Planning on watching all the Halloween movies?
Great stuff!
But what order do you watch them in? And which movies are connected and which aren’t?
The truth is, the Halloween movie series is VERY confusing as only some of the films follow on from each other and those that do are kind of all over the place. So, for example, Halloween & Halloween II follow the same continuity, while Halloween III does not.
Halloween IV, V and The Curse of Michael Myers (6) continue the story from Halloween II, but then Halloween: H20 (7) and Halloween: Resurrection (8) ignore and contradict the events of IV-VI!!!
Halloween ’07 & Halloween II ’09 are reboots of the series, so ignore everything that has come before, while Halloween ’18 is a direct sequel to Halloween ’78 and ignores every other movie in the series, be it original run or reboot.
And then there are Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, which continue on from Halloween ’18.
ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!
You’re confused, right?
I totally get that.
So, let’s clear things up a little.
Below is a guide to all the different viewing orders for the Halloween movies. There are multiple guides as there are multiple paths you could take with this series, depending on what continuity you want to follow.
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Viewing Order One – Production order
The first viewing order is very, very simple as it is the order in which the movies were produced. If you simply want to watch every Halloween movie, regardless of continuity, then this is the list for you.
The order for all of the Halloween movies is as follows:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
- Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
- Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
- Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
- Halloween: H20 (1998)
- Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
- Halloween (2007)
- Halloween II (2009)
- Halloween (2018)
- Halloween Kills (2021)
- Halloween Ends (2022)
The benefit of watching this order is that you get to see all the movies that have been produced. The downside (as noted above) is the fact that the series is all over the place, so watching the movies in this order will have you scratching your head as it won’t make a great deal of sense.
So, let’s break things down…
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Viewing Order Two – The Dr. Loomis order
If you choose this option then you are following the continuity which revolves around Dr. Sam Loomis. Loomis is a character played by Donald Pleasance, who tracks Michael Myers as he goes on his killing spree.
With this order, the story follows Loomis as he pursues Michael, from his initial encounters with Laurie Strode in Halloween & Halloween II, to his involvement with niece, Jamie Lloyd in movies IV to VI.
The order here is as follows:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
- Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
- Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
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Viewing Order Three – The Laurie Strode order
This viewing order focuses on Laurie Strode – a character played by Jamie Lee Curtis. In this order, Laurie encounters Michael Myers in 1978, in Halloween/Halloween II, before encountering him again twenty years later in Halloween H20.
This order includes just four movies and is as follows:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween: H20 (1998)
- Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
This order ignores parts III-VI. Don’t worry about ‘em, just skip ‘em!
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Viewing Order Four – The Rob Zombie order
This order is a reboot of the entire series, ignoring everything that came before. This option cuts out all of the movies except for two – those directed by Rob Zombie.
The order is as follows:
- Halloween (2007)
- Halloween II (2009)
If you follow this order then you’re getting a simplified version of the story, which focuses largely on Michael Myers. If you only watch these two films, you’re kind of missing out on the fun of the series, but you get two shots of Michael Myers at his most brutal.
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Viewing Order Five – The new order
This is the most recent order and factors in four movies – the original Halloween, plus three sequels.
This order ignores every movie that came after Halloween ’78 and before Halloween ’18.
In this order, Laurie meets Michael in Halloween in 1978, then doesn’t meet him again until 2018 – 40 years later. None of the other movies matter.
So, if you choose this option, all you need do is watch the original movie and then watch Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022) – nothing else!
The viewing order is as follows:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween (2018)
- Halloween Kills (2021)
- Halloween Ends (2022)
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Viewing Order Six – The odd one out order
And finally, should you want nothing to do with Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis, Jamie Lloyd or Michael Myers, then pick this option – the option known as ‘the odd one out’.
This viewing order is the odd one out because Halloween III has NOTHING to do with any of the other movies in the series. This movie can be watched as a standalone horror film without any prior knowledge of the films, as it concerns Celtic witchcraft.
The viewing order is simple, it’s just:
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch
And that’s pretty much all you need to know.
I get that this series is incredibly confusing, so just pick a viewing order, stick to it and everything will all fall into place. Promise.
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If you want to play catch up, then most of the movies are available on digital and/or Blu-ray and DVD. Unfortunately you can’t buy a boxset of all the movies – certainly not in the UK anyway – but the titles can be picked up individually.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released Halloween on Blu-ray. The release can be picked up online, including via Amazon UK or Amazon US.
The UK edition is classed as a 40th anniversary edition, but is technically a re-release of the 35th anniversary edition and includes a number of special features, including trailers, a featurette and a commentary from John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis.
If you want to go beyond the original film, then you might want to check out the book Taking Shape, which talks about the development of the entire Halloween film series.
The book looks at 40 years of the Halloween films with interviews, background information, and various snippets about the movies. It also talks about scripts, deleted scenes and more.
So, which order do you prefer to watch the Halloween movies? Do you like to watch all the movies in production order, or do you pick one of the alternate options listed above? Sound off in the comments section below and share your thoughts with other fans.
Until next time, happy (and spooky) viewing!
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8 Responses to What is the best order to watch the Halloween movies?
I actually consider Halloween (1978) thru Halloween H20 the same collection (minus Halloween 3) Donald Pleasance might have been long gone by H20, but the pre-existing audio they use during the beginning credits, plus the opening scene with Marion (From Halloween & Halloween II) is enough for me. Honestly, H2O would have ended this whole thing on a decent note. It brought the entire story full circle back to Laurie. This new one looks good too, but they did take some notes from H20. Laurie seems ready for him. She was in H2O also. She beat the hell out of him. Hell, she even went as far as to steal the ambulance his body was in not believing he was dead. haha Then everything went to shit with Halloween Resurrection. I pretend that movie never happened.
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I think we all pretend Resurrection never happened. Who thought that would be a good idea for a story? What do you think of the Rob Zombie movies?
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Well, the first one had some ok qualities. Instead of building on that, I feel like Rob took everything & just said “fuck it,” creating a giant dumpster fire. haha Actually, I don’t know what’s worse. With Resurrection I can at least laugh at how bad it is.
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Yeah, I’m not a fan of either Resurrection or the Rob Zombie films. I watched both for the first time last year, as I just had no interest in them. I still have no interest in them. For me, it’s Halloween one through three and H20 – they tick all the boxes for me.
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The Rob Zombie (I forget which one) takes u from the inception of Michael…from when he was a child and committed his first murder. I like watching that one first. Obviously, it HAPPENED first! Happy viewing 🎃 🎭 🔪
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As you say, there are multiple ways to watch these movies and for the most part I think each one of them has merit. But I just wanted to mention one important thing. You mentioned Halloween 2 (1981) in three of your lists but didn’t put as much emphasis on that one as I think you should have. That particular film is the only one that tells us that Laurie Strode is actually Michael Myers’ sister. After the death of Judith and the incarceration of Michael the Strode family took in Laurie as raised her as their own. Now unfortunately it’s not made clear as to whether or not Laurie herself was ever told that, but I think fans of the Halloween franchise might find it interesting. I know I did. Now I’ll be the first to admit I have not seen all of the films simply because no matter what the franchise is after so many prequels and sequels I get sort of burned out and move on to something else. Maybe it was mentioned in another one of the films and I didn’t see that one. But I realize why the studios keep making them, because they all seem to make lots of money. But so many times the writers back themselves into a corner and have to come up some really far fetched way to resurrect the characters so the franchise can continue. The Halloween franchise is a perfect example of that. If you recall in Halloween H20 Laurie chopped of Michael’s head with an axe. To me dead is dead, and that should have done the trick. But no. Next thing I hear is he’s alive and well and ready for the last movie simply called Halloween, made in 2018. Of course we all know that wasn’t the last film. We had Halloween Kills in 2021 and next up is Halloween Ends coming in October of this year. Is there anyone who believes that will be the end of Michael Myers, finally? I certainly don’t.
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I really enjoyed reading about your movie orders. I will watch halloween 79, halloween 2018 and halloween kills in order before I go to the cinema this halloween to see halloween ends. Awesome
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