Michael's Back! Again!

Director John Carpenter's "Halloween", revered by many as a
horror classic, was a runaway smash box office success when
released in 1978. It was so popular that another sequel had
to be made. In 1981, "Halloween II" was released and was
another box office hit, even Carpenter returned to write the
script. Producers opted to go without Michael Myers for the
1982 installment, "Halloween III: Season of the Witch", a
flick that many series fans abhored and was a huge flop at
the box office. So, series producer Moustapha Akkad decided
to resurrect Myers for 1988's horror/thriller, "Halloween 4:
The Return of Michael Myers". This fourth entry in the long
running, and seemingly never ending, horror series was a big
hit, firmly cementing Michael Myers as a horror icon for a
new generation. And while not as good as the original, it
is still good for a sequel and continues in the tradition of
mood over violence started by Carpenter.

"Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" begins as two
orderlies are transporting Myers to a new psychiatric ward,
when he hears he has a niece named Jamie living in his old
hometown of Haddonfield, when he wakes up, kills his wards,
and sets out to kill his niece. Dr. Sam Loomis, still alive
like Myers after the fiery explosion of Part II, knows that
Myers is out for murder and journeys for Haddonfield to stop
him. Jamie, Laurie Strode's daughter (Laurie is now dead
from a car accident), is the foster daughter of the nice
Corruthers family, with a gentle stepsister Rachel. On
Halloween Night, the parents set out for a party, and Rachel
takes Jamie trick or treating when Michael catchers up with
them; Sheriff Ben Meeker, along with Loomis, manage to save
them and the group hole up in Meeker's two story house and
they lock it up tight. But after the Sheriff and then the
good doctor depart to find Myers, the remaining people in the house is attacked by Michael, who was inside the entire
time, and they must fight for their lives against this
unkillable monster from Hell!

Acting for the main group is pretty good, especially for a
horror film on it's fourth entry. Donald Pleasance is great
as the manic and obessessed Dr. Sam Loomis. Ellie Cornell
is generally decent as Rachel Corruthers. Danielle Harris is a major standout as Jamie Lloyd, Michael's tormented
young niece. And Beau Starr is adeqaute as Sheriff Ben
Meeker. Also, George P. Wilbur is a pretty good Michael
Myers, getting shot, murdering his various victims, and
chasing them to no end very well. As I said, acting in this
movie is above average for a B grade horror pic.

Music, from John Carpenter associate, Alan Howarth is very
well done, almost excellent as each and every piece of music
fits the scene in which it is present. Also present, but
getting not nearly enough play time, is John Carpenter's
famous, or is that infamous, "Halloween Theme"; it is an
enduring classic musical piece that will never die and will
always be associated with "Halloween". Other pieces of
music, such as "Michael's Return" are laced with mood and
help in generating atmosphere and a sense of tension during
the whole of the movie.

I also must comment of the strength of the script on which
this movie was shot. Many writers were involved with story
input, four actually, who are Dhani Lipsius, Larry Rattner,
Benjamin Ruffner, and Alan B. McElroy, with McElroy doing
the screenplay. They acurately address the backstory of both Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis, do away with Laurie Strode, set up a conflict, include three good characters with Sheriff Meeker, Jamie, and Rachel, and have a rather
effective ending. They provide ample scenes filled with
tension and suspense, and not too many false scares which
would have hurt the film. My only complaint is the setting
this up for a sequel ending, but the ending does work while
viewing the movie.

Excellent direction comes from Dwight H. Little, who takes a
cue from John Carpenter and peppers his movie with much more
suspense and tension than with violence and gore. He makes
the movie suitable creepy, featuring many shots, albeit a
slight rip off from Carpenter, of Michael lurking on the
fringes of the action. He chooses to feature more mood laden shots than many other pedestrian shots. While a far
cry from the talented Carpenter who pioneered a genre, he
gives it a good shot and succeeds very well. This is one of
the best directed horror films from the late 1980's. To be
more acurate, it's "one" of the best horror films to come out of Hollywood, ever.

To say a few words about the level of violence in this film;
It is very, very restrained, choosing instead on suspense
than buckets of blood. Oh, don't be confused, there is some
violence and their is some blood and gore, it just not so
promineet as in other gore flicks. The goriest moments are
the "thumb in the head" and the "throat ripping". Other
than that you won't get much gore out of this movie. But
who needs blood and guts when you have great acting, very
good direction, suspense, and a good finale.

Dwight H. Little's "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael
Myers" is a good, if slightly repetitive, horror movie from
the late '80s. It features some of the cleverest writing in
a horror movie, some excellent direction and acting, and a
restrained handling of gore FX. To be flat out rude, you
must watch this movie if you have a love of genre films like
I do. Instead of watching a blood n' guts fest like "Friday
The 13th", which I do enjoy watching by the way, take a
chance and watch this instead of some other garbage.

"Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" is Rated R for
violence/gore, sexuality/partial nudity, and for language.