Halloween 4 marked a real change for the franchise. John Carpenter and Debra Hill had officially left the franchise, and Moustapha Akkad was in sole charge. And after the relative failure of the Michael Myers less Halloween III, that could only mean one thing. The bogeyman was coming back. But is his return worthy of your time? Or is it just another sorry entry Tina tired slasher franchise? Well, read on to find out…
Synopsis:
10 years after his murderous rampage on Halloween night 1978, Michael Myers lies comatose in an institution. He is being transported back to Smiths Grove Sanitarium, when he awakens after hearing that Laurie Strode is dead, but her daughter Jamie still lives in Haddonfield. As Michael cuts a bloody path towards his niece, can Dr Loomis and the Haddonfield Police Department beat him to her and end his reign of terror once and for all?
So, that’s the basic premise. Halloween 4 ignores the fact that Loomis & Myers were effectively burnt to cinders at the end of Part 2, thus allowing them to return. Sure, Michael has been wrapped in bandages and in a coma for a decade. And Loomis has some burn scars on his face and walks with a cane now. But they somehow survived the explosion & inferno unleashed in Part 2s finale. And Laurie Strode is now dead, but has conveniently had a daughter, who is living with her foster family in Haddonfield.
It’s never really explained why Michael wants to kill Jamie. I guess it’s because he is driven to kill his own flesh & blood. But it does provide us with a reason for the films carnage. And there is the idea that Jamie is infected with Michaels evil at the end of the film (which does rip off the end premise of Friday The 13th Part 4 somewhat). Sadly, this idea was never expanded upon in Part 5, as the money men felt it wouldn’t land with audiences.
Now, while the premise is flimsy, it does allow us a full blooded return to the slasher genre for the Halloween series. Plenty of teens get killed by Michael as he searches for Jamie and hunts her down. And the film comes full circle in the aforementioned ending.
Analysis:
Halloween 4 takes the slasher template of the 1980s and fits right into it. Gone are the long, eerie passages of Carpenters original. Instead we see a standard slasher film, with regularly paced kills, and archetype characters. The only thing that differentiates this from the plethora of other slashers out there at the time is the Halloween brand and the still iconic image of it’s killer villain. Michael is still and unstoppable, emotionless monster here. His blank mask a visual depiction of his remorseless killer instinct.
The film is pretty well acted for a slasher film, with most performances coming in at a higher level than it’s peers. The late Donald Pleasence is once again superb as Loomis. His own “madness” and relentless urge to defeat Michael is almost as scary as Michaels rampage itself. Pleasence imbues Loomis with an almost religious fervour. And young Danielle Harris ably carries her scenes like a far more experienced and older actress. You want her to escape.
Visually, the film is very well shot. Much like the Friday the 13th films, the Halloween franchise strove to look as good as possible. And whilst not up there with the original, it is certainly head and shoulders above almost all of it’s peers. The standout sequence is actually the incredibly eerie title sequence of stark, oppressive rural landscapes. Sound is more than adequate, with little to do other than carry the score and help with those jump scares.
The transfer on this Blu Ray is really rather good, making the film look every bit as good as it would have done on its opening night.
The Disc:
This version of the film is the German Region B release from Concorde. It presents the film in 1.85:1 widescreen, with both English and German DTS HD 5.1 master audio, and German 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtracks. The extras are as follows:
- 3 audio commentaries.
- Original trailer.
- “Final Cut” featurette.
- Discussion panel from the H25 convention.
- 3 original trailers for other films.
And that’s your lot. Not a huge amount, but still better than nothing.
Halloween 4: The Verdict.
Halloween 4 is a fine return to slasherdom for the franchise. Whilst not at the same level as the original, it certainly gets close to Halloween 2 in terms of quality. And it’s far better than entries such as Resurrection.
4/5 Fiends. Bloody good fun.
Buy Halloween 4: Amazon.co.uk
Gallery:
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