Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Dir: Dwight H. Little

1988

***

I’m one of the few people who actually liked Halloween III and I still think that Carpenter and Hill’s vision of a Halloween anthology of different films could have been awesome. However, if you fall at the first hurdle it’s often not worth continuing the race and the fans of the original had spoken – they wanted Michael Myers back and, essentially, the same film they had seen twice already. Producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to move further with the series, and bring back Michael Myers. Meanwhile, John Carpenter was approached by Cannon Films, who had just finished 1986's release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, to write and direct Halloween 4. Debra Hill planned to produce the film, while Carpenter teamed up with Dennis Etchison who, under the pseudonym Jack Martin, had written novelizations of both Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch to write a script to Halloween 4. Joe Dante was Carpenter's original choice for director on the project itself. However, Akkad rejected the Etchison script, calling it "too cerebral" and insisting that any new Halloween sequel must feature Myers as a flesh and blood killer. Carpenter and Hill’s vision was rejected, they didn’t want to make the same film again so signed all of their rights away to Akkad, who gained full ownership. Akkad said, "I just went back to the basics of Halloween on Halloween 4 and it was the most successful.” As Carpenter refused to continue his involvement with the series, a new director was sought out. Dwight H. Little replaced Carpenter based on his directorial work for episodes for Freddy's Nightmares and the film Bloodstone. Little rushed the script so he could submit it before the March ’87 writers strike, completing it in just eleven days. Weirdly, the two people who died at the end of Halloween II (Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis) were the only two characters to return, while Halloween II’s only surviver (Laurie Strode) is declared dead within the first few minutes. On the eve of Halloween 1988, Michael Myers, who has been in a comatose state for ten years since the explosion at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, is transferred to Smith's Grove Sanitarium by ambulance. En route, Michael awakens upon hearing that Laurie Strode, who died in a car accident, has a daughter, Jamie Lloyd (played by Danielle Harris – her character named after actor Jamie Lee Curtis). He kills the ambulance personnel, and makes his way to Haddonfield in search of his niece Jamie. Fellow survivor Dr. Samuel Loomis goes to Haddonfield after learning that Michael has escaped transfer. He follows Michael to a gas station, where he has killed a mechanic for his clothes, along with a clerk and disabled the phones. Michael then escapes in a tow truck and causes an explosion, destroying Loomis's car in the process. Loomis is then forced to catch a ride to Haddonfield. Meanwhile, Jamie is living in Haddonfield with her foster family, Richard and Darlene Carruthers, and their teenage daughter, Rachel. Jamie knows about Michael, but she is unaware that he is the strange man she has been having nightmares about. Richard and Darlene head out for the night, and leave Rachel to babysit Jamie, causing her to miss her date with her boyfriend, Brady. After school, Rachel takes Jamie to buy some ice cream and a Halloween costume. At that point, Michael has already arrived in Haddonfield, and nearly attacks Jamie in the store. That night, as Rachel takes Jamie trick-or-treating, Michael goes to the electrical substation, and kills a worker by throwing him into high voltage, plunging the town into darkness. Meanwhile, Loomis arrives in Haddonfield and warns the new sheriff, Ben Meeker, that Michael has returned. Michael attacks the police station and kills all of the officers. A lynch mob is formed by the town's men to kill Michael. Rachel discovers Brady cheating on her with the sheriff's daughter, Kelly, and loses track of Jamie. After being chased by Michael, Rachel finds Jamie. Sheriff Meeker and Loomis arrive and take the girls to the sheriff's house with Brady, Kelly, and a deputy. They barricade the house, and Loomis departs to look for Michael. With Sheriff Meeker in the basement awaiting the arrival of the state police, Michael sneaks in and kills the deputy and Kelly. Discovering the bodies, Rachel, Jamie, and Brady realize that they are trapped in the house. Rachel and Jamie flee to the attic when Michael appears, but Brady stays to fend him off, and is killed. The girls climb through a window onto the roof, and Jamie is lowered down safely, but Michael attacks Rachel and knocks her off the roof. Pursued by Michael, Jamie runs down the street and finds Loomis. They take shelter in the school, but Michael appears and subdues Loomis before chasing Jamie through the building. Jamie trips, and falls down a flight of stairs. Before Michael can kill her, Rachel arrives and subdues him with a fire extinguisher. The lynch mob and the state police arrive at the school after hearing the alarm go off. The lynch mob agrees to take Jamie and Rachel to the next town in a pickup truck. However, Michael climbs aboard the truck, and kills the men. Rachel takes the wheel, throwing Michael off of the truck and ramming him, sending him flying into a ditch near an abandoned mine. Sheriff Meeker, surviving members of the lynch mob, and the state police arrive, and when Michael rises after Jamie touches his hand, they relentlessly shoot Michael before he falls down a mine shaft. Loomis and Sheriff Meeker take the girls back home; Darlene and Richard, who have arrived home, console their traumatized children. As Darlene goes upstairs to run Jamie a bath, she is attacked by Jamie. Loomis hears Darlene's screams and races halfway up the stairs, before he stops dead in his tracks. He sees an emotionless Jamie standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a clown mask, holding a pair of scissors in her hand, with her costume stained with blood (similar to Michael when he killed his older sister Judith). Loomis backs against the wall and raises his gun to shoot her. Sheriff Meeker stops Loomis and disarms him, taking the gun into his own hands before he, Mr. Carruthers, and Rachel also see the horror that Loomis saw. Loomis slowly sinks to the floor, sobbing, having realized that Jamie is following in Michael's footsteps. It’s a fantastic twist ending the feels original as well as paying tribute to the original. To be honest, as much as it was good to see Michael Myers back, it is the return of Donald Pleasence that really makes the film so enjoyable. It is only Pleasence and the twist ending that make Halloween 4 acceptable and not feel like just a re-hash of old ideas, although it really is just that. You can’t match the mastery of the original but at this point it is all about the fun.