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Halloween 4 - The Return Of Michael Myers (DVD)
Production Year: 1988 - Horror - Director: Mark Cullingham - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Michael Pate, Danielle Harris more
It is ten years since the killer Michael Myers went on the rampage on the eve of All Saints. Now he has awoken from a coma and is back on the streets to continue his wave of gruesome terror.
Lee Curtis) in the originalHalloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back inHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third en...
incarceration whilst being transported from a maximum security institution. Myers carves his way to Haddonfield for Halloween - the original setting of Michael's massacre, leaving a bloody trail of carnage and corpses. Only one man knows of the true horrors of this mad man - Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) who also returns to Haddonfield to do battle once again with the devil incarnate. But Dr. Loomis knows only too well it will be almost impossible to outwit the skill and cunning of Michael Myers.
favourite film, film star, music icon or celebrity. High quality photography that you can be proud to display in your home cinema/theatre, living room on your office desk or around the home.
Lee Curtis) in the originalHalloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back inHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third entry never existed, this instalment picks up 10 years after the original, with mad maniac Myers in a coma and moved to a new facility. But wouldn't you know it that as soon as a loose-lipped orderly lets slip that Myers has a surviving niece he springs back into action, leaving a bloody trail of corpses on the road to Haddonfield. Donald Pleasance returns as Dr Loomis, scarred and crippled from his last encounter with Myers and seething with a fanatical zeal to stop the freak from repeating his previous rampage. Pleasance is the best thing about the film as an ageing hero seemingly on the verge of madness who drags a bum leg in his manic rush to save little orphan Jamie (Danielle Harris), the 10-year-old waif terrorised by her homicidal uncle. Director Dwight Little has managed a generic if professional slasher picture, rife with improbabilities and dominated by a killer whose superhuman powers reach near-mystical dimensions, but he delivers the goods: shocks, stabs and cold, cruel killings. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
Lee Curtis) in the originalHalloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back inHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third entry never existed, this instalment picks up 10 years after the original, with mad maniac Myers in a coma and moved to a new facility. But wouldn't you know it that as soon as a loose-lipped orderly lets slip that Myers has a surviving niece he springs back into action, leaving a bloody trail of corpses on the road to Haddonfield. Donald Pleasance returns as Dr Loomis, scarred and crippled from his last encounter with Myers and seething with a fanatical zeal to stop the freak from repeating his previous rampage. Pleasance is the best thing about the film as an ageing hero seemingly on the verge of madness who drags a bum leg in his manic rush to save little orphan Jamie (Danielle Harris), the 10-year-old waif terrorised by her homicidal uncle. Director Dwight Little has managed a generic if professional slasher picture, rife with improbabilities and dominated by a killer whose superhuman powers reach near-mystical dimensions, but he delivers the goods: shocks, stabs and cold, cruel killings. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
favourite film, film star, music icon or celebrity. High quality photography that you can be proud to display in your home cinema/theatre, living room on your office desk or around the home.
favourite film, film star, music icon or celebrity. High quality photography that you can be proud to display in your home cinema/theatre, living room on your office desk or around the home.
favourite film, film star, music icon or celebrity. High quality photography that you can be proud to display in your home cinema/theatre, living room on your office desk or around the home.
Lee Curtis) in the originalHalloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back inHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third entry never existed, this instalment picks up 10 years after the original, with mad maniac Myers in a coma and moved to a new facility. But wouldn't you know it that as soon as a loose-lipped orderly lets slip that Myers has a surviving niece he springs back into action, leaving a bloody trail of corpses on the road to Haddonfield. Donald Pleasance returns as Dr Loomis, scarred and crippled from his last encounter with Myers and seething with a fanatical zeal to stop the freak from repeating his previous rampage. Pleasance is the best thing about the film as an ageing hero seemingly on the verge of madness who drags a bum leg in his manic rush to save little orphan Jamie (Danielle Harris), the 10-year-old waif terrorised by her homicidal uncle. Director Dwight Little has managed a generic if professional slasher picture, rife with improbabilities and dominated by a killer whose superhuman powers reach near-mystical dimensions, but he delivers the goods: shocks, stabs and cold, cruel killings. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
A review by 3rdRockSatan on Halloween 4 - The Return Of Michael Myers (DVD) October 12th, 2002
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Liked it
Story
Satisfactory
Characters / Performances
Good
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Good
Advantages:
Suitably chilling | Quite scary
Disadvantages:
Plot annoyances | Gore
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After the Myer-less sequel that was Season of the Witch the fourth part of the series returned with what everyone wanted, Michael Myers. However it would be missing three people that people were accustomed to seeing with Halloween. Jamie Lee Curtis who played Laurie Strode, the heroin of the first two films, would not be returning. Also John Carpenter the director of the first and producer of parts II and III, along with Debra Hill, would also not be involved in this part of the franchise.
For a decade Michael Myers has been lying dormant in a coma in a high security hospital after nearly being burnt alive in Halloween II. While he has been lying there a few things have happened in the world. His sister, Laurie, is now dead after being killed in a car crash. However before she died she gave birth her daughter Jamie (Danielle Harris) who now has nightmares about her not-so nice Uncle coming after her. A family fostered her and her foster sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) does her best to take care of her. However, on Halloween, she must do a lot more caring after Michael wakes up from his coma as he was being transferred to another hospital and he now he is out to kill his niece and anybody who gets in his way. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) also survived the fire and he once again tries to track down his nemesis before he does too much damage.
At first glance, then, Halloween 4 appears to have little to warrant it being classed as special or even close to being so. The motive behind this film was purely money, promptly shown when Akkad (the executive producer of all the Halloween films) decided to carry on with a sequel despite the creators Carpenter and Hill not being involved. If a film is driven with the focus of money it can lose the focus of making a good film. However, that said, Halloween 4 remains one of the most solid sequels to come out of the Halloween franchise. It certainly isn’t extraordinary and it does replicate what people at that time came to expect from horror movies, a high body count, blood and teen sex. Indeed it is not until the final frame of the film that allows Halloween 4 to stand out from its other counterparts.
If you thought that Halloween II lacked the subtlety of the original then Halloween 4 drives straight past anything of the sort. There are kills and a lot of them (19) and Michael, as in Halloween II, doesn’t rely on the knife all the time with electrocution and impaling on poles being a few methods. Yet it also seems that the kills are more raw and Michael has received super-human strength since he has been in the coma, as now he can rip of someone’s face with his bare hands and drive his thumb through a skull. Not pleasant at all and nothing of the sort of kills you would associate with Halloween I yet because of their goriness they lack the campness of some of the kills in Halloween II.
Halloween 4 still has the atmosphere of the previous Halloweens (bar Season of the Witch). An advantage of this film over Halloween II is the fact that Michael and the action happening around him is not just confined to a hospital but around the main town. This gives Myers a more menacing presence given the more open field that he is allowed to wonder in. However this is not used to full effect. Michael could, as in the first, be confined to the shadows, his mask the only thing illuminating his presence but, as in Halloween II, and in keeping with the film his movements are not as subtle. He can still be clearly seen a lot of the time and the dark shadows are not used to full effect. Pleasingly although it doesn’t have the creepiness of Halloween I it doesn’t go overboard with the Michael shots as Halloween II tended to do and, while not confined to the shadows, Myers is used effectively. The dream sequence at the beginning with Jamie is suitably scary as are a few other ‘glimpses’ of him throughout the film. As with the other films Myers walks to his victims and his calmness in doing so is always enough to send a slight chill up your spine even if he wasn’t quite as scary as the first time you saw him.
The newcomers to the series, Harris and Cornell, provide enough talent to get them through the roles. Despite being young Harris’ performance is commendable even if her lines do consist mainly of screaming. Having children play lead roles in adult films can ruin the experience and they can come across as more annoying (like the child in Halloween III) than anything else. Luckily Harris doesn’t get on the wrong side of you and, while this probably isn’t the most demanding role she may have had to face, she does play it with a true sense of scope and feeling. Cornell doesn’t really get the chance to engage in the viewers mind or hearts. Her character cannot be described as the female protagonist as that remains Harris, therefore you never really think her life is in danger from Myers and if she does get killed then it would just be another body to add to the count. However the relationship she has with Harris is believable and luckily she isn’t the extreme doting or spiteful foster sister but a one that tries to juggle her life with her younger sisters. As ever Pleasance is the main draw of talent in the film. By this instalment he is just as important as Myers. Whether he reprised his role because of interest or a safe wage remains unimportant as, once again, he puts in an excellent performance.
As mentioned before the ending is what makes this film a stand out. It was effectively chilling then and remains just that to this day. Until then the film had the predictable build up on tension, the hunt for Myers, the battle with Myers and Myers then getting ‘killed’ for another year or so. This ending adds a satisfying twist to the tale and it is given more power thanks to the superb Donald Pleasance, it is doubtful any other person would be able to convey such fear towards it without the ties Pleasance had to the films. The ending also paved a new way that the Halloween franchise could go however this was ignored when Halloween 5 came along a year later and the same formula was used but the ending of Halloween 4 remains as effective as ever.
The directing from Dwight. H. Little is pretty effective. The opening shots of the town bathed in the orange glow of a Halloween sky and leaves falling to the ground and the area vast and desolate sets up the atmosphere well. As said, unlike Rosenthal in Halloween II, he doesn’t overuse Myers too much and the general camera work does at least evoke some tension to come from the scenes. Without Carpenter the music was handed over to Alan Howarth. His adaptation of the main theme is quite effective, especially in the opening shots, and relies on a much longer build up. It is also used throughout the film a few times but not too much to make it sound redundant.
Halloween 4 is by no means perfect and does fail to impress at a number of times throughout the film. Probably the most notable grievance people had towards the film was the inclusion of the redneck vigilantes who go after Myers themselves when the police force (who by that time were mostly dead) failed to capture Myers. Their inclusion in the film just seems to add some camp humour into it, unintentionally that is, and really doesn’t add significantly to the whole process though it does mean that we get to see a public reaction to Myers on the loose, something missing from other Halloween films, its just a shame it couldn’t have been done using more dimensional characters. Luckily their screentime doesn’t amount to much. The technique the film uses of the main characters being locked in the house also doesn’t work. Surely if they would want to keep Jamie and Rachel safe they would whisk them away from town and not keep them in the house until backup arrives. This method is just used to confine the terror to the house and, thanks to a power cut due to a sparky Myers kill, the lack of electricity means that it’ll be nice and dark for Myers to invoke a little terror. It does work slightly well but could have been handled better.
Despite its shortcomings and fairly unoriginal premise, Halloween 4 is a surprisingly good sequel and horror film as a whole. It knows what it needs to do and it does it well but also adds its own mark to the film by adding the superbly twisted ending. For none horror fans the film may not convert you into thinking that the genre is worthy to be regarded as ‘serious’ (see the original for that) but for fans of the series and fans of horror films in general this does more than enough to please. It’s not revolutionary by any sense of the word but the staple horror fodder is there, blood, death and horny teenagers. It provides a good 90 minutes worth of entertainment and that’s all you want out of a film really.
HALLOWEEN 4 IS
A surprisingly good sequel Scary enough to work as a horror A thoroughly entertaining horror film
HALLOWEEN 4 IS NOT
An excellent sequel Famous for subtle killings As bad as Season of the Witch
Advantages: Atmospheric Disadvantages: The scene on the pick-up truck
...to see the preview of Halloween 4 on Halloween night – great PR stunt – and at the time had only seen the first movie and not the other sequels. The production values of the film and how different they were from the cheap and nasty Friday 13th movies instantly surprised me. This combined with the large amounts of fog and the subtle soundtrack helped the film develop a dark and foreboding atmosphere.
The film opens at quite a pace with ... ...medium one. After all, the guy has been in a coma for years, how dangerous can he be?
Within minutes of the film starting, a gruesome struggle in the ambulance – which you know is going to happen – results in Michael disappearing off into the sunset.
Before long Dr Loomis is off on his trail and the story shifts to Haddonfield where Michael’s niece is now living with foster parents. The story progresses at a suitably engrossing ...
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28.03.2001
HALLOWEEN 4 - GOOD FILM Review ofHalloween 4 - The Return Of Michael Myers (DVD)by
leeds_united_17
Advantages: good film worth the money Disadvantages: none
There is a lot of Halloween movies but this one is the best it stars:
Donald Pleasence Ellie Cornell
Danielle Harris
Here is the story as usual it is based on Michael's last living relative, Laurie Strode's daughter. Michael is going to kill this little girl who is only about 10 he must really hate his family if he wants to kill them all. Laurie is living with her adoptive parents now and her teenager sister. Her new sister doesnt seem to pay ... ...but come halloween night she has to babysit her. The two sisters go trick or treating and she is wearing a clown costume, Michael wore one when he was 6 and the same night that he killed his sister.
Michael has escaped again from a mental hospital when he was yet again being transferred in an ambulance. He kills the paramedics, but Dr. Loomis is hot on his trail. Sam, burned after his last confrontation with Michael wants to catch him and finally ...
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11.06.2001
Tension and gore galore Review ofHalloween 4 - The Return Of Michael Myers (DVD)by
peppermint
Advantages: great atmosphere and tension Disadvantages: None
Halloween 4 gives us a worthy follow up to Halloween. Michael Myers is back in Haddonfield after escaping from a secure hospital, naturally by killing lots of people in various bloody ways, and is now looking for his 8 year old niece, Jamie, played by Danielle Harris. The film revolves around how Michael slowly brings himself back to health whilst tracking Jamie, and how Jamie, who is disturbed by her mothers death some years before, slowly realises ... ...lots of gore and bloody bits in it, but in between the film really succeeds in building up a sense of tension, tightening the screw to almost unbearable proportions in the middle sequence where Jamie and the police are baracaded into the Sherrif's house, aware that Michael Myers is somewhere outside (or is he?)
There is also a great deal of tension when we first meet Jamie, unable to sleep because of nightmares - it certainly made me jump when she ...
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...watched most of the other halloween films. I liked it quite alot, it has an intersting plot twist at the end.Micheal Myers is in this one which makes it alot lot better than halloween 3 which has no main characters in it. I like the bit right at the end about the little girl, you all know what i mean if you've seen it.Its a clever way of carrying the movies on, i like it alot. If micheal myers ever dies, i want his mask. ...
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Advantages: Michael Myers is back in it! A good horror film. Disadvantages: Still can't beat the original i'm afraid.
...elses) was greatly missed in halloween 3.
He is being transferred from one mental institute to another when you guessed it, he wakes up and kills everyone in the ambulance . . .
He breaks free and goes after Jamie Lloyd (daughter of Laurie Strode) who is living with the Carruther's family. Dr Loomis once again returns to try and stop Michael.
The story is set about ten years after the second Halloween, and although the beginning scene is quite ... ...of gore.
The acting in this film is particularly solid and some of the main characters are given more background and are fleshed out, whereas in the previous films this wasn’t allowed to happen.
Being a big fan of the first two films, I was pleased to see Michael Myers back, he creates such horror without even having to do anything! He can just stand there, not do anything and still make people scared.
The music in this film is much the ...
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Advantages: Re-energising a tired franchise Disadvantages: Does not match up to its promise
...th chapters). Everyone doubts Loomis' view of the situation, believing the deaths of the orderlies are pure accident and that Michael is incapable of looking after himself "You're talking about him as if he is a human being!" Loomis says in a rasped voice. Loomis first re-encounters Michael at a petrol station where after a deadly game of cat and mouse the station explodes destroying Loomis' only for of escape.
With Loomis stranded Michael can make his way back to Haddonfield, business needs attending to and while his previous target is now out of the picture, her daughter Jamie is not. Horror has returned to Haddonfield.
Halloween4 starts impressively a completely rescored version of the soundtrack that has become so familiar with the franchise gives a chilling reminder that this is a new generation. Unfortunately the movie...
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It is ten years since the killer Michael Myers went on the rampage on the eve of All Saints. Now he has awoken from a coma and is back on the streets to continue his wave of gruesome terror.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): Hollywood DVD Ltd
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: HOLDD 399
Barcode: 5017633203994
Languages
Main Language: English
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Listed on Ciao since : 15/08/2000
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