Halloween 5 : The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is yet another addition to the Halloween franchise. It’s a direct sequel to Halloween 4 and takes place a year after the first.

The film starts right where the last left off. Apparently, Myers has been unconscious in a bum’s hovel underground for like, a year. Also, Jamie is now living in a home for disturbed children or something like that after the events of Halloween 4. Her foster parents are out of town and Rachael is getting ready to join them. Loomis is watching over Jamie at the children’s hospital. He seems to be getting progressively nuttier after the events of 4, but really can you blame the poor old guy? By the end of the film Loomis is absolutely insane! Basically, the story is that Myers comes back from his near death on Halloween and once again goes on the hunt/rampage for his Niece, who inexplicably has a psychic link with Myers. The man is quite dedicated to his niece ;) Anyway, he spends the movie stalking teenagers trying to find Jamie, either that or he’s just trying to make her suffer by killing everyone/thing she seems to care about… Thus making him an even bigger bastard then he was in the last film. A bastard with a way shittier mask I might add… Seriously it only looks good in the fisrst shot you see it in, after that… Along the way we’re introduced to a bunch of meaningless, unlikable and annoying characters. Hell, even Loomis is a total dick in this movie. Jamie is far more annoying then she was in the fourth film. She barely talks but always fucking SCREAMS! We also get to suffer with another little kid who stutters every line. We also see a mysterious man in black whom the film makers don’t even know the purpose of. Though, he is explained in the next film.

Over all this one is sort of weak, there’s not a lot of blood (though the blood that is here is pretty cool) to make up for the kind of bland plot. The body count isn’t all that high but most of the kills are pretty interesting. To bad that’s really all it has going for it. It’s not a bad film but it’s not very good either. It doesn’t add much of value to the series and it doesn’t particularly stand out among the other films.  It’s a bit slow really, some scenes drag on a bit longer then they really should. Like the scene in the barn with the kittens and some assholes fucking around. There’s actually a pretty painfully long sex scene (also in the barn, seriously this place gets more screen time then Loomis), and the only nudity you see is the guy’s bare, pasty white, hairless chest… DOES NOT DELIVER! The chick is pretty hot too. Lame. I mean it is pretty sensual and well done but it really didn’t need to be this long. I also like how this is considered a “graphic” sex scene on IMDB (and other places I’m sure, you won’t see that part on TV broadcasts) because he pulls out a condom, implying he’s going to use it. They’re actually having safe sex in a horror movie… Like, the rarest kind of horror movie sex… and it’s considered “too graphic.” That’s hilarious. Anyway, the film is worth watching if you’re a fan of the series or if you just dig slasher films, but it’s not quite as good as one, two, four or six. Oh and Michael Myers never really gets any revenge...

Halloween 4 (1988)

The reason I’m skipping over three and going right to four is because part three has nothing to do with the main Halloween storyline. Instead it’s a stand alone film. For this Halloween season however, I’m focusing on just the Michael Myers storyline. I’ll do three sometime after Halloween. But for right now, Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers is a great film in this great series. It introduces the character we’ll be following for the next few films, Jamie Lloyd as well as portraying Myers as more of a force of pure evil rather then a human being.

The film starts on October 30th with a prisoner patient transfer. This film takes place ten years after the events of Halloween II. Myers is getting moved to another nuthouse.  After the events of Halloween II Myers is badly injured and bed ridden. Myers is moved into the ambulance where he, unsurprisingly, regains conciseness and full strength. He proceeds to kill the shit out of the doctors in the ambulance. Before he kills them however, they mention something about living relatives. They mention his ten year old niece, Jamie Lloyd. Jamie Lloyd is the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode, whom died somewhere between the events of this film and the second. Myers goal in this film is to kill her. Its pretty basic Halloween fair, Myers comes back from the dead and hunts a family member. Shortly after Jamie is introduced Loomis comes back, obviously concerned that he wasn’t notified (well, he was, but the guy in charge didn’t really take Loomis seriously) of Myers being moved, shortly afterwards they find out the ambulance crashed and everyone on board was killed. Except Myers, who is missing. This film very much sets up the “He’s not human” angle. Myers has been bed ridden, waiting for his chance to strike again, for ten years at this point. The transfer was his chance. If he were a human being his muscles would be useless at this point, but here he is, seemingly stronger then ever ( he kills a man by sticking his THUMB into his forehead!) and just as crafty as he was ten years ago. He’s also gained an ability ro teleport apparently. Anyway, Loomis confronts Myers in a gas station, trying to stop him from returning to Haddonfield. He fails miserably, Myers escapes and blows up the gas station. He’s not fucking around this time! Jamie is teased by kids for being an orphan and apparently its common knowledge Myers is her uncle (Jamie’s an orphan/Jamies an orphan/Jamie’s uncle’s the boogyman!). Kids are dicks… Anyway, Myers returns to Haddonfield and searches for his prey, killing plenty of other people along the way. The other main character here is Rachael, Jamie’s older foster sister.

Another great entry in the series! It sets up Myers as a more supernatural entity then he was in the first two films. According to Loomis, Myers is indeed pure evil. Some great gore in this one, definitely on par with the second film. The body count is nice and high and blood is plentiful! The plot is pretty basic Halloween, nothing incredibly different from the first two films. Myers goes after a family member; Loomis is on his tail, kills lots of folks along the way. The ending of this one though is dissimilar from the other two films, not to ruin to much there’s no one/two on one face off with Loomis saving the day at the end of this one and there’s a twist as well! Oh, and this is the first time Myers has a little fun and kills an entire police station! He totally takes a level in badass in this one. Seriously, he’s like a force of nature in this film, not only does he leave the whole town defenseless by taking out a police station but he knocks all the power in the town out by throwing a dude on some electrical transformer things. All this, for one little girl. No wonder this bastard is a horror movie icon! Hell, apparently masks that look like Myers are even sold IN THE MOVIE UNIVERSE itself. That would be like the real world equivalent of Halloween stores around the country carrying real life serial killer masks…

This film is highly recommended, get it now! Along with Halloween II it’s the best film in the series and a great way to keep the story going. See this now if you haven’t yet. Tune into AMC fear fest to see the first 5 films. Yes, even three which I’m not going in to right now.