Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers

Directed by Dwight H. Little

Written by Danny Lipsius, Larry Rattner, Benjamin Ruffner & Alan B McElroy.

Starring: Donald Pleasence
                Ellie Cornell
                Danielle Harris
                Beau Starr

** (2 out of 5 stars)

Let's say that I enjoyed the premise of the fourth installment in the Halloween  series, but the execution falls a little flat.  This film picks up with Michael Myers again, after Season of the Witch went in it's own direction with the tale of a supernatural force in Halloween masks.  I do love the fact that this one starts up the plot which has Myers becoming more than just a super killer- he seems to have supernatural powers of some sort.  He's linked to his niece somehow and he's back again to try and kill everyone in his family, and any poor soul that gets in his way.  Yet for some reason even though the plot intrigues me and I clearly love Michael Myers, this is the only film out of the whole series (including 20 Years Later and Resurrection) that I could watch in fast forward.  Nothing in particular about this movie, other than some plot elements, kept my focus for any amount of time.  

The script wasn't terrible.  The young actress plays Jamie Lloyd excellently, and recurs the role in the next installment Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers also doing an amazing job.  The supporting actors weren't terrible which is something I've found mostly true about a lot of the films in the series- not to say that it's outstanding work either, but for the most part the casting hasn't been too bad.  Nothing about the script and the dialogue stood out to me, just a typical slasher movie when it comes to the writing.  As I said before, there were some elements that interested me but nothing really came of it until the next film in the series where we discover more about the link between Michael and his niece Jamie.

Nothing grabbed me about the fourth Halloween movie, I give it two stars because it didn't necessarily strike me as a terrible film it's just that there was nothing to make it a standout of the series.  The beginnings of a supernatural quality in Myers are what make this at least an okay movie, and of course a few kills to make it your average slasher flick.