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So, how many Halloween movies are there? To answer your question, there are 12 Halloween movies. In 1978 John Carpenter made a silent movie with a man holding a knife; that movie went on to redefine the entire genre of Halloween movies.
Today it has become a franchise and has released 12 movies in total. If you hear about the franchise for the first time, worry not! We have chronologically listed all the movies you should watch, and it contains the complete Michael Myers timeline.
We have also talked about each Halloween film in detail; read on to know more!
How many Halloween movies are there: Halloween movies in the order of their release
1. Halloween [October 25, 1978]

Cast- Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Tony Moran
Director- John Carpenter
Plot
A masked man stalks and terrorises three babysitters on the night of Halloween, and he also murders a young girl. Resulting in him spending fifteen years in a mental asylum. After fifteen years, Michael Myers is escorted by his physiatrist to the court for his hearing, during which he manages to escape.
Review
This is the first movie in the franchise, and it was released as an independent movie directed by John Carpenter. Halloween is nerve-frying, mind-freakishly scarry, making it such a great watch.
It was shot in just 20 days with a budget of 320,000 dollars which in moviemaking is less, and the box office collection was huge. The movie is about a white-masked killer named Michael Myers who stalks and terrorises three babysitters on Halloween night.
There are many reasons why Halloween has continued to rein the hearts of audiences and critics alike. Unlike many in the horror genre, the movie does not use women as sexual objects to titillate the audience. Halloween respects women and treats them as human, with feelings, struggles, and emotions of their own
Music, too, plays such an important role in creating the eerie surrounding, the suspense, and horror around the characters. The music will stay with you long after the movie is over.
The movie is a masterclass in how to create slow-burn suspense. John Carpenter was 30-something when he made this movie on a shoestring budget and with a fairly new cast and crew. The thriller gives a breath of fresh air and leaves you with awe and reverence for the people who made it and acted in it.
2. Halloween II [October 30, 1981]

Cast- Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Charles Cyphers
Director- Rick Rosenthal
Plot
Michael Myers is shot by his psychiatrist and falls off the balcony. He, however, manages to survive the blow and escapes into the night. On his way, he kills another young girl and severely injures the other named Laurie; he follows her to the hospital.
This entire saga continues as it ends with Michael Myers burning in flames as he gets shot in both eyes.
Review
The ending of the first Halloween movie was sufficiently open-ended, which provided a perfect foundation for the second film. After the first film’s success, the market was flooded with tasteless, cringe, sex, and drug-heavy Halloween movies, so Halloween II came as a respite for all.
Halloween II was made with mostly the same cast and crew as the previous one, yet it failed to achieve the same admiration and love from the people. After the first one is such a success, it is no doubt that the expectation for the next one will be even higher. As a movie, Halloween II is not a bad movie, it has an equally good plot, but it lacks the freshness of its predecessor.
The movie lacks imagination and artistry; it is a gore show, not a movie made for the love of cinema, but to give the geek audience what they want.
3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch [October 22, 1982]

Cast- Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan Herlihy
Director- Tommy Lee Wallace
Plot
Suspicious men in suits pursue a shop owner named Harry; he faints and is taken to the hospital, where he gets killed and immolated in a car. His daughter finds the events of his death suspicious; she and Dr . Daniels start investigating independently.
Review
The third film tries to be different from the other two movies in the Halloween franchise; instead of being a slasher film, it ventures into witchcraft. There is comparatively very less blood and violence in this film compared to its other two predecessors.
Halloween III does much better compared to Halloween II. However, this one, too, fails to impress the critics. The audience well receives it.
4. Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers [October 21, 1988]

Cast- Danielle Harris, Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Alan B. McElroy
Director- Dwight H. Little
Runtime- 1hr 32mins
Plot
In Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers, Michael Myers wakes up from a coma. Upon his awakening, he is being transferred to the mental asylum; Michael Myers hears about his niece in the ambulance.
He attacks the ambulance driver and manages an escape; his former psychiatrist Samuel Loomis is informed about it and gives him a chase. Laurie and Michael Myers’s niece happen to live together; he attacks both of them on the night of Halloween.
Review
The audience well received the Return of Michael Myers. This movie did better than the other two sequels. As a Slasher film genre, it is pretty good, and it has Halloween kills that the audience wants.
This movie is not scary but has enough violence to qualify as a slasher film. There are some gruesome gore scenes and extreme violence. Donald Pleasance’s acting is worth mentioning; his performance is solid and stands out.
The characters keep on changing in every movie, so there is barely any sympathy for each character. Donald Pleasance’s characters are present in almost all sequels until now. Making him the obvious fan favourite. It is scary, fun, and thrilling, and it keeps you at the edge of your seat throughout like the first movie.
5. Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers [October 13, 1989]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j37xXYWN7rc
Cast- Donald Pleasance, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell
Director- Dominique Othenin-Girard
Plot
This movie begins one year later, after the events of Halloween VI: The return of Michael Myers. Michael Myers movie is back; after The Return of Michael Myers, it is time for his revenge. Does he take it? Watch this movie, revenge of Michael Myers.
He starts stalking Rachel, Laurie Strode, and their friends. He weaves a trap to lure Jaime out of the children’s hospital. The events follow the lead up to the confrontation at the Myers house.
Review
Halloween V is scary, dark, and suspenseful, and it will scare the hell out of you. The plot is exciting, but the movie lacks execution. It tries to be funny but fails miserably, and people want gritting and gruesome stories from this movie, not a comedy.
However, this movie connects a lot of the dots and delivers a cutting-edge finale. It uses all the festivities and rituals of Halloween, like trick-or-treating, the Halloween masks, etc, and weaves them into a gripping narrative. Some themes are repeated, but this film has the best Halloween universe.
Donald Pleasance, as always, is the best part of this movie as well, and he delivers another masterful performance. He is the audience’s entry into this world, and he does the job exceptionally well.
6. Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers [September 29, 1995]

Cast- Paul Rudd, Donald Pleasance, Marianne Hagan
Director-Joe Chappelle
Plot
Michael Myer’s Halloween movies make another comeback with The Curse of Michael Myers. Six years after the massacre in Haddonfield, Jamie Lloyd is killed by Michael Myers, and he gets associated with a cult that gives him the curse of Thorn.
Sam Loomis and Tommy Doyle, who was babysat by Laurie strode, are out to catch Michael Myers and the cult from murdering people. Michael pursues Jamie’s son and Laurie Strode’s entire family.
His murdering spree is not over yet; Dr Sam Loomis and Tommy Doyle try their best to stop the Curse of Michael Myers and put an end to his maddening rampage of Halloween massacres. Will they be successful? Watch the movie to know.
Review
After the return and revenge of Michael Myers come The Curse of Michael Myers; this was Paul Rudd’s first feature film which is quite visible in his performance. This movie does an excellent job of tying up many loose ends left by the previous movies.
It also tries to explain the reason and motive behind the serial killer, and it opens with a woman giving birth; she is tied down, which suggests that she is being held captive. It is later revealed that this woman is Jamie from the other movies.
The baby is taken away by the cult leader. However, Jamie manages to escape with her baby, and a kind nurse assists her in it, but the nurse gets killed by Michael Myers, who is staling the dark halls of the building.
Michael Myers looks more imposing, he is declared pure evil, and the entire Halloween series begins again. The one redeeming thing about this movie is after the Halloween saga begins, its attempts to explain why Michael Myers is the way he is.
Due to the curse, Michael Myers offers his family members a sacrifice as Halloween ends. He is superhuman and appears only when the Thorn constellation is visible in the night sky. The movie also tries to answer how he has survived so many deaths.
The movie falters in delivering on this premise and moves to senseless murders, violence, and sex, it does not stand a chance against the original movie, but it is a decent Halloween film.
7. Halloween H20: 20 Years later [August 5, 1998]

Cast- Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett
Director-Steve Miner
Plot
After the massacre at Haddonfield, Laurie Strode had to fake her death to save herself. She acquires a new identity and moves to a new country altogether. However, the psychopath finds out about this new identity very soon. He travels to California to kill her.
Review
Michael Myers is back in the Halloween franchise and looks like he is here to stay; this is another movie that features Michael Myers as a serial killer. Finally, audiences get the thriller they deserve; after so many mild and weak follow-ups Halloween H20 20 years does justice to the entire Halloween franchise.
The movie is well-acted, well-paced, and extremely entertaining from the time it starts till the end credits roll in. The first John Carpenter movie was such a classic, and this is one strong contender.
It breathes a new life into the Halloween franchise altogether, it is not as good as the original Halloween, but it is better than the rest. Sometimes it is erratically paced, and sometimes it rushes too much.
It is authentic, does not have unnecessary humour, it sticks to the Slasher genre. It is not overtly scary, nor is it too violent, but it is very entertaining. Some characters are underdeveloped, but some character arcs are complete and fulfilling to watch.
8. Halloween: Resurrection [July 12, 2002]

Cast-Jamie Lee Curtis, Busta Rhymes, Brad Loree
Director- Rick Rosenthal
Plot
Michael and Laurie Strode’s rivalry seems to continue in this movie, too, but finally comes to an end. Laurie strode, Michael’s sister, is in a mental institution after killing someone she mistook for her brother.
Michael Myers comes after Laurie Strode, and she sets a trap for him with the help of people in the institution. They end up on the roof confronting each other; who kills whom? Watch the Halloween movie to know that.
Hosts of a reality TV send 6 teenagers to the childhood home of Michael Myers, the place where the Halloween kills began. There are cameras set everywhere around the house. No one can get in or out of the house; Michael Myers arrives home in all this.
Review
Was this resurrection required? Viewers are very disputed. Some said it was made for wicked entertainment, and some said it was unnecessary. The box office collection was fairly low for this one.
After so many Michael Myers movies, none could compete with the original Halloween movie. Halloween resurrection is a mindless man killing people, and the movie is made for money, not love for cinema.
It has enough violence to get fans back on the screen but not enough storyline to impress the critics. Michael Myers is back on his killing spree; the movie is a good Halloween watch.
9. Halloween [August 31, 2007]
![Halloween (2007) - Full Trailer [HD]](https://icytales.com/wp-content/cache/flying-press/-qKmXIy9Juk-hqdefault.jpg)
Cast- Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor Compton
Director- Rob Zombie
Plot
The plot is very similar to the previous films. Director Rob Zombie tries to reinvent the character from the time he breaks free from the asylum.
Review
Halloween feature Michael Myers is back again, and Rob tries to give a soul to the character of Michael Myers. John Carpenter had a way of crafting the character, his movements, etc, making him different from others on screen.
This is a remake of the original Halloween but yet does not compare to the masterpiece by John carpenter. Here he is human, has a traumatic childhood, his mother was a stripper, etc. There is an entire build-up to his character before he escapes.
10. Halloween II [August 28, 2009]

Cast-Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor Compton
Director- Rob Zombie
Plot
He is still evil, and after he fails to kill his baby sister, he tries again. She is in the hospital while Michael Myers searches for her. He will not rest till he gets his little sister all to himself.
Review
This picks up where Halloween left. It is wildly absurd, bizarre, and shocking. Halloween II is gruesome and gross, and it is fueled with nightmares which makes it stand out. Hardcore Halloween fans will enjoy this thoroughly.
11. Halloween [October 19, 2018]

Cast-Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak
Director- David Gordon Green
Plot
Laurie strode comes face to face with her murderous brother, who has tortured, terrorised, and tried to kill her.
Review
This movie fails to deliver a good story but has enough violence and gore to get you hooked. It might feel boring and slow-paced, but the end makes everything worth it.
12. Halloween Kill [October 15, 2021]

Cast- Judy Greer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak
Director- David Gordon Green
Plot
Laurie rests, thinking she killed Michael, but he escapes again, resuming the bloodbath at Halloween.
Review
The actors tried very hard to give their best performances, and they did deliver some great performances. The script is loose and not gripping enough. Giving significantly less to the actors to work on
The deaths are entertaining and will keep you either laughing or shocked throughout the movie.
I hope these 12 movies will give you the much needed Halloween creeps and chill.
Last Updated on by Sathi
This article has make my halloween night because i love to watch horror movies and i was looking for this kind of genre and movies.Thats why this article is good and i really liked it.
Really good article. This article made my halloween night so good, i was just looking for this kinds of movies and i stumbled upon this article.