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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome home, Michael, October 21, 2002
Halloween 4 is a terrific entry in the best slasher series of all time. While it doesn't have quite the all-pervading atmosphere, suspense, and general gloom and doom of the incomparable original, it more than lives up to the Halloween tradition. To me, the key to this movie's success is the acting talent of both Donald Pleasance (Dr. Loomis) and young newcomer Danielle Harris (Michael's niece Jamey). Disfigured from his encounter with Michael ten years earlier, Dr. Loomis strides through this movie as the avenging hero he is, having to convince foolish minds that Michael has returned home to wreak havoc yet again. Of course, you can blame a couple of paramedics for tipping Michael off that he still has a living relative, namely his sister Laurie's little girl Jamie (Laurie has supposedly died in an accident a year earlier). After Michael is transferred out from under Loomis' nose, he naturally escapes and begins leaving a trail of bodies on his way to Haddonfield. Loomis is right behind him, intent on saving the little girl from her evil uncle. The young Danielle Harris gives an incredible performance for someone so young, conveying emotion and fear quite convincingly. After this movie came out, I remember hearing some criticism of terrorizing such a young person in this type of horror atmosphere, and Harris spoke quite eloquently on the subject from her perspective. She brings to this movie talent well beyond her years. Surprisingly, this movie is not altogether that graphic. We rarely get to see the actual coup de grace of each killing (and in a couple of cases we don't even see the actual murder), and even the remains of the slain never exhibit much blood loss. Of course, Michael uses a variety of means (including his bare hands) to murder his victims here. I for one missed the guy's trademark knifings. He does get hold of a knife eventually, but, sadly, he doesn't get much of a chance to use it. As for Michael himself, it is easy to see that the man behind the mask is not the original "shape" Nick Castle. George P. Wilbur has a slightly different build, and he just doesn't have the malevolent presence Castle possessed. He is strong in the category of standing still and watching from the shadows, but he is a little awkward in his movements and often seems to be patterning them on those of King Kong. This movie has some really nice touches to it, several that strongly call to mind pivotal scenes from the original. Another master stroke is the conclusion, which certainly surprised me when I first saw it. Far too often a trite ending can ruin one's impression of an otherwise good horror movie, but Halloween 4 offers evidence of how much a terrific ending can increase one's enjoyment of an already satisfying experience. By inserting a whole new chapter in the Michael Myers saga, Halloween 4 actually injected the series with newfound life (and blood); it certainly excited me as a fan, and that is something that most sequels of sequels simply do not do.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Halloween 4, Return of the Shape!, February 20, 2000
Halloween 4, The Return of Michael Myers, in my opinion, is a spectacular beginning for the story told in 4-6. Like Jamie Lee Curtis, actress Danielle Harris makes her big debut with Michael Myers in this excellent sequel. Also returning is Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis, the hero, not 'the mad doctor'. This movie had one of the best actors playing Michael, George P. Wilbur. His portrayal of Myers was well-acted, although the loud muffled breathing heard in 1 & 2 is absent. This movie had just the right pace for me, with great drama and a great remix of the Halloween theme written by John Carpenter. However, if Loomis couldn't stop Michael with eleven gunshots and a fire, what makes the State Troopers think they can kill him with a few dozen shots? One thing they don't understand is that Michael is not a normal human being. Get that through your skulls! Of course he can't be killed, or else it would be the end of what becomes a great horror series. The Halloween movies are well-acted and filmed, unlike most of the Friday the 13th movies. By the way, does anyone else think that Jason Voorhees, while intimidating, is just a cheap knockoff of Michael? Michael debuted in 1978, while Jason didn't show up until 1981.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's October 31, 1988..and HE is coming home again, October 29, 1999
"Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" is actually quite a good continuation, despite what some people say about sequels. It picks up 10 years after "Halloween II" ended. Michael Myers ends up in a coma after being blown up in the operating room in II. He awakens when being transferred to another hospital after he overhears he has a niece in Haddonfield, Jamie Lloyd, the daughter of Laurie Strode, who is dead (or so we thought). He ends up traveling to Haddonfield and here we are treated to what made the original such a success. Less blood, more suspense, tight scenes and a dark atmosphere are all prevalent in this entry. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is now scarred and crippled after also being blown up with Myers, and he teams up with Sheriff Meeker (Beau Starr) to stop what could be a repeat of what happened 10 years before that. With Jamie Lee Curtis absent, the "scream queen" duties fall to Ellie Cornell as Rachel, Jamie's step-sister. She does a terrific job and she has some great lines in this one. The ending is definitely the best of the whole series, and it still gives me the creeps to this very day. Rent Halloween 4 for a good scare.
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