By Geno McGahee
In 1988, Michael Myers was brought back to the big screen after the negative backlash after HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, which had no pale-faced killer. HALLOWEEN IV brought forth the story of Jamie (Danielle Harris), the niece of Myers and her fight for survival. Jamie and her adopted sister, Rachel (Ellie Cornell), were able to fend off the killer and put him down in a hard way, but like every other slasher of the 80s, you can’t keep them down forever. Myers was down but not out and in 1989 he returned in HALLOWEEN 5.
HALLOWEEN 5 once again covers the story of Jamie and her uncle. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) returns to the side of the young girl, which is strange. At the ending of the last one, he pulled out a gun and it took every fiber of his being not to kill her. He just kept screaming “no” after she held a bloody knife at the top of the stairs. In the defense of Loomis, he had a rough couple of days and Jamie was kind enough to forgive him. That’s good enough for me.
Rachel is also back and her friend, Tina (Wendy Foxworth), who assumes the role of lead female in this one. Her character is such a mixture of bad 80s style and her personality is over the top. The character is hard to believe in, where Rachel was very warm. They killed her off early and the focus shifted to Tina. The film really lost a lot there and even Dr. Loomis became very mean-spirited in this. He always has that hard exterior but soft soul, but not here. He comes off as a giant prick. Jamie forgave him and this is how he acts? For shame Loomis. For shame!!!
The sell on this film is that you get to see Myers unmasked, but does it matter? He just looks like a guy and there really wasn’t an intrigue in it. If they showed Myers full frontal, then that would be something. No wonder he’s so mad…he’s hung like a mouse!
The positive element in this film is the shift to the cult that controls Michael. We see the man with the bad cowboy boots and black trench coat walking around and then eventually helping Myers, which leads to HALLOWEEN 6: The Origin of Michael Myers (the producer’s cut), where we really see where the killer came from and why he was who he was.
HALLOWEEN 5 is one of the weakest in the series and didn’t really have its own story to tell. It basically took what HALLOWEEN 4 did and then did it again with a few minor changes. This was a cash-grab sequel and is very forgettable. I still recommend it as a HALLOWEEN fan, but it’s nothing special.
Rating: 5/10
