Freddy's 31 Days of Horror Day 1: Dwight H. Little's Halloween 4 The Return Of Michael Myers
Happy October! Of course as always I start out with one of the Halloween flicks! This year I thought it appropriate to begin with Michael's re-introduction into the franchise as the genius minds behind the movie Feast are hard at work at bringing Michael Myers back to the cinema! Part four came from the failed box office of Season of the Witch, which was the third movie in the Halloween franchise and the first and only one to not feature Michael Myers. Critics and audiences both bashed it for it's lack of John Carpenter's "Shape" and it led to Moustapha Akkad, the series producer to get hard at work at bringing Michael back!
With Halloween Four, it begins ten years after the original incident as Michael is in the burn ward of a psychiatric hospital being transferred to another facility. During the transfer it is revealed that Michael's sister Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) had a daughter named Jamie who resides in his hometown of Haddonfield. This of course prompts Michael to go berserk and start a killing spree all the way home in search of his niece. New character and protagonist Jamie, now horror icon Danielle Harris, leads a life of ridicule and despair as she loathes Halloween, always being taunted at school for her uncle being the boogeyman. Haunted by dreams of her uncle and sorrow for not knowing her mother who has apparently passed on. Thankfully to Jamie's rescue is Dr. Loomis himself, the great Donald Pleasance! He too is still haunted by those events and bears the scars and walking stick to prove it! Thankfully this time when Dr. Loomis comes running into town screaming Michael Myers, the town doesn't hesitate! They gear up and prepare for battle! This time they're ready!
It's a pretty solid return with a few inconsistencies. Why is Laurie dead? It doesn't even straight up say she's dead it just says she's gone. Which I guess they explain in H20 that she's been in hiding under another name but she has a son in H20 with her and leaves poor little Jamie by herself? Harsh. This movie definitely changes the feel of Halloween a bit. The kills for a good bit seem to be us viewing the remains of whatever carnage Michael has committed as we are treated to bodies littering buildings with a very brutal hand kill here and there. The kills we do see get so much more brutal. I can only guess that since this film is in 88' that with the rise in slasher films getting gorier and crazier they had to up the ante for Michael as we see some pretty gruesome Tom Savini inspired carnage. Not necessarily a bad thing but it's definitely different then what came before.
My favorite bit might be when the Sheriff orders all the businesses to close early and the rednecks at the bar decide that they're going to get their guns and trucks and find out what's going down. Well Dr. Loomis tells them Michaels back and it's on like a liquored up Donkey Kong. They go crazy hunting down Michael and it gives way to one of the best car carnage scenes in a horror movie ever as Michael fights the rednecks tossing them off the truck as it runs out of town!
I'm also the guy who loves the crazy old man in horror movies that waxes philosophy about death. This flick might have one of my favorites. There's a point where Dr. Loomis is stuck on the side of the road and an old pastor in a pick up truck gives him a ride. Said pastor exclaims that he's been looking for the apocalypse all his life. His truck is covered in motivational religious stickers such as Jesus Saves! He tells Loomis, you're looking for the apocalypse too and you're looking to kill it! Then the best line ever is said, "You can't kill damnation mister!" Gotta love the crazy old man in slasher flicks.
A fun return of our favorite Halloween killer which brought him into a new trilogy and brought us into his supernatural mythos as well as gave us a fan favorite horror kid, Danielle Harris, who even dons the iconic clown suit worn by Michael during his first murder. The ending of this flick is a pretty awesome passing the torch and I wish they had continued this idea further in the movies but as all these Halloween movies have taught us you can't keep a good Shape down! 30 Days til' Halloween Halloween! 30 Days til' Halloween! Silver Shamrock!
