Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), also called Halloween 6, is the sixth Halloween film, directed by Joe Chappelle and released in the US on September 29, 1995. It follows Michael Myers, Jamie Lloyd and Tommy Doyle as a cult tied to the curse of Thorn pursues Michael and a baby boy. Paul Rudd and Donald Pleasence lead the cast, the theatrical cut runs 88 minutes, and a separate Producer's Cut tells the story differently.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), directed by Joe Chappelle, is about a cult that holds Michael Myers captive and wants him and a newborn child back after both escape its control. The story begins six years after the events of Halloween 5, with Michael and his niece Jamie Lloyd held by a Druid like cult.
Jamie gives birth to a baby boy named Steven and manages to flee with him. Michael tracks her down and kills her. Tommy Doyle, now a reclusive adult who has long been obsessed with Michael, finds the baby. The cult, led by Dr. Terence Wynn, is pursuing both Michael and the child, and Michael heads back to Haddonfield, where he targets the Strode family.
If you are new to the series, Tommy Doyle is a character from the very first film, where he was a boy being babysat on Halloween night. Jamie Lloyd is the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode, introduced in Halloween 4. The full plot section that follows reveals the ending.
Kara StrodeMarianne Hagan
Dr. WynnMitchell Ryan
Debra StrodeKim Darby
John StrodeBradford English
Tim StrodeKeith Bogart
BethMariah O'Brien
Barry SimmsLeo Geter
Jamie LloydJ.C. Brandy
| Market | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US | September 29, 1995reported | boxofficemojo.com |
| UK | January 1, 1996reported | themoviedb.org |
| AU | September 29, 1995reported | themoviedb.org |
| Market | Subscription | Rent or buy |
|---|---|---|
| US | HBO Max Amazon Channel, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Cinemax Apple TV channel | Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home |
| UK | None listed | Apple TV Store, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store, YouTube |
| AU | None listed | Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, YouTube |
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, checked 2026-11-03.
| Director | Joe Chappelle |
|---|---|
| Writers | Debra Hill, John Carpenter, Daniel Farrands |
| Producers | Paul Freeman |
| Music | Alan Howarth |
| Cinematography | Billy Dickson |
| Budget | $5 million |
|---|---|
| Domestic (US and Canada) | $15 million |
| International | $1 million |
| Worldwide | $16 million |
| Worldwide, in September 2026 dollars | $35 million |
Halloween box office for every film.
Alan Howarth composed the score for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), and the score album, "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers", was released by Varèse Sarabande in 1995 with 13 tracks. The album covers the orchestral and electronic score only, which is separate from the rock songs heard in the film.
Five songs are credited to the film, and Brother Cane supplies four of them. The one with a documented place in the story is "And Fools Shine On". It plays as Kara, Tim and Beth arrive at school in their car, and it returns over the closing credits. No scene is on record for the other four songs, so the film's use of them is left unstated here.
The credited songs are:
For the composers, albums and songs across every film in the series, see the Halloween soundtrack page.
Brother Cane
It plays as Kara, Tim and Beth arrive at school in their car, and it plays again over the closing credits.
Sources: musicbrainz.org, themoviedb.org, en.wikipedia.org
In the theatrical cut, the full story is a chase between a cult, a killer and two small children, and it ends inside Smith's Grove Sanitarium. The film opens with Michael Myers and Jamie Lloyd held captive by a Druid like cult. Jamie gives birth to a son, Steven, and flees with him. Michael catches up and kills her, but the baby is found by Tommy Doyle, a withdrawn man who has spent years trying to understand Michael.
The cult is led by Dr. Terence Wynn and tied to an ancient curse known as Thorn. It wants Michael and the child back. Michael returns to Haddonfield and kills several members of the Strode family, who now live in the old Myers house. Kara Strode, her son Danny and baby Steven are then taken by the cult to Smith's Grove Sanitarium.
Dr. Sam Loomis, drawn back into the case, also heads to the sanitarium. Inside, Michael turns on the cult members who had been controlling him. Tommy and Kara fight to get the two children out alive, and Loomis stays behind. In the theatrical cut his fate is left unclear.
A separate workprint known as the Producer's Cut has a different ending. In that version Jamie survives the opening, and Loomis takes on the cult's curse.
The film reached US theaters on September 29, 1995, according to Box Office Mojo. Australia is listed on the same date, September 29, 1995, and the UK on January 1, 1996, according to TMDB. No premiere city or venue has been published for the theatrical release.
The release came eight months after the death of Donald Pleasence on February 2, 1995, and the film was his last.
The Producer's Cut has its own screening history. The workprint, with about 45 minutes of alternate footage, had its first public screening on October 27, 2013 at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. It was officially released on Blu-ray in September 2014.
Ratings: the film is rated R in the US, 18 in the UK and MA 15+ in Australia.
In the theatrical cut, Michael breaks away from the cult and attacks it inside Smith's Grove, Tommy and Kara carry the children out of the building, and Dr. Loomis stays behind with his fate left open. The film leaves Michael's story unresolved, and it sets up the later sequel Halloween H20.
What does the cult actually explain? It turns Michael from a force with no stated reason into a man controlled by Dr. Terence Wynn and bound to the curse of Thorn. That is a large retcon. The original Halloween 1978 offers a boy who kills his sister and a man who escapes the sanitarium fifteen years later, and the sequels through Halloween 5 leaned on family ties and Jamie's mental link to him. Here the family story is replaced by a ritual one. In my opinion, that swap is the film's biggest gamble, and it is also why the sanitarium finale, with Michael turning on his handlers, reads as the point where he is no longer anyone's instrument.
How does the Producer's Cut differ? It is a workprint with about 45 minutes of alternate footage. Jamie survives the opening, and Loomis takes on the cult's curse. The theatrical version came out of a test screening in New York City, after which the ending was rewritten, reshot in Los Angeles in summer 1995 and the film heavily re-edited. The two cuts are close to two arguments about what the curse means, one where it drifts off with Michael and one where it lands on a named character.
Which version is better? It could be argued either way. Perhaps the Producer's Cut gives Loomis and the cult a clearer purpose, because the curse passes to someone the audience has followed since Halloween II 1981, where he hunted Michael through Haddonfield. The theatrical cut runs 88 minutes and keeps its attention on the chase to get the children out. If you want the faster film, start there. If you want the version in which Loomis takes on the curse, the workprint is the one to track down.
Donald Pleasence died on February 2, 1995, and the reshoots took place that summer, so the open ending for Loomis in the theatrical cut reads, perhaps unintentionally, as a farewell to the actor as well as the character. It was his final film.
Where does the curse go afterward? Nowhere. Halloween H20 ignores films 4 to 6, so Thorn, Steven and the Strode household of this film do not exist in that timeline, and Michael returns as a brother hunting a sister who faked her death. The cult storyline is a dead end by design, which is a useful thing to know before you place this film in a marathon.
Most of the film was shot in Salt Lake City, Utah, where principal photography began on October 31, 1994. Locations there include the former Old Primary Children's Hospital in the Avenues district and the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility. The Cottonwood Paper Mill in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, was also used.
The summer 1995 reshoots took place in Los Angeles, California, including at Queen of Angels Hospital. An early snowstorm in Utah pushed some exterior scenes indoors.
Haddonfield is the small Illinois town where the series is set, and none of these Utah or California locations are in Illinois. For how the town fits into the wider story, see Halloween 1978.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers has an unusually well recorded production history, mostly because of the two versions.
It depends on what a viewer wants. The theatrical cut runs 88 minutes and ends with Michael turning on the cult while Tommy and Kara rescue the children, with Dr. Loomis's fate left unclear. The Producer's Cut, a workprint with about 45 minutes of alternate footage, lets Jamie survive the opening and has Loomis take on the cult's curse. In my opinion the Producer's Cut gives the curse a clearer payoff, while the theatrical cut is the faster chase.
For anyone following the original series, it completes the run of films 4 to 6 and is the last film with Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis. It also features Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle. It is rated R in the US, and Halloween H20 followed in 1998. See Halloween movies ranked for the series wide order of preference.
The story begins in Halloween (1978), where young Michael Myers kills his teenage sister in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night in 1963 and escapes the sanitarium fifteen years later. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers adds a cult tied to the curse of Thorn as an explanation. Different timelines in the series tell the origin differently, including Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007).
In the original timeline, Michael kills his sister as a boy, is held at a sanitarium and returns to Haddonfield. Halloween 6 says a Druid like cult has been controlling him, led by Dr. Terence Wynn and linked to an ancient curse known as Thorn.
It is the sixth film in release order and also sixth in chronological order, which is why it is called Halloween 6. It was released in 1995 and followed by Halloween H20 in 1998.
As of November 3, 2026, according to JustWatch via TMDB, the US lists HBO Max for streaming, plus rental or purchase on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. The UK and Australia list rental or purchase only. Check Where to watch Halloween for the rest of the series.
