Fittingly enough, this was, indeed, the fourth Halloween I both saw and owned, after I'd already seen and gotten the first two and H20 on VHS. Now that I had those three, I was looking forward to completing my collection of the franchise and, since I was still in that dumb mindset of refusing to see Halloween III, 4 was the logical one to go for next. Even though I knew H20 discounted 4, 5, and 6, I was still curious to see how those three films panned out and thus, I got Halloween 4 on VHS in January of 2002, just a week after the Christmas where I'd gotten II. I'd seen that Anchor Bay release of 4 many times in various stores, like On-Cue and Media Play (anyone remember them?), so I knew what I was looking for and it wasn't hard to find at all. The video box didn't give me much of an impression of the movie itself, as it just had the poster artwork with Michael Myers' mask front and center, and the back had nothing but a popular deleted image of Michael reflected multiple times in mirrors, but it didn't matter, as I already knew the basic plot, thanks to the internet. Plus, I was beyond hooked by this point, so nothing it showed or said could've dissuaded me. When I finally watched it, it was another one that I became an instant fan of, as I thought it more than held its own with the first two, and, in fact, I liked it much more than H20 and still do. Most significantly, in my opinion, this was the last really good entry in the franchise for a long time. There are some films following this one that I do like, even if ironically, but I think the series really fell from grace afterward. Now, I'm not saying that Halloween 4 is perfect. As we'll get into, I think it has its fair share of flaws. But it's so well-made, nicely acted, wonderfully-paced, and entertaining overall that I can easily overlook its faults, something I can't say for some of those coming next.
October 30th, 1988. In the ten years since his Halloween night killing spree, Michael Myers has been in a coma after nearly burning death in the enormous explosion at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Housed at Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium, Michael is transferred back to Smith's Grove via ambulance. En route, he suddenly awakens when he overhears that he has a niece living in Haddonfield and brutally kills the paramedics. His niece, Jamie Lloyd, has been adopted by the Carruthers following the death of her parents nearly a year before. Jamie is severely unhappy, badly missing her parents, plagued by
nightmares about a frightening man who, unbeknownst to her, is her evil uncle, and bullied by the kids at school for not having a mother and because her uncle is "the Boogeyman." Her teenage foster sister, Rachel, is tasked with babysitting her on Halloween night, and despite being angry that she has to break a date with her boyfriend, Brady, offers to take Jamie trick-or-treating. Initially reluctant, Jamie, after being badly picked on at school, decides to do so in order to prove that she's just like everyone else. Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis, who also survived the explosion ten years ago, confronts Dr. Hoffman, the head administrator at Ridgemont, about Michael's transfer. Frustrated that Hoffman doesn't take his fears seriously, Loomis isn't at all surprised when he gets a call about an accident involving the ambulance. Driving to the site with Hoffman, Loomis, after surveying the wreck, knows it was Michael's doing and that he's making his way back to Haddonfield. He gives chase and, despite a number of obstacles, including his car being destroyed, makes it to Haddonfield come nightfall. By that time, Michael has long since arrived and already had his first encounter with Jamie. Now, he's stalking the streets, searching for her. Loomis warns Haddonfield's new sheriff, Ben Meeker, of Michael's return. Now, they must get to Jamie before her uncle does.
I used to think that, after the not so nice response to
Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and both the audience and powers-that-be demanding Michael Myers back, John Carpenter and Debra Hill immediately begged off the series completely. But, starting with my seeing the documentary,
Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, and reading the
Taking Shape books and others, I've learned that wasn't quite the case, although things did proceed very slowly. For one, although
Season of the Witch has a reputation of having been a complete flop, it actually grossed $14 million on a budget of just $2.5 million (some sources, like Wikipedia, say the budget was around $4.5 million), meaning it made a hefty profit. However, it still made just over half the amount
Halloween II grossed on the same budget, so it was clear that Michael was what people wanted. While both Carpenter and Hill did intend to move on, Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad were keen on making
Halloween 4. But for four years, they couldn't get Carpenter and Hill to agree to concede, which was necessary in order to make a new film, since they both had stakes in the franchise. According to
Take Shape II: The Lost Halloween Sequels, in 1986, Yablans and Akkad, whose own relationship had grown tense when the latter sued the former for withholding contractually-obligated royalties from the original
Halloween, threatened Carpenter and Hill with legal action, as they felt their reticence was preventing them from taking advantage of a lucrative commercial enterprise. Around the same time, Carpenter was approached by Cannon Films with the prospect of a three-picture deal, on the condition that one of them be
Halloween 4, very similar to the deal they'd recently fulfilled with Tobe Hooper. Since
Big Trouble in Little China had just flopped badly, and Carpenter was now disillusioned with the big studios, he was open to the deal. He wasn't interested in directing, but he did agree to supervise the development of the screenplay, while Hill returned as producer.
Dennis Etchison, who'd written the novelizations for Halloween II and III, as well as The Fog, was chosen by Carpenter to write the new film. With Carpenter not wanting to do just another slasher movie, Etchison came up with a concept that resurrected Michael as an evil spirit. According to him in an interview for 25 Years of Terror, the basic premise was that Halloween had been banned in Haddonfield since the massacre in 1978, adding that, "I think that the basic idea was that, if you tried to suppress
something... it will only rear its head more strongly. By the very attempt to erase and repress the memory of Michael Myers, they were going to, ironically, bring him back into existence." This story also featured the characters of Tommy Doyle, Lindsey Wallace, Sheriff Brackett, and Deputy Hunt from the first two movies, and like with Halloween III, Carpenter's initial choice for director was Joe Dante. However, both Yablans and Akkad rejected this idea, especially the latter, who wanted it more in line with the original and have Michael a flesh and blood character again. That's when Carpenter and Hill officially said, "Screw it," and sold their collective stake in the franchise. In the end, all the rights went to Akkad, while Yablans, after these numerous lawsuits, decided to retire from the film industry altogether, which he would by the beginning of the 90's. Now the sole owner of the franchise, Akkad proceeded to develop the film himself through his Trancas International Films, the new version of Compass International.
The man whom Akkad hired as director was Dwight H. Little who, up to that point, had only directed three films, none of which were all that successful at the box-office, and some episodes of
Freddy's Nightmares, which hadn't aired yet. Having issues with the script treatment, which was tackled by three writers, Little brought in his writing partner, Alan B. McElroy, to polish it. McElroy deserves major credit, as he had to bang it out in just eleven days before a looming Writer's Guild strike began (he actually ended up beating the strike by just a few hours!). Even
though the film isn't perfect, the fact that the screenplay is as solid, coherent, and well-paced as it is after being written in
such haste is a true testament to McElroy's abilities. As for Little, I thought he did a really nice job in directing
Halloween 4. He clearly took
it seriously, going as far as to do some research on the history of the holiday
itself for the film's memorable opening sequence, and like Akkad, attempted to really hearken back to the feel and style of the
original. I don't completely agree with his take on Michael Myers, or feel that the movie portrays him as a straightforward serial killer, as Little intended, but that's one of the few major qualms I do have. Since
Halloween 4, Little has directed movies such as the fairly good 1989
Phantom of the Opera, with Robert Englund as the title character; the Steven Seagal film,
Marked for Death;
Rapid Fire, with the late Brandon Lee;
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (I haven't seen that or the original in years);
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, an unnecessary but okay sequel to the, in my opinion, really cool 1997 creature feature (it's infinitely better than those two straight-to-video ones that followed);
Tekken in 2009, and in 2023, he re-teamed with Danielle Harris and Robert Englund in the horror film,
Natty Knocks, which also features Bill Moseley.
While it's
really hard to believe he survived the explosion at the end of
Halloween II and came out with only the right side of his face and hand burned (though he was probably burned in other areas we don't see), it's still good to see Donald Pleasence back as Dr. Loomis. He doesn't have much new material to work with, granted: Michael Myers has escaped again and Loomis is just as determined as ever to stop him and save those he's targeting, but he does it as well as before, and does manage to bring a couple of new elements to the role. In his first scene, he bursts into Dr. Hoffman's office at Ridgemont, absolutely livid that he allowed Michael to be transported back to Smith's Grove, knowing he's still a great threat, even in a comatose state. It hearkens back to the neglect and indifference that allowed Michael to escape the first time, whereas Loomis knows that Michael can potentially awaken from his coma to begin the bloodbath again, and that transporting him gives him an even more ample opportunity to escape. He also reminds Hoffman that it happens to be Halloween and that, every day, when he looks at his scarred face in the mirror, he remembers that horrible night back in 1978 and doesn't want anyone to go through it again. I love how, when Hoffman gets a phone call about the ambulance, Loomis sees the expression on his face, gets this all-knowing one on his own, and just as Hoffman starts to tell him about the "accident," heads out the door. At the crash site, he knows it was caused by Michael and that, despite what Hoffman says about the condition of Michael's body, he's escaped and is fully capable of killing more people. Loomis gives another classic line, telling Hoffman, "You're talking about him as if he were a human being. That part of him died years ago." He also adds that he's heading for Haddonfield and that, "If you don't find him in four hours, I'm sure I will." And sure enough, he does find Michael, after he's massacred everyone at a gas station, garage, and diner. Instead of shooting him right away, like before, Loomis actually tries to reason with him, pleading with him not to go back to Haddonfield, and even offers himself as a sacrifice. It's surprising to see him act this way, after he was so gun-ho about stopping Michael in the first two films, and that he knows Michael can't be reasoned with. I think it goes back to what he said earlier, about not wanting anybody else to relive the horror of that Halloween night, including himself, given how older and weaker he now is, as well as just plain weary. He knows from experience that he can't kill Michael, so he tries to appeal to whatever humanity may still be within him. But, of course, that doesn't work either, and Loomis, after getting no response, angrily says, "Goddamn you!", and attempts to shoot Michael, but he manages to disappear before the bullets can hit him.
Though he ends up losing his car when Michael destroys the station in his escape, and initially has some trouble getting a ride, Loomis continues his pursuit and eventually arrives in Haddonfield, where he warns Sheriff Meeker and police department that Michael's back. While they're initially skeptical, they do decide to listen to him, much to the good doctor's relief. From then on, Loomis doesn't do much except tag along with Meeker and tell him that what they're dealing with
isn't a man but evil incarnate. When Michael wipes out much of the police force, Loomis spurs some of the townsfolk to take the law into their hands and hunt Michael down, much to Meeker's anger, though Loomis insists, "These men may be the only defense you've got." Eventually, when Jamie Lloyd and Rachel Carruthers are picked up, everyone locks themselves inside Meeker's house, and after the state police are notified, Loomis leaves to track down Michael himself. He
acknowledges that it's probably futile, but feels he has to try. It's also clear that he especially cares for Jamie, asking Rachel at one point if she's alright when she's asleep upstairs, and when he later comes across her wandering the streets alone, he does his best to keep her safe. But even then, Loomis realizes there's probably not much he can do. When they break into the elementary school, Loomis says that, when they hear some sirens, they'll be safe. But Jamie asks, "You don't believe that, do you?", and Loomis admits, "No." He's then
immediately attacked and incapacitated by Michael, forcing Jamie to fend for herself (it's a bit of a shame that Loomis doesn't take part in defeating Michael at the end, like before). Finally, not only is the ending shocking but Donald Pleasence gives an amazing piece acting when he sees Jamie at the top of the stairs, after having stabbed her foster mother, and screams, "No!" in absolute anguish. He attempts to shoot her but Meeker stops him, and the movie ends with Loomis slumped in the corner, utterly shattered, with tears in his eyes, as he sees that this little girl has apparently become the same kind of monster as her uncle.
While I appreciate the effort to keep continuity by giving Donald Pleasence some burn makeup on his right hand and cheek, the latter isn't the best effect. For one, it doesn't look very realistic, coming off more like he's got some clay on his face rather than a scar. For another, due to an unexpected issue, the way it looks is inconsistent. According to makeup man Ken Horn in the documentary,
Back to Basics: The Making of Halloween 4, when Pleasence and his girlfriend were watching the dailies with the
initial makeup design, which you see in Dr. Loomis' early scenes, the girlfriend commented that it looked as though he had a fried egg on his face. Not liking this, Pleasence asked for the makeup to be changed, and thus, when Loomis arrives in
Haddonfield, the scar looks completely different and is much more subtle. Also according to Horn, they did reshoot the earlier material with the new makeup, but in the editing, some of the footage with the original got in, leading to the inconsistency.
As they note in
Taking Shape, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) could possibly be the series' most tragic character; she's definitely a character whom you just feel for right from the get-go. Even though the Carruthers treat her with a lot of love and care, she can't help but feel sad and alone, as she badly misses her parents, especially her mother. To make things worse, she's having nightmares about a terrifying man who, unbeknownst to her, is actually her evil uncle, Michael Myers, whom she knows of him but has never actually seen. Thus, Jamie isn't too enthusiastic about it being Halloween, and initially has no intention of going trick-or-treating. But that day in school, she gets horribly picked on by these mean as hell kids, who taunt her with stuff like, "Jamie's uncle's the Boogeyman!", and, even worse, "Jamie's an orphan!" I just want to stop and say that all of these kids should be beaten to a pulp. Teasing her about her uncle being a notorious serial killer is bad enough (I used to wonder how those kids knew Michael was her uncle but, I guess you can't keep secrets in a small town like Haddonfield), but mocking her because she has no mother? When I first saw this film, I was beyond horrified! It's made even worse when Jamie begs them to stop but they just keep chanting, "Jamie's an orphan! Jamie's an orphan!", and she runs out of the school, crying. This taunting prompts her to go trick-or-treating, so she can be like the other kids and enjoy Halloween, likely hoping that they'll be more accepting of her. So she and her foster sister, Rachel, go to a little store so she can get a costume. However, when she finds said costume, she ends up bumping into Michael, just as he puts on his new mask. Recognizing him as the man she's been dreaming about, she screams in terror, backing into a mirror and breaking it, bringing Rachel and others running. She tells Rachel it was the "nightmare man," but Rachel just thinks she saw a mask that scared her very badly. (You'd think that would've deterred Jamie from going trick-or-treating, but I guess she got over it.)
One thing I have to mention is just how cute Jamie is, with that dark brown hair, brown eyes, and sweet smile. She looks even cuter once she puts on her clown costume, and after the nightmares and taunting she's suffered, it's really nice to see her having fun trick-or-treating with Rachel. However, things start to become scary for her when she becomes separated from Rachel after going off with some other kids. (I know that at least one of those kids was among those who made fun of her
so badly, so I don't know why she went with him. It wouldn't surprise me if that little bastard conspired with the other kids to go off and leave her.) She wanders the dark, empty streets and alleyways by herself, all the while feeling that someone is stalking her from the shadows. Eventually, she meets back up with Rachel, and the two of them are immediately picked up by Sheriff Meeker and Dr. Loomis, telling them what's going on off-camera. Once they're at Meeker's house, Jamie is horrified over the fact that the kids at school were
right about her uncle being the Boogeyman. She eventually falls asleep in an upstairs bedroom, only to wake up later, alone, as Rachel went downstairs. (I can relate to the moment where she actually feels around in the covers for Rachel before realizing she's not there. I slept with my parents for a good chunk of my childhood and there were so many times when I woke up in bed by myself and did that exact same thing). She seems to just wander around offscreen for a bit until Rachel finds her, just as Michael, having killed everyone else in the house, advances on them.
You really feel bad for Jamie during the last quarter of the film, starting with her and Rachel being pursued across the roof of Meeker's house by Michael, which ends with Rachel falling off and apparently dying, leaving Jamie alone. It's a very heart-wrenching moment when Jamie cries over Rachel, then looks up to see Michael standing at the corner of the house, staring at her, and she screams in absolute fear and runs off, desperately yelling for help. Seeing that cute little girl in that
clown outfit running through the yards, crying and yelling, "Help me, please! Somebody help me!" really gets me. What's worse is that, every time Jamie thinks she's safe, that sense of security is instantly shattered. She runs into Dr. Loomis, who takes her to the elementary school, but Loomis is ambushed by Michael and incapacitated, leaving Jamie alone again. Just as Michael catches her, Rachel, who was merely knocked out, comes in and fends him off with a fire extinguisher. After escaping the school, they're picked up by the small
mob of locals and are taken out of Haddonfield, leaving Michael to the state police. Again, you think Jamie's safe and fine, but then, as they're leaving town, Michael suddenly crawls up from underneath the truck, kills all of the men, and attacks Rachel and Jamie again, as the former has to take the pickup's wheel.
While
Halloween 4's shocking ending, where Jamie appears to inherit her uncle's evil and kills her foster mother, does seem to come out of nowhere, the film has actually been hinting at it throughout. Long before Jamie actually first encounters Michael, there seems to be a connection between them. Not only does she have nightmares about him, even though she's never seen him, but in her introduction, she appears to see an ambulance sitting across from her house, which is
gone in the next cut, suggesting it's a possible vision that ties her with Michael, who's just escaped from an ambulance. But it's when Jamie gets her clown costume that we start to see she could be doomed to go down the same dark path as Michael. Not only is the costume a callback to what he wore when he killed his older sister at the very beginning of the original
Halloween, but Jamie, while looking at herself in a mirror while holding it up to her, sees a brief vision of the young
Michael, dressed in the costume and holding a knife, with specks of blood on him. Right after that, she bumps into the adult Michael as he slips his mask on. And right before the ending, Jamie, after being terrified of Michael for the entire film, calmly walks up to him as he lies unconscious after being hit by the truck and takes his hand. That moment is undoubtedly when the evil passed on to her, which leads to her putting on her clown mask, slowly stalking her mother (I like how it's a POV shot, just like the opening of the original), and
apparently killing her offscreen. It's frightening to think back and realize we were being told that this was destined to happen and nothing could be done to stop it, which goes back to the lesson that Laurie Strode's teacher was giving in the original: fate never changes. It certainly didn't for Jamie (at least, not until
Halloween 5 really screwed the pooch on it, but we'll get to that).
In my opinion, and I don't say this lightly, Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell) is one of the best heroines, or "final girls," not only of the
Halloween franchise but of slasher movies, period. Everything about her is just perfect. First, while she is very pretty, she's not a model type but, like Laurie Strode, is the definition of the girl next door. Second, while she does have a boyfriend, she's not a sex-crazed bimbo, and though she did have plans to go out with him that night, thinking he was ready to make a commitment, she's not completely lusting after him or telling Jamie, whom she has to babysit instead, to bug off so she can be with him. She does try to call Brady to tell him what time she should be back from trick-or-treating with Jamie but, even then, I doubt she was planning to have sex with him at her house, given her attitude when he suggests that he could come over after Jamie goes to bed. Third, I like how she doesn't take any crap, like when Brady gets irritated about how she waited until 5:00 to tell him they couldn't go out and she tells him, "Don't get angry!", or, best of all, when Kelly gives Rachel shit over her stealing Brady. Rachel not only points out that she's a slut but flings some coffee on her shirt! Fourth, even though she's disappointed that she has to watch Jamie, and is a bit melodramatic about it, it's very clear Rachel does care about her foster sister. Feeling bad about making Jamie feel unwanted when she overhears her complain about how she can't go out, Rachel makes it up to her by promising to pick her up from school and take her for ice cream. She also takes Jamie shopping for a Halloween costume when she suddenly wants to go trick-or-treating, even though it forces her to face Brady. When it's later revealed that Michael Myers has returned for Jamie, Rachel tries to comfort her about it, and when she discovers that everyone else in the Meeker house has been killed, her first prerogative is to find Jamie rather than just save herself.
Above all else, Rachel is far from a helpless, screaming victim. Granted, when something frightening happens, she does get scared but she doesn't do something stupid that gets her killed. For instance, when she sees a creepy man approaching her in the fog while she's looking for Jamie (I'm not sure if it's actually Michael or just a prankster), she does the smart thing and gets herself out of there, instead of waiting until he gets up to her or, worse, walks toward him. And during
the last quarter of the movie, she does everything possible to protect Jamie from Michael, putting her safety above her own. When Michael's chasing them across the roof, she lowers Jamie down to safety, even though it leaves her open to attack, and she falls off the roof and gets knocked out. When Jamie is trapped by Michael in the elementary school and is being pulled away, Rachel comes in and fends him off with a fire extinguisher. And finally, during the truck sequence near the end, Rachel manages to keep control of it as best as she
can, while Michael is lying across the hood, reaching in and grabbing at her. This culminates in a bad-ass moment where Rachel slams on the brakes, sending Michael tumbling onto the road, and when he gets back up, she growls, "Die... you... son of a bitch!", as she puts the truck in gear and drives at him full force, hitting him hard enough to send him flying through a fence. It doesn't kill him, of course, but it's still an awesome, cheer-worthy moment on Rachel's part.
Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) makes for a more than worthy replacement for Leigh Brackett, who we're told retired in 1981 and moved to St. Petersburg. In fact, he's more effective, as he's a real take charge kind of guy, very authoritative and strong-willed, with a very commanding presence. While he is, at first, a little skeptical when Dr. Loomis shows up at the police station claiming that Michael Myers has returned and is after Jamie Lloyd, given Michael's condition after
Halloween II, he's smart enough to consider his pleas. He has someone call to make sure Loomis' story is true and even asks, "And assuming what you say is true... the hell can we do to avoid a repeat of ten years ago?" Taking Loomis' advice, he sets up a curfew to get everyone out of harm's way and the two of them go to find Jamie. As they find signs of Michael's presence, Meeker admits to Loomis that he's getting spooked, which is unusual for him since, as someone else says, "Martians could land on Ben's doorstep and all he'd do is spit once and get himself a shotgun." But the real turning point comes when they discover that the entire police station and the rest of his men have been wiped out. Now that he understands the full force of what they're dealing with, Meeker does the smart thing and takes Michael's prime targets to his house and locks them up tight inside. He also tries to contact the state police for help, which he eventually manages to do. But when he hears that someone was killed by the small lynch mob, he heads out to stop it before someone else gets shot. When the deputy tries to tell him to wait, he says, "I've got a town full of beer-bellies running around in the dark with shotguns. Who's gonna be next?! Somebody's wife, somebody's kid? I can't stand by for that." Unbeknownst to him, he leaves everyone else in the house defenseless against Michael, who's sneaked inside. And finally, Meeker and the state police dispose of Michael in an awesome, explosive way when they empty their weapons into him, hitting him with everything they've got, and sending him down a mine-shaft.
Two characters I probably shouldn't like but do anyway are Rachel's cheating boyfriend, Brady (Sasha Jenson), and the woman he cheats on her with, Kelly Meeker (Kathleen Kinmont). Yeah, Brady did a really sleazy thing by heading straight for Kelly when Rachel canceled their date, and even though he seemed sorry that he hurt her, he still proceeds to make out with Kelly and is just about to have sex with her, when Meeker and the others showed up. But Jenson is so likable and charismatic in the role that I can't really hate him. I like how he panics when he realizes Meeker has pulled up outside and, as he and Kelly are putting their clothes back on, she says, "If he catches us like this, he's going to skin you alive... for starters." His panicked expression and movements while she's saying that are really funny, and the same goes for when, after he gives him a shotgun, as well as a hammer and nails to board up the upstairs windows, Meeker tells him, "I catch you gropin' my daughter, I'll use that shotgun on you. You understand?" Plus, even though he was cheating on her, he's still concerned about Rachel and looks in on her and Jamie to ask if they're okay. And finally, he goes out as something of a hero. I say "something" because he initially tries to get himself and Rachel out of the house, telling her to forget about Jamie, insinuating that she's dead. When Michael appears and advances on them, Brady attempts to buy Rachel and Jamie some time, yelling at them to get up to the attic. Even though he doesn't slow Michael down all that much before he's inevitably killed, it is enough for Rachel and Jamie to make their way to the roof.
And while Kelly may be a bitch who stole Brady away from Rachel, and is not only not sorry about in the least but rubs her face in it, telling her to, "Wise up to what men want," I don't out and out hate her either. For one, her introduction involves a really funny moment where a friend of Brady's, Wade, attempts to ask her out, but before he can even say anything, Kelly turns around and says, "Fuck off, Wade," and the poor guy turns around with this very defeated expression on his face. Also, again, I always smirk when Kelly describes what her dad is going to do to Brady if he catches them making out and how panicked her voice is, as she attempts to put her shirt on and has to hide her bra under a chair's cushion. And finally, as shallow as this is, she's
really hot. When I first saw the movie and it got to the part where she and Brady are making out and she takes her shirt off, I was like, "Whoa!" I've always been the type of person who's said I care more about how a woman is on the inside, and while that's still true... good God almighty!
Earl (Gene Ross), a local bar owner, calls the police station when he hears a curfew is suddenly being enforced, saying, "Ain't closin' down without a good goddamn reason." When he doesn't get an answer, he and his buddies drive to the station, where they run into Sheriff Meeker and Dr. Loomis. They can tell just from the outside that something serious has happened, and though Meeker tells him it's police business, Earl still refuses to leave without learning what's going on. Loomis then tells them that Michael Myers has returned, and this prompts Earl and his buddies, one of whom we learn lost his son ten years before, to take matters into their own hands, with Earl growling, "We're gonna fry his ass." But while hunting for Michael, they end up killing an innocent man when one of his friends mistakes him for the killer, and Earl angrily admonishes him for it. That tragic blunder aside, Earl and his pals do save Rachel and Jamie at the elementary school and Earl, after some pleading, decides to let the state police deal with Michael, while they take the girls to safety. But it proves pointless when Michael suddenly crawls up from underneath the truck, throws all of Earl's men out of the back, and smashes his hand through the window on the driver's side and tears Earl's throat out.
If you're a fan of the
Rocky films, particularly
Rocky IV, you should recognize Michael Pataki as Dr. Hoffman, the head of Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium. Like I said earlier, he's very similar to the heads of Smith's Grove who, decades earlier, did not take Dr. Loomis' warnings about Michael Myers seriously. He thinks Loomis is a straight-up quack, with his constant talking about how Michael is evil incarnate, and even tells him that he thinks
he's the one who needs psychiatric treatment, as well as that he hopes with Michael gone, he won't have to deal with Loomis anymore. When he gets the phone call about how the ambulance carrying Michael crashed, you can see the terror in Hoffman's eyes, as it obviously crosses his mind that Michael himself might have been responsible. But when he and Loomis arrive at the crash site, Hoffman immediately takes to the state trooper's explanation that it was possibly just an accident, either not to look foolish in front of Loomis or simply because he doesn't want to share in the doctor's perceived lunacy. He latter adds that even if Michael has regained consciousness, he'd be unable to do anything in his weakened state. We never see Hoffman again after Loomis leaves the scene but there's little doubt that after he learned of Michael's latest rampage in Haddonfield, he must've felt like a real jackass.
A memorable character, though not entirely for the best reasons, who appears at the beginning of the film is the twitchy security guard (Raymond O'Connor) who leads the paramedics sent to pick up Michael down to where he's being kept. He makes no apologies about how disturbing a place Ridgemont is, telling the man when he exclaims, "Jesus!", upon hearing a patient scream off in the distance, "Jesus ain't got nothing to do with this place." He goes on to call it where, "Society dumps its worst nightmares," and even
Hell when they arrive downstairs. One funny moment with him is how, as they're going down in the elevator, he talks to them about Michael, how he creeps him out, and he'll be glad to see him gone, and the whole time he's talking, if you look at the attendants' faces, you can see that
he's the one freaking
them out. However, what I don't like about this character is the massive and quick exposition dump he gives during this short elevator ride, as it feels very forced. Dwight Little said that was just to get it all out right then and there in order to catch new viewers up to speed, but it's really clunky in how it's implemented.
I should also briefly mention Lindsey (Leslie L. Rohland), the girl whom Rachel is riding with when she picks Jamie up from school. She doesn't do anything special, except encourage Rachel to go to the Discount Mart and face Brady, and she's only in this one brief scene, but she's noteworthy because she's actually meant to be Lindsey Wallace from the original
Halloween. They don't make this explicit, as her last name is never uttered, so I never made the connection until it was mentioned elsewhere, but that is indeed who she's supposed to be. All I can say is that Lindsey seems to have grown up nicely adjusted after the trauma she suffered when she was a kid. Also, Tommy Doyle is apparently supposed to be the guy who's with Brady and Wade when we first see them, but they never make that clear. In any case, while Tommy would make his proper return to the series in
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Lindsey wouldn't be seen again after this until
Halloween Kills.
One last character I want to mention who also has just one scene, but it's a scene that leaves an impact, is the whiskey-chugging Reverend Jackson P. Sayer (Carmen Filpi) who picks Dr. Loomis up and gives him a ride to Haddonfield after his car is destroyed. This guy is just awesome, really energetic and likable, and the stuff that's all over the inside of his car, such as stickers that say stuff like, "I [heart] Jesus," and a bunch of little trinkets on the dashboard, is just hilarious. Notably, like Loomis, he's hunting evil, and says he can tell he's doing the same, expounding, "Apocalypse. End of the world. Armageddon. It's always got a face and a name. I've been hunting the bastard for thirty years, give or take. Come close a time or two... too damn close. You can't kill damnation, mister. It don't die like a man dies." Loomis, knowing all too well what he means, simply responds, "I know that, Mr. Sayer." Normally, Loomis is the one who gives these kinds of speeches to people, so this makes for an interesting role-reversal. And, like Loomis, you can't help but smile when Sayer begins singing, "Yes, we'll gather at the river. The beautiful, beautiful river." I really wish he was in the movie more, as I'd like to know exactly what he's experienced while hunting evil. Also, maybe Loomis should've told him about Michael and they could've teamed up to take him down!
carries on the series' tradition of establishing a mood right from the outset with, no joke, one of the greatest openings I've ever seen for a horror film. As the credits appear onscreen in bright orange text, we're treated to a montage of the countryside around Haddonfield, with open fields, lots of pumpkins, Halloween decorations and farm equipment all around, some light wind, and a sky that's a mixture of a lovely autumn sunset and gray overcast. Immediately, you get the feeling that something isn't right, as the whistling wind,
growing darkness as the sun sets, and Alan Howarth's eerie music make it feel as though there's evil in the air, as if the environment itself is signaling Michael Myers' imminent return, transitioning to a heavy rainstorm during the first real scene. I also completely agree with James Rolfe when he said it captures the spirit of the Halloween season perfectly, and I can kind of relate to it. There are plenty of open fields just down the road from my house that look exactly like the shots here when fall comes around and,
although I can't, for the life of me, remember where it was, I have this image from my childhood of a scarecrow standing on top of a hill near a big field, right in the ray of the autumn sunlight, and this opening brings that to mind every time I see it. Plus, the decorations, like the little stuffed figure with the jack-o-lantern head and, in particular, the little ghost hanging from a tree branch, make me smile, as they remind me of what Halloween was and what it meant back when I was a little tyke
who loved the season. Dwight Little also said he meant for this opening to represent the harvesting aspect of Halloween, which is why you see all those farm implements, and I can say he did a killer job not only in that regard but just in creating something that will always remind me of what the season used to be. I'd really like to thank him for that.
Little manages to maintain that atmosphere throughout the movie, creating a classic "dark and stormy night" feel for the opening with the ambulance driving to the Ridgemont Sanitarium and Jamie Lloyd's introductory scene, where she has the nightmare about Michael. Fortunately, the transition to the nightmare isn't made explicit, and the sequence is full of unforgettable imagery, like the shot of the open bedroom window, with the curtains blowing in the wind, the many moments where Michael is illuminated by the lightning, and
him reaching out and grabbing her from under the bed. But it's during Halloween night that Little and his cinematographer, Peter Lyons Collister, really shine. They make very extensive use of the blue lighting scheme Dean Cundey did for the original
Halloween, making this feel like a close companion piece in terms of visual style. And like he did with the opening, Little succeeds in capturing the spirit of Halloween when we actually get to the big night. As soon as the film transitions
to it, you get a great establishing shot with kids dressed up, either trick-or-treating or TPing some trees and a lamppost, and when Rachel and Jamie finally leave to go trick-or-treating themselves, you can just feel the Halloween spirit, as they go from house to house and see the decorations and numerous other kids doing the same. One of my favorite sections as far as atmosphere goes is when Rachel and Jamie get separated and wander the dark, empty streets and back-alleys by themselves.
The mix of darkness and the blue lighting makes these scenes quite creepy, and there are some nice touches like a jack-o-lantern on a porch behind Jamie (actually a squash they painted orange) and some mist in spots. Also, as I've said, the moment where Rachel sees somebody who might or might not be Michael, approaching her from the mist, is especially scary. And during the large section that takes place inside the completely dark Meeker
house, Little and Collister take the opportunity to create plenty of creepy shadows and do tricks with both light and darkness, like when
you briefly see Michael's face appear in the dark left corner of the background of one shot, and when Kelly lights a candle, which illuminates Deputy Logan's body, and she realizes that the
figure sitting in the rocking chair he was in is
actually Michael.
Like the previous films,
Halloween 4 was shot in the springtime, but instead of again shooting in California, they relocated to Utah, specifically in and around Salt Lake City, and would remain there for much of the next two films. And while still nowhere close to Illinois, I must say that I'm able to believe this is the Midwest in the autumn much more than in the first two. Yeah, you still have instances of green trees in the surroundings, but much of the exterior scenes take place either at night or in these barren spots in the countryside,
like the scene of the ambulance crash, the garage where Dr. Loomis first encounters Michael, and the road where Loomis hitchhikes, which make me think of the countryside around me during autumn droughts. While we don't see as much of Haddonfield in the daytime as we did in the original, when we do, it, again, looks like a typical small town, with rows of ordinary-looking houses lining the streets, an elementary school that's decorated for Halloween, a little store called "Discount Mart," which makes me think of the
Dollar General and Family Dollars we have in my area, and lots of kids running around, enjoying the holiday. But like in the original, once darkness falls, the town becomes much spookier, especially when Michael knocks out the power, and the same goes for the interiors of Sheriff Meeker's house, where much of the film's latter half takes place. Being almost entirely pitch black, with the only light being the blue moonlight coming through the windows, the occasional lantern and candle, and
the glow from the fireplace, it makes for an eerie environment for Michael to prowl around in. The house's attic is especially creepy, due to all the junk they've got crammed up there, which cast eerie shadows in
certain spots. Notably, there's a dress form up there, which leads to a false scare when Brady's up there, this door behind him creeps open, and you initially see its humanoid figure in the dark behind him, before he illuminates it with his flashlight. And like in the original, even before the
blackout, Michael's mere presence makes Haddonfield creepier, and that includes the Carruthers house when Michael sneaks inside, climbs the stairs, goes into Jamie's room, and looks through her stuff, as well as when Loomis and Meeker investigate the house later and
discover that Michael killed the family's dog, Sundae (why does Michael hate
dogs so much?).
One thing I have to say about the depiction of Haddonfield here is that I don't like how it kind of becomes "Hicksville." It's nowhere close to what Rob Zombie would do in his movies but, when I see the bar that Earl runs, with a bunch of people dressed the way they are, with caps, jean jackets and flannel shirts, as well as overalls, sitting around, drinking Budweiser, and playing pool, and getting together in a posse that rides off in pickup trucks, I can't help but think that this feels more like something I'd expect to see in my area. I kind
of feel the same way about the garage early on, mainly because of the country-style music you hear playing on the radio in the background. Now, granted, the only time I've ever been to the Midwest is when I've been to Chicago, so there are probably places and people like this there, but these hillbilly-kind of guys, some of which have very noticeable beer-bellies, and that music make me feel like this isn't quite right and not the same town and general area we saw before. But, again, what do I know?
Much like in the original,
Halloween 4 shatters the notion of security and safety in certain places, chief among them, of course, once again being that of one's own town and home. However, that also extends to the police station, which Meeker and Loomis find completely ransacked, with Michael having killed everyone inside. It's similar to the scene at the garage and small diner early on, when Loomis finds both the mechanic and a waitress dead, as well both phones destroyed. And during the third act, we learn that not even the elementary
school is safe, as it's where Michael incapacitates Loomis and comes very close to getting Jamie. However, Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium at the beginning is anything but comfortable, with its long, blank, and sometimes cluttered hallways, the sounds of patients screaming, and the area in the basement where Michael is housed, which is like an eerie combination of a cell and a hospital room. Finally, I'd like to briefly touch on the place where Michael is thrown after Rachel rams into him with
the truck. For a long time, I
thought this place was a graveyard but, when I thought about it, it didn't
make any sense, as why would there be a mine-shaft there? Regardless, I've always liked the way this place looks, with how it's a little spot in the woods, with bits of fence here and
there, what looks like an old outhouse, and the wooden boards and planks lying over the mine-shaft, and all cast in that beautiful blue lighting.
Going back to the look of
Halloween 4, Dwight Little also emulates that of the original by shooting Michael in a more peripheral manner than in
Halloween II. He also nicely
calls back to Michael killing Judith as a little boy when Jamie attacks her foster mother, both with a POV through the eye-holes of a mask and the shot of Jamie in her clown costume, holding a blooding stabbing weapon. But, all that said, the film doesn't quite have the same classy feel as the previous ones, especially the original, and I think a big reason for that is how, to
save money, it was shot in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio instead of 2.85:1. It's still a widescreen film, but the smaller aspect ratio is noticeable if you watch all these movies back to back (which I have done several times before, back when I had both the time and energy). The smaller frame also hurts some instances where they try to have Michael hiding in the background. For instance, shortly after everyone arrives at the Meeker house and begin boarding it up, there's a moment where Meeker
talks with Deputy Logan and Michael's standing in the background... but the shot is so cluttered and the frame so small that, until I read the book,
Halloween: The Changing Shape of an Iconic Series, I didn't even know he was standing there! The film also looks a smidge grittier and less polished than the previous ones, likely due to their not having it processed at the top-notch facilities that John Carpenter insisted upon.
Ironically, as much as I love
Halloween 4, I'm most conflicted on Michael Myers himself, as I've always found it hard to believe this is the same character as in the first two movies. Before I get into that, though, I have to address how, like the original, Michael is actually played by more than one person here. In a handful of random moments, mostly during the first 2/3, it's Tom Morga, who also played both the real Jason Voorhees and the imposter in
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning. While in most of his scenes, he doesn't
do much significant, except when he kills Kelly, I thought he was perfectly fine, but he was replaced early on by George P. Wilbur, who receives sole credit (Morga is credited for having done stunts). I met Morga at a convention in 2013 and, when I asked him why he was replaced, even he wasn't entirely sure. In watching Back to Basics: The Making of Halloween 4, it seems as though Morga took some direction from Little that didn't go over too well in dailies. Also, Ken Horn mentions that both he and Morga got into a fight with producer Paul Freeman, during which Horn was fired but immediately rehired when Freeman was told that a friend of Horn's who worked for Fangoria wouldn't do any promotion, and Morga was let go not long after that. Whatever the case, I think Morga was much more appropriate for the role than Wilbur. If you've seen his performance in Friday the 13th Part V, you'd know that he not only has the appropriate build for Michael (tall and slim) but moved like him as well: the slow, methodical walk, the way he turns his body, the head movements, etc. (it's probably not a coincidence that Dick Warlock was the stunt coordinator there). Moreover, Roy, the Jason imposter in that film, wore a jumpsuit that's very similar to Michael's. And in the moments where Tommy Jarvis has hallucinations about the real Jason, Morga stood perfectly still, as he does here when you see Michael in the diner, and there's even a shot where Tommy looks out a window and sees Jason standing in the yard that's very similar to Laurie seeing Michael in her neighbor's yard. Wilbur, on the other hand, may have been a very accomplished stuntman, and I'm sure he was a great guy, too, but things feel off when he's Michael. For one, they put shoulder pads on him to make him look more imposing but instead, it makes him look far too bulky, with his shoulders coming off like those of a football player. For another, his walk, which he said in an interview was his own, natural walk, seems awkward and stiff, not like the fluid movements of Nick Castle or the slow, creepy gait of Dick Warlock. I will say, though, that knowing this, as well as that Wilbur had more of a belly on him, makes it easier to differentiate between him and Morga.
Since I've been mentioning it so much, I think now's a good time to mention another mistake I think they made with Michael: he feels a lot like Jason Voorhees here. That's due to both Wilbur's size and shape, and how ridiculously strong he is now. You don't want Michael to be a wimp, but in the first two films, they managed to get across how unnatural and threatening he was without going over the top. When he lifted Bob up by the neck in the first film, stabbed Jill in the back with the scalpel and lifted her entire body up in the second,
as well as smashed and plowed right through doors, that was enough to get across that he's potentially inhuman. Here, he's jamming his fingers into people's foreheads, shoving gun barrels all the way through their torsos, crushing their skulls, tearing their throats out with his bare hands, and such. Again, that feels like stuff you'd expect to see Jason doing. If you've seen my reviews of those movies, you'd know I am a big
Friday the 13th fan, but that's not what I want in a
Halloween movie. And it would get all the more egregious in the next two movies, as well as Rob Zombie's movies (in more ways than one, there, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it).
That segues into another issue I have, mainly with Little's intention to make Michael come off more like a believable, escaped serial killer. I don't know why he would want to take that route anyway, especially since, in the very first
Halloween, which was his main inspiration, it's clear that Michael is much more than that (Little wouldn't be the last director to do so and not quite fulfill it). But the thing is, the very portrayal of him here negates that (you don't even hear him breathing in this one, for God's sake). Yes, as the authors mention in
Taking Shape, he doesn't sustain any fatal injuries until the very end, but besides his unnatural strength and how he manages to wipe out a fully armed police station, he still has a tendency to appear in places it either would've been hard for him to get to or do so without being spotted. For instance, he manages to get inside the Discount Mart, steal a mask, scare Jamie, and get out without anyone seeing him. Granted, he does climb into the backseat of Deputy Logan's car in order to get to Meeker's house, but still manages to slip inside without being seen, and
later suddenly appears in the elementary school when Loomis and Jamie hide in there (okay, maybe he heard the alarm Loomis triggered by shooting open the entrance, but he still got there awfully fast, considering how slow he walks). And how in the hell did he manage to grab onto the underside of Earl's truck without being seen and stay there until they were out on the highway? I think the authors forgot that when they claimed Michael never "magically teleported" here. He also knows
things he couldn't possibly know by any normal means, like what Jamie looks like initially, where in Haddonfield she's living, or what her name even is. He also couldn't have known they were taking her to Meeker's house, his reason for slipping into the back of Logan's car in the first place. And finally, if the intention was for him to be a normal serial killer, why have Loomis continue to go on about him being pure evil, or the very end, where his evil is transferred over to Jamie?
Speaking of Jamie, Little also said that he felt, instead of wanting to kill her, Michael was actually seeking her out in order to connect with her but is simply incapable of doing so in a healthy or constructive manner. If you look at the film, you can see it that way, as the only time Michael actually threatens Jamie is when she has her nightmare about him. Otherwise, the only times he actually interacts with her is when she runs into him at the Discount Mart, where all he does is look at her and slightly grab at her, before he's forced to
flee when she screams; the elementary school, where he grabs her leg and pulls her back; and when he rises up behind her at the end after she touches his hand. However, I'm glad they didn't make that very explicit, as it humanizes Michael
way too much, which is never a good idea, especially since people were already unhappy with him now having an actual motive and specific target.
Yet another aspect of Michael that I don't like here is the mask, which I think is one of the series' worst. For many, the mask in the next film is among the worst but, while I agree that that one's not too good either, I think this is worse. It looks so generic and cheap, like the Michael Myers equivalent of those knockoff Jason masks you see around Halloween, and has a dopey expression on it (I guess it fits, since he gets it at the "Discount Mart," but it's especially disappointing when you see the original mask on the
poster and home video
artwork). By this point, they had no choice but to get a new mask, and it also made sense for the narrative, as Michael's original mask was melted at the end of
Halloween II. According to Ken Horn in the documentary, the masks used were made, again, by Don Post Studios, and supposedly from the same mold as the original William Shatner mask, but when they arrived, they were pink with white hair, and he had to paint them and streak-tip the hair to the right colors. Also, the big blow-up
between him, Tom Morga, and Paul Freeman was because Freeman wanted the eye-holes to be more open and Horn refused because the procedure to make it happen would involve Morga inhaling fresh glue afterward. Eventually, they didn't make the change because they had no time, and I will say that it is kind of eerie how, like in the original, the eye-holes are completely dark. But personally, I've never understood why it's always been so hard in so many of the
Halloween movies to get the mask right. It honestly wasn't until the Rob Zombie movies and the Blumhouse trilogy that they were finally able to recapture the feel of the mask from the first two. In fact, it might've been better had Michael kept the gauze and bandages wrapped around his head at the beginning of the movie, as the sight of it when we see him at the garage and diner is effectively creepy-looking. But, of course, Michael's not Michael without some version of the mask.
One of the series' biggest goofs concerning the mask occurs here, during the third act. When Dr. Loomis and Jamie run into Michael in the school and he grabs and throws Loomis, it's one of those unaltered pink masks with white hair. For years, there were numerous theories about how that happened. Some thought that part was shot after Rachel blasts Michael with the fire extinguisher and the foam caused the hair to turn white (that was brought up at a Q&A with Ellie Cornell at the 25th Anniversary convention). Others said that was a stunt mask they had to use because the main one went missing, that
is the main mask but before it was converted by Ken Horn, and IMDB's trivia section claimed at one point that it's actually the original mask from the first two films and it looks that way due to seven more years of aging. Having now seen the documentary and knowing that all of the masks used originally looked liked what you see here, I think the most plausible explanation comes from Dwight Little himself: they were shooting late at night and a crew member who ran to the prop truck was so tired that he didn't realize he grabbed one of the wrong masks, and everyone else was so exhausted that they didn't catch it, either.
Despite all my complaints about the film's portrayal of Michael, I do appreciate that the filmmakers attempted to go back to the original's way of having him stalk from the shadows and shoot him in a very peripheral manner up until the third act. As I've said, they don't do it quite as well as in the original, and you also see Michael in full-on, all-encompassing shots much earlier in this movie than you did there, but I like that they made the effort of mostly using distant or partial glimpses, shots where he's in the background,
obscured by darkness or scenery, and reflected in glass, like when Jamie first runs into him at the Discount Mart. They also do a good job of depicting how mythic of a figure he is in Haddonfield by this point. When Sheriff Meeker and Dr. Loomis find Rachel and Jamie,
three idiots dressed as Michael pull a prank on them, then run off
laughing when Loomis pulls his gun on them (yeah, you almost got
yourself shot; really funny). I used to not like that, as there's no way those guys could've known that Michael had returned to
Haddonfield, since it hadn't been made public, but, when I thought about it, I realized it shows the impact his 1978 bloodbath had and, thus, dressing up as him would be a perfect
Halloween prank there. Michael's mythic status could also be taken as
another factor in Rachel's running away from the figure in the mist.
It's likely she grew up hearing stories about him (it may have become a popular method in town for parents to
teach kids to stay away from strangers), and she also knows he's
Jamie's uncle and even tells Jamie that her mother used to babysit her
when she was a kid. So, with all that in mind, when she sees this
creepy man walking out of the fog towards her, whether or not it actually is Michael Myers, it's going to scare her even more than it normally would and she's
going to get out of there as quick as possible.
Like
Halloween II,
Halloween 4 does a nice job of showing the response that the citizens of Haddonfield would have to Michael's killing sprees, this time in the knowledge that he's returned for another ten years after the first. When Earl and his friends learn this, and remember how badly the police bungled their response to the 1978 murders, they, naturally, decide they're not going to stand for it and are going to take care of Michael themselves. However, their trigger-happy mindset,
combined with the confusion of searching in the dark and their being fairly drunk, results in an innocent man getting shot and killed. Though we don't see the mob again until they rescue Jamie and Rachel at the school, you get a sense that the town has now been thrown into chaos when Sheriff Meeker hears news of the killing over his two-way radio, followed by the sound of people trying to figure out where Earl is, and Meeker, unable to get an answer, going out to try to get things under control. Not to harp on
Halloween Kills again but I think this is a more straightforward and effective way of getting the point across than that movie's very heavy-handed approach.
While nowhere near as gory as
Halloween II,
Halloween 4 does have some gruesome makeup effects and intricate kills. Moustapha Akkad, who, ironically, didn't care for gore, initially intended for the film to be more along the lines of the original in terms of minimal onscreen violence, but after viewing a rough cut, he and Dwight Little decided it did need a bit more of an edge. To that end, they contacted John Carl Buechler, who'd just finished directing
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, and his Magical Media Industries to insert a couple
of juicier kills. Even then, it's still not that grisly, with most of the really bloody stuff being the aftermath of the kills rather than the kills themselves. Aside from that, the other notable makeups, created by Ken Horn, are the burn scars on both Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis from the ending of
Halloween II. As I said, Loomis' scars don't look that great, but those on Michael's arms and hands look quite gnarly and convincing, with the close-up of his hand in the POV shot when he's looking through the stuff in Jamie's little box allowing you to see the burns in all their gruesome detail.
The first kill is actually one of the two that Buechler and his team added: Michael wakes up from his coma in the ambulance, grabs the male paramedic's head, slams the back of it into the wall again and again, and then jams his thumb right into the poor guy's forehead! Ouch! While I still say it feels more like a Jason Voorhees kill, the actual makeup effect, consisting of a mechanical hand with a retractable thumb, is well done (there is a brief moment where you can see the edge of the fake hand on the right side of the screen). After
that, there are no really graphic kills for a while. When Michael kills the mechanic for his coveralls, Buechler and company did create an effect where you would see the crowbar go down the man's throat but it wasn't used. Instead, they opted for just the shot of Michael thrusting the bar down and impaling him off-camera, although you do have the classic trope afterward where Loomis finds the body hanging from some chains in the garage. You also see that Michael killed a waitress in the
restaurant but there are no bloody wounds, suggesting he strangled her. Like Lester in the original, Michael kills the Carruthers' dog, Sundae but, fortunately, they don't actually show him do it; you just see the body. Then, there's Bucky, a power station worker who makes the mistake of threatening to call the police on Michael when he catches him prowling around. Michael, of course, proceeds to stalk the guy, grab him, and throw him into one of the transformers, barbecuing him and causing a massive power outage in Haddonfield.
Again, you just see the aftermath of Michael's attack on the police station, which includes a grisly corpse with an arm that's been ripped off. The same goes for the death of Deputy Logan later on. The last time you see him alive, he's talking to Sheriff Meeker before he leaves to go deal with Earl and his posse. Then, when Kelly brings him some coffee, she lights a candle that illuminates his corpse sitting in the corner. Like a lot of these offscreen kills, you're not exactly sure what Michael did but, given the crumpled condition of
Logan's body, and how one of his hands appears to be yanked around the back of his head, you can imagine it wasn't pleasant. As for Kelly, I think they missed an opportunity for Michael to kill someone in a way that's surprising and very out of character. Michael has Logan's shotgun, aims it at Kelly, like he's about to shoot... and then stabs her with the barrel, pinning her against the door! Why didn't they just have him shoot her? I don't care if it would've been out of character, I think it would've been really cool and unexpected, showing that he
knows how to use all weapons. I used to rationalize that it would've made too much noise, but Kelly's loud gasp and the smashing when he shoves the barrel through both her and the door should've also been heard by someone, especially Rachel, since she was right in the next room, but nope. Even though Brady's death, where Michael lifts him up and crushes his skull with his bare hands, isn't all that graphic, Sasha Jenson's agonizing yells and the loud snaps when Michael finishes him off is
enough to make you wince. During the climax, when Michael climbs his way up from underneath Earl's truck and attacks the guys in the back, it's another series of bloodless kills, as he mainly just throws them out (you do see him stab some before throwing them). After he gets rid of them, he proceeds to commit the film's goriest kill: he smashes his hand through the driver side's window, grabs Earl's neck, sinks his fingernails into it, and tears it open. According to Buechler, when they filmed that effect, the normally gore-hating Akkad got caught up in it and yelled, "More blood! More blood!" Can you blame him? That effect looks great.
The film also has its fair share of interesting and exciting sequences, starting with the nightmare Jamie has. After Rachel takes her back to her room after finding she's still up very late at night, she goes into her closet and pulls out a picture of her mother. After looking at it for a bit and sobbing, she walks over to her bed and, when she passes by her mirror, we see Michael reflected in its right pane when the lightning flashes. After saying a prayer, Jamie sees the closet door slowly creak
open. She walks over to it, finds a doll lying in the floor inside, and puts it back up on a shelf, but when she walks back over to her bed, she hears a creaking sound and sees the closet open again. Anybody who remembers being scared of the dark or alone in their room at night when they were a kid can definitely relate to this. Now, Jamie knows something's up, and right when she's about to walk back over to the closet, Michael's hand comes out from underneath the bed and grabs her foot. He
tries to pull her under, as she claws at the carpet, but she manages to get loose and run to the door. Even though I still don't care for the mask, the shot where Michael sits up in the dark by the bed and the lightning illuminates him as he turns to look at her is pretty scary. Poor Jamie, struggling to get the door open, screams for someone to help her, as Michael rises to his feet, holding a knife. Just as she opens it, Michael is suddenly on the other side, waiting for her, and raises the knife and approaches as she screams in terror. That's when her foster parents race to her room and we see that she fell asleep while in the closet.
But as effective as that scene is, I do question how Jamie can be dreaming about Michael if she's never seen him. Moreover, how is that she's dreaming of him wearing the exact outfit and mask he would acquire and wear the following day? I know this seems weird for me to bring up, given how I said I feel there is some sort of unnatural connection between the two of them from early on, given some of the visions she has, but this stretches it even for me. Obviously, Jamie knows of Michael, but how
could she have a nightmare around such a concrete and accurate image of him? I would hope that nobody ever made her look at a picture or drawing of him as an adult in his iconic outfit, or described it to her in great detail (maybe those mean kids at school did it at one point), and even if that were the case, wouldn't she be dreaming about him wearing the original mask? I think it would have been even more effectively scary if the scene portrayed Michael in a more abstract way, such as a terrifying shadow or a dark silhouette, as he is at several points during this scene.
Another scene I like is when Dr. Loomis first encounters Michael at the garage, gas station, and diner. After pulling in, Loomis fill his car up and then walks into the garage to pay, but finds that the mechanic has been murdered. Quickly, he runs into the diner to call for help, but finds that Michael has killed a waitress, smashed the phone behind the counter, and cut the line on a payphone. That's when he turns around and sees Michael standing in the hallway behind the counter, leading to the
kitchen. After his attempt to plead with him fails, he shoots at Michael, only for the next shot to reveal he's suddenly gone. I used to wonder whether or not Michael was even there or if Loomis was hallucinating because, since the shot is so far away, it kind of looks as though he's wearing the mask, which he doesn't actually get until he reaches Haddonfield; now, I realize he's still wearing the bandages around his head. The way he suddenly disappears also made me think it may
have been Loomis' imagination, but Michael's suddenly disappeared many times before, so I shouldn't be all that surprised (plus, there was probably a backdoor in the kitchen that he used to escape). Regardless, I think it's something else that flies in the face of Little's intended grounded approach to Michael. Regardless, after he disappears, Loomis hears him outside and rushes into the parking lot to confront him. However, he definitely didn't expect Michael to come crashing out of the garage, driving the mechanic's tow-
truck! As brief as it is, I really like this exciting part. Loomis attempts to shoot Michael again but has to dive out of the way when he hits the gas pumps, causing a huge explosion that destroys his car as well as a telephone pole, severing the phone lines. Loomis then has to crawl away and find some method of getting to Haddonfield to stop Michael.
A curious moment that involves Michael himself is when, after Rachel and Jamie go trick-or-treating, he sneaks into the Carruthers' house and heads upstairs to Jamie's room, where he finds her box of pictures in the closet. I think the purpose of this was so he could find a picture of Jamie in order to know who to look for, but he seemed to know it was Jamie who ran into him at the Discount Mart. Even if he didn't, if he knows this is where she lives, and was stalking around the house while
Rachel was waiting for Jamie to put her costume on, wouldn't he put two and two together and realize the little girl that comes downstairs is her? Moreover, why would he would go to the Carruthers' house in the first place, unless he had a feeling that the little girl he saw is his niece? In any case, it's interesting to see Michael look through Jamie's pictures, at photos of Laurie and Jamie sitting on the shoulders of a man who I assume is her dad (some have suggested it's Jimmy, from
Halloween II, but as we know, that's a very tricky
subject). However, among these pictures, Michael finds one of himself as a little boy, wearing the clown costume he would wear when he killed Judith. Initially, I was taken by how seeing this seems to affect Michael, as he stares at it for a few seconds instead of simply glancing at it, as he does with the others, and puts it face down before moving on. It makes you wonder what was going on in his head when he saw that. But then, something else hit me: why the hell would Jamie have that picture to begin with, and who in their right mind would let her have it, even if she doesn't know it's her evil uncle?
The last quarter of the film has quite a bit of exciting and suspenseful action, starting at the Meeker house. As Brady attempts to hold Michael off, first with a shotgun and then with his fists, Rachel and Jamie head up into the attic, blocking the stairway with a bunch of random junk they find up there. Naturally, that does nothing to stop Michael who, after dispensing with Brady, makes his way up there, effortlessly throwing the obstacles out of his path. After he grabs a sharp
butcher knife from a can full of them up in the attic, he continues his pursuit of Rachel and Jamie, who smash a window to climb onto the roof. What makes this scene work is how, in addition to Michael, who doesn't have any trouble getting around when he climbs up there, they have to deal with the intensely slippery and, in some cases, loose shingles, a lack of hand-holds, and Rachel having Jamie on her back initially (Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris did a lot of this stuff
themselves). At one point, Rachel has Jamie slide down the chimney, while she herself just barely manages to avoid being stabbed by Michael, who swipes at her, then brings the blade down towards her, forcing her to roll out of the way. She tumbles down to the chimney and, once she gets herself oriented, ties a cord around Jamie and lowers her down to the ground below. But Michael approaches and slashes at Rachel again, causing her to lose her grip on the cord and send Jamie falling until the cord snags again. Rachel ends up tumbling over the
edge of the roof and grabs onto the gutters, as Michael stands over her, attempting to stab her. She tries to move along the gutter, as he stabs down at her hands, but she inevitably loses her grip and falls to the ground, knocking herself out. Jamie, meanwhile, manages to climb down using the side of the house, only to find Rachel unconscious, sending her running off, screaming for help, when Michael reappears around the corner of the house nearby.
The film culminates in an awesome climax on Earl's pickup truck. After Rachel and Jamie have been picked up at the elementary school, Earl and his friends take them out of Haddonfield to safety. But then, Michael suddenly climbs up from underneath the truck, pulls himself up into the back, and attacks the posse. After stabbing and/or throwing them all off, Michael smashes his hand through the driver's side window and kills Earl. Rachel is then forced to push Earl's body out and
take the wheel herself. Michael keeps reaching his hand in, grabbing and pulling at her sweater, while Rachel swerves the truck from side to side in an attempt to fling him off. But as hard as she tries, Michael holds on and keeps grabbing at her, managing to tear her sweater. At one point, his face slams against the windshield (an effect that looks really bad, and the mask looks like it's got a silly smile on it) and Rachel slams on the brakes, sending him tumbling off and onto the road. He
immediately gets to his feet, and that's when Rachel puts the truck in gear, drives right at him, and hits him full force, sending him flying through a section of fence, as Rachel frantically tries to stop the truck as it runs off the road. The state police and Sheriff Meeker arrive and Jamie, despite Rachel telling her to stay in the truck, gets out and holds Michael's hand. The others come running in and tell her to get away. She drops his hand, while his other grips his knife's handle and he rises back up behind her. Meeker and the troopers unload
every bit of ammo they've got into him, blasting him again and again and again, and forcing him back, until he falls backwards down a mine-shaft, which caves in on top of him. (Given how resilient he's proven to be by now, I don't know why everybody, including Dr. Loomis, thinks this is the end of him, but whatever.)
Having just scored They Live with John Carpenter, and after receiving his blessing, Alan Howarth was brought in to score Halloween 4 all by himself. His involvement was significant in that it kept continuity with the previous films but, at the same time, Howarth would bring his own personal flavor to Carpenter's original themes, as he also would on the next two Halloween movies. You hear many different variations of the main theme, the first of which is when the paramedics are loading the comatose Michael into the ambulance, which is quite loud and urgent-sounding. When Dr. Loomis tries to stop Michael from escaping at the gas station, you hear a version that's a bit slower and has some noticeable new beats to it (this closes out the ending credits), while a very slow, understated, and eerie one plays when Michael is watching Rachel from outside the Carruthers' house. A slow, methodical variation plays when Michael chases Rachel and Jamie across the roof of the Meeker house, a very fast, frantic one during the climactic truck scene, and a slow and downright horrific one at the end, when Jamie has apparently been taken over by her uncle's evil. Jamie's leitmotif is a variation on Laurie's, sounding both more childlike and sad, fitting with the notion that this little girl no longer has her parents and feels lost and alone. You also hear several versions of the Myers House theme during the section at Sheriff Meeker's house, both of which are a combination of the piano and synthesizer, but one is very subtle, while another is a bit louder and more clearly done on the piano. Howarth creates a faster version of the Shape Stalks theme, which sounds like it's skipping a couple of notes from the original: instead of going, "Dun, dun-dun," it's more like, "Dun, d-dun." And, finally, there's a nice, eerie reprise of the theme for when Michael killed Judith. Significantly, you first hear it when Jamie finds her clown costume, and again when Michael sees the old picture of himself as a little kid, and both times, it's done very subtly. Appropriately, it's most pronounced when it plays as Jamie stalks and attacks her foster mother, nicely building up into the reprise of the main theme.
Howarth does also create some new pieces all his own, putting in new synth stings for jump scares, creepy, atmospheric sounds, and new, full-on themes. One is heard during Jamie's nightmare about Michael. Starting off with the sad reprise of Laurie's theme as Jamie looks at her picture, it grows sinister as the scene goes on, with a sting when Michael is reflected in the mirror. The music drops off for a bit, until Michael's hand grabs Jamie's foot from under the bed, and we're hit with a very sharp sting that leads into a loud, frantic piece with frightening cues in the background, and more stings whenever the lightning illuminates Michael and when he suddenly appears at the door when she opens it. A really creepy theme, with sounds in the background like low wind blowing,
breathing, and some chilling synthesizer noises, is heard when Meeker and Loomis discover that everyone at the police station has been utterly massacred by Michael, effectively getting across the feeling that he's not a human being but evil in the shape of one. A similar one is heard when Loomis discovers Michael has killed everyone at the garage and diner, with sounds like chains clinking, a loud, frightening groan when Loomis discovers the mechanic's body, and a low drone in the background, with occasional pings, when he enters the diner and confronts Michael himself. But my favorite original piece of music is, without a doubt, the intensely chilling theme for the opening credits: a low drone that sounds like a combination of wind and breathing (sometimes, it's hard to differentiate it from the actual wind), with sounds in the background that come off like a bird shrilly chirping and vocalizing, and an eerie overall rhythm to it. As the scene transitions to the ambulance heading to the Ridgemont sanitarium, the music becomes more and more defined, with an ever-present beat that builds to hints of the Halloween theme. The first part of the ending credits has another version of this theme that's just as creepy, with more wind noises, chirping, and that rhythmic sound. After a while, it gets really quiet and becomes a subtle symphony of a piece akin to the Halloween theme, with that pinging from the one scene. Listening to it will really make you feel like you are in the presence of pure evil.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers may be a flawed film, but it's still one of my favorites of the franchise and my absolute favorite after the first two. It's not as technically polished as the previous films, there are some flaws in the screenplay, some clumsy mistakes were made during filming, and I'm not too fond of the look and characterization of Michael Myers himself, but I feel the good far outweighs the bad. You've got a number of really likable characters, chief among them Jamie and Rachel, Donald Pleasence is still on form as Dr. Loomis, there are plenty of exciting and suspenseful sequences, some nice makeup effects here and there, a really creepy score, and a well-executed atmosphere and look that effectively gives you the feeling of the Halloween season and also manages to evoke that of the original. It's a wonderfully entertaining film and, as I said, is the last truly good one for a very long time.
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ReplyDeleteThis movie is one of the better Halloween sequels considering that it introduces Jamie Lloyd! Add to the fact Michael returns in this one after being absent in the third movie makes this one of the better movies of the Halloween series.
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt one of the better movies of the series considering that it was the first appearance of Jamie Lloyd. Add to the fact that Michael returns in this movie after being absent in the previous movie makes this one of the better movies in the series.
ReplyDeleteI see you have been upgrading your halloween franchise reviews. I ask because I always like it when you refrence past lists, do you remember that you put halloween 5 on your top 30 most underrated sequels lists? as well as halloween 6 on the movies you love but everybody else seems to hate list, and halloween resruction on your movies you love but everybody else seems to hate list as well as an honorable mention on most disapotting sequels list? do you also remebr in october 2019, you ranked the halloween franchise?
ReplyDeleteActually, it was Friday the 13th Part V that I put on that first list. Otherwise, you're correct about the others, but I only reference them when necessary.
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