The Unmade Halloween Trilogy

 

With Halloween Ends arriving in theaters and on Peacock tomorrow, I thought it'd be a fun idea to tell you about a trilogy that almost happened.

That trilogy consisted of three films titled Rise of the Boogeyman, The Witching Hour, and Fires of Samhain. But before I can tell those films' stories, it's important we go back in time.

The Pitch

Now I don't have the exact dates of when this idea was pitched. What I think everyone can agree on is the idea was pitched somewhere between Rob Zombie's Halloween II and way before the newest sets of movies were starting up production. Basically, somewhere during that period, writer Stef Hutchinson (the writer of Halloween comics such as Nightdance), came up with an idea that would've not only been a reboot, but also would've tied in all of the films, that would've explained the timeline and/or timelines.

Rise of the Boogeyman

Now before I tell you about how the timelines would've connected, I think I should go over the stories of each film from the trilogy. For Rise of the Boogeyman, the story would've been essentially been an origin story of how Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis meet, and also how Michael escaped from the asylum. The story would've been set in the 1980s, Michael Myers isn't dubbed with his real name, instead he's called "The Shape". He would've killed two people on Halloween night. During this time not only is Loomis married and has a son, but he would've been haunted by that night because a patient is linked to the case. Then after meeting Michael, Loomis would've accidentally dropped a lighter, which in return helped Michael escaped. We also would learn that Michael seems to form from a netherworld called "The Luminal".

Things would've only gotten worse, because in this story Laurie Strode would've died. The ending was also no better. By the end of part one of this trilogy, Loomis would've failed to save anyone, and by the end, Michael arrives and kills Loomis' wife.

The Witching Hour

Just when things couldn't possibly get worse, we arrive in part two of the trilogy. The story is Loomis is trying to recover from the death of his wife, while at the same time coming to terms with the fact that his son was also killed by Michael.

Michael also really has it out for Loomis this time around. During this time, not only do we learn Loomis is getting therapy, but Michael has been spying on his sessions. And with this information, The Shape learns of his biggest fears, which he uses to drive Loomis into insanity.

Fires of Samhain

This is where things take an...interesting turn of events. For the final part of this trilogy, we finally know what Michael's big plan is. Michael would've used his Luminal powers to influence the patients of a local asylum as pawns to kill the residents of the town, all in an effort to have a massive sacrifice.

Then later Loomis would've taken a trip to the Luminal. During that sequence, Loomis would've learned that there is a multiverse with different versions of Michael Myers. Ranging from the 1978 original all the way to Rob Zombie's remake - along with other versions we've never seen before.

What Was The Purpose and Why Didn't It Happen?

While the purpose of this trilogy was to make more Halloween films, Stef Hutchinson's true goal was to free up the franchise. That way not only could future filmmakers not have to worry about continuity, but they could also revisit an old timeline, or go another way and start fresh with their own verison of Michael Myers.

Now the given reason of why this trilogy never happened was because the studio didn't have any interest in doing another reboot, after the Rob Zombie films. Understandable, but I think maybe the other reason was the multiverse factor. While Halloween has gone more supernatural in the past, just look at Season of the Witch and Halloween 4-6. Having a multiverse is a little more of a sci-fi thing. So I think the studio didn't want to incorporate sci-fi elements in a franchise that tries to be more reality base. Note that I said TRIES. So while I am curious of what could've been, I think this might be one of the few times where I actually agree with the studio executives.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history. I actually had a lot of fun learning about this cancelled reboot, even if I didn't agree with the idea. Anyhow, come back on Saturday, Oct 15th for my review of Halloween Ends. Really looking forward to that one, but until then, enjoy the rest of your day.