these.<\/li>
  12. Halloween Ends-The final movie of this new trilogy.\u00a0 I have rewritten my thoughts on this movie three times because I keep changing my mind.\u00a0 When I first saw this movie, I was very excited because I loved the previous two and the Halloween movies are my favorite horror franchise.\u00a0 However, within about 10-15 minutes of watching the movie, I was browsing the internet because I was bored and not into it at all.\u00a0 For a long time, this movie has frustrated me because even though I liked parts of it, I did not love it by any means.\u00a0 However, I re-watched it recently (June 18 of 2025) and I must say that even though there are still moments I’m not wild about, I like the movie a lot more.\u00a0 All the actors do a really good job.\u00a0 I initially hated the writing, but now I think the writing was well done.\u00a0 The look of the movie is really good.\u00a0 Michael’s mask and whole look is awesome.\u00a0 I initially hated the fact that a new character that had not been in any other movie was the star of this one.\u00a0 And even though I still don’t completely get it, I like it so much more now.\u00a0 It is still a Halloween movie.\u00a0 Michael is not in it a lot, but when he is, it’s important.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis is great as always.\u00a0 The music is phenomenal.\u00a0 All the kills in the movie are really good.\u00a0 I hope this movie grows on me even more, but either way, I can honestly say that I really like this movie now.\u00a0 I never thought I could say that.\u00a0 In fact, it impressed me so much that I moved it up one ranking on this list.\u00a0 I could maybe move it up more and who knows I may do that someday, but I still like all the others more.\u00a0 But regardless, I really like Halloween Ends now.\u00a0 Well done to everyone who made it.\u00a0 I’m sure it’s not the last movie, but if it was, I’m actually OK with it.<\/li>
  13. Halloween:\u00a0 Resurrection-This is the follow-up to Halloween H2O:\u00a0 Twenty Years Later.\u00a0 Actually let me rephrase that:\u00a0 the first 10 minutes is a follow-up.\u00a0 The rest of the movie is something else.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis returns for the beginning and (spoiler alert) her character is killed by Michael Myers.\u00a0 Then the movie is basically about a bunch of students doing an internet reality show inside Michael Myers’ home and he just happens to be there.\u00a0 It’s silly, but it’s fun, so I still enjoy it.\u00a0 It’s definitely the most laughable of the franchise, but it’s still fun so I dig it.<\/li><\/ol>

    OK that is my ranking of my favorite horror franchise.\u00a0 I could say so much more about them, but I’ll leave it at that.<\/p>

    I hope the future Halloween movies are good and I look forward to seeing them too.<\/p>

    How would you rank these?\u00a0 Thoughts?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I was late to the horror genre.\u00a0 I always stayed away from it, but in the last 20 years and even more so in the last few years, I’ve become more a fan of it and am still discovering horror movies. Having said that, Halloween is definitely my favorite horror movie franchise. There is just something about it that really grabbed me. And I’ve been showing my girlfriend Mariah all of the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th movies (yes she’s been patient watching these) and we discussed ranking them so I decided to do just that on this site. Of course, these are only opinions and it’s OK to agree or disagree. I really like most of them, I’ll admit, but there are few that I’m not wild about. So, here is my ranking of the Halloween movies: \u00a0Halloween (1978)-This is the first movie of what became a franchise.\u00a0 It will always be the template.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, all the cast are great.\u00a0 The killer, Michael Myers, is human, but yet, he’s unstoppable, and he gets more unstoppable as these movies go on.\u00a0 Directed, co-written (along with Debra Hill), and scored by John Carpenter.\u00a0 It’s just a straight up thriller with a simple but solid story.\u00a0 For such a low budget movie, it was still ambitious with great camera work and editing.\u00a0 Even the mask of Michael Myers is a William Shatner mask, which I love.\u00a0 I will say after having revisited these movies, the mask kept getting changed and it should not have been.\u00a0 I’m fine with them, but the first one, and a few of the way later ones are the only ones that truly got it right.\u00a0 Anyway, back to this movie.\u00a0 To be a horror movie, there’s almost no blood at all in this.\u00a0 No gore.\u00a0 And it works!!!!\u00a0 And it stands alone.\u00a0 You really don’t need to see any of the others because it’s it’s own story.\u00a0 However, if you like this, I recommend watching the others.\u00a0 Great movie and no other Halloween movie will top this. Halloween 4:\u00a0 The Return of Michael Myers-This is my 2nd favorite.\u00a0 After a solid sequel and a movie that had NOTHING to do with the franchise, other than it’s on Halloween night (I do like it though), the franchise hit the reset button with this movie.\u00a0 Like the first, I think the story is solid and the actors are good.\u00a0 Donald Pleasence returned after being absent in the 3rd movie.\u00a0 And if you’re a fan of Halloween as a franchise and of the killer, Michael Myers, then I think you should like this one.\u00a0 If not, fair enough. Halloween:\u00a0 The Curse of Michael Myers-This is the 6th Halloween movie.\u00a0 It was also Donald Pleasence’ last movie.\u00a0 There are two versions of this movie.\u00a0 The theatrical cut, which most people probably know if you’ve seen these, but there is also “The Producer’s Cut”, which was heavily bootlegged for years, but eventually, was released.\u00a0 Personally, I really like The Producer’s Cut more than the theatrical one.\u00a0 The story is mostly the same, however, there are big differences, especially the endings of both.\u00a0 I think The Producer’s Cut flows better, and there is more of Donald, which is always welcome. Halloween 3:\u00a0 Season of the Witch-The 3rd movie of the franchise, HOWEVER, it has nothing to do with the first two or any of the later ones.\u00a0 It really is it’s own story.\u00a0 The only mistake I see with this movie is the title.\u00a0 It should’ve just been called Season of the Witch and maybe it would’ve been more successful.\u00a0 But at this point, you had two hit movies featuring the killer Michael Myers, Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and none of them are in this.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with those movies.\u00a0 That doesn’t bother me, but it bothered a lot of people.\u00a0 I’ve seen trailers of this movie and this is very clear, but somehow, the audience did not get that message and went into theaters with expectations and got none of them.\u00a0 Having said that, I think it’s a great, scary movie.\u00a0 Everyone did a great job in front of and behind the camera.\u00a0 I was hooked immediately.\u00a0 I think it’s one of the scariest.\u00a0 Luckily, this movie has become a cult hit with a lot of people, but many will always hate it because it has nothing to do with Michael Myers.\u00a0 Fair enough, but I think if you watch it as a stand alone horror movie, then I think you would like it. Halloween 2 (1981)-This is the 2nd Halloween movie, if you hadn’t guessed.\u00a0 It picks up right where the 1st one left off, continuing the story of Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).\u00a0 I’m actually ranking this one higher than I initially intended because it was never one of my favorites, but in more recent times, I’ve given it a little more attention and I think it is a very good sequel, but not as good as the first one.\u00a0 Jamie Lee is in it a lot less, which I don’t like, but all the kills that Michael does in this are very good.\u00a0 His mask looks very wicked in this one. This one is definitely more explicit in it’s violence.\u00a0 And the storyline definitely changes and I don’t mind it.\u00a0 It’s not my favorite and I don’t love it like many do, but it is a very good sequel and could have been the end.\u00a0 It was intended to be the end.\u00a0 Hence why Halloween 3 is so different.\u00a0 But the reset button was pushed for 4 and beyond. Halloween 5:\u00a0 The Revenge of Michael Myers-Many people seem to dislike this one, but I still think it’s good and a good follow-up to Halloween 4.\u00a0 Some of the actors from 4 return in this one and it picks up where 4 left off.\u00a0 Donald Pleasence’ character Dr. Loomis is wayyy more aggressive in this one, but I think it works because he’s always been obsessed with tracking down Michael and either wanting to kill him or putting him back into the asylum.\u00a0 So I’m fine with it.\u00a0 I like it and I’m not apologizing for it. Halloween H2O:\u00a0 Twenty Years Later-This movie is set 20 years after the first one (and it was released 20 years later in 1998).\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween 2 and this movie ignores every movie past 2, in terms of storyline.\u00a0 I really like this one.\u00a0 And I especially love the ending. Halloween (2018)-This movie ignores every Halloween movie past the first one, again Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween:\u00a0 Resurrection.\u00a0 This was a great return to the franchise after Rob Zombie’s interpretations of the characters from the original first two movies.\u00a0 It’s simple, straight forward, definitely bloodier than the original, but a very good story and seeing Jamie Lee back is great. Halloween Kills-The perfect sequel to the 2018 Halloween.\u00a0 Continues that storyline but goes further with it.\u00a0 Anthony Michael Hall is awesome in this.\u00a0 I really like this one a lot.\u00a0 I could rank this one higher, but I give some of the others seniority.\u00a0 But ask me some other time and I’ll probably rank this one higher.\u00a0 I did rank it higher recently, but for this post, this is my ranking of it.\u00a0 But it is great and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.\u00a0 These first two movies of this latest trilogy I think are great.\u00a0 The last one not so much, but I’ll save it for last because that’s where it belongs. Halloween (2007)-This is Director\/Writer Rob Zombie’s interpretation of John Carpenter’s original classic.\u00a0 Rob added a lot more to the story, but also told the original story as well.\u00a0 He did a great job, I think.\u00a0 I really like this one.\u00a0\u00a0 Halloween 2 (2009)-The sequel to Rob Zombie’s first Halloween movie.\u00a0 Great follow-up, although I definitely prefer the Unrated Director’s Cut, particularly with it’s ending.\u00a0 Initially, I didn’t like this one, but after seeing Halloween Ends, I thought it can’t be that bad, and I was right.\u00a0 It’s actually very good.\u00a0 The originals are the best, as they usually are (I HATE remakes) but if you do something different with it, which Rob did, then I appreciate that.\u00a0 I’m glad Rob did these. Halloween Ends-The final movie of this new trilogy.\u00a0 I have rewritten my thoughts on this movie three times because I keep changing my mind.\u00a0 When I first saw this movie, I was very excited because I loved the previous two and the Halloween movies are my favorite horror franchise.\u00a0 However, within about 10-15 minutes of watching the movie, I was browsing the internet because I was bored and not into it at all.\u00a0 For a long time, this movie has frustrated me because even though I liked parts of it, I did not love it by any means.\u00a0 However, I re-watched it recently (June 18 of 2025) and I must say that even though there are still moments I’m not wild about, I like the movie a lot more.\u00a0 All the actors do a really good job.\u00a0 I initially hated the writing, but now I think the writing was well done.\u00a0 The look of the movie is really good.\u00a0 Michael’s mask and whole look is awesome.\u00a0 I initially hated the fact that a new character that had not been in any other movie was the star of this one.\u00a0 And even though I still don’t completely get it, I like it so much more now.\u00a0 It is still a Halloween movie.\u00a0 Michael is not in it a lot, but when he is, it’s important.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis is great as always.\u00a0 The music is phenomenal.\u00a0 All the kills in the movie are really good.\u00a0 I hope this movie grows on me even more, but either way, I can honestly say that I really like this movie now.\u00a0 I never thought I could say that.\u00a0 In fact, it impressed me so much that I moved it up one ranking on this list.\u00a0 I could maybe move it up more and who knows I may do that someday, but I still like all the others more.\u00a0 But regardless, I really like Halloween Ends now.\u00a0 Well done to everyone who made it.\u00a0 I’m sure it’s not the last movie, but if it was, I’m actually OK with it. Halloween:\u00a0 Resurrection-This is the follow-up to Halloween H2O:\u00a0 Twenty Years Later.\u00a0 Actually let me rephrase that:\u00a0 the first 10 minutes is a follow-up.\u00a0 The rest of the movie is something else.\u00a0 Jamie Lee Curtis returns for the beginning and (spoiler alert) her character is killed by Michael Myers.\u00a0 Then the movie is basically about a bunch of students doing an internet reality show inside Michael Myers’ home and he just happens to be there.\u00a0 It’s silly, but it’s fun, so I still enjoy it.\u00a0 It’s definitely the most laughable of the franchise, but it’s still fun so I dig it. OK that is my ranking of my favorite horror franchise.\u00a0 I could say so much more about them, but I’ll leave it at that. I hope the future Halloween movies are good and I look forward to seeing them too. How would you rank these?\u00a0 Thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-movie-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24327"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31390,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24327\/revisions\/31390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}