HALLOWEEN 5

(A.k.a. HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS)

How can any horror fan not love John Carpenter’s 1978 indie hit HALLOWEEN? From its introducing of America’s spookiest autumnal town (Haddonfield) to the director’s own iconic score and the cementing of Jamie Lee Curtis’ reputation as THE scream queen of her era, we have so much to be eternally grateful for.

Not only did the film also popularise the conventions of the stalk ‘n’ slash genre (already established in more minor gems such as BLACK CHRISTMAS and FRIGHT) and pave the way for literally hundreds of pale imitations, but crucially it introduced us to one of horror cinema’s most enduring boogeymen: Michael Myers.

A sequel was inevitable. What no-one could have guessed was that, aided by a return to the fold by Curtis and the original’s paranoid hero Donald Pleasence, as well as a story by Carpenter, it was almost as good as its predecessor. Granted, it took a different approach – something borne out of necessity, given the more explicit violence that was coming through in the glut of rip-offs proving successful at the box office at the time – but it proved to be a worthy successor to the landmark original.

Pity then that 1982’s third instalment, subtitled SEASON OF THE WITCH, adopted a more fantastical and ultimately light-hearted line of thought. Worse still, it ditched Myers’ faceless killer and replaced Carpenter’s iconic legendary score with that wretched fucking "Silver Shamrock" jingle.

Thankfully, executive producer Moustapha Akkad saw sense and brought Michael back for part 4. It was a half-decent return to the straighter horror of the franchise’s first two instalments and even reinstated Pleasence as Dr Loomis, Myers’ seemingly perpetual adversary.

In the finale of part 4, Michael was cornered by police after relentlessly hounding a mother and her young daughter, Michael’s niece, Jamie (Danielle Harris). Shot several times, cajoled into a cave and then left there to die when an ignited stick of dynamite was thrown in, it seemed that everyone could breathe a sigh of relief – Michael was finally dead …

Not so. Those climactic moments serve as the opening of this fifth offering, and we see that Michael in actual fact didn’t die at all. Rather, he was nurtured back to health by a random recluse living in a hunt on a nearby riverbank.

Fast-forward to one year later (on the eve of Halloween, of course), and we’re back in Haddonfield – specifically, the local children’s clinic where Jamie now resides. She’s still being plagued by nightmares flashing back to the preceding film’s darker moments.

Held in the clinic since attacking her mother a year earlier, Jamie has been rendered mute by the trauma of her past experiences and is now prone to violent seizures brought on by a psychic connection she shares with her uncle. Yes, you read that right.

It’s quite fortuitous then that Jamie is tended to by Dr Loomis himself. Her slow road to recovery is also aided by her stepsister Rachel (Ellie Cornell), and her mate Tina (Wendy Kaplan).

However, these girls soon live to regret any loyalty towards troubled young Jamie, when Michael (Don Shanks) arrives back in town with a mind to using them as bait to lure his niece away from her hospital surroundings …

Can Loomis exploit Jamie’s connection with Myers in a bid to end his reign of evil once and for all? And who IS that mysterious figure adorned in black?

Shot in Utah in 1989 on a budget of roughly $3 million, HALLOWEEN 5 follows on directly from part 4. So much so, that watching it as a standalone film doesn’t really come advised. The story literally picks up where its predecessor finished and a few characters are reprised with little explanatory subtext: know your stuff in advance, and you’ll find this more comprehensible.

Having said that, HALLOWEEN 5 isn’t the most logical of films. A bizarre issue to raise when discussing the merits of a horror film perhaps, but there is a lot in here that does make you wonder where the common sense went. What’s the point in the telekinetic sub-plot, for example, when it’s never fully exploited? What happened to the suggestion that Jamie had succumbed to evil in part 4? Why is the man-in-black’s identity never established? Actually, that latter point does get addressed, but only in the inferior 1995 follow-up, HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS …

HALLOWEEN 5 also loses points for some ill-advised humour here and there, which is at loggerheads with other Myers-inclusive entries in the franchise. Plus, killing off Rachel at an early stage really does reduce the middle hour of this film into little more than a by-the-numbers slasher exercise. And not a particularly bloody or scary one, at that.

Another gripe for fans of the series, one which didn’t concern me personally but is definitely worth a mention, is how Michael’s mask – perhaps I should be calling him The Shape? – differs in design from those in the other films.

On the plus side, the pace is unwavering and the cinematography is keen with atmosphere and rich colours. Pleasence is always value for money as the demented Loomis (he’s even more barmy than usual here), and Harris is revelatory for a 9-year-old girl conveying so many emotions – fear, trepidation, sympathy – without uttering a word. She really carries the film, especially when Pleasence isn’t around to chew the scenery. I did feel slightly uneasy though, watching this young girl excel on the screen and then suddenly realising she’s the hottie that I enjoyed watching getting scuttled in the woods in Michael Biehn’s recent THE VICTIM!

The final 15 minutes are admittedly quite gripping. There are some well-edited chase sequences and a highlight involving a tense moment where Jamie becomes trapped in a laundry chute. The violence is upped during the finale moments too; something that, at that point in the game, was necessary.

Silly but stylish, confused but fluent and benefiting from good use of Carpenter’s original score, HALLOWEEN 5 is fun but Michael Myers just doesn’t seem dangerous enough in it for the most part. Still, at least by this point he wasn’t wise-cracking like Freddy or confined to killing only horny teens like Jason.

Anchor Bay UK’s blu-ray follows hot on the heels of their US counterpart’s HD disc of a couple of months earlier.

Like that edition, it presents the film as an MPEG4-AVC file in full 1080p HD. The original 1.85:1 aspect ratio has been adhered to, and the picture is naturally enhanced for 16x9 television sets.

The print used is a nice and clean one. Images are sharp and smooth, while colours really are vivid in many lighter scenes. Darker sequences hold up well thanks to strong black gradients and a fine balance of contrast. DNR has been employed but not to a distracting extent. There’s little to grumble about in what is a marked improvement over previous domestic presentations.

English audio comes in a muscular, impressive 5.1 True HD mix. All channels are employed evenly and appropriately, ensuring clean dialogue levels are consistent throughout while the sound design really jolts when intended to.

Optional subtitles are provided in English for the Hard-of-Hearing, and Spanish.

Anchor Bay’s disc opens to an animated main menu page. From there, pop-up menus include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with two comprehensive audio commentary tracks.

The first comes from Shanks and is moderated by author Justin Beahm. Beahm does a fair job of prompting his subject with relevant cues where necessary, but Shanks for the most part is capable of providing a fair amount of well-remembered detail concerning working on-set, the mood towards him as the Michael character, his experiences with his co-stars and so on. His attitude towards the film appears to be generally positive.

Director Dominique Othenin-Girard, Harris and co-star Jeffrey Landman turn up for the second chat track. This piece, which was available on the old Anchor Bay DVD release of the film, is a good consistent proposition with lots of amiable banter amid the genuine insights, both into the production and the film’s themes (yes, there are some).

"On the Set" is a 16-minute shot-on-video featurette containing some mildly diverting behind-the-scenes footage interspersed with occasional ‘talking head’ titbits from cast members. Again, fans are likely to have already seen this on the aforementioned DVD release.

A 6-minute EPK-style promo piece is of less interest.

HALLOWEEN 5 isn’t a great addition to the original franchise, but it’s not the worst entry either (perhaps that would be part 6?). And, for all its failings, I’d still rather watch this than those crappy remakes by that middle-aged MTV rocker …

Review by Stuart Willis