%
Rating
Synopsis
Though seemingly killed at the last film’s conclusion, Michael Myers (Don Shanks) is found by a hermit (Harper Roisman). Over the next year, the hermit nurses Michael back to health, only for Michael to kill him. Meanwhile, a now mute Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) is committed to the Haddonfield Children’s Clinic after attacking her stepmother. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) discovers that Jamie shares a telepathic link with Michael and wants her to track him. On his way to find her, Michael kills Jamie’s stepsister, Rachael (Ellie Cornell), and stalks her friend Tina (Wendy Kaplan). Because of her psychic link, Jamie can sense when someone’s in danger, but her warnings are brushed aside. During all this, a mysterious man in black seems to follow wherever Michael goes. Will Loomis and Jamie stop Michael for good, and who is the man in black?
Review
While it had its issues, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was a decent slasher film. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, which you can tell was rushed. This film’s rushed production is apparent from the half-baked script to the sudden retcons of the last installment. For instance, Jamie’s stabbing her stepmother to death is suddenly changed so that she survived. Also, Jamie’s stepsister Rachael, one of the more prominent characters from before, is killed off 20 minutes in. Producer Moustapha Akkad did everything he could to deliver what he thought the fans would want but disappointed them more. Say what you will about Halloween II, but they at least waited three years before developing the sequel. Sure, that movie introduced aspects that I wasn’t a fan of, but it’s much more memorable than this.
To get into the positives, Danielle Harris still delivers a solid performance as a traumatized Jamie Lloyd. Despite the script, she does her best with the material and even outshines Donald Pleasance, which is a rarity. That’s not to say Pleasance performs poorly, but it feels like the same tired shtick we’ve seen countless times. Standing at 6′ 1″, Don Shanks makes for a decent Michael Myers, but his performance is nothing special. Wendy Kaplan does a decent job but feels like a replacement for Ellie Cornell rather than a new character. Aside from that, there’s little more to say about the cast, as they’re cannon fodder to die in gruesome ways. The only other notable cast members are Frank Como and David Ursin as a pair of bumbling cops. It didn’t work in The Last House on the Left, and it doesn’t work here.
To give co-writer/director Dominique Othenin-Girard some credit, he manages to create some effective tense sequences. The scene where Michael chases Jamie in a car through a cornfield is a nail-biter, even if slightly ridiculous. Also, when Jamie tries hiding from Michael in the old Myers house, there’s some genuine suspense. Even Michael taking off his mask and shedding a single tear is handled well, which is a shocker. Still, scenes like this come before Dr. Loomis tries luring Michael into a trap using Jamie as bait. Also, the “Man in Black” feels pointless, as if he’s there to provide mystery without giving proper incentive. At 97 minutes, this movie drags to the end, and by then, you wonder if it was worth the effort. Overall, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers feels tired, haphazardly put together, and creatively bankrupt.
Buy Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BZzsdP.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
