So, 1 year after the somewhat surprising success of Halloween 4, Halloween 5 was to be found in cinema screens across the globe. But is it any good? Does it match up to it’s immediate predecessor? Or, like so many of it’s peers, does it fall prey to the concept of diminishing returns? Well, read on to find out, fiends…
Synopsis:
After lying in a coma for a year, Michael Myers awakens and stalks his way back to his small hometown in Illinois, intent on killing his niece, Jamie, who has been confined to a mental institution since Michael’s last attempt to slay her. Suspecting a psychic link between Michael and Jamie, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis joins forces with Sheriff Ben Meeker and attempts to stop Michael’s latest rampage.
So, the premise is once again kept paper thin, as was standard for most slasher films of the era. A wrinkle is added with the mysterious “Man in Black”, who seems to be aware of Michael and his actions. This addition was placed into the script to give the film an option of moving forward into a sixth entry, which it eventually did.
As a slasher plot, it covers all the expected bases, and there really isn’t any excess weight in the script at all.
Analysis:
Halloween 5 is a much weaker film than its predecessor. A very, very rushed schedule meant that the film wasn’t given time to develop beyond the very basic slasher plot line. And you can tell. Halloween 5 feels like a cheap knockoff of its own franchise at times. Despite having a brilliant setup at the end of Part 4, the makers decided to pay it safe and keep with what they felt the audience wanted. However, by 1989, the slasher audience was exhausted by the seemingly never-ending onslaught of identikit films they were presented with. And this simplicity hurt the franchise.
Fans had wanted to see where the Jamie is the new killer plot would go. They were to be sorely disappointed. They instead got an admittedly well-acted and well shot generic slasher film. Now, as I have stated, not everything about this film is terrible. Danielle Harris shines once more as Jamie Lloyd, despite being largely mute for a lot of the film. And the late Donald Pleasence goes full on Tod Slaughter, chewing the scenery with aplomb as the returning Dr Loomis.
Amongst the films missteps are the killing of Jamies older adopted sister, Rachel, a fan favourite from Part 4, and a truly terrible Michael Myers mask. No, really, it’s absolutely awful:
There are a few effective scenes within Halloween 5. The final confrontation between Jamie, Dr Loomis and Michael has some brilliant moments, such as Jamie trying to escape through the laundry chute. And the ending shots of the devastated police station are eerie. But for the most part it just doesn’t “click”. Franchise fatigue had well and truly taken a grip here.
In terms of the blu ray, German company NSM have done a pretty good job with the print they licenced. It looks superb, far, far better than any other release I’ve seen thus far (Note: I haven’t seen the Scream Factory release yet). You get a solid 1.78:1 image, with decent black levels, and not too much grain. Audio is either a 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby track, and it is more that suitable.
The Disc:
The extra features are as follows:
- Cast & Crew audio commentary.
- Halloween 5: On Set. Some ons et footage from the production.
- Inside Halloween 5: A promo featurette on the film.
- Theatrical Trailer.
- Trailers for Halloween 3-6.
So, not an exhaustive selection by any means, but also not too poor.
Halloween 5: The Verdict.
Overall, Halloween 5 is a disappointment. There was so much promise shown by Part 4, only for it to be wasted in search of the quick profit.
3/5 Fiends. Decent, but not Great.
Buy Halloween 5: Amazon UK
Gallery:
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