Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

"You can't kill the bogeyman," the children insist to a terrorized Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the original Halloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third entry never existed, this installment picks up 10 years after the original, with mad maniac Myers in a coma and moved to a new facility. But wouldn't you know it that as soon as a loose-lipped orderly lets slip that Myers has a surviving niece he springs back into action, leaving a bloody trail of corpses on the road to Haddonfield. Donald Pleasance returns as Dr. Loomis, scarred and crippled from his last encounter with Myers and seething with a fanatical zeal to stop the freak from repeating his previous rampage. Pleasance is the best thing about the film as an aging hero seemingly on the verge of madness who drags a bum leg in his manic rush to save little orphan Jamie (Danielle Harris), the 10-year-old waif terrorized by her homicidal uncle. Director Dwight Little has managed a generic if professional slasher picture, rife with improbabilities and dominated by a killer whose superhuman powers reach near-mystical dimensions, but he delivers the goods: shocks, stabs, and cold, cruel killings. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

You've really got to be kidding me...

Suddenly, as the film opens in Halloween 4: The Return of Micheal Myers, we as the viewer are subject to some odd little facts that just suddenly happened. Jaimie Lee Curtis is nowhere to be found, she suddenly has a daughter, Loomis is at his looniest and SOMEHOW survived the explosion in 2 (impossible) and on top of THAT, he lived threw it all with only a few visible scars on his face...
Need I mention that Micheal was shot in both eyes in 2, but has them back (but some strange turn of events) in 4...

I know a lot can happen in "10 years", but i mean some of this stuff is just ridiculous...

While i respect the attempt made here...it was a terrible attempt...
and yet, they went on to make 2 more terrible follow up movies...

no good...

November 2, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I thought it would be awesome to review this movie on this day! Ten years after Michael tried to kill his sister, and six years after Dan Challis saved the kids from dying from the Silver Shamrock masks, Michael comes out of his coma and wants to kill his niece, Jamie Lloyd. Dr. Loomis tries to stop Michael from doing that. Jamie lives with the Carruthers family. Her step-sister Rachel has a big date on HALLOWEEN, but the babysitter broke her ankle at the ice rink, so Rachel has to babysit Jamie. When Rachel takes Jamie trick-or-treating, Rachel sees her boyfriend with the Sheriff's daughter. Soon, Michael comes after Jamie. Some rednecks try to stop Michael also. Jamie, Rachel, Brady, and Kelly all get stuck in the Sheriff's house with Michael inside. If you love the HALLOWEEN series, you'll love HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS!!!


p.s. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! October 31, 2008

Michael Myers Returns to Kill His Niece (And Wages A One-Man War Against Haddonfield)

HAPPY THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY, MICHAEL MYERS!!!

In the fourth installment of the "Halloween" franchise, it is October 31, 1988 - ten years after Michael Myers massacred sixteen people. We learn that Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and Myers survived the hospital fire. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband have been dead for eleven months. Their eight-year-old daughter, Jamie, is living with foster parents. Myers escapes while being transported from one psychiatric hospital to another; he is determined to travel to Haddonfield and kill his niece.

How can this be when Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode in "Halloween: H2O?" She is very much alive and has a son, not a daughter. In order to rationalize away the lack of storyline continuity, I pretend that installments four through six occur in a parallel time universe. Now that we've settled that, on with my review.

"Halloween 4" has a large body count; Michael Myers is stronger and more ferocious than ever. He is now very similar to his number one serial killer competition, Jason Voorhees. Myers likes dismembering his victims. He leaves a bloody mess at the crash site of the ambulance, the garage, the police station, and the sheriff's house. Unfortunately, most of the killings are done off screen; we only see the gruesome aftermath.

Naturally, Donald Pleasance gives an excellent performance as the fire-scarred Dr. Loomis. The real star, however, is Danielle Harris who portrays sweet little Jamie Lloyd. It is quite nerve wracking to see her being relentlessly pursued by Myers. There is quite a bit of grisly violence throughout this Halloween night. The most memorable scene is when Myers slaughters a truck full of rednecks.

The ending was quite shocking. It leads one to believe that the evil that possessed Michael Myers has found a new body to inhabit and that the nightmare has begun again.

"Halloween 4" is a must see for fans of high body count slasher films, especially the ones that dominated the theatres in the mid-eighties. Fans of Michael Myers won't be disappointed. However, they must keep telling themselves that this Myers is from a parallel universe and that Laurie Strode will eventually appear in a later sequel.
October 31, 2008

"You're talking about him like he's a human being. That part of him died years ago."

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a favorite for many of us fans. What's ironic is how quickly this film had to be written due to the writer's strike in 1988 plus they were limited to budget and time constraints. Yet despite all that, the film managed to beat the odds (and sequel curses) by becoming so much more. It even tips its hat to the original in many ways. First, there is a small amount of bloodshedding. Halloween 4 (like the original) relies more on suspense and terror rather than gore and special effects. Two, the film resembles the original with Ellie Cornell taking over the babysitter role from Jaime Lee Curtis as she tries to protect Laurie Strode's daughter Jaime (Danielle Harris) whose name actually developed as a homage to Jaime Lee Curtis herself. There is even a scene in the film that has Danielle Harris looking at pictures of her mom Laurie Strode and crying. Donald Pleasance also returns as the good doctor trying to stop Michael from murdering more people. What makes Halloween 4 so good is the strong use of characters and actors. Ellie Cornell as Rachel Carruthers was a likeable and strong lead heroine and Danielle Harris as young Jaime Lloyd was perfect as the victimized niece of her evil uncle. Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis is always a joy to watch. The settings and lighting used were all done very effectively. I loved the opening sequence with all the harvest images and the house/rooftop scene should be inducted in the horror hall of fame as being one of the most memorable. Also, the ending climax with the truck and the twist with Jaime before the credits roll was a perfect touch. The Halloween score sounds better than ever and the Michael Myers mask has a very cold, calculating feel to it. I think it's my favorite mask out of all the films. There is another scene where Rachel and her friend Lindsey are picking up Jaime after school. Devout Halloween fans will know that Laurie Strode babysat a "Lindsey" in the original film although it's never mentioned if it is the same character. Halloween 5 was a good follow-up to this film with the same actors plus the introduction of the mysterious man in black. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is a mixed bag with the fans. H20 would mark Jaime Lee Curtis's return and it was good however it had too much of a post-Scream feel to it and Halloween Resurrection I consider the worst of all sequels. Rob Zombie's remake pales in comparison to John Carpenter's original. But I definitely recommened Halloween 2, 4 and 5 as the best Michael Myers sequels. One hope I had with the entire franchise is that I wish the Jaime Lloyd character had been reunited with her mother Laurie Strode at some point but due to the tragic circumstances in Halloween 6 plus H20's choice to ignore the previous films, it was sadly never meant to be. October 21, 2008

JUST a tip 4 u

just a tip that box set IS NOT worth it. If you want all the movies> walmart has halloween 1 for $10, H-2, H-3 combo pack for i think $8.00 and then theres BEst bUY whom has H-4, H-5 for $15 ea. Walmart just got in recently a NEW odd never seen b4 till recent a box set of Halloween 6, 7, 8 combo for $15. Buy it if yur a hard core fan. Good $ price for 3 movies!! Plus just about anywhere has the 2007 vs of halloween for about $20 i think. so for bout $85 you can get all the Halloween movies if you got the $$$ and are a hard core fan! SOOOO wish a produceers cut of H=6 would come out. I heard its about 45min of additional footage that the theatrical release didnt show?? for whatever reason... SO there you go... AND another Halloween movie a sequal from last years (2007) will be out in 2009 i heard>?? who knows the more remakes and or ssequals they make there just ruining what few great halloween movies there are currently. If there going to make a sequal make one w/ john(josh hartnett) lauries son coming back and facing michael one last time or something like that. who knows what those joker producers will end up doing??? October 18, 2008

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