I guess all of the excitement over the news earlier this week has me ready to watch a few Halloween movies. While I could go back and watch Halloween and Halloween II, I am not. I have seen the both of them so many times. Of course, they do make a perfect double feature. I watched Halloween 6: the Curse of Michael Myers last week, while it is not the greatest, I like it. But it is pretty much a stand alone movie. It is so far from Halloween 4 and 5, it almost doesn’t matter that Jamie Lloyd is in the movie. The movie after Curse, is H20 and it skips over 4 movies, Halloween III included. You could watch 4, 5 and 6 together, but they do not jell as well.
These two should be viewed together. Halloween 4 the Return of Michael Myers takes place 10 years after the first two Halloween films and follow Jamie Lloyd, who is the daughter of the now late Laurie Strode. It seems like Laurie recently died when Halloween 4 begins. The movie follows Jaime and her foster sister, Rachel. Rachel is more concerned about getting a date than helping take care of poor Jamie. Jamie is bullied at school and at first does not want to participate in Halloween, but at the last minute changes her mind. While trick r treating all hell breaks loose has Michael hunts for his niece. The entire town of Haddonfield is basically shut down. I love the entire town is effected by this one man. John Carpenter always said Michael is like a force of nature and we can feel this for sure in Halloween 4.
So, yeah I love Halloween 4, it is the perfect follow-up to the first two movies. So when Halloween III does not fit, I am good with that, it is different and to me a very under-rated movie. 10 years later we got a near perfect sequel. But with Halloween H20, it is all for nothing as this part of the timeline is forgotten, a better timeline. At least these are still here and Halloween 4 has, to me proved to be the second best of the series. Halloween 5 is a different story.
The Revenge of Michael Myers begins with a 10 minute recap of the events of the end of Halloween 4. Somehow, Michael survived the onslaught of bullets and an explosion. Some old hermit takes care of Michael for a year and when he wakes from his coma, he kills the guy. My biggest issues with this one, killing off Rachel so damned early. It should not have happened, replace Rachel with her friend Tina. Then the movie is that much better. I also cannot stand the cast in this one, from the idiot cops to the awful friends of Rachel, Tina and her crew. Tina is the worst, why in the hell does the film focus on one of Rachel’s friends being everything to Jamie? Tina is awful.
Why in the hell did they change the Myers house to a more Victorian era looking house? What in the hell happened to the old one? Other than that, I am not the biggest fan of the order of thorn. It just feels out of place and introduced kinda late for the series. We get more into that in the Curse of Michael Myers. Honestly, I think it was a way to set up the next movie, which took 6 years anyway. I do have a theory about the order of thorn. But, I will hold on to that.
Donald Pleasence is amazing in each movie. He is reason enough to come back for each installment. I think part of my issue with H20 and Resurrection, they lack the Loomis character. For me the series died with Donald Pleasence. I am not a fan of H20 or Resurrection. One thing to note, I did like the casting job of Loomis in Rob Zombie’s Halloween. Malcolm McDowell was a great choice.
Next week I may go ahead and talk about the Rob Zombie Halloween movies and even try to watch them. Last I did that, I nearly forgave the first movie, but the second, Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, is nearly unwatchable.
But first, check out this modernized trailer for Halloween 4 the Return of Michael Myers and watch it and Halloween 5 the Revenge of Michael Myers tonight, double feature!
Halloween 4: the Return of Michael Myers has a rating of 5.9 on IMDB.com and I give it a 7.6.
Halloween 5: the Revenge of Michaeel Myers has a rating of 5.2 on IMDB.com and I give it a 4.8.
