Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)Director: Dwight H. Little
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris, George P. Wilbur
He came, he saw, he croaked. And so ended the rein of terror of one Michael Myers, aka The Shape, in Halloween II (1981), when Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) nobly sacrificed himself by roasting the both of the alive. "The Night HE Came Home" now over, the series became free to be an anthology, with every installment featuring a new story set around the holiday.
Then Halloween III: Season Of The Witch came out, and bombed hard.
So, here we are again, back with our old buddy Michael, who we discover is simply in a coma. Ten years after his original rampage, he awakens, now pursuing his niece (Danielle Harris), because Jamie Lee Curtis couldn't be bothered to be in this one. Old Dr. Loomis is still kicking as well, and sets off in dogged pursuit, offering the police such insights as "He was here, and now he's gone" as he examines a gore-encrusted multiple murder scene.
After Halloween III, series creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill wrote the series off, leaving creative control solely in the hands of the Akkad family. Moustapha Akkad (and later, his sons) follow one simple formula; rinse and repeat. Myers dies, comes back, kills, gets "killed", then returns again. Standard slasher movie formula.
The problem here is that while the A Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday The 13th series "devolved" into near-parody and meta awareness, the Halloween franchise remains straight-faced throughout (With the possible exception of Myers battle with Busta Rhymes). So, the more seriously I'm supposed to take this, the more absurd it seems, and it doesn't allow me much in the way of bloody, creative death. It's just a bunch of characters that I don't really care about being picked off one-by-one in the most boring, sanitary way possible.
The photography is slick looking, and both Pleasence and Harris do a good job in the lead roles. Great ending also, even if the fifth film ends up essentially ignoring it. Fine for watching with friends while downing beers, but I found myself tuning out of this one pretty quick.
FREDERICK OPINES: BAD
Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers (Divimax Edition)
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