Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: Michael is back...again...chasing a baby (sigh) after disappearing six years ago with Jamie.
Review: As many fans know, this entry had the most troubled production in the series with two major cuts of the film out there. Surprise, they both are trash, however, the Producer's Cut (as it's known) is somewhat watchable. For the most part, I will acknowledge the theatrical cut when discussing this abomination. Anyway, part 6 pretty much killed the franchise from a writing perspective. I already discussed part 5's involvement in fucking everything up, but, with six years to work things out, the filmmakers could have delivered something worthwhile. Instead, we get one of the worst entries in the series.
From the start, what always killed this movie for me was replacing Danielle Harris as Jamie and then killing her off unceremoniously. Jamie was a critical character and the main protagonist in the last two films...you don't just carelessly throw away a character that fans cared about. On top of that, who thought it would be smart to make her final plot line revolve around giving birth to Michael's incestuous son?! Good lord. At least in the theatrical cut this isn't as clear, but it's pretty damn obvious in the Producer's Cut. Also keep in mind that Jamie is only 15 in the continuity which was already screwed up by part 5 adding a year; in actuality, Jamie was supposed to be 14. Who thinks this shit up?
In the Producer's Cut we at least get an explanation for everything which shows that after the events of part 5, some thorn cult (as they're known), along with the man in black, freed Michael, captured Jamie, and blew up that police station to leave all of their whereabouts unknown. The theatrical cut doesn't explain any of this shit so you have no idea how Jamie is captured nor how she was pregnant in the first place. None of this matters since part 6 is such a mess with it's story that you will hardly understand the point or reason for anything.
On the positive side, Loomis has been brought back to life again, however, this would sadly be Donald Pleasence's last film, and the filmmakers had to perform re-shoots without him. This is a large reason why the editing for this entry is particularly painful to behold. Don't let that be an excuse though...the editing is shit regardless especially in the theatrical cut. One super annoying thing unique to the theatrical cut is the worst rendition of the "Halloween" theme in the entire franchise! The stupid electric guitar riffs felt so '90s, and this entry feels dated compared to the others. I mean, part 4 holds up incredibly well in style and structure in comparison.
As for all the wonderful twists and turns we come to learn...Michael is really just a pawn of this cult. The man in black is Dr. Wynn from the original "Halloween," and he leads this cult, manipulating Michael to...stop chaos...or something...maybe. I don't fucking know! Great, now Michael is just a crony in his own series. This feels like they tried connecting it to part 3 or some shit with the star alignments. I don't even know which is worse: in the Producer's Cut Mikey can be stopped by retarded runes or the theatrical cut where Mikey goes apeshit out of nowhere, killing everyone, making you question how he was ever controlled over the years. Don't forget Michael bleeds green slime now! This movie is one big eye roll.
Lastly, I'm just going to talk about random, stupid shit that happens. Why is Michael killing the Strode family? He thinks they have the incest baby...why? By the way, the Strode family are all idiots and unlikable. Can't forget all this nonsense with the Danny-boy character and "the voice." Gimme a break, dude. I don't mind bringing back the Tommy Doyle character, but his portrayal by Paul Rudd is horrendous. Kind of surprised Mr. Rudd had a career after this pitiful performance. They act like Halloween is banned in Haddonfield yet proceed to show us people trick-or-treating and decorations up. Okaaaay. The two different endings are laughable. In the theatrical cut we just have Michael missing and Loomis screaming after a terrible edit to everyone safe; the Producer's Cut has Michael dressed as the man in black and Loomis is cursed to have that thorn symbol now? Huh?
What can I say? They should have just scrapped everything and started over in my opinion. I don't entirely fault the filmmakers after they were left a mess to clean up from part 5, however, I do believe the story could have been salvaged. The attempts to explain Michael only ruined things further and made the story overly convoluted. Killing off Jamie after replacing my dear Danielle Harris was an insult to audiences who had followed her struggle the last two movies. Part 6 lacks proper direction and has horrendous editing made worse by stupid ideas. Looking at the 10 disc, Blu-ray set, I realize they have the first 5 films in one case and the second 5 in another. Yeah...you can just go ahead and throw that second case in the trash.
Notable Moment: Although I do love seeing Paul Rudd twitching to this horrible version of the "Halloween" theme, I'd say the head explosion is the most ridiculous.
Final Rating: (Theatrical Cut) 4/10 / (Producer's Cut) 5/10
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