halloween5-therevengeofmichaelmyers

THE SYNOPSIS

Halloween, 1988. After being run over by a truck and shot up by a legion of cops and rednecks AND tumbling down a deep well, one would’ve thought that the dreaded Michael Myers has finally gone to Hell. However, he ends up in a tunnel that leads him to a river and into the arms of a kindly old hermit, who takes him into his some hovel for recuperation.

Halloween, 1989. Ungrateful Michael Myers (Shanks) kills the old man who has cared for him and sets out to murder his niece, Jamie (Harris)--who is currently a patient in a children’s psych ward. The unflappable Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) hangs around, treating her growing paranoia and psychosis handed down to her from bad old Uncle Mikey.

Myers returns to Haddonfield and first murders Jamie’s adopted sister, Rachel (Cornell). Jamie senses his presence and this puts Loomis in defense mode. He raises the alarm and guides Sheriff Ben Meeker (Starr) back into action, along with his new deputies (the last ones all massacred by Myers the year before, along with Meeker’s daughter).

More murders later, Myers comes after Jamie. Loomis lures Myers back to his former home and has the authorities trap him in a chainmail net. Safely in jail, everyone can rest easy...or can they? A tall man in black, brandishing an ancient Celtic tattoo and weapons kills everyone in the police station and frees the Shape.

THE CRITIQUE

Made immediately after the surprise success of Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers, HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS probably has the distinction of being the nadir of the series!

While sticking to the very horror movie norms that made the previous films a hit, this one works off of a lousy script (courtesy of 3 credited screenwriters) and victims--er, characters--that we just don’t give a damned about. Even the Shape--personified by Michael Myers--has lost his luster as a villain--albeit a lumbering, silent type.

Other complaints that I do have (among many) is that they kill off Ellie Cornell’s character at the beginning of this one. Why murder one of your best character? And what’s with the Man In Black character? He’s never really explained! Blame it on the writers!

And believe me, part of that is due to the crappy mask used in the movie (a far cry from the revamped Captain Kirk mask used in the original Halloween).

In front of the camera, we have returning actors Danielle Harris (adorable), Halloween 4‘s heroine Ellie Cornell (still hot), Beau Starr (still reminding me of his mean-father role in GoodFellas) and the late, great Donald Pleasance as the unstoppable Dr. Sam Loomis. Sadly, even his schtick is starting to wear thin by this sequel--yet it’s always a pleasure to see him in action nonetheless.

HALLOWEEN 5 was directed and co-written by Swiss filmmaker Dominique Othenin-Girard (TV’s Omen IV: The Awakening) and I do have to say that his helming style definitely reeks of European-style filmmaking. A novel approach to the formula that is easily 1 of 2 things that actually work in this movie.

That 2nd item would be the appropriately-atmospheric and contrasty lensing by Aussie cinematographer Rob Draper, ACS (Dr. Giggles/TV’s Tales From The Crypt). Using highly-mobile and fluid camerawork gives this dog some legs (but not much).

Once again, composer Alan Howarth reinterprets John Carpenter’s creepy score, but sadly to lesser effect. Other tech credits are decent (slick editing, passable production design, etc.). By the way Salt Lake City, UT again stands in for Haddonfield, IL.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A crappy sequel if there ever was one! I hated the premise--which is hard, because I love the Halloween movies--but not as much as I hated the mask in this one. The only saving graces in this crappy sequel are the decent direction, fluid camerawork and the presence of Donald Pleasance (hey, I rhyme!)--otherwise, this dumb flick is a freakin’ hack job (no pun intended)...

CAST: Donald Pleasance, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, Wendy Kaplan, Tamara Glynn & Donald L. Shanks

CREDITS: Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard; Screenwriters: Michael Jacobs & Dominique Othenin-Girard and Shem Bitterman; Producer: Ramsey Thomas; Director of Photography: Robert Draper; Production Designer: Brenton Swift; Editors: Jerry Brady & Charles Tetoni; Costume Designer: Simon Tuke; Music: Alan Howarth, “Halloween Theme” by John Carpenter

AC/AL 1989 98m ENGLISH
N/SV