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 Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 

What grade would you give this film?
A 33%  33%  [ 3 ]
B 67%  67%  [ 6 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 9

 Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 
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College Boy Z

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Post Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the daughter of Laurie Strode, with Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) once more pursuing him.

As the title suggests, this film marks the return of Michael Myers, the central villain of Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981), due to his absence in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill retired the Myers plot outline after the second installment of the series, intending to feature a new Halloween-season related plot every sequel, of which Halloween III would be the first. However, due to the lack of success of the third film, Halloween 4 reintroduced a Myers-related plot.

The film was a moderate box office success—grossing $17 million domestically—on its $5 million budget. It received a mixed reaction by critics. It was somewhat criticized for not introducing anything "original" or "innovative" to the series.


Last edited by zingy on Sat Jul 16, 2005 12:49 am, edited 1 time in total.



Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:39 pm
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La Bella Vito
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Very good sequel. Danielle Harris gives such a great debut performance, and Ellie Cornell is great as well. The pacing is a little slow, but quickly picks up in the middle of the movie, and moves steady from there. I was very much surprised by the ending. I didn't see that coming at all. A very good followup to the other 2 movies. I don't include Halloween 3 because it had nothing to do with Michael Myers at all. I liked a lot of the kills, especially the rifle through the chest, very original. Although not as good as Halloween 2, its comes very close, and the atmosphere is very dark, and eerie, much like the original.

B+


Thu Mar 24, 2005 11:45 pm
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B+

Probably my favorite Halloween movie. Decent suspense and Donald Pleasance is as good as ever.

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Sun Jul 10, 2005 6:23 am
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the best of the halloween sequels. an excellent film

A-


Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:37 pm
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Indiana Jones IV
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B -. My favorite Halloween sequel.


Sun Jul 10, 2005 9:18 pm
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B+. Easily the best Halloween sequel.


Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:21 pm
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I was aching for a sequel...., 20 July 1999




When I heard that Halloween was about to spawn yet another sequel, my first question was, can they at least try to make is scary? I had been through all the crappy Friday sequels ( 7,8,9 ) and the bad bad bad Nightmare sequels. I know that there will probably never be a film that has the same effect that the original did but I could still hope for some effort. So I eagerly ventured to the theater and bought my ticket, got my M&M's and pop and sat down in the almost full theater and waited. The films starts off quite well. It's a stormy night, a van is travelling what looks to be a desolate road to what looks to be a hellish place. Inside we hear some good lines like " Jesus has nothing to do with this place lady, " and then we see him. Good old Michael Myers. The two attendants ship him out and it is then that we learn that it is October 30th of all nights. Another good set piece. So the film is moving along quite nicely at this point. We have the stormy night, the folklore of Devils Night and two attendants that you know are going to die soon enough. And then, it happens. THE MUSIC. Carpenter's famous haunting music blares eerily on the soundtrack, and that did it for me. I was under the spell. I was ready for another Halloween.

Halloween 4 is a good film. It is honest in its effort to pay homage to what made Halloween so popular. The beginning is a great way to get back into the game ten years after the first graced our screen. After the beginning the film succeeds very well. It is not as good as the first or even the second but it does try. Dwight H. Little probably studied the first and tried to emulate what made it so scary because he has some similar atmosphere in here, especially in the scene where Jamie is dreaming, and my favourite scene is when the sheriff's daughter tries talking to the deputy in the chair. What appears mystically like a ghost right out of the depths of nothingness is truly what Halloween has been known for. That one shot alone had me more frightened than almost any shot from any horror film in the 80's, save for Nightmare On Elm Street.

The story has Michael returning to Haddonfield to hunt down his niece. There are some obvious plot holes, like how he got his sight back, but that is easily overlooked, after all, this is a horror movie. So he returns and against everyones best judgement Dr. Loomis comes after him. Loomis is massively scarred from the second one when he should have been dead from the fire, but again, that is acceptable, after all this is a horror film. So he comes to Haddonfield again and he warns everyone that HE is on is way. This time the sherriff actually believes him and they vow to search for the monster before he kills anyone. We all know that is going to be futile.

The reason this film works is because it has atmosphere. Again, there is not a lot of gore in here but what it does have is some good scares. It keeps you on your toes and if you pay attention to some of the shots and some of the symbolism, you will predict the end. That is only if you pay attention.

But one downer and that is that it isn't the original. As good as it is, it just can't be as good as the first or even the second. And I think I might know what it is that prevents horror films from being as good as they were. 70's and 80's films look like they are 70's and 80's films. They have that slight fuzz to them. And that adds to the dimension of fear. I think that if directors could somehow use a different filter or lens or whatever it is that they can use to make it look older, then they would have that desired effect. Kubrick did it with Eyes Wide Shut, other film makers should take note.

All in all this is a great sequel. It is a good entry in the series and an honest effort to make it scary. It is quite spooky in many parts, but it just lacks something..... But still quite good and worth a look, especially on a rainy night when you are alone. When you hear that music......

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Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:55 pm
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My favorite HALLOWEEN film by far. I'm not sure what I'd rate it. Maybe an A-. This one will always hold a special place in my heart.


Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:39 am
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First Halloween film I saw, so it holds a special place in my heart. It's one of the only sequels in the series I like, but I'm also biased towards it due to being scared by it as a kid.

It's aged a bit -- and I don't like it as much as I once did -- but I thank it for some scary memories in my past.

Shame on Halloween 5 for basically tossing all the ideas that lead up to this film's neato ending.

B- (Now)

First Viewing (1989) -- A-

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Last edited by coolmoviedude999 on Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.



Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:55 am
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Besides H20 and not counting the third one, this is the best Halloween sequel.

B

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Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:58 am
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It's a good restart of the series, and there are some good moments throughout, though here Meyers began to become too much like Jason with his "finger through skull kills"

I would have liked to have seen Carpenter's story to Halloween 4 though, it sounded very interesting. Solid B in my opinion, and even though the series has some clunkers, it never falls to Friday 13th levels.

Halloween- A+
Halloween 2- B+
3. Not part of the series
Halloween 4- B
Halloween 5- C (Just kind of Meh all around, but some interesting parts)
Halloween 6-. C+ (Could have been great if they stuck to the story)
H20- B+ (Good return to quality despite the loss of Pleasance)
Resurrection- C

Right now I find the series to be 50/50 with good ones or just being kind of forgettable. So here's hoping Zombie can at least bring an interesting dynamic to it.

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Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:28 am
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Thegun wrote:
I would have liked to have seen Carpenter's story to Halloween 4 though, it sounded very interesting.


What was that going to be about?

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Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:48 am
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From IMDB trivia

Series creator John Carpenter wrote a treatment for this film, that was a more ghostly psychological approach to the Michael Myers mythos. It concerned the town of Haddonfield and what effect the events of the first two films have had on it's citizens. This concept was later rejected by the producers in favor of the typical slasher fare.

I'm not saying I'd prefer it over Halloween 4, but it would have been an interesting alternative story at one point.

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Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:44 pm
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That story got further than a treatment. A novel writer (who's name I can't remember) completed a draft of the script. Basically, Michael Myers was really dead after Halloween II, but Haddonfield never moved on. Their fear of him eventually resurrects him. It's a pretty cool, ethereal concept.

So I don't have to post in every Halloween thread, here are my rankings for the series:

Halloween A+
Halloween II B-
Halloween III C+
Halloween 4 B+
Halloween 5 D
Halloween 6 D
Halloween 6: Producer's Cut B
Halloween H20 B+
Halloween 8 D+


Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:51 pm
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Post Re: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
A surprisingly great sequel. I thought this would be like most mid-series horror franchise pics, but this ended up being the Dream Warriors/Jason Lives of the franchise. A relentless pacing that makes the film fly by up until the big set pieces at the end. A lot of slashers are start and stop, but Michael never stops, he just keeps coming until you're dead.

Also, even though the characters are dumb at times, I don't think being smart would have changed a thing. That was somewhat refreshing.

Also also, in one scene this movie better portrays "what would happen if a mob of civilians went after Myers" than the entire Halloween Kills movie. They'd kill the wrong person and feel shitty about themselves. No. "evil dies tonight!" over and over, then "we have strength in numbers ... so lets split up and look for clues!"


So Halloween 4 gets an 8/10 from me.


Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:35 pm
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