Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

So, it transpires that Michael Myers survived being blown up on Halloween night 1978, and ten years later HE wakes from a decade of comatose to kill again.

OK, the premise is laughable but the decision to resurrect deranged serial killer Michael Myers is vindicated through a fine movie with several memorable moments and a shocking finale.

Donald Pleasence is on fine form as Myer's increasingly crazed doctor, Sam Loomis, who also survived being blown up in Halloween II. Loomis now walks with the aid of a stick and has burns to his face and hands but is otherwise fine. Blimey! He's almost as indestructible as Myers himself!

Halloween 4 racks up the jumps and gore but loses none of the thrills and excitement form the original movies. Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris are excellent support for Pleasence in one of the best in the Halloween franchise.

The Good: Maybe it's having just watched H20 and Resurrection, but H4 is a masterpiece in comparison. I almost forgot how scary Michael Myers could be until I re-watched this movie. He truly seems like a force of nature; a spookier Terminator who will kill anyone who gets in his way and you can only temporarily stop him. I think seeing him from the perspective of a little girl really helps; he's the boogeyman and you feel it. This movie expertly generates tension from a creepy atmosphere, in a return to form that must have been SO SATISFYING to audiences starved for Michael Myers back in 1988.

Danielle Harris' performance is truly amazing. She really captures the trauma and terror that her character is put through and is the emotional core of this movie. Honestly, without her powerhouse performance, this movie would not work as well as it does.

Even without her though, this movie is a lot of fun: Loomis is back and crazier than ever, you have the classic horror tropes and a final set piece that makes sense and is super effective. Instead of feeling dated, it almost feels...comforting.

The Bad: Unfortunately, this movie is pretty weak when it comes to kills, an important metric for any slasher. A lot of them are bloodless and generic, save for the opening kill and...well, the final one. It's also more than a little annoying as to how Michael can just teleport wherever he needs to be and becomes outright hilarious by the end.

The Ugly: Not gonna lie, I absolutely lost it at the sight of dozens of schoolchildren running after a little girl chanting: "Jaimie's an orphan!" The 1980s were not a subtle decade, that's for sure.

After a seven year absence from the screen, Michael Myers returns. Set ten years after the first two films (#2 was filmed in 1981, but set immediately after #1 in 1978), THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS opens with the infamous killer being transfered between psyhiciatric hospitals. Naturally, he escapes, and, tipped off that he has a niece (daugther of the now-deceased Jamie Lee Curtis character) living in Haddonfield, sets out to find her. Hot on his trail, as always, is Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). After some were turned off by the more-gruesome deaths in HALLOWEEN 2, this film is more in-line with the original, relying more heavily on suspense and honest scares than blood and gore. For a nine-year-old, Harris delivers a good performance, and Donald Pleasence (as usual) is also good, with a performance that lets you know this is a been-there-don't-want-to-go-through-that-again character. Director Dwight H. Little brings a sense of atmosphere to the film and creates a number of suspenseful scenes. Thankfully, the make-shirt mob of gun-toting beer-guzzlers isn't as bad as it could have been. HALLOWEEN 4 is one of the best of the series.

After serial killer Michael Myers wakes up during a routine transfer to a different hospital, he goes running back to Haddonfield and his former doctor, Dr. Loomis, tries to make it there before Michael can begin yet another bloodbath and murder his niece, Jamie.

Having a young child as the lead victim in a slasher movie is a brave choice. Some will find it tacky and offensive right from the start or, even worse, the child actor might not be seasoned enough to be effective in the role and could just come across as annoying, but young Danielle Harris is so wonderful and winning in the role that you really get invested in her character and want her to make it out alive. Most of the other characters aren't developed enough for you to give a hoot about them, but the filmmakers do handle the suspense sequences well.

It is ten years after Michael Myers escaped from the psychiatric clinic and went on the rampage and he has been in a coma ever since being burnt at the end of Halloween 2. But one of the ambulance drivers transporting him somewhere lets slip that he has a niece in Haddonfield and before you know it he's making his way back there.

Myers has become seemingly indestructable by now. He was seen emerging from a hospital as a human fireball at the end of art 2 and yet he seems to have escaped more or less unscathed. And howcome he can see anything when he was blinded in Part 2 just before being roasted alive?

However, if you overlook these points you'll find this is an entertaining and well-made film. Dr Loomis returns to Haddonfield after his ex-patient, played by Donald Pleasance at his best, and there are plenty of interesting characters and situations.

One of the better of the Halloween series, certainly much more worthwhile than the dismal Halloween 5 or most of the repetative Friday the 13th films.