Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 horror film and the fourth sequel of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) awakening from a coma, 10 years after his 1978 killing spree in Haddonfield, Illinois, and returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the daughter of Laurie Strode, while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) once more pursues him.[2]
As the title suggests, the fourth installment marks the return of Michael Myers, the central villain of Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981), due to his absence in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill retired the Myers plot outline after the second installment of the series, intending to feature a new Halloween-related film every sequel, of which Halloween III would be the first. However, due to the lack of success of the third film, Halloween 4 re-introduced a Myers-related plot.
Plot
Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) has been in a coma for ten years, when his massacre was stopped by Dr. Samuel J. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Laurie Strode. At the beginning of this film which was set on October 30, 1988, Myers is being transferred from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. He awakens when he hears that Laurie Strode, his sister, is deceased, but her daughter, Jamie Lloyd, is alive and well in Haddonfield. He kills the ambulance crew and escapes. Dr. Loomis races to Haddonfield in an attempt to bring Myers' killing spree to an end once and for all.
In Haddonfield, his niece, Jamie, has been adopted by the Carruthers family. She has frequent nightmares about Michael, though she does not know who he is, and is bullied at school due to her relation to Michael. On Halloween night, Jamie goes out to trick-or-treat with her teenage foster sister, Rachel, and wearing a clown costume. As Jamie goes about trying to enjoy Halloween, her Uncle pursues her. Meanwhile, Loomis, having severe facial and bodily scars from burns he received attempting to kill Michael at the end of Halloween II, arrives in Haddonfield after an exhausting journey and contacts the police department to inform them of Michael's escape. He and Haddonfield's new Sheriff, Ben Meeker, begin to search the town for Michael and Jamie. Michael has also blacked out the town's electricity by throwing a technician onto an electrical box and has singlehandedly annihilated the entire police force; with no other way to defend the town with no police force, Loomis informs a group of men that Myers has returned, and they form a lynch mob to hunt him down. The girls barricade themselves in the Sheriff's house to await the state police.
Michael follows them there and eventually kills all but Jamie and Rachel. After the death of Rachel's boyfriend, Brady, they escape onto the roof, with Michael in pursuit. Though Jamie gets lowered down onto the ground safely, Rachel is not so lucky, having fallen and landed on the ground, apparently dead. Jamie sees Michael and runs off screaming for help and encounters Loomis. They break into the school, but Michael gets in as well. Jamie looks around the school for help. She sees Michael again, but, while running from him, falls down the stairs and injures herself. Just as Michael moves in for the kill, Rachel, having survived the fall off the roof, appears and sprays Michael in the face with a fire extinguisher. They escape in a pickup truck and leave Haddonfield, but Michael now hides in the bed. She manages to throw Michael off the truck and then run him down. The state police catch up to them and shoot Michael relentlessly. He falls into an abandoned mine shaft which collapses on him.
Back at the Carruthers house, Jamie puts on her clown mask and stabs her foster mother. Dr. Loomis attempts to shoot her but Sheriff Meeker prevents it. The film ends with a shot of Jamie, covered in blood, holding a pair of bloody scissors while Loomis, Meeker, Rachel, and Jamie's foster father look on in horror.
Cast
Production
After Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Moustapha Akkad wanted to move further with the franchise and bring back Michael Myers. According to producer Paul Freeman, a friend of Akkad with a long list of credits to his name, explained to Fangoria magazine in 1988, everybody came out of Halloween III saying, "Where's Michael?"[3] John Carpenter was approached by Cannon Films, who had just finished 1986's release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, to write and direct Halloween 4. Debra Hill planned to produce the film, while Carpenter teamed up with Dennis Etchison (who, under the psuedonym Jack Martin, had written novelizations of both Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch) to write a script to Halloween 4.
| "Halloween was banned in Haddonfield and I think that the basic idea was that if you tried to suppress something, it would only rear its head more strongly. By the very [attempt] of trying to erase the memory of Michael Myers, [the teenagers] were going to ironically bring him back into existence." |
| — Dennis Etchison on his idea for Halloween 4 .[4] |
However, Akkad rejected the Etchison script, calling it "too cerebral" and insisting that any new Halloween sequel must feature Myers as a flesh and blood killer.[5] In an interview, Etchison explained how he received the phone call informing him of the rejection of his script. Etchison said,
I received a call from Debra Hill and she said, 'Dennis, I just wanted you to know that John and I have sold our interest in the title 'Halloween' and unfortunately, your script was not part of the deal.' [6]
Carpenter and Hill had signed all of their rights away to Akkad, who gained ownership. Akkad says, "I just went back to the basics of Halloween on Halloween 4 and it was the most successful." [7]
Writing
On February 25, 1988, a writer was chosen. Alan B. McElroy, a native from Cleveland, Ohio, was brought in to the write the script. The writer's strike was to begin on March 7, 1988. This forced McElroy to develop a concept, pitch the story, and send in the final draft in under eleven days. McElroy came up with the idea of Brittany "Britti" Lloyd, Laurie Strode's daughter, to be chased by her uncle, who has escaped from Ridgemont after being in a coma for ten years. Dr. Samuel Loomis, who has also survived the fiery explosion at the end of Halloween II, goes looking for Michael with Sheriff Meeker. The setting of the place would once again be Haddonfield, Illinois. The character of Laurie Strode was revealed to have died in a car accident, leaving Britti with the Carruthers Family, which included Rachel, the family's seventeen year old daughter. Britti's name was later to Jamie, an homage to Laurie Strode actress, Jamie Lee Curtis.
In the original draft, titled Halloween IV, Sheriff Ben Meeker was to be killed during the Shape's attack on the Meeker house. A fire would have started in the basement and burnt down the entire house. The scene on top of the roof with the Shape, Rachel, and Jamie was supposed to be engulfed in flames. This was cut due to budget issues. .[8]
A more "soap opera" feel was added to the film, which included the triangle of the teenagers. Rachel is dating Brady, who is also having sex with the big-breasted Kelly Meeker. Also, in the finale, Jamie was supposed to have murdered her step-mother, Darlene Carruthers, and become evil. This idea was rejected for Halloween 5.
Casting
The cast of Halloween 4 only included one veteran actor from the original and its sequel: Donald Pleasence, who returned to play Sam Loomis, Michael Myers' doctor.
Before McElroy's script was chosen, the producers asked Jamie Lee Curtis to reprise her role as Laurie Strode, the original's heroine. Curtis had become a success in the industry and had established her name well with her roles in films like Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda. Curtis declined and did not want to continue her participation in the series. Curtis's character was written out and supposedly died in a car accident.
The script introduced Laurie Strode's seven year-old daughter, Jamie Lloyd. Melissa Joan Hart, of Clarissa Explains it All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame, had auditioned for the role.[9] Up against her was Danielle Harris, who had previously starred in One Life to Live as Samantha Garretson.
Rebecca Shaeffer had auditioned for the role of Rachel Carruthers, but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. Twenty-four year old Ellie Cornell had also auditioned. Cornell had chosen to audition for Halloween 4 and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master as the role of Kristen Parker, after Patricia Arquette had declined to return. Cornell picked this film and had successfully landed the role of Rachel.
Beau Starr was cast as the new Sheriff in town, Ben Meeker, replacing Charles Cyphers, who had played Sheriff Lee Brackett. George P. Wilbur was cast to play the infamous Michael Myers. Wilbur had to wear hockey pads under his jumpsuit to appear bigger and stronger.
Filming
Since John Carpenter had refused to continue his involvement with the series, a new director was sought out. Dwight H. Little, a native from Ohio, who had previously directed episodes for Freddy's Nightmares. Akkad liked Little's work, including his film Bloodstone.
Principal photography began on April 11, 1988. Instead of filming in Pasadena, California due to high-rising costs, filming took place in Salt Lake City, Utah. As filming was taking place in the springtime, the producers were forced to import leaves and big squash, which they would use to create pumpkins by painting them orange. "One of the obvious challenges in making a part four of anything is to interest a contemporary audience in old characters and themes" said director Dwight H. Little. "What I'm trying to do is capture the mood of the original Halloween and yet take a lot of new chances. What we're attempting to do is walk a fine line between horror and mystery. Halloween 4 will not be an ax-in-the-forehead kind of movie." Paul Freeman agreed. "This film does contain some humorous moments, but it's not of the spoof or send-up variety. It's humor that rises out of the film's situations and quickly turns back into terror."[3]
The late night scenes would cause issue with the cast. Garlan Wilde, a gaffer for the film, was injured during the scene between Brady and The Shape, when he dropped a light and accidentally slit his wrists. He was rushed to the hospital. Also, Ellie Cornell had accidentally stabbed her foot with a loose nail on the set of the rooftop scene. During most of the night scenes, Donald Pleasence had become so cold that he had wore a hat for most of the scenes, unbeknowest to the crew. This caused over six hours of footage to be re-shot. The shoot lasted about 41 days and Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris were required to be on set for 36 of those days.[9]
During filming it was considered that the customized 1975 Captain Kirk mask be reused for this film. However, the mask was long gone and a new one was purchased from a local costume shop. The producers wanted to test and see what it would look like without the edits. The school scene was filmed and when reviewing the producers did not like how the mask turned out. It was allegedly customized again but did not live up to the original and the producers felt it was too old and went for a new mask. Some scenes had to be re-shot with the new mask. The only scene left in is when Loomis is thrown through a glass door; as Michael comes up behind him, the unaltered face and blonde hair is visible.[10]
Music
The film's soundtrack was performed by Alan Howarth, who had assisted John Carpenter on the previous two film's soundtrack. Howarth had recently finished working for Carpenter on his film, Prince of Darkness (which also starred Donald Pleasence as a priest named Loomis). Howarth gained approval from Dwight H. Little before he could accept the offer, creating a new score that referenced the original's but with a synthesizer twist. Howarth also included new tracks such as "Jamie's Nightmare", "Return of the Shape", and "Police Station."
Release
Reception
Halloween 4 opened in 1,679 theaters on October 21, 1988, and grossed $6,831,250 in its opening weekend achieving a total domestic gross of $17,768,757 in the United States, becoming the fifth best performing film in the Halloween series.[11] The film has received a moderate critical reception, with most reviews either mixed or positive. It was criticized for not having anything "striking, interesting, or exceptionally memorable" besides the ending.[12] It currently has a score of 43 on Metacritic, which indicates mixed or average reviews, placing it higher than Halloween II; on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "rotten" score with only 22%.
Halloween 4 was nominated for two Saturn Awards by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Horror Film and Best Writing in 1990. [13]
Home video
The film was first released on VHS in May 1989 as a rental title. It became for "SALE" in October of 1989 to coincide with the release of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. In 1999, Anchor Bay's company, Divimax, released transferred, better-quality editions of this film and its sequel for DVD. Supplements include the Halloween 4/5 Panel at the Return to Haddonfield convention, theatrical trailer, Halloween 4 Final Cut – a "behind-the-scenes" documentary, a commentary with Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell, and another commentary by Alan B. McElroy and Anthony Masi. Halloween 4, along with Halloween 5, and Halloween, was released with the documentary, Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, and The Shape's mask in 2008.
References
External links
