Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 American slasher film directed by Dwight H. Little, written by Alan B. McElroy, and starring Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris in her film debut, and Michael Pataki. It is the fourth installment in the Halloween franchise and a sequel to Halloween II. The film marks the return of Michael Myers as the primary antagonist following his absence in Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and focuses on his return to Haddonfield to kill his young niece, Jamie Lloyd, a decade after his first killing spree.
Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill intended to create an anthology series with only the first two films being connected, but after the poor reception of Halloween III, the idea was abandoned. Screenwriter McElroy was hired to rework Dennis Etchison's original screenplay, reintroducing Michael Myers. Principal photography of Halloween 4 took place on location in Salt Lake City, Utah in the spring of 1988.
Halloween 4 was released in the United States on October 21, 1988. Despite mostly negative reviews from critics, the film grossed $17.8 million domestically on a budget of $5 million. It has developed a strong cult following since its release and has enjoyed positive reappraisals in the years since its release.
The film begins the Thorn Trilogy story arc which would be continued in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
Plot
On October 30, 1988, Michael Myers, who has been comatose for ten years since the explosion at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, is being transferred from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. During the transfer, when Michael overhears that he has a niece living in Haddonfield, he awakens, kills the ambulance personnel and heads back to his hometown to kill her.In Haddonfield, Laurie Strode's orphaned daughter Jamie Lloyd suffers from nightmares about The Shape and is bullied at school for being the niece of "the boogeyman". On Halloween night, her foster parents Richard and Darlene Carruthers plan to go to a business meeting and leave their teenage daughter Rachel to babysit, forcing her to cancel a date with her boyfriend Brady. Rachel makes plans to take Jamie trick-or-treating, but she declines and they instead settle on buying ice cream after school.
Back at Ridgemont, a now aged and scarred Dr. Loomis, who also survived the explosion, learns of Michael's escape and gives chase back to Haddonfield once again. While driving to Haddonfield, Loomis stops at a gas station and diner, where Michael has killed a mechanic for his coveralls, along with a female clerk. After Loomis discovers and fails to negotiate with Michael, a gunfight erupts and Michael escapes in a tow truck, igniting the gas pumps causing an explosion, destroying Loomis's car given by Ridgemont in the process and disabling the phone lines. Loomis continues to pursue Michael on foot.
Rachel and her friend Lindsey pick Jamie up after school where Jamie changes her mind and decides to go trick-or-treating that night. Jamie decides on a clown costume when Michael suddenly appears to steal a new mask. He goes after his niece but flees when she screams in horror. Meanwhile, Loomis hitches a ride with an eccentric priest named Reverend Jackson P. Sayer in a pickup truck.
That night, as Rachel and Jamie are trick-or-treating, Michael breaks into the Carruthers' house, kills the family dog, and finds out Jamie's identity after finding several photos of Laurie in the house. Loomis arrives in Haddonfield and warns the new sheriff, Ben Meeker, that Michael has returned. They immediately go out to search for the girls. At a power plant, Michael throws an electrician into a transformer, plunging the entire town into darkness. He proceeds to kill most of the town's police force, prompting the locals to form a lynch mob.
Meeker and Loomis find Rachel and Jamie and take them to the sheriff's house, where Brady is having an affair with Meeker's daughter Kelly. They barricade the premises as Deputy Logan arrives and Loomis departs to find Michael, who has already snuck into the house. While searching for Michael, the lynch mob accidentally shoots and kills an innocent civilian. After Meeker leaves to respond to the shooting, Michael kills Deputy Logan, Kelly, and Brady as Rachel and Jamie flee to the attic and onto the roof while Michael steals a kitchen knife in the attic. Rachel lowers Jamie down to safety but is attacked by Michael, falling to the ground and losing consciousness.
Pursued by Michael, Jamie runs down the street and runs into Loomis. They seek shelter at the school, but Michael finds them and tosses Loomis through a glass door. He chases Jamie through the school, until she falls down a flight of stairs. Michael prepares to kill her when Rachel reappears and subdues him with a fire extinguisher. The lynch mob arrives and agrees to help the girls get out of Haddonfield. Along the way they meet a lone trooper who tells them there is a substation up the road where they will be safe. Michael, who has been hidden underneath their truck, climbs aboard and kills the men, including Earl. Rachel takes the wheel, throws Michael off the truck, and rams into him. Meeker and Loomis arrive with the rest of the lynch mob and the state police, while Jamie approaches her uncle and touches his hand. As he rises, Meeker and the others shoot him until he falls down an abandoned mine.
Back at the Carruthers' house, Darlene goes upstairs to run a bath for Jamie when she is suddenly attacked. Loomis hears her cries and sees Jamie, now silent and emotionless, in her clown costume holding a pair of bloody scissors, reminiscent of when Michael killed his older sister. Loomis screams in despair and raises his gun to shoot Jamie, but is disarmed by Meeker. Rachel, Richard, and Meeker look on in horror as Loomis sobs, realizing that the evil inside of Michael has infected Jamie.
Cast
Production
Development
After Halloween III: Season of the Witch, executive producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to move further with the series, and bring back Michael Myers. Producer Paul Freeman, a friend of Akkad with a long list of credits to his name, explained to Fangoria magazine in 1988 that everybody came out of Halloween III saying, "Where's Michael?" John Carpenter was approached by Cannon Films, who had just finished 1986's release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, to write and direct Halloween 4. Debra Hill planned to produce the film, while Carpenter teamed up with Dennis Etchison who, under the pseudonym Jack Martin, had written novelizations of both Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch to write a script to Halloween 4. Originally, Joe Dante was Carpenter's choice in mind of director for the project.However, Akkad rejected the Etchison script, calling it "too cerebral" and insisting that any new Halloween sequel must feature Myers as a flesh and blood killer. In an interview, Etchison explained how he received the phone call informing him of the rejection of his script. Etchison said, "I received a call from Debra Hill and she said, 'Dennis, I just wanted you to know that John and I have sold our interest in the title 'Halloween' and unfortunately, your script was not part of the deal."
Carpenter and Hill had signed all of their rights away to Akkad, who gained ownership. Akkad said, "I just went back to the basics of Halloween on Halloween 4 and it was the most
successful." As Carpenter refused to continue his involvement with the series, a new director was sought out. Dwight H. Little, a native of Ohio, replaced Carpenter. Little had previously directed episodes for Freddy's Nightmares and the film Getting Even.
Screenplay
On February 25, 1988, writer Alan B. McElroy, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was brought in to write the script for Halloween 4. The writer's strike was to begin on March 7 that year. This forced McElroy to develop a concept, pitch the story, and send in the final draft in under eleven days. McElroy came up with the idea of Brittany "Britti" Lloyd, Laurie Strode's daughter, to be chased by her uncle, who has escaped from Ridgemont after being in a coma for ten years. Dr. Samuel Loomis goes looking for Michael with Sheriff Meeker. The setting of the place was once again Haddonfield, Illinois. The character of Laurie Strode was revealed to have died, leaving Britti with the Carruthers family, which included Rachel, the family's seventeen-year-old daughter. Britti's name was later changed to Jamie, a homage to Laurie Strode actress Jamie Lee Curtis.McElroy told Fangoria:
In the original draft, Sheriff Ben Meeker was to be killed during the Shape's attack on the Meeker house, during which a fire started in the basement and burnt down the entire house. The scene on top of the roof with the Shape, Rachel, and Jamie was supposed to be engulfed in flames, but this idea was scrapped due to budget issues. Instead, a more "soap opera" feel was incorporated, which included a love triangle subplot between Rachel, Brady, and Kelly Meeker, the sheriff's daughter.
Director Dwight H. Little stated in 2006 that his interpretation of McElroy's screenplay had the Michael Myers character played as a literal escaped mental patient, not a supernatural figure. Little approached the screenplay as though Myers was pursuing Jamie as a means of "connecting with her", but that he had no social capacity to interact with her, and thus resorted to violence. The screenplay references the events of Halloween II, in which a fire breaks out in Haddonfield Hospital, by having both Myers and Loomis display burn scars on their respective hands and faces.