← Back to Reviews
in
That's how Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) describes Michael Myers; "purely and simply evil" he called him in the first film, "evil on two legs" in the fourth one. A malignant force that, after decades, just won't go away because according to him, "Hell would not have him", which explains why he keeps coming back in worse and worse sequels.
Set a year after Halloween 4, Halloween 5 follows Loomis as he realizes once again that Myers is back, once again to try to murder his niece, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) who is recovering from the trauma of the year before when she attacked her foster mother. That attack is now attributed to a sort of telepathic link with Michael.
This is a film that was rushed into production after the relative "success" of the fourth one, and, even though I really didn't notice or care about it when I first saw it back in the early 90s, it does show in the final product. No official script or director had been chosen even months before the already established release date, and even during filming, producers and writers were wingin' many elements of the story.
One of the many mistakes of the final film is how it brushes off what happens in the end of the previous film, which would've been infinitely more interesting. Instead, the film just feels like a rehash of Part 4 as Jamie is put in danger again and again, while Michael Myers looks for her. The whole story feels more formulaic and pretty much like a checklist to put dumb teenagers in his path to be dispatched.
Another key mistake is the lack of a true "final girl" to latch Jamie to. Rachel, who survived the previous film, comes back acting like a hundred-neurons-less dumber, and is dispatched unceremoniously in the first act; something that is barely addressed, if at all, until the final act. Her best friend, Tina (Wendy Kaplan), sorta takes up the mantle but she's not on screen long enough, and when she is, she's not good enough.
Finally, there are some crumbs dropped through the film about a larger mythology surrounding Michael, evidenced by a previously unseen tattoo on his wrist and by the presence of a mysterious man dressed in black that seems to be following the killer. This crumb becomes a boulder in the very last scene, which paves the way for the inevitable next installment because, of course, Hell would not have him.
Grade:
HALLOWEEN 5
THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS
(1989, Othenin-Girard)
THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS
(1989, Othenin-Girard)
"I prayed that he would burn in Hell, but in my heart I knew that Hell would not have him."
That's how Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) describes Michael Myers; "purely and simply evil" he called him in the first film, "evil on two legs" in the fourth one. A malignant force that, after decades, just won't go away because according to him, "Hell would not have him", which explains why he keeps coming back in worse and worse sequels.
Set a year after Halloween 4, Halloween 5 follows Loomis as he realizes once again that Myers is back, once again to try to murder his niece, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) who is recovering from the trauma of the year before when she attacked her foster mother. That attack is now attributed to a sort of telepathic link with Michael.
This is a film that was rushed into production after the relative "success" of the fourth one, and, even though I really didn't notice or care about it when I first saw it back in the early 90s, it does show in the final product. No official script or director had been chosen even months before the already established release date, and even during filming, producers and writers were wingin' many elements of the story.
One of the many mistakes of the final film is how it brushes off what happens in the end of the previous film, which would've been infinitely more interesting. Instead, the film just feels like a rehash of Part 4 as Jamie is put in danger again and again, while Michael Myers looks for her. The whole story feels more formulaic and pretty much like a checklist to put dumb teenagers in his path to be dispatched.
Another key mistake is the lack of a true "final girl" to latch Jamie to. Rachel, who survived the previous film, comes back acting like a hundred-neurons-less dumber, and is dispatched unceremoniously in the first act; something that is barely addressed, if at all, until the final act. Her best friend, Tina (Wendy Kaplan), sorta takes up the mantle but she's not on screen long enough, and when she is, she's not good enough.
Finally, there are some crumbs dropped through the film about a larger mythology surrounding Michael, evidenced by a previously unseen tattoo on his wrist and by the presence of a mysterious man dressed in black that seems to be following the killer. This crumb becomes a boulder in the very last scene, which paves the way for the inevitable next installment because, of course, Hell would not have him.
Grade: