Anchor Bay re-releases Halloween 4 with a new transfer and some nice new extras.
Halloween II saw the unstoppable Michael Myers with his eyes shot out and blown up along with his pursuer Dr. Sam Loomis. There was a sequel beyond that, but as most fans are aware Halloween III: Season of the Witch was unfortunately Myers-less and flopped at the box office.
Halloween 4 picks up ten years after the events of Halloween II and Michael has been in the burn ward of a prison for the criminally insane. Unfortunately he’s being transferred to another hospital and he rises again to reek havoc on Haddonfield. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) who was burned but also survived the events of H2 again takes up the pursuit again.
Michael (George P. Wilbur) is returning to Haddonfield to kill Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode. She’s in the care of her babysitter Rachel (Ellie Cornell) and out trick or treating. Dr. Loomis rolls into town and in a welcome change of pace, the Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) actually believes him and the hunt is on. Sheriff Meeker, Dr. Loomis, Meeker’s daughter Kelly (Kathleen Kinmont), and Brady (Sasha Jenson) all take refuge in Meeker’s house.
However, Michael has a supernatural ability to break through the most safest of barriers. Will our heroes be able to protect Jamie from Michael and will she be able to avoid the taint of the Myers’ blood?
Dr. Loomis is in pursuit once again
No sequel ever comes close to eclipsing the original and Halloween 4 is no exception. What it does have is one helluva ending (pissed away in Halloween 5) and the return of Donald Pleasence in the role of Dr. Loomis. In 1982, it was decided to take the Halloween series in a different direction. Halloween III: Season of the Witch was the result.
Although the film is not particularly horrible, the fans were expecting the return of the Shape (Michael Myers) and this disappointment caused H3 to flop at the box office. When executive producer Moustapha Akkad got the money together to get H4 off the ground, it was decided that the unstoppable killer would stalk again. H4 opened to killer box office and well made up its production budget.
Michael Myers was back and would continue his rampage through four more films (and counting). At 88 minutes I think that director Dwight H. Little crafted a compact but worthy sequel to Halloween (though maybe my appreciation is flavored by how awful I thought H5 was).
Halloween 4 is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The special features are a mixture of old and new. The old includes the 16 minute “Halloween 4: The Final Cut” that is from the 2001 DVD. It has interviews with Moustapha Akkad, director Dwight H. Little, writer Alan B. McElroy, producer Paul Freeman, actress Danielle Harris, actress Ellie Cornell, George P. Wilbur, and composer Alan Howarth.
New additions include the 18 minute “Halloween 4 and 5 Discussion Panel” (shot at the H25 convention). It has a panel including Danielle Harris, Kathleen Kinmont, Sasha Jenson, and Jeffrey Landman (from H5) answering audience questions. There are two audio commentaries recorded newly for this release. The first is with actresses Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris. The second is from Anthony Massey (of Halloweenmovies.com) and screenwriter James B. McElroy.
I found the second commentary the most interesting of the two since Massey asks some interesting questions of McElroy (such as what direction he would’ve made H5 go). Finally there’s the theatrical trailer.
The return of the Shape
Halloween 4 is a fine little film and finally sees the return of the Shape. It rises in my estimation because of its great ending which unfortunately was not carried through in the next sequel. Halloween fans will definitely want to add it to their collections and Anchor Bays makes it easy by adding some nice new extras.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (Divimax Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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