Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2009-08-15
Whereas "Halloween 4" was a return to form for the franchise, "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers" attempts to take the series in a bold new direction. Unfortunately, the stars were not in alignment for this major shake-up, causing the movie to fall amongst the worst in the Michael Myers saga. By not following up lingering plot lines from "Halloween 4," devoting considerably less screen time to Dr. Loomis, and delving into utterly bizarre plot twists, "Halloween 5" has some serious issues.
Following a shootout with the Illinois State Police, Michael Myers seemingly meets his demise after he falls through an abandoned mine shaft. Emerging in the nearby river, he takes shelter with a local hermit and remains in a coma for one whole year. Awakening on the eve of Halloween, he once again rises up in an attempt to kill his young niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris). Now residing in a children's institution, Jamie is cared for by her sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) and Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence). However, the horrible events one year earlier have rendered the child unable to speak. As Michael seeks his revenge, only a handful of people stand in his way.
A major detriment to "Halloween 5" comes from its treatment of series icon Donald Pleasence. "Halloween 4" showed the beginning of his growing obsession with Michael Myers and his descent into eventual madness due to said obsession. But while "Halloween 4" let this evolution develop organically, "Halloween 5" has it spiraling out of control. In effect, Dr. Loomis has become a bully to young Jamie, and it is sickening to see. This man is a doctor and a protector above all else, and he has always been there to stand in the way of Michael Myers and protect the helpless. Here, his madness has consumed him. He sees Jamie as one who will carry on Michael's legacy, and doesn't even seem to care about her wellbeing in the slightest.
As always, when there's less of Dr. Loomis, it always means there's more emphasis on the boring and cookie-cutter teenage victims of Michael Myers. The most promoted of them all in "Halloween 5" is Tina (Wendy Kaplan), a friend of Jamie's sister Rachel. Although Tina does put Jamie's best interest first when she realizes the danger Michael Myers poses, it does not excuse her annoying behavior in the rest of the film. A typical party girl, she is the type Myers just loves to kill.
Another major mistake on the part of the producers was replacing "Halloween 4" director Dwight H. Little with Dominique Othenin-Girard. Bringing a distinct European style to the film, Mr. Othenin-Girard makes the film much too dark and dreary to be effective, and because of this, "Halloween 5" is unnecessarily dark, sometimes obscuring the picture into blackness. Additionally awkward was the director's decision to alter the Myers house for this film, changing it from a typical suburban home to a large and foreboding gothic mansion.
Perhaps the most perplexing element in the entire "Halloween" series is the presence of "the man in the silver tipped boots" in "Halloween 5." Although one explanation claims that he was originally conceived as Michael Myers' twin brother, the story of this character begins as he emerges in the film only to never be fully revealed or explained. Due to the fact that yet another production rift altered the creative team of "Halloween 6," and that low box office returns negated an immediate sequel, this character faded into oblivion. Nonetheless, it is still one more example of the absolute absurdity of the ideas put forth in "Halloween 5" without so much as one word of explanation.
Furthermore, this movie makes no attempt to follow up on the plot lines left open by "Halloween 4," especially its startling ending. To refrain from spoiling the ending to a good movie, I will not reveal it, but only a casual mention of it is made in "Halloween 5." The writer and director simply had no interest in pursuing it further and simply let it go in favor of their own agenda.
Putting things in perspective, "Halloween 5" is to "Halloween 4" what "Halloween II" was to the original "Halloween." Both are continuations of the same core story but offer shallow follow-ups unworthy of their predecessors. As well, both feature the return of appealing characters from the previous films only to use them in a diminished capacity. "Halloween 5" falls into the same pitfalls of "Halloween II," taking away everything that made the previous movie successful, substituting story and suspense for gore, sex, and nonsense. But "Halloween 5" is a much worse offender as it makes itself incredibly boring and ludicrous.
Looking back, 1989 was a terrible year for all three of the major horror icons, not just Michael Myers. That year saw the release of "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child," all major disasters for their respective franchises in both the critical and commercial arenas. Having been rushed into production so rapidly after the success of "Halloween 4," "Halloween 5" did not have adequate time to develop itself properly, resulting in the lifeless production seen here.
Truth be told, I am a major "Halloween" fan, and I love all of the films in the original line-up. However, even "Halloween 5" is bad enough that I would not seriously recommend it to anyone other than hard core fans of the series. Arguably the worst of the original series, this movie ultimately became the beginning of the end for the series until its modern resurrection. Still, I'd watch "Halloween 5" on an infinite loop rather than succumb to the torture that was Rob Zombie's "Halloween" remake any day of the week.
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