Monday, May 23, 2011

HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)

Completely ignoring Part 3, which didn't even feature Michael (as a character in the film), Part 4 wisely brings back the series' cash cow: Michael Myers.

So now he's back (complete with funky looking padding underneath his coveralls) to kill his niece, Jamie (apparently Laurie had a kid!), played by Danielle Harris. It's not fully explained, but something happened to Laurie 11 months ago and now her daughter is living with a step-family. So anyway, even though Michael has "killed 16 people", the state decides to just send an ambulance with no guards to transport him to a new facility. As expected, Michael goes bonkers and kills his escorts, then returns to his old stomping grounds to kill his niece.  Dr. Loomis, the police and even a humorous gang of vigilantes are determined to stop him.

As far as the HALLOWEEN sequels go, H4 is just okay, but it is a lot of fun to laugh at.  Especially Michael's ridiculous padding and shitty looking mask. The kills were passable...thumb to the skull, shotgun rammed through a torso, a few stabbings, a throat ripping, Michael's patented face crushing technique and a few other odds and ends. My biggest complaint is we never see the police station massacre, just the aftermath. That's fucking bullshit!

No nudity, nice body count, plenty of stuff to laugh at, zero cheesy 80's rock, some blood, the worst looking Michael ever (well, outside of Part 7), poor lighting, dumb teenagers, quick pace, lackluster ending. Worth a watch for horror fans.

I would absolutely love to see a full-length movie about the Michael from HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS versus the lame Jason from FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING.

Part 1 - Halloween (1978)
Part 2 - Halloween II (1981)
Part 3 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Part 5 - Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Part 6 - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Part 7 - Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Part 8 - Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Remake 1 - Halloween (2007)
Remake sequel - Halloween II (2009)
Sequel to Original - Halloween (2018)
Direct Sequel 2 - Halloween Kills (2021)
Direct Sequel 3 - Halloween Ends (2022)

Strange.  This advertisement for HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS features a picture of a kill from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD.