Film · in order

Halloween Movies in Order

By the Bingerun team · How we choose the order →

Thirteen films since 1978, in four incompatible timelines that all start from the same original. No other horror franchise reboots itself this often without renaming anything, which is why every October the same question returns: which Halloween movies actually follow which.

0 / 13 done
  1. Halloween 1978

    Carpenter's original, and the shared root of every timeline. The one film all four branches agree happened.

  2. Halloween II 1981

    Same night, continuing directly. Canon in the original and H20 timelines; erased by the 2018 trilogy.

  3. StandaloneHalloween III: Season of the Witch 1982

    No Michael Myers. The anthology experiment, where the first two films exist as movies on TV. Watch it as its own thing or skip freely.

  4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 1988

    Original timeline resumes, introducing Jamie Lloyd.

  5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers 1989

    Direct continuation of 4, seeding the Thorn storyline.

  6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers 1995

    The Thorn cult explained, sort of. The end of the original timeline, with a famously different producer's cut.

  7. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 1998

    Branch point: keeps 1978 and 1981 only. Laurie Strode, twenty years later, faculty at a private school.

  8. Halloween: Resurrection 2002

    Closes the H20 branch by undoing its ending in the first ten minutes. The branch's low point.

  9. RemakeHalloween 2007

    Rob Zombie's remake: a long new origin for Michael, connected to nothing outside its own sequel.

  10. Halloween II 2009

    Zombie's sequel to his own remake, closing that universe.

  11. Halloween 2018

    The Blumhouse reset: a direct sequel to 1978 that ignores every other film, including Halloween II.

  12. Halloween Kills 2021

    Same night as the 2018 film, Haddonfield-wide.

  13. Halloween Ends 2022

    The trilogy's divisive close, four years later. The current end of the franchise.

Check off what you've finished, it saves automatically · See all your lists → ·

Why this order?

Halloween is the franchise that made 'watch order' a genuinely hard question, because it has rebooted three times without ever changing its name.

Everything starts with John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). From there, four branches:

The original timeline continues through Halloween II (1981), then jumps to 4, 5 and The Curse of Michael Myers (1988-1995), following the Thorn cult storyline to its messy end.

The H20 branch keeps 1978 and 1981, throws away 4 through 6, and continues with H20: 20 Years Later (1998) and Resurrection (2002), built around Laurie Strode twenty years on.

The Rob Zombie films (2007, 2009) are a full remake universe: a new origin, a new Michael, no connection to any other film.

The Blumhouse trilogy - Halloween (2018), Kills (2021), Ends (2022) - is the boldest cut: it treats the 1978 original as the only film that ever happened. Not even Halloween II survives. Laurie's granddaughter, the town of Haddonfield, forty years of trauma from one night.

And then there is Season of the Witch (1982), which has no Michael Myers at all: it was the attempt to turn Halloween into an anthology, and inside its own story the first two films are just movies playing on TV.

So the honest answer to 'what order': pick a timeline and watch it complete. The 2018 trilogy is the shortest full story (four films including the original) and the current canon. The guide's order toggle carries all four branches; release order exists for completists who want to watch the franchise argue with itself in real time.

A television series described as a creative reset is in development as of 2026, with no date.

Timeline 1978-2022

Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.

  1. 1978 Halloween
  2. 1981 II
  3. 1982 III: Season of the Witch
  4. 6-year gap
  5. 1988 4: The Return of Michael Myers
  6. 1989 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
  7. 6-year gap
  8. 1995 The Curse of Michael Myers
  9. 1998 H20: 20 Years Later
  10. 4-year gap
  11. 2002 Resurrection
  12. 5-year gap
  13. 2007 Halloween
  14. 2009 II
  15. 9-year gap
  16. 2018 Halloween
  17. 2021 Kills
  18. 2022 Ends

Where to play it today

  • The 2018-2022 trilogy streams widely and rotates between major services
  • The 1978 original and older sequels move between horror streamers and digital rental, heaviest availability every October
  • Availability rotates; check JustWatch for your region

Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for Halloween.

Frequently asked questions

How many Halloween movies are there?

Thirteen, released between 1978 and 2022: the 1978 original, Halloween II (1981), Season of the Witch (1982), films 4 through 6 (1988-1995), H20 and Resurrection (1998-2002), Rob Zombie's two remakes (2007-2009), and the Blumhouse trilogy (2018-2022).

What order should I watch the Halloween movies in?

Pick one timeline and watch it complete, because the four branches contradict each other. The shortest full story is the current canon: Halloween (1978), then Halloween (2018), Kills (2021) and Ends (2022). The original timeline runs 1978, 1981, 4, 5, Curse. The H20 branch runs 1978, 1981, H20, Resurrection. Rob Zombie's two films stand alone.

Does Halloween (2018) follow the other sequels?

No. It is a direct sequel to the 1978 original that erases everything else, including Halloween II - in this timeline Michael and Laurie are not siblings, and the intervening films never happened. Kills and Ends continue from it. Four films, one story, nothing else required.

Why is there no Michael Myers in Halloween III?

Season of the Witch (1982) was the plan to turn Halloween into an anthology with a new story every year. Audiences rejected it, Michael returned in Halloween 4, and the anthology idea died. Inside Season of the Witch, the first two films exist as movies playing on television. It stands completely alone, and has been re-evaluated kindly by modern horror fans.

Are Michael and Laurie brother and sister?

Depends on the timeline. The sibling reveal comes in Halloween II (1981) and holds through the original and H20 branches and the Rob Zombie films. The 2018 trilogy explicitly drops it: there, the connection between them is one night in 1978 and nothing more.

Can I skip the Rob Zombie Halloween movies?

Yes, unless you want them specifically. The 2007 film and its 2009 sequel form a self-contained remake universe with a new origin story and a much rougher tone. Nothing before or after references them.

Do I need to watch Halloween II (1981) before Halloween (2018)?

No - the 2018 film ignores it. You need only the 1978 original. That said, II is a good film and canon in two other timelines, so watch it if you plan to explore beyond the current trilogy.

Is a new Halloween movie or series coming?

A television series described as a creative reset spinning out of the original film is in development as of 2026, with no date announced. No new film is dated. Halloween Ends (2022) remains the most recent entry.

How long does it take to watch all the Halloween movies?

All thirteen run roughly 21 hours. A single timeline is a weekend: the 2018 trilogy plus the original is about 7 hours, the original Thorn timeline about 8, and the H20 branch about 6 and a half.

</> Embed this guide on your site

Put the live Halloween order on your own site, blog, or wiki. It stays current as we verify and update it, with no upkeep on your end.

Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org

← Browse all movie orders