At this point when they went on to Halloween III, it was time to do something new. It would be an attempt to bring a more anthological approach to this film series. Each film could finally be it's own story. Many would flock to it and see how awesome it would be.
Oh...wait...this just in. When Halloween III released, it was a bomb. People went to the film and came away disappointed that there was no Michael and upset that this was different. No, certainly people wouldn't be that upset. Oh, they were. Huh. Eventually Halloween III has found it's audience nowadays. But back then, it led to the film series being thrown into a hiatus for a while.
Then in 1988 for the ten year anniversary, Michael returned to the big screen with Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. It was something to be excited about for sure. Here, we were going to discover just how exactly Michael had survived the events of Halloween II. Oh, Michael was in a ten year coma and recovering from some pretty serious burns in custody. And Loomis walked away with a burn on the hand and a little bit of a gnarly face scar. Okay. It makes sense to me.
Now, I am not going to rag on Halloween 4...much. If I do, it's because the film deserves it. Also there will be SPOILERS. This is a film from 1988. If you think there will not be spoilers, then I apologize for disappointing with this retrospective.
Back on track, Halloween 4 had a lot to do. It had to reintroduce Michael and Haddonfield to the world. In one sense, it honestly served the same purpose that Halloween 2018 did. There are some people that just generally don't like Halloween 4. I can understand their reasons. I respect their reasons.
However, Halloween 4 is a pretty solid flick. It just oozes the fall atmosphere. It's even more evident with its opening titles. It's so good. If you don't believe me, go YouTube it and you'll see. The original Halloween felt like it took place around then. But it was missing that atmosphere that the spooky season has.
In my opinion, Halloween 4 is also much better than Halloween II. Yes, we have a child in the film. It's interesting that they decided to tackle this approach as it also feels very The Final Chapter-ish. I appreciate that they tried to least tie Jamie to Laurie. Danielle Harris does a solid job with her performance. Again, some may consider it to be annoying or bad. But come on, it's a child dealing with Michael. Ellie Cornell also delivers a great performance as Jamie's adopted sister, Rachel. Rachel feels a bit like Laurie. She's got a tool of a boyfriend (is it Grady?) that she discovers cheating on her. How much of a tool is this guy. I mean he'd rather hook up with the Sheriff's daughter because she's a bit more outgoing with what she's interested in. That's pretty low considering how much Rachel has on her plate to begin with. She's practically raising Jamie as I have a hard time remembering that we see her parents outside the ending. Then there's Dr. Loomis. At this point, we all know how great Donald Pleasance is. It's not surprising that he does a solid job in this installment as he's basically retreading some familiar ground from the original film. Then there's the rest of the cast for the people of Haddonfield. Everyone does an okay job. It's interesting seeing a mob coming after Michael. I'm sure we will never see anything like this again...
Ultimately, the story of Halloween 4 is a bit back to basics. That's not a bad thing at all. It actually helps the film with its pacing. And after the bombing and response to Halloween III, it's understandable that was the direction they decided to go in. Go with what works and if it ain't broke, why fix it. This is an approach that would ultimately be utilized in the subsequent sequels. However by the time it reached Resurrection, it was old hat and had jumped the shark faster than you could say Busta Rhymes.
The colors of this film are so good. There's an amber shine to the days. At night, it's the cold blues. It's so representative with the feeling of fall and Halloween. There was some of this in the original film. However it seems to be amplified in 4 compared to the original.
And this is all because the director Dwight H. Little did extensive research on the history of Halloween. The film just oozes the love that he has for the holiday. Especially during that title sequence where there's so much imagery that honestly makes this the definitive title sequence for me.
An interesting thing that I learned while researching this film was the writer's strike of 1988. Alan B. McElroy had to spare no time and write the film quickly. He managed to complete that initial draft in eleven days beating out the beginning of the Writer's Strike. This was also the first film that Michael Myers is credited with his name instead of The Shape.
It was also the first time that the Myers house was not used.
Now I wanted to dive into something that may be a bit questionable. I wanted to discuss the elephant in the room. The Man in Black. The next two films featured the infamous Man in Black. It largely became known that these three films would become the infamous Thorn trilogy. I honestly wish that they would have had some foresight to introduce him in this film. It didn't have to be much. It could have just been something very small to set up that he's out there. It would have actually made 4's ending make a lot of sense with Jamie in the clown costume and scissors. It was because The Thorn cult had an influence with it. But that's getting ahead of myself.
The kills in Halloween 4 are good. There's some interesting ones. I know the ones that I always remember are Michael putting his thumb through the doctor's head and the other being Michael pinning a girl to the wall with a shotgun. Other than those, the film is a bit back to basics with its kills. Michael stabs or slashes his way through town.
This back to basics approach that I keep referencing even goes down to the structure. First act - establish Michael escaping and being pursued by Loomis, Jamie and Rachel's life in Haddonfield. Second act - Loomis travelling, Michael hunting, drama with Rachel and Jamie's life. Third act - Michael pursuing Rachel and Jamie while Loomis attempts to stop him. It's very much the structure of the original Halloween. There is some aspects that are definitely an improvement. First off, it makes sense that the townspeople of Haddonfield wouldn't stand by. They would want to defend their town and such. So the featuring of mobs is pretty nice addition. It even results in a cool chase scene with Michael on top of a truck while Jamie and Rachel are inside the cab of it. Their poor driver meeting his maker.
Ultimately, I feel like this was a fine addition to the franchise. It was the reboot the fans were asking for after Halloween III. It sets things up really well and delivers on tension. I personally enjoy it more than Halloween II and will always watch it more. This is also an essential view for those cool fall days that we love during the spooky season.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5.
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