Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) Galaxy/Horror RT: 98 minutes Rated R (graphic violence, language, brief nudity, sexual content, drug and alcohol use by teens, children in peril) Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard Screenplay: Michael Jacobs, Dominique Othenin-Girard and Shem Bitterman Music: Alan Howarth Cinematography: Robert Draper Release date: October 13, 1989 (US) Cast: Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Wendy Kaplan, Beau Starr, Jeffrey Landman, Tamara Glynn, Jonathan Chapin, Matthew Walker, Betty Carvalho, Troy Evans, Frank Como, David Ursin, Harper Roisman, Karen Alston, Max Robinson. Box Office: $11.6M (US) Body Count: 20
Rating: **
Well, I guess Michael Myers wasn’t happy with the hometown reception he received in the last movie so he returns to Haddonfield again in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers which takes place one year after the events of the previous entry. Something tells me the townspeople will be as receptive as they were last time.
As I’m sure you recall, the sheriff and a whole gang of beer-bellied rednecks shot the hell out of Michael and sent him falling through an abandoned mine shaft after which a deputy sent down an explosive charge. Naturally, Michael survives and floats down the river to a cabin occupied by a mountain man. Michael attacks the man before he faints and falls into a catatonic state for a full year until the following Halloween. He awakens from his slumber and kills the mountain man who allowed him to crash at his place the entire time.
Meanwhile, Jamie Lloyd (Harris) is confined to the children’s clinic because she attacked her stepmother at the end of the previous movie with a pair of scissors. Unable to speak, she’s still having nightmares. Dr. Loomis (Pleasence) is convinced that she can tell him whether or not her uncle is still alive. She has some sort of psychic connection with Michael and knows he is coming back to get her. We also learn that Michael has a strange tattoo on his wrist, the same tattoo a mysterious man in black sports on his own wrist.
Rachel visits Jamie at the clinic and tells her that she’s going away for a few days to spend time with her parents. After all the crap she went through last year, who can blame her for wanting to leave town on Halloween? Nobody in their right mind would want to spend Halloween in Haddonfield. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get too far. She gets killed in her own house by Michael who has come looking for Jamie.
Meanwhile, Rachel’s best friend Tina (Kaplan) is getting ready for a big costume party at a local barn. Michael shows up in Haddonfield and dispatches Tina’s dirtbag boyfriend Mikey (Chapin, 16 Candles) while the teen is stealing beer for the celebration. This leads to an uncomfortable scene where Michael, driving Mikey’s car, picks Tina up and starts driving her to a party. Because he’s wearing the mask that Tina gave to Mikey earlier in the movie, she thinks it’s her boyfriend and doesn’t understand why he’s giving her the silent treatment. Can we say “potentially physically abusive relationship”? There’s no suspense in this scene. It mimics a far more effective scene from Friday the 13th (1980).
Eventually, the teens make their way to the barn while two inept deputies are assigned to watch Tina to make sure nothing happens to her. Jamie is convinced her life is in danger. Not satisfied with the measures being taken, Jamie and another young patient Billy (Landman) leave the clinic and head out on foot to the barn. I think we all know what’s going to happen from this point on. A lot of people are going to die, especially any couple engaging in sexual intercourse. Eventually, Jamie is going to agree to help Dr. Loomis capture Michael and the climax will take place in the old Myers house.
There are no surprises in Halloween 5. It’s a formulaic slasher flick without a shred of style or substance. It’s actually rather boring. I’ve seen horror movies that are much worse than this, but it comes as a shock to the system that what started out with a classic suspense film has devolved into just another series of slasher flicks featuring an unstoppable homicidal maniac. The introduction of the psychic link between Jamie and Michael seems like a desperate attempt by the filmmakers to retain the interest of the fans. As a fan of the Halloween movies, I can easily say that this does absolutely nothing for me.
However, the man dressed in black with steel-tipped boots is fairly intriguing. Who is he? What does he want in Haddonfield? Whose side is he on? I can say that the screenwriters don’t provide any definitive answers except one, but I’m not going to reveal it at this time, I will be discussing that in the upcoming review of the next Halloween movie.
The characters are really one-dimensional this time around. After Rachel is killed, Tina becomes Jamie’s protector. Any rational person would recognize that this girl is an incredible flake. Some might say that she has a flamboyant and free-spirited attitude; others would say that she is annoying and irresponsible. Either way, is this somebody who should be allowed to visit Jamie at the clinic any time she wants? At one point, she even sneaks the family dog into Jamie’s room at the clinic. How many health codes does that violate?
Then there’s the matter of the two deputies assigned to keep an eye on Tina. Not only do they sit in their patrol car while teenagers carry on right in front of them, they come out and admit they’re not good cops. Their appearances in this movie are usually accompanied by “clown music” which might be the only intentional humor in this whole movie. These guys make Barney Fife look like a master sleuth.
Once again, Pleasence plays Dr. Loomis as a raving lunatic obsessed with taking down Michael once and for all. Again, he gets some pretty crazy dialogue. My favorite line is “I prayed that he would burn in hell. But in my heart, I knew that hell would not have him.” This leads to another question about this movie. Why would the people at the clinic allow this obviously crazy man to badger and yell at the little girl? She’s supposed to be there for treatment. What Loomis does to her doesn’t sound like any type of therapy that I’ve heard about.
There are many, many questions that I could ask about Halloween 5 like how can a large man wearing a scary mask be able to dig up a coffin from the graveyard and transport it to the old Myers house without being seen? It happens in broad daylight. For obvious reasons, the residents of Haddonfield should be on high alert on Halloween.
Harris does a good job with a role that doesn’t require her to speak for about half the movie. It’s tragic to see a child in so much psychological distress, but to have a homicidal maniac chasing her around is just horrific. To be honest, I expected the filmmakers to take her character in a much different direction, especially considering her violent attack on her stepmother. They could have brought the series full circle and had somebody else pick up the butcher knife, but that’s not what audiences want to see. It’s one thing to have a grown person walking around and killing people; it would be quite another to have a young child do it, especially somebody as charming as Harris. I would think audiences would prefer that she be the heroine instead of the villain.
I think the filmmakers missed out on some good opportunities with Halloween 5, but horror sequels are hardly the time and place for originality and intelligence. The studio and the filmmakers have a clear idea of what their audience wants and they deliver it in one big generic package here. It’s not entirely bad; it’s just very mediocre and unmemorable. In its defense, it’s a lot better than the next one.
