The Return Of Michael Myers (Halloween 4 (DVD))

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	Halloween 4 (DVD)
Date:	05/09/08 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A polished good looking sequel

Disadvantages: Its number 4, how good is it really going to be

In an attempt to recreate and re-introduce Michael Myers to the carnage of Halloween, the film makers abandoned the idea of making a different Halloween every year with a different plot line. Having focused Part 3 on a mad toymaker with the intentions to poison the mind of vulnerable kids, Part 4 finds Myers in a coma ten years after the original horror.

Halloween, 1988. Laurie Strode is dead and big brother Michael Myers is being transferred to a low security hospital, having not moved or flinched since he was burned up in the Haddonfield Massacre of 1978. However, a seemingly telekinetic link to his sister's 8 year old kid, Jamie, awakens him and he makes his way back to the small town to unleash more horror on the unsuspecting citizens.

Hot on his trail once again is the increasingly demented Dr Loomis. Loomis is relentless in his foreboding, despite the ridicule of his peers and the police of Haddonfield. He has to get to the Carruthers family, who have fostered Jamie, before Michael does. Can he outwit the killer in less than 24 hours, without arousing the suspicion of the entire town, all of whom are hellbent on turning the bloodbath on its head and destroying Michael.

Many things are never explained in this entry of Halloween. How, after ten years in a coma and a near death experience, is Michael able just to walk around as normal. And how, once again, is he able to drive the thousands of miles across the midwest back to Haddonfield. The question was posed, but never answered, in the original Halloween film. Here though, it barely matters.

Director Dwight Little attempts to recreate some of the magic brought to the screen by John Carpenter. Filming much of the action at night and tweaking the original haunting theme tune goes some way to bring a few decent scares to the screen. Whilst never reaching the bar set by Halloween, Part 4 goes some way to apologise for the morbid slowness of Part 2 and the nearly pointless Part 3. There is also a nod to the original terse opening with a suspenseful twist that doesn't altogether make sense but at least gets the jaw dropping.

The character's aren't as throwaway as they could have been, or indeed were in other films. Ellie Cornell as Rachel is no great shakes, but is attractive and likeable enough to carry her through the film. Danielle Harris gets the first of 3 appearances (she would appear in the recent remake as a different character) in the Halloween series, and ably grasps the terror of the stalked child, albeit a tasteless diversion to Myers' reign of terror. Donald Pleasance returns to the series for the 3rd time, and whilst he is as mad as a box of frogs, lends some empathy to the somewhat generic proceedings.

Few of the Halloween sequels came anywhere close to the original film, but at least a couple of them attempted to maintain some of the mystique and terror that Carpenter infused. Halloween 4 is a shining example of a film that at least pays tribute to its creator without completely ripping it off.

Summary: The best of the early sequels