philosoraptor42

Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)

This begins with some utterly stupid continuity errors. What's more, the filmmakers know damn well that these are utterly stupid continuity errors, but they simply do not care. They've tried starting a brand new storyline and doing something new with the franchise and the fans and box office figures clearly indicated that this would not fly. They now needed a sequel that brought in as much familiarity as possible, so by hook or by crook they brought us back to the same old scenario of the first two movies.

The blatantly obvious continuity errors are as follows. Michael Myers should be dead (not to mention blind). Doctor Loomis should be even deader. Yet bizarrely Myers is in a coma (which, no surprises here, he comes out of - and just as strong as ever too), while Loomis has some fairly minor-looking scarring on his face (especially for someone who had his head next to an exploding gas cannister. I suppose this was the only plausible way to bring back the two main characters into a storyline that had pretty thoroughly ended with the second movie.

We can see how cheap things have become when we are given the tour around the institution where Michael Myers is now being kept. We now seem to have a director who has no idea how to evoke an atmosphere and everything is just screaming at us "well Michael won't be in a coma for long NOW then, will he?" The film really could have done with reminding us of Myers' legacy here. There should have been some indication that even in a coma, Myers is still creepy. Or perhaps they could highlight that a man in a coma doesn't really live up to the myth? But everything we see here is rushed. They want Myers on the loose again, so they set up some contrivance to make that possible and want to get him back out there as soon as they can.

Jamie Lee Curtis did not want to come back as Laurie; not while she's busy working on "A Fish Called Wanda" (super-stardom, here I come!) So instead we get some vague indication that she's now dead and from now on we follow her daughter who has been adopted into another family. Laurie's daughter Jamie is haunted by nightmares which makes for a pretty neat little fake out in an early scene.

I thought one of the weaker elements of the first Halloween movie is the bit where bullies are teasing the boy Laurie babysits saying "the Boogieman is gonna get you!" It's pretty tough to get bullying right, which is one reason why I had so many good things to say about the recent "Carrie" remake which captured the demeanour of a real life bully so well. I am at a loss for words when the bullies in Halloween 4 are mocking Jamie saying "Jamie's uncle's the boogeyman!" and repeatedly chanting "Jamie's an orphan!" This is not something that is set up. It just comes out of nowhere with Jamie coming off as entirely passive. Now I know school children can be absolutely horrible sometimes. But yelling "You're an orphan. Ha ha!" at someone completely randomly and without provocation was beyond daft.

However, there was one point where I suddenly realised what potential this film had (which was sad feeling considering how thoroughly it was squandering almost every opportunity). Dr. Loomis goes to track down Michael Myers only to find himself in a small petrol station surrounded by bodies with all the phones disconnected. Suddenly he realises that there's an obvious culprit. Before you know it he's staring down a corridor at Myers, with his newly acquired mask on. He pleads with Myers to leave the people of Haddonfield alone, before firing at the figure. But Myers seems to have disappeared faster than the bullets can be fired. Outside Myers steals a vehicle and destroys one of the fuel pumps in an explosion, sending Dr. Loomis flying back, as he drives off. Sure, like most of the movie, this was distinctly lacking in the quality of the execution, but it made clear how exciting the rivalry between Myers and Loomis could be.

I can see how the filmmaker is trying to keep things exciting in the second half. There are attempts to keep Jamie safe in a house defended by some local police. Meanwhile there's a local malitia forming with the sole aim of hunting Myers, who are not helped by the fact that so many people seem to be wearing the same Myers mask. (Seriously, why are they still selling that thing? Wouldn't the whole community see that mask as in ridiculously poor taste?) There's even a final, utterly ridiculous twist (hey look, they aren't just playing it safe), which might have been somewhat worth it if there were some follow-through in the sequel. (But guess what, there isn't.)

Halloween 4 is a poor film which showed some clear promise in places. There are bits which are moderately effective and the relationship between Loomis and Myers is somewhat interesting at times. There's a clear sign the scriptwriter did at least understand what made Loomis interesting, not least when he finds himself paired up with a crazy end-times preacher and we realise that he and Loomis are not really so different.

I think so far I'm probably over-selling this, so let's get this straight. The whole film looks cheap, the content of the film feels like a repeat of everything we've seen before only with most of the atmosphere missing. While the ending could be argued to be an interesting idea, it's a bit cheap to suddenly introduce something interesting at the last second when the rest of the film has been so uninspired. (And to be frank, I found that final 'twist' to be a complete anti-climax.) A few interesting ideas are dotted about and that's about the most positive thing I can say about this very stale sequel.

D+