I've always been a big fan of the "Halloween" series. The first and second movies were both great, though the sequel suffered from some noticeable problems. This wasn't enough to deteriorate the true masterpiece that is the original "Halloween" and the legacy that was supposed to stop after the second installment. The third film, a non-sequel sequel that I've yet to see, was supposed to be a long-running theme which used the "Halloween" moniker as part of its title but wouldn't have anything to do with Michael Myers or the original storyline. Fans didn't take well to this and out of greed producer Moustapha Akkad brought Michael back. This proved to be a great move as the following sequel ("Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers") actually turned out to be above average. Even greed behind the motivation couldn't successfully kill Michael as this "accidentally good film" put faith back in viewers. The year is 1989 and fans are flocking to see the next installment ("Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers") and never was there more disappointment in the air than the first public showing that night.
We learn that after the events in part four, Michael (played in this sequel by Don Shanks) was kept alive by a hermit for a year. Once Halloween begins he murders the hermit and makes his way back to Haddonfield. There we see Jamie (Danielle Harris) who can
no longer speak and has developed a telepathic link with her uncle. Dr. Sam Loomis (the late, great Donald Pleasance) also returns and discovers Jamie's link to Uncle Mike. He tries to use this to his advantage to figure out when and who he's going to kill when Jamie goes into panic attacks. These attacks are giveaway's that Michael will strike and is also an original idea. But in a "Halloween" film? Save it for a "Friday The 13th" sequel.
This movie is bad. I don't mean bad as in "Jason Goes To Hell" purposely bad but I mean bad as in "there goes an hour and a half of my life" bad. This whole telepathic crap might be more original for this series but it doesn't work in the least. We go from one of the simplest Horror films of all time to something more complicated than building your own PC.
This film is all around horrible. I will proceed to laugh in your face if you tell me more than two characters are actually watchable throughout this whole movie. Danielle Harris lets her talent come full tilt here and Donald Pleasance, once again, doesn't disappoint as Loomis. Both performances are over the top and easily forgettable but they do realize this is a "Halloween" film. They won't be at the Oscars anytime soon so they simply have fun with the movie and the end results are better than one may expect. The co-stars are absolutely atrocious. I don't mean that as in what most Horror movie actors are but in a way that it isn't even fun to watch. They overact to the highest degree and all believability is thrown out the window. Each character is stupider than the next and more one-dimensional than a piece of cardboard.
Don't expect any originality here as every character is exactly what you would expect. The goofy victim, the "no one can touch me" victim, the annoying blonde, the "best friend who shouldn't die but eventually does but while saving lives" victim, etc... Everything is painfully predictable and so laughably awful that a few good performances from Pleasance, Harris, and Shanks can't save a damn thing. It doesn't help either that the script is retarded, watered down, and formulaic; it complements the horrible acting. Crap and crap go together, after all.
Even with an abysmal script and acting that can be said to be just as bad, at least you can depend on the "Halloween" series to scare you. Wrong again; director Dominique Othenin-Gerard apparently wasn't raised on Horror movies. His chase scenes are uneventful and uninteresting, the stalking sequences are duller than Mike's blade scraped up against a steel bar, and the death scenes are straight to the point and sleep-inducing. Nothing and I mean NOTHING here is any good whatsoever. This film won't scare you, it won't terrify you, and it won't leave you with nightmares. As a matter of fact, I don't remember the last time I slept so soundly. Usage of slow-motion shots screams the word “mainstream" and the fact that Othenin-Gerard knows NOTHING about atmosphere kills any decent setup the film could have had. Don Shank's portrayal of The Shape is definitely a highlight and even his mastery of Michael's walk and actions can make this film the least bit scary.
He may be trying for suspense but his locations are as un-scary as anything I've seen. Even a dark forest doesn't use Michael's white mask and fear-inducing walk to its advantage. We only seem to see Michael whenever he's going to murder another victim. Remember those shots of him in the original "Halloween" where you would see him out of the periphery of your vision in various scenes. Nothing of that sort is utilized here. In fact, the only decent scene last for, at the most, three minutes. Othenin-Gerard's lack of actual mood and good usage of dark makes this one uneventful, dull, formulaic, narcoleptic slasher film.
The "Halloween" I used to know is dead. The final nail in the coffin is the actual sight of blood. This is another factor in the movie that Othenin-Gerard doesn't know a thing about this series. The death scenes sport amounts of blood not seen in a "Halloween" sequel. Knives drip blood, the blade can be seen entering the body, the after-the-fact gore is present, and some objects not normally used by Myers (a pitchfork!!?!?) are utilized. The true spirit of this series is killed by everything that the original sequels DIDN'T have. It's not only the blood that makes this a horrible offering ("Halloween 6: The Curse Of Michael Myers" had a lot of gore in it and I can say that I like it) but the fact that the Othenin-Gerard took the direction of the series into a wrong turn with this entry. This is simply a bad slasher film put into Michael's mask.
I've actually read a few comments that state this film is actually decent. I won't go into a rant but rather let my review speak for itself. If you can honestly say you liked this than "The Curse Of Michael Myers" should be a John Carpenter-ish sequel in their eyes. As it stands, Myers may have gotten "Revenge" in this film but I would rather see Othenin-Gerard get his comeuppance for this cinematic atrocity. He should be locked in a room for six months and they should endlessly play this movie over and over again with nowhere to go.
[Rated R for bloody horror violence, language, and some sexuality.]
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Jun 5th, 2003
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