Halloween 5

'Halloween 5' begins immediately where part 4 ended. We see that Michael Myers has indeed survived being shot by state troopers, and has fallen down a mine shaft. He travels along a small river and makes his way to some tent that a homeless person is living in. He falls unconscious for an entire year, until Halloween 1989. Jamie meanwhile has spent the entire year in a state facility for children. She has not spoken one word the whole time. She can now however sense when Michael is near or when he is ready to strike. Anyways,Halloween night approaches and Michael is back in Haddonfield ready to hack and slash anything that gets in his way of murdering Jamie. We meet a younger set of characters (only there to add to the body count) which connect to Rachel from 'Halloween 4'. The film follows them along with Jamie/Loomis leading to an interesting conclusion.

'Halloween 5' is definitely the weakest of the original series. So many things that separate it from the rest, and make it less of a worthwhile watch. First of all, this one was scary or even that creepy in the slightest. The previous instalment actually did a great job at creating and establishing an eerie atmosphere. This was a rushed attempt at scary in my opinion. The acting was questionable (to say the least) from the supporting cast. Other than Pleasance and Harris, it wasn't anything to write home about. They also kill off an important character (to me anyways) EARLY on which I hated.

Michael Myers himself is also not intimidating at all. Don Shanks did a lackluster job in the role of the shadow. And the Myers house looked like some mausoleum/crypt mansion, nothing like the original. It's an insult to viewers to not even attempt to make it similar. And the kills were not well done, they felt cheap when compared to the first four films (even 'Halloween III' did a greater job...). It's still one that should be seen by all horror and 'Halloween' fans. It has it's moments plus establishes a storyline (the man in black) that carries on into the sixth film.

5/10

Halloween 5, yeah, this was a disappointment, most fans don't really dig this sequel which is understandable. It is kind of stupid or just plain stupid; this is the story that most horror movie sequels try to rip off, the telepathic powers that get really annoying. It seems like every horror movie sequel has to have it, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street had it, why not include the Halloween franchise as well? Unfortunately I didn't get into it, I think because it was extremely unoriginal and not to mention that the story didn't really continue from the 4th sequel. The ending of Halloween 4 had Jamie turning evil, I guess they just totally dropped that idea which could have been great to see, instead we got a silly and typical horror story that was badly acted, edited, and directed.

Michael Myers makes his way into a small shack by the river owned by a local hermit. Once there, Michael collapses and remains in a comatose state for a full year. On October 30th Michael awakens, kills the hermit, and returns to terrorize Haddonfield, where his young niece, Jamie Lloyd continues to live after nearly being killed by Michael the year before. Jamie has been mute since attacking her foster mother at the end of film 4, but exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her evil uncle. Dr. Sam Loomis realizes that this link exists, and plans to use it to put an end to Michael's reign of terror. Michael begins stalking Rachel and her friend Tina. After both are killed Jamie agrees to put herself in danger to help Loomis stop Michael for good. With Jamie's help, Loomis lures Michael back to the old Myers house. Michael makes many attempts at killing Jamie, finally getting the chance to in the attic. Jamie tries appealing to Michael's humanity by calling him "Uncle". Myers pauses, prompting Jamie to ask to see his face. He takes off his mask, and a lone tear runs down his face. Jamie reaches up to wipe it away, and Michael is thrown into a rage. The killer pursues Jamie, who runs into Loomis. The doctor seems to turn on the girl as he shouts for Michael to come and take her. It turns out that he has used the girl as bait, thus leading Michael to walk beneath a heavy chain net. But you have to see what happens next by watching the movie.

While granted that this movie isn't the worst movie in the world, I do enjoy the Halloween sequels, I think this was a fall in the story line for the Halloween series. It really could have had a lot of potential, but since they dropped a few ideas that were presented in the previous Halloween sequel. Not to mention this is one of the rare times that I wasn't scared by Michael, he's loosing his touch… no, I can't say that, please I can't say that… it's the writing! It's the blasted writing! So if you wanna see the sequels, yeah, do watch it just to see the story continue, but if you are just looking for a scary movie in general, you can skip Halloween 5.

5/10

Though episode 5 is probably my least favourite of the Halloween saga (not counting H3) i still really enjoyed watching it, because i love the series as a whole and took it for what it was, something most people don't seem to do. Sure, there's some mediocre acting and the usual holes in the plot, but it's an 80's slasher film, what else would you expect? I think its obvious imperfection is its charm. Besides that, it has a few original killings and the scenes where Michael chases Jamie in the Myers house are chilling. The last half hour makes it worth watching. I'd say give it a try if you've seen other Halloween movies and liked them, if not then don't start with this one because it's certainly not one of the best. 6 out of 10 =)

It's good that Halloween 5 picks up where Halloween 4 left off but that doesn't save the film from almost bombing in my opinion. I really love the Halloween franchise, it was a great idea by John Carpenter and Debra Hill that was then dissected by other directors (with the exception of Rick Rosenthal). The direction the director went with this movie is strange, there are still the same old themes (murders, Halloween time, Dr. Loomis, the Strode/Myers Family dispute) but this time the movie and Michael both take on a whole new image. I will not spoil this movie for anyone so I will let you just watch it and make your own assessment as to what you think. Overall it wasn't bad at all.

When the original Halloween was made it was scary because of its gritty realism and believable characters. Part 2 was also an edge-of-seater. But by the time you reach this, Part 5, the tension has gone from the series and Michael Myers has descended from a believable shadow-stalking figure into an unkillable Jason 'Friday the 13th' Voorhees clone.

For what its worth, the plot of this film involves Myers coming after Jamie, who is now in a childrens' psychiatric hospital after attacking her stepmother. The concept of Jamie having a psychic bond with her deranged uncle is interesting, but it's all completely ruined by the constant unfunny attempts at humour, the tedious padding and the lack of likeable would-be victims. Instead of genuine characters all we have here are Porky-style sex-mad teenagers with nothing approaching an IQ between them. There's even a scene set in a barn similar to the one in some of the Friday the 13th films. And Rachel from Part 4 seems to have been reduced to a stereotype blonde airhead whose only purpose in the film is to run around half-naked before being slaughtered. And why does Myers' mask look nothing like the one he wore in the previous films?

One good point in this film is Donald Pleasence, who is at his best as an overwhelming Dr Loomis who dominates his every scene and makes the film worth viewing. There is also an enigmatic Man in the Black Fedora-type figure who leads the film into the far superior Part 6.