Halloween 4 - Il ritorno di Michael Myers

It is ten years after Michael Myers escaped from the psychiatric clinic and went on the rampage and he has been in a coma ever since being burnt at the end of Halloween 2. But one of the ambulance drivers transporting him somewhere lets slip that he has a niece in Haddonfield and before you know it he's making his way back there.

Myers has become seemingly indestructable by now. He was seen emerging from a hospital as a human fireball at the end of art 2 and yet he seems to have escaped more or less unscathed. And howcome he can see anything when he was blinded in Part 2 just before being roasted alive?

However, if you overlook these points you'll find this is an entertaining and well-made film. Dr Loomis returns to Haddonfield after his ex-patient, played by Donald Pleasance at his best, and there are plenty of interesting characters and situations.

One of the better of the Halloween series, certainly much more worthwhile than the dismal Halloween 5 or most of the repetative Friday the 13th films.

After a seven year absence from the screen, Michael Myers returns. Set ten years after the first two films (#2 was filmed in 1981, but set immediately after #1 in 1978), THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS opens with the infamous killer being transfered between psyhiciatric hospitals. Naturally, he escapes, and, tipped off that he has a niece (daugther of the now-deceased Jamie Lee Curtis character) living in Haddonfield, sets out to find her. Hot on his trail, as always, is Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). After some were turned off by the more-gruesome deaths in HALLOWEEN 2, this film is more in-line with the original, relying more heavily on suspense and honest scares than blood and gore. For a nine-year-old, Harris delivers a good performance, and Donald Pleasence (as usual) is also good, with a performance that lets you know this is a been-there-don't-want-to-go-through-that-again character. Director Dwight H. Little brings a sense of atmosphere to the film and creates a number of suspenseful scenes. Thankfully, the make-shirt mob of gun-toting beer-guzzlers isn't as bad as it could have been. HALLOWEEN 4 is one of the best of the series.

After serial killer Michael Myers wakes up during a routine transfer to a different hospital, he goes running back to Haddonfield and his former doctor, Dr. Loomis, tries to make it there before Michael can begin yet another bloodbath and murder his niece, Jamie.

Having a young child as the lead victim in a slasher movie is a brave choice. Some will find it tacky and offensive right from the start or, even worse, the child actor might not be seasoned enough to be effective in the role and could just come across as annoying, but young Danielle Harris is so wonderful and winning in the role that you really get invested in her character and want her to make it out alive. Most of the other characters aren't developed enough for you to give a hoot about them, but the filmmakers do handle the suspense sequences well.

After the failure that was the 3rd Halloween sequel, the writers knew that was mainly due to the absence of Michael Myers. So what did they do? They invited Michael back in for the 4th sequel and back into the story of Halloween. Even though I did enjoy the 3rd sequel, I do agree that I missed Michael. He's my favorite boogeyman, so it'd be cool to see him return and do what he does best, slice and dice and scare the heck out of me. Well is this really scary? Not too much, but still it's a fun sequel to get into and watch in the dark. I like the story and how they are continuing into the Myer's past and how far Michael will go to destroy this blood line. Although I was disappointed to not have Laurie Strode in this one, it was interesting to see how her legacy lives on with her daughter and now she will have the struggle with Michael Myers.

Michael Myers has been in a coma for ten years, when his massacre was stopped by Dr. Samuel J. Loomis and Laurie Strode. Myers is being transferred from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. He awakens when he hears that Laurie Strode, his sister, is deceased, but her daughter, Jamie Lloyd is alive and well in Haddonfield. He kills the ambulance crew and escapes. Dr. Loomis races to Haddonfield in an attempt to bring Myers' killing spree to an end once and for all. In Haddonfield, his niece Jamie Lloyd, has been adopted by the Carruthers family. She has frequent nightmares about Michael, though she does not know who he is. On Halloween night, Jamie goes out trick-or-treating dressed as a clown with her teenage foster sister Rachel. Her uncle, Michael, follows them. Meanwhile, Loomis arrives in Haddonfield after an exhausting journey, and contacts the police department to inform them of Myers' escape. He and Haddonfield's new Sheriff Ben Meeker begin to search the town for Michael and Jamie. Myers has also blacked out the town's electricity by throwing a technician onto a electrical box and singlehandedly annihilated the entire police force. The girls barricade themselves in the Sheriff's house, while awaiting the arrival of the state police where Michael follows them and you'll have to see the movie to see the exciting conclusion.

So over all Halloween 4 is a good sequel, it's not the strongest in the series, but it's one of the better stories of the franchise. I do like Jamie Lloyd, she was an interesting addition to the story and the writers are making these movies very interesting. I'm glad they brought Dr. Loomis back in, it brings us back into the original Halloween and he'll never give up until Michael Myers is gone for good, which we know is not going to happen since we still have 4 more sequels after this one. But the 4th installment into the Halloween franchise is a good one so I do recommend that you see it if you get the chance.

6/10

Its not the terrible movie I was expecting. Scareless but still an ok watch. If you like the first two then watch, following 10 years after the end halloween 2. Id say its perfect runtime though as I feel it would of started to get a little boring if it was any longer.