DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilerish material from this movie and from Halloween H20. If you have not seen either of them yet, proceed with caution.+++

Halloween 5, subtitled "The Revenge of Michael Myers," is the 1989 followup to the movie that revived the Halloween franchise centered around the killer from the iconic 1978 movie. This movie brought back Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, and Donald Pleasence from the prior film. Cornell and Starr's roles are reduced in this movie, but it does bring in Wendy Kaplan as Tina, one of Ellie's friends, who ultimately plays Jamie's protector (along with Loomis). 

I have mixed feelings about this movie. It was very much a continuation of Halloween 4, taking place one year later. It explains that Jamie (played by Danielle Harris) does not really turn evil but develops a telepathic bond with Michael. Because of that, she can see when people are in danger from him. He, of course, continues to try to get at her to kill her. That part of the storyline is fine. My problem with this movie is how it sets up the dreadful Part 6. It planted the seeds of the whole cult storyline with the mysterious man in black and began all the nonsense that would follow in that movie. I don't even have a problem with not killing off Michael, although if it had been done, it would have been an acceptable way to wrap up the story. The producers rebooted the franchise with Halloween H20, a couple of movies down the line (when they could get Jamie Lee Curtis back), which pretended that 4 and 5 never existed anyway, so Michael could have been killed off in this movie. 

The original DVD release does have a significant amount of special features, including a director commentary track (that also includes Harris and Cornell), an introduction to the movie by Harris and Cornell, and trailers. The most significant bonus feature is a making-of documentary that features interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and bonus footage that was not included in the movie. 

You ultimately know what you get with the Halloween movies. Even the original movie (which was the best in the series) was not an Academy Award winner. The movies became sillier and less believable as the series went on. That said, this is worth having in your collection if you are a fan of the series. Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasence continued to do a great job in their roles. Pleasence's role was reduced by now because of his age, but he still played Loomis passionately. Harris had to portray a range of emotions in this movie and did a fantastic job. Obviously, these movies are not going to appeal to everyone. However, if you like the first two movies and the 4th movie, this is worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Halloween II (Rob Zombie Version) [Spoilers]

 

Halloween II is the 2009 sequel to Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. The first movie can ostensibly be called a remake or reboot. It did depart a lot from the original film it essentially told the same story,  with twists and additions. This movie pays homage to the original version of Halloween II for the first 15 to 20 minutes. After that, it is its own movie and a story that is completely unique and different. It has much more of the strangeness and over-the-top gore that Rob Zombie's other horror movies have. The movie does bring back the main cast members from the first movie including Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris,  and Malcolm McDowell. 

In this movie, Loomis is turned into a raging prick who is just out to make a buck, and Laurie is totally fucked up from her experiences in the first movie. That part of the story I found interesting. It is the part of the original Laurie Strode storyline we did not see, specifically looking at how she coped as a teenager after the events of that night. But then, the story went off in a totally different direction. If it had stuck to just Laurie's messed up life and Michael coming back I think the film would have been better. But the whole channeling of the dead mother angle and Laurie can sometimes feel Michael (like when he is eating the dog) was just stupid. Also having Michael yell die when killing Loomis should not have happened.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good. The movie is not packed with special effects, but what there is looks seamless and the location shots look very good in HD. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by Zombie, audition footage for some of the actors, deleted scenes, a gag reel, several music videos, and trailers. The movie is definitely a dark and twisted sequel that will not appeal to everyone. Many devoted fans of the original two movies will probably hate this one. Also, people who would otherwise give it a chance if it were a remake of the second film will not like it either. For everyone else, there will probably still be a lot of disagreement. Some will love the movie and others will hate it. I am pretty lukewarm about it. For what it is, if you can accept that it diverts from following the Halloween story verbatim, it is not horrible. It is certainly better than Halloween 6 and Halloween Resurrection, but it is nowhere near as good as the original two films or even as good as Zombie's remake of the first movie.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers (Spoilers)

 

Halloween 4 was released in 1988, ten years after the original movie, and the events of Halloween I and II. This was the movie that brought Michael Myers back after an attempt to make a Halloween movie (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) without him that fell totally flat and completely bombed at the box office. The producers decided to resurrect Michael for this movie without the involvement of John Carpenter.  This movie brought back Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis and also starred Danielle Harris, Elie Cornell, Beau Starr, Sasha Jenson, Kathleen Kinmont, and George Wilbur.

This movie starts out with Michael locked up in the basement of some relatively secure facility, bandaged and scarred from the burns he received at the end of Halloween II. For some reason, he is being moved, and when the ambulance crew mentions he has a niece living in Haddonfield (played by Danielle Harris, who plays Jamie, the daughter of Laurie Strode who was killed off in this version), he comes back to life and the usual shenanigans ensue.  What follows is the standard fare of Michael going through the town killing anyone who got in his way. 

The special edition DVD (which was released in 2006) includes several bonus features most of which were produced years after the movie was released. There are two different commentary tracks on the movie, one by the writer of the movie and one with Harris and Cornell. There is also a discussion panel with cast and crew members who worked on Halloween 4 and 5, a making-of featurette, and the trailer for the movie.

I don't necessarily think that there was a big need to make this film. I think a fine ending to the series would have been to have Myers and Loomis killed at the end of Halloween 2. But, if they were going to bring him back, this was as good a story as there could have been to do so (since Jamie Lee Curtis did not return for this one). This movie was made before the franchise got overly stupid (as would happen in Halloween 6 and 8 and even to some extent in 5). Danielle Harris does a very good job as Jamie, especially being so young, and Ellie Cornell is great in her role as well. Donald Pleasance plays Loomis with the same intensity that he did in the original movies and brought the gravitas that the film needed to resurrect the series.

Ultimately if you liked the original Halloween and Halloween 2 you will probably like this movie. While this movie is not as good as either of the first two movies and it does suffer from not having Jamie Lee Curtis in it, it does hold its own. It is also not as good as Halloween H20/Halloween 7 (which does bring back Curtis and basically resets the series again ignoring movies 4-6). If you are a fan of the first two Halloween movies and/or horror movies in general, it is worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween II

 

Halloween II is the 1981 sequel to the then cult-classic, now fairly iconic 1978 horror movie Halloween. It was written and produced by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill (who also wrote and produced the original movie), and Rick Rosenthal directed (taking over the directing job from Carpenter who directed the first movie). The movie brings back Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance in their leading roles, reprises the roles of Nancy Stephens and Charles Cyphers, and brings in Lance Guest as a new character.  The events of the movie are set immediately after the end of the first movie with Loomis discovering that Michael survived being shot and falling off the balcony and begins hunting through the town to find him. Laurie is transported to the Haddonfield Hospital where, of course, Michael tracks her down and continues trying to kill her. 

The DVD does include a handful of extras, including the theatrical trailer, production notes, and some interviews with the cast and crew. They are not extensive, and not nearly as much as was included in the later blu-ray releases, but they are there if you like going through the bonus content.

I loved the first Halloween movie. It is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Generally, as you get into sequels the quality goes down (as was certainly the case with this franchise). This movie which was originally intended to be the only sequel is definitely the best of the bunch. The one thing I really liked about the movie is that although they showed Michel much more than in the first film, they still kept him hidden enough that it kept a similar sense of suspense as the original film. Also, while the movie was definitely gorier than the first one (which was done at Carpenter's insistence in post-production), it did not go overboard on the gore. The filmakers used suspense to keep the movie scary rather than just turning it into a straight slasher film (even though some did criticize the amount of gore in this movie compared to the first one). I also liked the way they paralleled the stories of Michael stalking Laurie at the hospital and Loomis trying to hunt him down. Jamie Lee Curtis did not have as large a role in this movie as she did in the first one until the end when she was trying to get away from Michael. Donald Pleasence's role was expanded in this movie and he did a great job playing Loomis as obsessed with getting Michael to the extent that Loomis comes off as being crazy too. He nailed that role and the one good thing that the multiple sequels did was allow him to reprise it.

While this is not an all-out hack-and-slash gore fest that is popular among today's horror movies, it still stands the test of time as one of the most suspenseful and scary horror films. They definitely make Michael less human and more indestructible in this movie, which the series would continue to overdo with each subsequent movie. It was the intent of John Carpenter that Michael actually die at the end of this movie, and that no additional sequels featuring Michael be made. In fact, if you pay attention to the scenes in the school they foreshadow Micahel's death at the very end. Of course, that only lasted for one movie after Halloween III bombed, but Carpenter would never be involved in any of the other sequels until he agreed to be a producer and composer on the 2018, 2020, and 2021 Halloween sequel reboots. In fact, Carpenter has gone on record saying he did not really want to make a sequel to the original Halloween, but had to agree to a sequel to get the first movie made (if the first one made money, which of course, it did). Ultimately, if you are a fan of the horror genre, this one definitely deserves a place in your collection even though it is not as good as the original movie.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween H20

 

Halloween H20 was released twenty years after the original movie and saw the first of what has become multiple returns to the franchise for Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode. It is revealed that she faked her death (really the only tie-in to Halloween 4-6, otherwise it ignored the prior sequels aside from Halloween II) and is now working as the headmistress at an elite private school. She has a son played by Josh Hartnett who chafes under her strict rules meant to keep him safe from the ever-present threat of Michael Myers finding them and finishing what he started. Of course, Michael manages to track her down and the usual terror ensues.

The movie is good overall but does have some silly points (pretty much everything with LL Cool J). I like that they changed the character of Laurie from being the scared weakling to being willing to stand up to Michael. This time, when she drops a weapon she picks up another one and does not assume he is dead. It sports a very recognizable cast (especially back in 1998) including Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and Joseph Gordon Levitt. It also had a pretty nice nod to the late Donald Pleasance and had a cameo by Nancy Stephens reprising her role as Marion Chambers, the nurse from the first two movies. There was also a fun cameo by Janet Leigh, who was of course Jamie Lee Curtis' mother and the original scream queen from the movie Psycho.

For those who get the original DVD version, the extras a pretty minimal. There is a short behind-the-scenes feature, a music video, and a trivia game. The extras released with the complete Blu-Ray set are much better and more extensive.

Of course, there have been other sequels after this one, including basically resetting the franchise with Curtis returning as a slightly different version of Laurie. Had this actually been the end of the Halloween franchise, as I think a lot of people would have liked, it would have been the perfect conclusion to the story. But, now, you really just have to look at it as one of the sequels and enjoy it (or not) for the story it tells. I think the original movie is one of the best, if not the best, horror movies ever, and while this is not as good as that, it is still very good and one of the best sequels that have been made. Definitely worth watching.

DVD Review: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

 

Haloween Six, also called The Curse of Michael Myers, was really a mess of a movie. The mess, admittedly (by the producers) started with the production of the movie and carried through to the final product. It picks up years after the events of Halloween 5 in which Michael is broken out of jail and Jamie is kidnapped by the man in black. In this movie, we learn the identity of the man in black and find out that he is a larger part of a larger cult (essentially). The movie is pretty much non-sensical from beginning to end. The basic plot is that Jamie is pregnant (and it is very much hinted that Michael is somehow the father), has the baby, and escapes from the cult. Then, of course, Michael tries to track down the baby and in the process comes back to Haddonfield and wreaks havoc.

Really, the only thing that makes the movie worth watching is seeing Paul Rudd in one of his first major movie roles (this movie came out the same year as Clueless), as Tommy Doyle (the kid Laurie babysat in the original movie) who has become obsessed with Michael Meyers and seeing Donald Pleasance for the last time as Loomis. Everything else about the movie pretty much fell into the hot garbage category. Firstly, Danielle Harris, who was open to reprising her role as Jamie, hated what was done to the character so much she decided to not have anything to do with the movie. The plot was just stupid, and because the audience reception was so bad there were major reshoots done, including after Donald Pleasance died, that the character of Loomis was essentially written out offscreen.

This is just the theatrical cut of the movie. The disc does not include the producer's cut that was for years just available as a bootleg, but finally released in the Blu-ray box set a handful of years ago. I think the actors did the best they could with what they were given, which was not much, but Rudd and Pleasance did a really good job in their roles and basically kept the movie from being total garbage. I think if Jamie would have been incorporated better into the movie so that Danielle Harris would have come back, and they dispensed with the silly cult stuff, the movie would have been a lot better. That said, it is a very dark sequel, and it did have some good elements to it, just not enough (in my opinion).

If you get the original DVD release, you just basically get the movie itself. There are no extras (besides some coming soon trailers). Ultimately, the movie is not for everyone. Even for Halloween fans, it is not even close to being the best Halloween movie (or even the best sequel). So, I cannot say that even fans of the series are going to love it, but I still think it is worth watching as long as you temper your expectations.