The Halloween movie franchise are some of the most popular films to watch each spooky season. It all started with the first feature film in 1978 by John Carpenter and came to a close (for now) in 2022. In honor of Horror Week here at Capes and Tights, we have ranked all 13 films.
Twelve of the films have followed since the 1978 original was released. Michael Myers is the antagonist in all of the entries with the exception of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a story with no direct connection to any other film in the series. Starting with Halloween II, most of the various sequels appeared between 1981 and 2002, including a 10th anniversary film in 1988 and a 20th anniversary sequel in 1998.
In 2007 Rob Zombie created a remake of the 1978 film, plus a sequel released two years later in 2009. The franchise would go dormant for nine years until a direct sequel to the original film, which ignores all previous sequels, was released in 2018. The sequel to the 2018 film, Halloween Kills, was released in 2021 with the most recent entry, Halloween Ends, in 2022.
Let’s dive into the list…
13. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
He’s back for more… When a group of teens win a contest to spend a night in Michael Myers’ childhood home to be broadcast live on the Internet, they believe they are in for a little fun and some free publicity. But things go frightfully wrong and the game turns into a struggle to make it out of the house alive.
12. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
After lying in a coma for a year, Michael Myers awakens and stalks his way back to his small hometown in Illinois, intent on killing his niece, Jamie, who has been confined to a mental institution since Michael’s last attempt to slay her. Suspecting a psychic link between Michael and Jamie, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis joins forces with Sheriff Ben Meeker and attempts to stop Michael’s latest rampage.
11. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
This installment marks the return of the seemingly indestructible masked murderer Michael Myers, who is targeting Tommy Doyle, a young man tied into the legacy of the killer and his connections with the Strode family. As the supernatural elements of Michael’s macabre abilities are explored, his longtime adversary, Dr. Sam Loomis, is also back in yet another attempt to stop the psychopath’s brutal rampages.
10. Halloween Kills (2021)
Minutes after Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all. Evil dies tonight.
9. Halloween II (2009)
A year after narrowly escaping death at the hands of Michael Myers, Laurie Strode is at the breaking point, pushed to the edge by Dr. Loomis’ revelation that she’s Michael’s sister. Little does she know, the unstoppable killer is back in Haddonfield and, driven by visions of their dead mother, he is determined to bring about a bloody family reunion.
8. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Two decades after surviving a massacre on October 31, 1978, former baby sitter Laurie Strode finds herself hunted by persistent knife-wielder Michael Myers. Laurie now lives in Northern California under an assumed name, where she works as the headmistress of a private school. But it’s not far enough to escape Myers, who soon discovers her whereabouts. As Halloween descends upon Laurie’s peaceful community, a feeling of dread weighs upon her — with good reason.
7. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
The apparently comatose Michael Myers is being transferred from one hospital to another, but he wakes up when the ambulance crew talk about his surviving niece, Jamie. After slaughtering his attendants, Myers sets out to find his one living relative who is, fortunately, being cared for by a kind and resourceful foster sister named Rachel. Meanwhile, the ever-cautious Dr. Loomis remains on the killer’s path.
6. Halloween Ends (2022)
This is Laurie Strode’s last stand. After 45 years, the most acclaimed, revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before. Only one of them will survive.
5. Halloween (2007)
Nearly two decades after being committed to a mental institution for killing his stepfather and older sister, Michael Myers breaks out, intent on returning to the town of Haddonfield, Ill. He arrives in his hometown on Halloween with the indomitable purpose of hunting down his younger sister, Laurie. The only thing standing between Michael and a Halloween night of bloody carnage is psychologist Dr. Samuel Loomis.
4. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Hospital emergency room Dr. Daniel “Dan” Challis and Ellie Grimbridge, the daughter of a murder victim, uncover a terrible plot by small-town mask maker Conal Cochran, a madman who’s planning a Halloween mass murder utilizing an ancient Celtic ritual. The ritual involves a boulder stolen from Stonehenge, the use of Silver Shamrock masks and a triggering device contained in a television commercial — all designed to kill millions of children.
3. Halloween (2018)
It’s been 40 years since Laurie Strode survived a vicious attack from crazed killer Michael Myers on Halloween night. Locked up in an institution, Myers manages to escape when his bus transfer goes horribly wrong. Laurie now faces a terrifying showdown when the masked madman returns to Haddonfield, Ill. — but this time, she’s ready for him.
2. Halloween II (1981)
After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she’s been admitted for Myers’ attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.
1. Halloween (1978)
On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith’s Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.
