The poster of Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988) makes me think of seeing it in video store magazines, or seeing it in VHS tape sales in the centre of a strip mall. Being a kid, scared of horror movies but kind of curious, and trying to understand the lore of “Michael Myers is back to hunt his niece” or “Donald Pleasance returns as Dr. Loomis.”
As The Return Of Michael Myers subtitle promises, this is a back to basics return to the franchise formula after the focus of Halloween III: Season of the Witch on a druidian plot involving stonehenge, robots and Halloween masks. There’s an autumnal atmosphere in the title sequence, of Halloween decorations in farmland surroundings, and it echoes what made the John Carpenter original successful. As Michael Myers escapes from a mental ward after years being wrapped up in guaze, burned after the events of Halloween II, he makes his way back to Haddonfield to find his niece Jamie played by Danielle Harris pre-The Last Boy Scout. Here, Laurie Strode died in a car accident and her daughter has been raised by a new family including step sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell).
If you’ve seen any Halloween movie, you know what to expect. But The Return Of Michael Myers gradually builds in creepiness with scenes set in empty suburban streets, the sensation of wandering from a street swimming with trick or treaters on Halloween night, and then there’s no-one, just a touch of fog and the presence of Michael Myers. It also builds likeable characters with Danielle Harris as the traumatised child wearing a harlequin clown outfit, and Cornell in the role of the resourceful protector. There’s just enough variation in the plotting from a barful of busted out townies forming a lynch mob to find the masked killer, to a semi-siege of the sheriff’s house, and to featuring recognisable faces like Kathryn Kinmont (from the TV show Renegade) and Sasha Jenson from Dazed & Confused as horny “teenagers.” And of course, you have the great Donald Pleasance wearing clay make-up on half of his face to indicate burn scars, yammering about Michael Myers being “pure evil”, and waving a gun around. Great ending, which provides one of the most eerie nods to the original movie while twisting what you’ve just been emotionally invested in as a viewer. Something in the air where both this and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter believes the children were the future… of their horror movie franchises.
I liked it! Directed by Dwight H. Little who would go on to make Marked For Death with Steven Seagal. Oh, and as everyone else who’s watched The Return Of Michael Myers notices, the mask they use looks cheap and wacky! Available on Shudder.
VHS Tracking 