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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers


HALLOWEEN IV:
THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS
(Dwight H. Little, 1988)

ten years after his original massacre,
the invalid Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield

it's the 10 year anniversary of Michael Myers' first attack on Haddonfield. one of the opening lines of the film: 'this is where society dumps its worst nightmares.' found that a fitting quote - in the slash vault ! Myers has been in a coma ever since his killing spree was stopped by Dr Loomis and Laurie Strode, and is being transferred from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium to Smith's Grove. Michael awakens when he hears that Laurie Strode is deceased, but her daughter, Jamie Lloyd is alive and well in Haddonfield. He kills the ambulance crew and escapes. Dr Loomis, burned face and all, is on the trail of his cursed ex-patient, the Father of modern horror

we meet little Jamie, i'm not sure exactly what her age is supposed to be, but my guess is she is 6 years old just like Michael was at the start of Halloween (1978). she was adopted by the Carruthers family and is babysitted by their daughter Rachel on Halloween night 1988. this throws off Rachel's plans, as she was supposed to have a date with a boy named Brady. tough luck, bc Brady goes and hooks up with the sheriff's daughter who is pretty much a smoke show. what a bastard



Conclusion: found it a decently satisfying sequel. i liked Act 1 and Act 2 quite a bit. it's pretty strong on atmosphere. the 3rd act is full of tension, but i'm not sure what i think about the ending
WARNING: "Halloween IV" spoilers below
when Jamie pulls a Michael at the end
. maybe went a little off the deep end there. i did like this more than Halloween II (1981) even tho the only time we see Laurie Strode in this one is in a photograph. it leans more on suspense and atmosphere than gore. this may end up being my favorite sequel in the Halloween series. i'm not sure it has too much competition

Favorite Kill: Kelly pinned to the wall via stabbing with the barrel of a shotgun. that can't be possible. the most memorable one is the spoiler above, tho

Rating:
7.0 / 10