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Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
DVD/APPROX. 98 MINS/1989/USA R18+
DVD/APPROX. 98 MINS/1989/USA R18+
5
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The sequel. A wonderful way for film production companies to see how much their fan base for a particular licence will tolerate, before rot sets in,
and they have to cut their loses, and cease the excessive milking of the cash cow. I think in general, we all can, as horror fans, say that it is rare
that a sequel does anything to enhance the original. Sure we watch them, but that is more from a faint hope that we can be excited again by a
licence, how else could Friday the 13th go for 10 episodes, or House of the Dead get a sequel at all!!
I made the comment in my review for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers that I had been invigorated in my fandom of the Halloween
series. I think that the original, 2 and 4 (again, we shall ignore the out of continuity Part 3) had a quality of acting and continuity that made the
Halloween series quite unique. This may have been in most part due to the wonderfully erratic part of Dr Loomis, as portrayed by screen legend
Donald Pleasance, which caused the rest of the cast to lift their game, or by the fact that the storyline made logical (within the confines of the film
anyway) sense: Part 2 had the nights events continue from Part 1, and Part 4 showed the surprising survival, and renewed efforts by Myers to
delete his bloodline some 10 years later, with his eventual death, but the evil becoming something that is ignited in 'the new blood'. Well for some
reason that cool 'horror logic' is almost completely abandoned, and Myers comes back to just cause carnage in his hometown again.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers continues immediately where 4 finished, with Myers falling down an abandoned mine shaft, and it
collapsing behind him, but wait, he manages to crawl out of the mine and make his way to safety, that being a local eccentrics shack, where he is
nursed, for the next twelve months, back to health. Much has happened since Michael has been away. His niece, Jamie (Danielle Harris) attacked
her foster mother with a knife (seen at the end of Part 4), and has since been institutionalised, unable to speak from the trauma she had been
through. Her foster sister, Rachael (the other survivor from part 4, Ellie Cornell) visits her constantly, and brings her friends to try and speed along
Jamie's recovery, a regular being Tina (Wendy Kaplan), and she is also supported by young friend Billy (Jeffrey Landman), and the lingering, and
slowly going potty, Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasance). When Michael becomes completely well again, ironicly close to Halloween (phew!!), a psychic
link kicks into Jamie's mind, and she can see and feel Michael's presence almost as if she is a part of him...and so Michael, in an attempt to get to
his niece, cuts a completely unnecessary path through the teens of Haddonfield again, at least this time he mainly takes out the annoying ones!! A
stranger also arrives in town, wearing a black coat and point shoes, and sharing a tattoo that Michael has...who is he? why is he there? Ah, who
cares!!
The plot to this tale is no worse than most sequels from the eighties, but the acting is so bad, that it seems a lot worse. The ending plot points
from part 4, like the 'passing on of evil' are completely ignored, and this film just retreads the places that many horror films went, and still go today.
Donald Pleasance almost saves the day, but even his portrayal of Loomis seems more of a caricature of the Loomis from the previous chapters.
Danielle Harris, who showed so much promise in part 4, doesn't speak for most of her time on-screen, which is a massive waste of talent, and
maybe would have given the film a bit more depth. The actors playing the bumbling cops and the horny teens all need to be slapped, or at the very
least given some acting lessons. The images in this film are pretty good, and the cinematography at time is great, but all in all, this is the weakest
of the Halloween film that I have seen to this point....having said that, my intention is to completely avoid Part 6!!
Like the Halloween 4 Anchor Bay Divimax Special Edition, there are some interesting special features on this disc, none of which really enhance the
viewing, but if you like the Halloween series, there is some great stuff.
The disc is introduced by Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell who unfortunately forget to warn you how crap the movie is.... A warning I could have
used!!
Inside Halloween 5 is a documentary with 'then and now' interviews with some of the cast and crew, specifically Danielle Harris, Edie Cornell, Don
Shanks, cinematographer Rob Draper and Producer Moustapha Akkad. This documentary certainly work better if you have the Anchor Bay Part 4 of
Halloween as it is some what of a sequel to the documentary on that disc.
On the Set of Halloween is some behind the scenes footage taken during the making of Halloween Part 5, really just showing some of the
aspects of film making, without being informative. There is a nice spontaneous interview with the remarkable Donald Pleasance that makes it
worthwhile. Apparently this is 'never seen before' so be prepared for stuff you may have not seen before.
The commentary is by director Dominique Othenin-Gerard, and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman. Quite informative and they play off each
other well, hearing stories by the child actors that they remember through children's eyes, and then confirmed with the adult, but with the adult
stance makes this interesting by itself. Together their recollections are exhaustive, and their stories never get boring. Mind you having to watch
the film again was a chore.
There is trailers for Halloween, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Masters of Horror and Halloween 5 itself.
This is a quite complete disc for a film that doesn't deserve it. This film can be used alongside such trash as Friday the 15th Part VIII: Jason
Takes Manhattan, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation and Return of the Living Dead Part 2 as reasons
why sequels are sometimes TOTALLY unnecessary. Rubbish for Halloween completest only.
and they have to cut their loses, and cease the excessive milking of the cash cow. I think in general, we all can, as horror fans, say that it is rare
that a sequel does anything to enhance the original. Sure we watch them, but that is more from a faint hope that we can be excited again by a
licence, how else could Friday the 13th go for 10 episodes, or House of the Dead get a sequel at all!!
I made the comment in my review for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers that I had been invigorated in my fandom of the Halloween
series. I think that the original, 2 and 4 (again, we shall ignore the out of continuity Part 3) had a quality of acting and continuity that made the
Halloween series quite unique. This may have been in most part due to the wonderfully erratic part of Dr Loomis, as portrayed by screen legend
Donald Pleasance, which caused the rest of the cast to lift their game, or by the fact that the storyline made logical (within the confines of the film
anyway) sense: Part 2 had the nights events continue from Part 1, and Part 4 showed the surprising survival, and renewed efforts by Myers to
delete his bloodline some 10 years later, with his eventual death, but the evil becoming something that is ignited in 'the new blood'. Well for some
reason that cool 'horror logic' is almost completely abandoned, and Myers comes back to just cause carnage in his hometown again.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers continues immediately where 4 finished, with Myers falling down an abandoned mine shaft, and it
collapsing behind him, but wait, he manages to crawl out of the mine and make his way to safety, that being a local eccentrics shack, where he is
nursed, for the next twelve months, back to health. Much has happened since Michael has been away. His niece, Jamie (Danielle Harris) attacked
her foster mother with a knife (seen at the end of Part 4), and has since been institutionalised, unable to speak from the trauma she had been
through. Her foster sister, Rachael (the other survivor from part 4, Ellie Cornell) visits her constantly, and brings her friends to try and speed along
Jamie's recovery, a regular being Tina (Wendy Kaplan), and she is also supported by young friend Billy (Jeffrey Landman), and the lingering, and
slowly going potty, Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasance). When Michael becomes completely well again, ironicly close to Halloween (phew!!), a psychic
link kicks into Jamie's mind, and she can see and feel Michael's presence almost as if she is a part of him...and so Michael, in an attempt to get to
his niece, cuts a completely unnecessary path through the teens of Haddonfield again, at least this time he mainly takes out the annoying ones!! A
stranger also arrives in town, wearing a black coat and point shoes, and sharing a tattoo that Michael has...who is he? why is he there? Ah, who
cares!!
The plot to this tale is no worse than most sequels from the eighties, but the acting is so bad, that it seems a lot worse. The ending plot points
from part 4, like the 'passing on of evil' are completely ignored, and this film just retreads the places that many horror films went, and still go today.
Donald Pleasance almost saves the day, but even his portrayal of Loomis seems more of a caricature of the Loomis from the previous chapters.
Danielle Harris, who showed so much promise in part 4, doesn't speak for most of her time on-screen, which is a massive waste of talent, and
maybe would have given the film a bit more depth. The actors playing the bumbling cops and the horny teens all need to be slapped, or at the very
least given some acting lessons. The images in this film are pretty good, and the cinematography at time is great, but all in all, this is the weakest
of the Halloween film that I have seen to this point....having said that, my intention is to completely avoid Part 6!!
Like the Halloween 4 Anchor Bay Divimax Special Edition, there are some interesting special features on this disc, none of which really enhance the
viewing, but if you like the Halloween series, there is some great stuff.
The disc is introduced by Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell who unfortunately forget to warn you how crap the movie is.... A warning I could have
used!!
Inside Halloween 5 is a documentary with 'then and now' interviews with some of the cast and crew, specifically Danielle Harris, Edie Cornell, Don
Shanks, cinematographer Rob Draper and Producer Moustapha Akkad. This documentary certainly work better if you have the Anchor Bay Part 4 of
Halloween as it is some what of a sequel to the documentary on that disc.
On the Set of Halloween is some behind the scenes footage taken during the making of Halloween Part 5, really just showing some of the
aspects of film making, without being informative. There is a nice spontaneous interview with the remarkable Donald Pleasance that makes it
worthwhile. Apparently this is 'never seen before' so be prepared for stuff you may have not seen before.
The commentary is by director Dominique Othenin-Gerard, and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman. Quite informative and they play off each
other well, hearing stories by the child actors that they remember through children's eyes, and then confirmed with the adult, but with the adult
stance makes this interesting by itself. Together their recollections are exhaustive, and their stories never get boring. Mind you having to watch
the film again was a chore.
There is trailers for Halloween, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Masters of Horror and Halloween 5 itself.
This is a quite complete disc for a film that doesn't deserve it. This film can be used alongside such trash as Friday the 15th Part VIII: Jason
Takes Manhattan, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation and Return of the Living Dead Part 2 as reasons
why sequels are sometimes TOTALLY unnecessary. Rubbish for Halloween completest only.
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