Harefooted Halloween: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

(If you’re looking for Halloween III: Season of the Witch I already talked about that last year, just follow the link)

What I Liked: Michael Myers does indeed return.  Neato!

The movie makes an effort to expand the Halloween universe by introducing Michael’s niece Jamie (Danielle Harris (Marked for Death, The Last Boy Scout)) and having her be the main target.  I guess it’s better than having Michael kill people just for the hell of it.

It’s cool how they hold off on the infamous Halloween theme until five mins in.  The timing is pretty perfect by first showing incapacitated Michael in a hospital bed behind bars for a bit, then when the doctors make the huge mistake of moving him out of the sanitarium the theme kicks in and we know Michael’s about to make his big comeback.

What I Didn’t Like: Michael looks bad in this installment.  His mask is featureless, too bright white and seems like it’s made of hard plastic instead of rubber or latex or whatever.  He has very stiff movement too like he can’t bend his knees or turn his neck.  I don’t get why they made him more of a mannequin.

There are too many off screen deaths.  The film feels kinda cheap as a result, which it was compared to other horror movies from the same year.

Some of the storytelling is shoddy.  For instance the part where Jamie runs into multiple Michaels in her bedroom is supposed to be a dream I think but it’s not clearly stated.  That scene is further muddied by the real (I think?) conversation Jamie and her foster sister (Ellie Cornell (House of the Dead)) have right before that.  Also, Michael’s hair is blonde in one scene and it’s not explained how he got on to the back of a speeding pickup truck towards the end.  He just appears.  There’s too much of this kind of shit all over.  Either a bunch of shots were missed throughout the production or they seriously fucked up with the editing.

What the hell is up with Mike jamming his fingers into people’s heads in this?  It’s not his trademark or anything and he weirdly does it a lot.

Overall Impressions: Halloween III was such a disaster that it took them six years to attempt another one.  And they wanted to make sure you knew Myers was back so they put it right in the damn title.  Unfortunately this is a pretty bad movie.  It doesn’t even have a somewhat interesting plot like III or cool fun deaths.  Plus it’s so bland and questionable on a technical level.  What a shitty homecoming to give Michael.