Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Proving to be pretty much UN-killable, Moustapha Akkad decided to rejuvenate the franchise with this 1988 picture that returns the iconic killer Michael Myers after a long gap in films (7 years since Michael, 6 since part 3)
Director Dwight H. Little takes a script that identifies the core things from parts 1 & 2 that seemed to appeal to the audience and brings it large and loud here as Michael returns to Haddonfield after another 10 years in a coma in order to kill the now apparently deceased Laurie Strodes daughter Jamie Lloyd played by the hugely talented Danielle Harris who would become something of an Icon to the Franchise and return for part 5 as well as Both Rob Zombie Halloween pictures. I can gush all day about Harris all day but for a child actor she really delivers the goods here and gives a great performance. Ellie Cornell also deserves credit in the Big sister role of Rachel Carruthers who must protect Jamie from her demented uncle. Naturally of course Donald Pleasence is fantastic and his return really cemented the franchise as his own. He seems pleased to return and for an actor to get a retirement plan like this cannot be a bad thing!
My main gripe with the Halloween pictures from here on in is we lose some of Michaels 'playfulness', a sense that at least some of his killings are twisted Halloween pranks, also he seems to have mutated into a Terminator capable of wandering into a police station off screen and killing everybody inside. While subtlety may have gone, its fair to point out that at this point Horror cinema had moved on and was almost dead on its feet. The slasher flick had been repeated to a level that a return to a more classical style might have been a difficult sell, equally the film is still fun and delivers what it sets out to achieve for the most part. It was a hit stateside but I seem to remember it coming out on VHS over here and it was a fun afternoons rental and better than a lot of stuff out at the same time.
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