halloween4-thereturnofmichaelmyers

THE SYNOPSIS

Exactly 10 years after his murderous rampage in the sleepy town Haddonfield, Illinois, we learn that Michael Myers was not killed in the hospital explosion engineered by his psychiatrist and mortal enemy Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasance).

Though horribly burned and injured, the serial killer is alive yet comatose—resting under heavy sedation. He is to be transferred to another facility by the naive Dr. Hoffman (Pataki) when Michael (Wilbur) reawakens and kills the ambulance staff; then disappearing into the night. It is October 30th…

Also returning is Dr. Loomis, scarred and limping—yet fully aware that he must combat evil once again. Heading back to Haddonfield, he raises the alarm and asks Sheriff Ben Meeker (Starr) for his assistance.

The new object of Michael’s murderous streak is the lovely teenager Rachel Carruthers (Cornell) and her adopted sister Jamie Lloyd (Harris). Turns out that Jamie is the daughter of Laurie Strode (the original’s Jamie Lee Curtis character) and lost her mother and father in a car accident.

Of course this makes Michael her uncle... and bad old Uncle Mike plans on making this Halloween a frightful and deadly one for our protagonists. Luckily, Loomis is there to protect the girls, though several of Rachel’s friends, most of Meeker’s men and some townspeople aren’t so fortunate.

Can the Evil be stopped, or does Jamie possess a link to her Uncle that could repeat the cycle all over again?

THE CRITIQUE

Ten years after the creation and release of one of cinema’s best horror films, we are again treated to the exploits of somnambulistic serial killer Michael Myers.

The aptly-named HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS is easily-placed in the 3rd-place slot in the hierarchy of best Halloween movies. Number 1 being (of course) Halloween, followed by its solid sequel Halloween II. Budgeted at a mere $5,000,000, the movie would go on to rake in almost $18,000,00 at the domestic box office.

Going in a new direction with the plotline (though maintaining the original setting of the first 2 movies), HALLOWEEN 4 is entertaining (at best) and horror-movie-clichéd (at the very least). No Jamie Lee Curtis in this one!

But the late, great Donald Pleasance does return from a fiery ending in Part II as the dogged and determined Dr. Sam Loomis--both Michael Myers’ psychiatrist and spiritual antithesis. One thing I have to say about Pleasance is that he doesn’t pander to the role and takes the proceedings very seriously.

In any other movie, with a different actor in tow, it would be quite laughable--HOWEVER... the British actor was one of the greats and did bring gravitas to the proceedings. I also liked the other leads, sexy Ellie Cornell and young Danielle Harris--both of whom exemplify the strong-woman-in-horror-movies characteristics.

Wait: also gotta mention one of my favorite character actors, Beau Starr--who plays Sheriff Meeker like a cross between a stern-yet-loving parent and ass-whooping Sheriff Buford Pusser (immortalized by Joe Don Baker in the original Walking Tall [1973]). You might also remember him as Ray Liotta’s tough papa in 1990’s GoodFellas--come to think of it, he does some ass-whooping in that movie also!

Behind the camera, veteran director Dwight H. Little (TV’s 24/Marked For Death/Rapid Fire/Free Willy 2) does a good job helming this sequel by giving it some purpose and oomph.

Ditto goes for the atmospheric and shadow-induced lensing by accomplished cinematographer Peter Lyons Collister (Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties/Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo/Higher Learning). A minor complaint is that this is the first Halloween film that wasn’t lensed in anamorphic scope format (like Parts 1-3)--but instead shot in flat 1.85:1 format (well, really shot as a 1.37:1 “open-matte” and then cropped). See, you just learned something new!

This sad trend will continue until 1998’s Halloween: H20 and 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection (where filmmakers Steve Miner and Rick Rosenthal, respectively, return to the glorious widescreen format for optimal thrills and chills!)

Other tech credits (editing, production design, costuming, music) are decent. One minus is that the original “Capt. Kirk” mask has been replaced with a crappier facsimile--which exhibits zero personality.

By the way, though set in the small town of Haddonfield, IL., the entire HALLOWEEN 4 production was shot in Utah. Now, I just know that all those hip Mormons were on hand to cheer Michael Myers on!!

THE BOTTOM LINE

After the corny (yet somehow-enjoyable) debacle that was Halloween III: The Season Of The Witch, it’s nice to see our favorite slasher back in town.

While it’s naturally not up to the level of John Carpenter’s maddeningly-simple-yet-brilliant original, HALLOWEEN 4 is an enjoyable romp through the blood-stained streets of Haddonfield, IL. In retrospect, definitely better than the sequels that follow.

On a personal note, I’ll always remember seeing HALLOWEEN 4 on the big screen at Loews 6 in Secaucus, NJ opening night on October 21, 1988 with several dozen of my friends and fellow North Bergenites in tow. It was memorable because many Secaucus kids were there and a big fight almost broke out between the town reps (it didn’t help that one of our guys threw candy at one of their crew--but screw ‘em...they deserved it!).

We outnumbered the Secaucus kids by at least 2:1, so those suckers backed down! Anyway, once the movie started, we were united in both our enjoyment factor and thrill quotient--courtesy of HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS. So this movie will always hold a special place in my movie-going memories.

CAST: Donald Pleasance, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, Beau Starr, George P. Wilbur & Michael Pataki

CREDITS: Director: Dwight H. Little; Screenwriter: Alan B. McElroy, story by: Dhani Lipsius & Larry Rattner & Benjamin Ruffner and Alan B. McElroy; Producer: Paul Freeman; Director of Photography: Peter Lyons Collister; Production Designer: Roger Crandall; Editor: Curtiss Clayton; Costume Designer: Rosalie Wallace; Music: Alan Howarth, “Halloween Theme” by John Carpenter

AC/AL 1988 88m ENGLISH
N/SV