BITE-SIZED REVIEW: Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers (Dwight Little, 1988)

Later this month will see the release of David Gordon Green's confusingly titled Halloween, a sequel to John Carpenter's original classic from 1978 that will ignore all the sequels that came in-between. While there has been a bit of brouhaha from a certain section of the fanbase at Green's retconning, this tactic is not new to the franchise.

To date, there have been two previous attempts at anniversary Halloween films, the first in 1988, Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers, and the second, Halloween: H20 in 1998.

Released a decade after the original, Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers was a course correction after the previous in-name-only sequel, Halloween III - Season of the Witch, failed to break out. With the slasher genre getting a second wind from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, time seemed right to bring Michael Myers back to life.

It is 10 years after the murders in Haddonfield. Having survived the fiery finale of Halloween II, Michael Myers rises from a comatose state to escape confinement and return home. In the interim, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has passed away in a car accident, leaving her young daughter Jamie (Danielle Harris) to be raised by family friends, the Carruthers.

Realising the danger he presents to the young girl, Dr Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) tails his former patient back to Haddonfield. But who will get Jamie first?  

I was not expecting much from this movie - I am a big fan of John Carpenter's work, and I did not like Halloween II that much. 

But I have to say, while it is not mind-blowing, on its own terms Return is a solid chiller. And despite the changes which had taken place in the genre since the original's release, the filmmakers stick fairly close to the stylistic parameters of the first movie, with the moments of viscera feeling like punctuation to suspense rather than the main events.

The first act in particular is really well-handled.

The opening sequence is so simple yet so haunting - under yellow credits, we get a montage of Halloween decorations against familiar midwestern backdrops (barns, fields etc) backed by wind and subtle synth tones. It's distinct from the preceding films, yet feels totally appropriate. 

We then follow a pair of medical pros in an ambulance driving through a downpour. They arrive at a federal facility that looks like a gothic madhouse from a Hammer horror movie. They are here to transfer Michael Myers to another facility.


Covered in burns and bandages, Myers is immobilised on a gurney for his first few minutes onscreen. The slow tease of his reveal continues for almost half of the movie, from his brutal escape from the ambulance, through his first meeting with Dr Loomis in a deserted gas station.


The scene at the gas station is terrific - Loomis arrives to discover Myers has butchered the staff. Taking place during daylight, it is a creepy, comparatively understated scene; Myers is shown at a distance, his bandaged face resembling the familiar mask. It is vaguely reminiscent of Myers' early appearances in the 1978 movie, when he watches Laurie Strode from behind a row of bushes, or among her washing lines.


Once the mask appears, the movie decelerates a bit - not just because the mask is bad (it is), but because once the familiar pieces are in place, the movie becomes very predictable. It's not that bad though - the scenes with Jamie and Rachel (Ellie Cornell), her foster sister, are a little leaden, but Little pulls off some solid moments (Jamei's encounter with Michael in the costume rack; the cop car surrounded by multiple Michaels) that keep the movie interesting.

The one downside is the slight silliness running through the movie - the group of rednecks who go after Michael are straight out of a Simpsons episode - that undermines the tension. It might be the case that - unlike Halloween - there are too many plotlines, and none of them are particularly well-developed so it is hard to lock into what is at stake. 

 It's slight and a little corny, but on its own terms Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers is a fun movie that does no disservice to Michael Myers' mystique - that would come off with the next sequel...