Halloween. But what order should you watch the movies in?

How to Watch the Halloween Movies in Chronological Order

Chris McMullen

Published: Oct 16, 2023 03:48 pm

Are you getting ready for a Halloween movie marathon? Want to spend a couple of days watching Michael Myers stab his way through Haddonfield’s populace? Or maybe you’re going to spread the murder over a couple of weeks. Either way, you’ll be wondering how to watch the Halloween movies in chronological order. Here’s what you need to know.

All the Different Ways to Watch the Halloween Series

When it comes to watching the Halloween movies in chronological order, there’s a bit a of problem. Several of the later movies have ignored previous entries, so there are several ways to go about this. Technically, if you want to watch the movies in the order they were filmed, here’s the way to go.

Halloween
Halloween 2
Halloween 3
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween Resurrection
Rob Zombie’s Halloween
Rob Zombie’s Halloween II
Halloween (2018)
Halloween Kills
Halloween Ends

Halloween 3 isn’t a Michael Myers movie. It’s a separate story, set in the universe where the first Halloween movie was just that, a movie. But if you’re watching these Halloween movies in chronological order, you might as well check it out. It’s a good but not great attempt at doing something different with the franchise. And, if you can, watch the original version of Halloween 6 and the Producers Cut.

If you want to watch the movies in the order they happen in-universe, it gets a bit trickier. The original Michael Myers chronology goes like this.

Halloween
Halloween 2
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

Halloween H20: 20 Years later, ignore the later movies and creates it’s own chronology. It features the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode but erases her daughter.

An image from Halloween as part of an article on how to watch the movies in chronological order.

The H20verse is as follows:

Halloween
Halloween 2
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween Resurrection

I’m happy to ignore Halloween Resurrection. Jamie Curtis only filmed scenes for that film so that H20 would get made, but it’s still, technically, part of this “new” timeline.

Then, along came Rob Zombie with his two films. They’re a reimagining of the original two movies and, as you might expect, are best enjoyed like this.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween
Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2

Finally, 2018’s Halloween creates yet another timeline, ditching even Halloween 2 and stating that Laurie Strode is not, after all, Michael Myers’ sister.

So, as of the new trilogy, Halloween‘s chronology is made up of four movies.

Halloween
Halloween (2018)
Halloween Kills
Halloween Ends

Will the proposed Halloween TV series shake things up further? Almost certainly. But now, that’s how to watch the Halloween movies in chronological order.

Halloween

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Author

Chris McMullen

Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.