The 7 Best And 7 Worst Scenes In The Halloween Franchise

The "Halloween" franchise is one of the most popular and enduring horror movie series, launched by filmmakers John Carpenter and Debra Hill in 1978, bringing the slasher genre to the mainstream. Predominantly following masked serial killer Michael Myers, the long-running film series has delivered the bloody thrills, with memorably terrifying scenes — but also a number of questionable narrative directions and awkwardly executed scenes. For every tautly-paced chase sequence or gruesome kill, there are convoluted subplots or scenes so out of place that they throw off the tone and flow of the wider movie.

Here are the seven best and seven worst scenes from the "Halloween" film series, from Michael pursuing his intended victims like Laurie Strode to other tales of the murderously macabre in the standalone "Halloween III." The "Halloween" franchise has certainly earned its influential place in the horror genre, with some truly impressive scenes, but not without more than a handful of stumbles along the way.

1981's "Halloween II" is the type of sequel that tries to go bigger and more bombastic than its predecessor at any cost to live up to the hype. As Doctor Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) hunt for Michael around the neighborhood, they encounter a figure wearing a near-identical mask and outfit. As the two men close in on their target, the masked figure is suddenly struck by a speeding cop car and rammed into a nearby van, exploding on impact.

The victim of the fiery crash isn't Michael, of course, but Laurie's high school crush Ben Tramer, identified by his dental records from his charred corpse. What makes the scene ludicrous is that not only does Ben not match Michael's physicality but the cop car wasn't intended to hit him at all, accidentally striking the teen as he innocuously crossed the street. From the dangerously speeding police car to a van that combusts like it was loaded with lighter fluid, the entire sequence is one of "Halloween II's" more head-scratching moments.

Something changed in Michael Myers on Halloween night 1963, with the young boy silently putting on a mask and stabbing his teenage sister to death. Since then, Michael has become a sullen, stoic individual, seemingly existing only to stalk and kill new prey upon his escape from Smith's Grove Sanitarium. However, a key scene in "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers" has the slasher display a strange sense of humanity when confronted with his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris).

Having pursued Jamie for all of "Halloween 4" and "Halloween 5," Michael finally corners the young girl in an attic and prepares to move in for the kill. Distraught, Jamie refers to Michael as her uncle, making him stop dead in his tracks and quietly remove his mask, with the killer shown to be shedding a single tear. While the moment doesn't last long before Michael reignites his usual bloodlust, the scene falls flat on arrival and is made all the stranger by the reveal that Michael has a ponytail.

2002's "Halloween: Resurrection" positioned the franchise at the advent of reality television and online streaming, with a production company attempting to stage a livestream from the decrepit Myers' home. Little did the producers and participants of this program know, the actual Michael Myers was on the loose again and decided to brutally dispatch the intruders himself. This particularly contrived premise saw Michael face off against the livestream's director, Freddie Harris, played by hip-hop artist Busta Rhymes.

The first encounter between the two men is one of the more disappointing moments of "Resurrection," with Freddie mistaking Michael for one of the actors he had hired to dress up as the slasher to scare the participants. Frustrated that he wasn't at the right location for the livestream, Freddie cussed out Michael, unaware that the actor he had hired was murdered by the man standing before him. Rather than attack Freddie, Michael shockingly leaves the scene, making Freddie the only person to talk down the serial killer without so much as lifting a finger.

Of all the characters to provide Michael with a crushing physical challenge, few would've thought teenager Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) could come out as a worthy nemesis. As incredulous as it may seem, Tommy pulls off the impossible by triumphing over the slasher, beating him senseless with a lead pipe in 1995's "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers." After escaping from Michael as a child in the original "Halloween," Tommy confronts the serial killer again when he is drawn into a plot by a cult to clone Michael's pure evil.

This unhappy reunion culminated in a showdown with Michael in the cult's laboratory, after the masked murdered killed the shadowy Cult of Thorn's scientists. Tommy injects Michael with a corrosive compound before wailing on him repeatedly with a pipe until the slasher is incapacitated enough for Tommy and his friends to escape. While the corrosive makes the climax less outrageous, the idea that someone who survived being shot multiple times and set aflame could be neutralized by simpler means is patently pathetic.

2021's "Halloween Kills" picks up right where the 2018 revival film left off, as Haddonfield is shocked to discover that Michael is on the loose once again and has already claimed a number of victims. As the police search for the mass murderer, several citizens decide to take matters into their own hands, led by Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), who is still haunted by that infamous Halloween night in 1978. Tommy taking charge of an angry mob is presaged during his introductory scene in "Halloween Kills," as he reminds his fellow patrons at a local dive bar why exactly this town should fear Halloween night.

The angry mob angle to "Halloween Kills" is central to the story, as a frustrated Haddonfield eschews the authorities, but one of the more awkwardly executed aspects of the film. Though Tommy, perhaps, was never intended to be particularly articulate, his opening speech is unfocused and overlong, throwing off the movie's momentum. Coupled with Tommy's repeated, ham-fisted catchphrase, "evil dies tonight," the tedious scene unfortunately sets up the uneven tone of "Halloween Kills."

After rebooting the "Halloween" franchise in 2007, filmmaker Rob Zombie doubled down on the lurid, graphic direction he took the Michael Myers saga with the 2009 direct sequel "Halloween II." Zombie put the focus on the rebooted iteration of Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton), with the teen traumatized by her first encounter with Michael and shocked by the revelation of her true parentage. As Laurie begins to spiral downward while Michael returns to Haddonfield one year after the events of the preceding film, Laurie begins to exhibit signs that evil runs in the family.

Throughout "Halloween II," Michael begins having visions of his young self and late mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie) appearing to him with a white horse. As the film progresses, Laurie begins to experience these visions as well, with the strange sequences completely taking the audience out of the movie rather than offer a fuller psychological glimpse into the siblings. Awkwardly incorporated into the film, pretentiously staged, and intrusive to the story's natural flow, these visions encompass everything wrong with "Halloween II."

There are a lot of questionable moments in the "Halloween" franchise but the most egregious of them all is making Michael little more than a punching bag for Busta Rhymes in "Halloween: Resurrection." Playing livestream director Freddie, Busta gets two fights against Michael, displaying an unintentionally hilarious level of martial arts as he knocks the slasher around his childhood home. The more laughable of the two takes place in the movie's climax, during a fiery showdown in the old Myers house's garage.

As Michael corners Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich), one of the last survivors, in a burning garage, Sara is saved by the sudden reappearance of Freddie. Arming himself with a variety of lawn tools around the garage, Freddie is able to pummel Michael until the killer is tangled up in wires, electrocuting and burning up the villain. Of all the ways that Michael has been defeated, a dubious martial artist armed with common tools marks the most embarrassing moment of the franchise.