Directed by Dwight Little
Starring Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Donald Pleasence and Michael Pataki
Ahhh, Halloween 4. I've probably seen this flick at least once every Halloween season since, like, 2002, and I still haven't gotten bored with it. It may not be any high piece of art, but it's got plenty of chutzpah and entertainment value. Combined with what is easily the best opening credits in cinematic history, with eerie shots of Halloween decorations swaying in the wind of what I can only assume are Midwestern farmhouses that have been abandoned for something like a hundred years (you know, kind of like things that are outside of the town that I'm typing this in at this exact moment), and you've got atmospheric background noise like no other.
I also hasten to point out that I think this is a pretty good movie. I've never been a big fan of Halloween III, the black sheep of the series (for reasons that have nothing to do with OMG it ain't Myers, which, by my experience, is the primary comeback that fans of the film throw at anyone who doesn't like it), and they bring Myers back with a VENGEANCE for this go-round. It had been seven years since theatergoers had seen the dude, an entire slasher craze and seven Friday the 13th films later. As such, fans were expecting a very high body-count, high-gore, brutal movie that fit the times. Surprisingly, this movie actually dials back the blood and guts from Halloween II, instead bringing in a little more teen soap-opera elements and a few more money action scenes. Anyway, enough intro. Let's get to it.
It's ten years after the events of the first two movies (which, for my money, have yet to be topped by any horror movie...well, ever). We've got an unbelievable opening sequence here, with Myers, catatonic since the explosion that rocked him from limb to limb (/Scott Steiner) in Halloween II, is being transported to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. In the process, he springs to life at the mention that he has surviving family and kills the dick out of the poor saps in charge. It should also be mentioned that this occurs on October 30th. Because, you know, choosing this date for the operation seemed like a fantastic idea on paper.
Cut to Haddonfield, Illinois, quaint Midwestern town that hasn't changed much in the past ten years where we meet Michael's lone surviving kin. Halloween 4 has an excellent, likable girl-next-door heroine. In fact, it's got two of them, in the form of Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), Laurie Strode's daughter in foster care after the death of her mom, and Jamie's foster sister Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell), an interesting little number who has a sidebar romantic plot with her philandering boyfriend that easily qualifies as the worst part of the film. That bit of bitching aside, Rachel is a perfectly serviceable main heroine who kicks it into high gear with aplomb when the climax hits and she has to protect her younger sister, with Cornell being more than game for the "relatable girl with an inner toughness" archetype. The character of Jamie would stick around for the next two entries in the series, and for good reason - she really makes an impact here. This is one of the rare horror movies that prominently features a very young girl in peril, and the then-11-year-old Harris has the charisma and acting chops to back this up. She also grew up to be smokin' hot, but that's beside the point.
Alan McElroy, the guy who got the screenplay job, was also smart enough to bring back the single best thing that any Halloween movie has going for it in Donald Pleasence, giving us a mea culpa for the ages as yes, sports fans, Dr. Loomis did not die in that same explosion that left Myers in a roasted stupor. He's got a pretty gnarly facial scar that would stick with him for the rest of the semi-canon series, and he's lost none of his ability to chew scenery and sound really, really scared whenever the subject of Myers comes up. Anyway, insert dialogue here. What the hell were you doing moving Michael without my permission, I'm going to Haddonfield, begin Act Two. Before you know it, Myers shows up in the town, making his presence known to both Jamie and Rachel, and we're firmly in screaming actress territory.
The stalk-and-slash portion of Halloween 4 gives us some pretty good stuff. Most of it takes place with the principal characters barricaded inside the town Sheriff's house, with Jamie, Rachel, Rachel's boyfriend, the Sheriff's slutty-hot daughter and a couple ensign Rickys present. There are a couple admittedly tense scenes set to that iconic John Carpenter piano music, something that you wouldn't think possible given that we are dealing with a really closed-off area, but director Dwight Little really managed to squeeze every last drop out of tension during the flick's famed rooftop chase. In between all of this, there is unfortunately a sideplot that goes off the rails with a very militia-esque group of townspeople looking for Michael, prompting more than a few unintentional laughs in the process.
Fortunately for everyone, that is a very B-story. Much like he did with Jamie Lee, Pleasence has fantastic chemistry with both leading ladies while losing none of his ability to make a guy in a plain white mask seem like the most dangerous man in the world. That's what made Halloween work, and that's what makes Halloween 4 work. It's got a really good trio of characters that we're fairly invested in, and stuntman George P. Wilbur ranks right up there with the best guys to don the Myers costume.
It's also got a GREAT ending that, much like Friday the 13th Part V, would have resulted in a VERY interesting remainder of the series had they actually had the balls to follow through with it. And it would have saved us all of the WTF directions that the series would go in from this point on, with mystery boot guys, keystone cops, weird cults, and that really, really stupid scene in the sixth movie where an older Jamie Lloyd gives birth and is summarily killed by her brother. Don't ask. Trust me, kids, you really are better off just quitting the series after this one.
*** 1/2 out of ****. It's got it's flaws, but for sheer Halloween time atmosphere, you can't get much better.
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