After the rights to Halloween expired (shortly after the release of Halloween 5), Moustapha Akkad partnered with The Weinstein’ while John Carpenter and New Line partnered separately to secure them. Both teams submitted sealed bids for the rights and they were eventually awarded to Akkad and the Weinstein’ w/ Dimension Films/Miramax distributing all future Halloween sequels. With this out of the way, production on the next installment of Halloween was under way.
Executive producer of all the Halloween films, Moustapha Akkad, says, “With Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, we are definitely going into new, fresh avenues, but without losing that simplicity, that basic simplicity of the original HALLOWEEN.” The film was shot mostly in Salt Lake City, Utah, like the previous two sequels (Halloween 4 & Halloween 5) were. Unfortunately the city had experienced an early winter in 1994, and the production company had to fight the elements to create Halloween instead of Christmas day.
The film contains many details which allude to previous Halloween films. For example, the address on the Myers house says “45 Lampkin Lane” – which was mentioned in the second film. The Character of Mrs. Blankenship was a reference to ‘Minnie Blankenship ‘ from Halloween III and the musical score is more of a return to the basic Halloween themes.
There is also a “gag” in the film…when Barry (the radio DJ) is talking about shooting Michael Myers into space. Originally, John Carpenter had an idea for Halloween 6 that involved sending Myers into outer space. Also from the rumor mill, Quentin Tarantino was once attached to the project.
The film opens up a new realm of questions for Halloween fans. There were many internal problems that plagued the production. After the film was finished and screened, the studio wanted to make changes based on feedback from the audience. Including more gore and a completely different ending. This was met with push back from the Akkad’ and Paul Freeman, who were not a part of the re-shoots.
Sadly, Donald Pleasence passed away shortly after principal photography wrapped. When revisions on the film were made and new scenes had to be shot, a stand-in was used for the few Loomis shots that were needed. Ultimately the studio demanded their vision be the one used and in the end both worked out their differences and released the film w/ the studios changes intact.
Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers – © 1995 Miramax, LLC