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1978 saw the release of Halloween, legendary director John Carpenter's breakout hit that introduced the world to Michael Myers (Nick Castle), the masked serial killer who has become one of the most iconic horror villains in cinema history. However, while Carpenter's brilliant direction and Michael's imposing presence were both key to Halloween's success, the film wouldn't have made the impact that it did without having a memorable protagonist.
Luckily, it had exactly that, as Jamie Lee Curtis would make her big screen debut in the film starring as Laurie Strode, a teenage babysitter and Michael's primary target. Curtis' performance would make a huge impact on viewers, quickly establishing her as one of horror's predominant scream queens, while setting herself up for greater success in the future. In the following decades, Jamie Lee Curtis has returned to the franchise on a number of occasions, reprising the role of Laurie Strode a total of six times (and making a small, non-Laurie vocal cameo in Halloween III: Season of the Witch), cementing the character's reputation as one of horror's best final girls. These are all of Jamie Lee Curtis' appearances in the Halloween franchise, ranked based on how memorable they are as a whole.
7 'Halloween: Resurrection' (2002)
Directed by Rick Rosenthal
Image via Dimension Films
Halloween: Resurrection is one of the weakest films in the entire franchise. Centered on a group of contestants taking part in a reality show that challenges them to spend one night in the Myers' family house, Resurrection's contrived dialogue, bland characters and choppy editing are enough to make it a laughably bad film, but from the perspective of a Halloween fan, one of its most disappointing aspects is its integration of Laurie Strode.
At the beginning of Resurrection, it is revealed to viewers that, after surviving the events of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Laurie is being kept in a mental health facility. In spite of her physical confinement, Laurie prepares for Michael's (Brad Loree) inevitable return, even successfully trapping him on the roof of the building. Unfortunately, she lets her guard down, allowing Michael to reclaim his knife and escape, leading to Laurie's death only 15 minutes into the movie. In her shockingly limited screen time, Curtis never truly gets a stand-out moment, and the material that she is given is so poor that it's hard to imagine how this could be considered anything other than her worst performance as Laurie Strode.
Halloween: Resurrection
Release Date July 1, 2002
Director Rick Rosenthal
Cast Rick Rosenthal , Jamie Lee Curtis , Brad Loree , Busta Rhymes , Bianca Kajlich , Thomas Ian Nicholas , Ryan Merriman , Sean Patrick Thomas , Tyra Banks
Runtime 94minutes
Budget $15 million
Studio(s) Dimension Films , Nightfall Productions , Trancas International
Distributor(s) Miramax Films
6 'Halloween Ends' (2022)
Directed by David Gordon Green
Image via Universal Pictures
Halloween Ends is the conclusion to David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy, which notably brought Curtis back as Laurie following the character's death in Halloween: Resurrection. In the first film, audiences are reintroduced to Laurie as a woman haunted by her past with Michael Myers, spending decades training and preparing for his return. The second film, Halloween Kills, ends on a cliffhanger in which the masked murderer kills Laurie's daughter (Judy Greer) and manages to get away. Ends picks up four years later where, oddly enough, Laurie is seen living a fairly normal life in Haddonfield, able to have mostly overcome the trauma left behind by her previous encounters with Michael (James Jude Courtney), despite the fact that, unlike before, he's still on the loose.
Regardless of their other flaws, Laurie is a compelling character in Green's first two films, allowing Curtis' performance to stand-out in a way that it doesn't get to here. She and Michael get sidelined for much of the main plot, only coming to the forefront for an underwhelming final confrontation at the film's climax. Earlier in the film, there are some nice moments where audiences get a glimpse at the version of Laurie Strode shown before Michael's first attack in the original movie, but those moments aren't enough to make Curtis' performance in Halloween Ends anything more than sadly forgettable.
Halloween Ends
Release Date October 14, 2022
Director David Gordon Green
Runtime 111 Minutes
Budget $33 Million
Studio(s) Universal Pictures , MiraMax , Blumhouse Productions , Trancas International , Rough House Pictures
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
5 'Halloween Kills' (2021)
Directed by David Gordon Green
Image via Universal Pictures
Much like 1981's Halloween II, 2021's Halloween Kills takes place on the same night as its immediate predecessor, resulting in Laurie Strode spending most of the film confined to a hospital as she recovers from her injuries. At the same time, Michael (Courtney and Castle) journeys back to his house, killing anyone that gets in his way, but never actually directly encountering Laurie, resulting in her time on screen being dreadfully boring for the most part.
In spite of this, Curtis does the best she can with the script she's given. The interpretation of Laurie introduced in the preceding film is genuinely interesting, and watching her desperately try to leave the hospital in order to hunt down Michael, terrified of what he will do if he is allowed to continue to run free, is one of Curtis' stronger moments as the character. Halloween Kills as a whole is kind of a mess, and Laurie doesn't play the active role in its plot that she does in the 2018 film, but Curtis' performance still shines whenever she's on-screen, ensuring that she has a more memorable presence in Kills than some of the series' other entries.
Halloween Kills
Release Date October 15, 2021
Director David Gordon Green
Runtime 105 Minutes
Writers David Gordon Green , Scott Teems , Danny McBride
Budget $20 Million
Studio(s) Blumhouse Productions , MiraMax , Trancas International , Rough House Pictures
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
4 'Halloween II' (1981)
Directed by Rick Rosenthal
Image via Universal Studios
Halloween II finds Laurie Strode hospitalized due to the injuries she sustains during Michael's attack in the 1978 original, giving her a less prominent role in the story. As Laurie recovers, Michael (Dick Warlock) continues his killing spree, closing in on the hospital where she's being held, while Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence), Michael's former psychiatrist, hunts him down in an effort to prevent any more deaths from occurring. The film also crucially reveals that Michael and Laurie are siblings, explaining his motivation for stalking her specifically.
Curtis' performance is admittedly limited in this film by the fact that she spends most of it in a hospital bed. For much of the film's first hour, Loomis is given more focus, meaning that Curtis' talents really aren't allowed to shine to the same extent that they were in the original. It's not all negative though, as Laurie is far more present in the last half hour of the film, during which she once again encounters Michael, giving Curtis the opportunity to display the pure terror that made her such an iconic scream queen to begin with.
Halloween II
Release Date October 30, 1981
Director Rick Rosenthal
Runtime 92 Minutes
Budget $2.5 Million
Studio(s) Dino De Laurentiis Corporation
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
3 'Halloween H20: 20 Years Later' (1998)
Directed by Steve Miner
Image via Dimension Films
After the release of Halloween II, it seemed that Jamie Lee Curtis was done portraying Laurie Strode for good. Halloween III was a departure for the series, dropping Michael and Laurie entirely, and while he returned in 1988's Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, she was revealed to have died between films, with Michael instead targeting her daughter, Jamie (Danielle Harris). Luckily for fans, the series was rebooted in 1998 with the release of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, a film which ignored all but the series' first two entries, allowing Jamie Lee Curtis to return as Laurie Strode.
In H20, Laurie is shown to be an overprotective mother to her son, John (Josh Hartnett), as a result of her original encounter with Michael, fearing that the serial slasher will return. When he inevitably does, Michael (Chris Durand) wreaks havoc upon a Halloween party at the school where Laurie works, forcing her to directly confront her murderous brother to protect her son. Conceptually, this version of Laurie isn't quite as interesting as the version presented in Green's trilogy, but Curtis nails her portrayal of the character, giving Laurie more depth than she was able to in any of her previous performances up to that point, and notably delivering one of the best final fights in the history of the Halloween series.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Release Date August 5, 1998
Director Steve Miner
Runtime 83
2 'Halloween' (2018)
Directed by David Gordon Green
Image via Universal Pictures
Following a widely disliked reboot duology directed by Rob Zombie and featuring Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode, the Halloween franchise was rebooted once again, now branching from the 1978 original, allowing Jamie Lee Curtis to return for the second time. The final result, Halloween, was one of the franchise's best releases in decades, in no small part because of how it handled Curtis' return.
2018's Halloween gives Laurie more depth than any preceding Halloween film. It shows viewers that, in the decades following her narrow escape from Michael's knife, Laurie has become constantly paranoid about his return, heavily arming herself, preparing a number of traps in and around her house, and even training her daughter to be able to defend herself against the masked menace. This fresh take on the character allows Curtis' acting talents to shine within the series like they haven't been able to since the original, making it an especially satisfying legacy sequel.
Release Date October 18, 2018
Director David Gordon Green
Runtime 106 Minutes
Budget $10 Million
Studio(s) MiraMax , Blumhouse Productions , Trancas International , Rough House Pictures
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
1 'Halloween' (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter
Image via Compass International Pictures/Aquarius Releasing
While Jamie Lee Curtis' performance in 2018's Halloween is great, providing more depth to a character that audiences have been familiar with for decades, it's difficult to top her performance in the 1978 original. Halloween introduced both Curtis and director Carpenter to far wider audiences, while helping to define what the slasher subgenre would become in the '80s. Curtis' performance as Laurie Strode played a key role in establishing the film's influence by shaping what audiences would come to look for in a great final girl.
Early on, Curtis brings an undeniable charm to Laurie that makes her especially easy to root for when Michael (Castle) begins his attack. She is also notably great at showing terror, adding even more tension to each of her chase scenes with Michael than Carpenter's iconic soundtrack already manages. Even today, the film is often remembered as her best, solidifying Halloween as Curtis' finest performance as Laurie Strode.
Halloween
Release Date October 27, 1978
Runtime 91 Minutes
Budget $300,000
Studio(s) Falcon International Productions
Distributor(s) Aquarius Releasing
English (US) ·