It’s October 30, 1988 and Michael Myers has been in a coma since his pursuit of Laurie Strode, 10 years ago, he was finally stopped. However when he was being transferred he awakes when he hears that he has a niece in Haddonfield and escapes. Yes after “Halloween lll” flopped the studios brought back Michael Myers. Carpenter had wrote a Halloween 4 script with a more psychological approach to the Michael Myers mythos. It concerned the town of Haddonfield and what effect the events of the first two films have had on it’s citizens. The studio rejected his story in favour of another slasher film.
It will always be remembered as the film that brought Danielle Harris into the Horror genre playing the character Jamie Lloyd in this film, the daughter of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who was put up for adoption to save her from Michael. It also saw the return of Donald Pleasance in his as the fan favorite Dr. Loomis.
The film maybe full of plot holes, but it does keep the that sense of tension and still has it’s creepy atmosphere. The one thing that always slightly annoys me about this film is Michael, His mask looks different, he seems to have got shorter and a little porky, bit weird for a man who’s been in a coma for ten years, but like I said the film is full of little niggling plot holes like that.
Despite all that it is a solid installment in the series, and a very enjoyable film, Donald Pleasance as always is fantastic and the casting isn’t too bad either, an unknown cast but strong acting . Despite the fact that this film was enjoyed by fans, It would be a while before the series produced such a strong “Halloween” film.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
The girl who drove Rachel and Jamie to the costume store was named Lindsey and is approximately 17 years old. In Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis babysat a seven year old named Lindsey.
After viewing a rough edit it was decided that the movie was too soft, so they brought in special effects wizard John Carl Beuchler for one day of extra “blood” filming. The thumb in the forehead and the redneck’s head getting twisted were both done by him.
A construction paper cutout of Michael Myers can be seen on a door on the second floor of the school just as Jamie and Dr. Loomis climb the stairs.
Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for the role of Jamie.
The drugstore set was also used in Stephen King’s mini series “The Stand”.
Originally, when Jamie and Loomis were trapped in the school, Jamie hid in a classroom under a desk. Michael entered searching for her, throwing the desks over. Although they had no time to film this in Halloween 4, the sequence was remembered by Moustapha Akkad and later re-used in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
In the schoolhouse, Michael’s mask appears to have blonde hair. This was actually the original Captain Kirk mask used in Halloween and over time the hair had changed gradually. The filmmakers had the intention of reusing the mask in this sequel but felt it had changed too much and decided to make their own. Several scenes were re-shot with the replacement mask.
In the original script, Sheriff Meeker was killed in a battle with Michael in the basement where the furnace was knocked over and caused the house to catch on fire. Originally, the house was supposed to be up in flames during the infamous rooftop sequence. This was eliminated due to budgetary constraints and Sheriff Meeker was kept alive.
In Jamie’s introduction, she’s sitting in the living room staring outside at the ambulance. Later, it shows the ambulance has disappeared. In the script, Jamie was staring outside at the rain, and the ambulance appeared after she had turned away. This was changed in editing for unknown reasons.
In the original script the film opened with a shot of a long hospital corridor suddenly blowing up and throwing Loomis from the explosion, in a reference to the end of ‘Halloween II (1981)’ in order to show how Loomis survived. It was later decided the film should not have any connections to the predecessors and the explosive opening was never shot.
Jamie’s name was Brittany in the original script but was changed in homage to Jamie Lee Curtis
Rebecca Schaeffer auditioned for the role of Rachel.
George P. Wilbour wore hockey pads under the jumpsuit to give Michael Myers a much more imposing figure. This is revealed in the documentary “Inside Halloween 5”, where it is revealed that Don Shanks, who played Michael Myers in Halloween 5, was big enough that this was not required.
The girl Lindsey who drove Rachel and Jamie to the discount mart was going to be revealed as Lindsey Wallace from Halloween 1 and have a larger part in the film as Rachel’s friend and helping her babysit Jamie, but was cut for budget reasons.
It’s October 30, 1988 and Michael Myers has been in a coma since his pursuit of Laurie Strode, 10 years ago, he was finally stopped. However when he was being transferred he awakes when he hears that he has a niece in Haddonfield and escapes. Yes after “Halloween lll” flopped the studios brought back Michael Myers. Carpenter had wrote a Halloween 4 script with a more psychological approach to the Michael Myers mythos. It concerned the town of Haddonfield and what effect the events of the first two films have had on it’s citizens. The studio rejected his story in favour of another slasher film.
It will always be remembered as the film that brought Danielle Harris into the Horror genre playing the character Jamie Lloyd in this film, the daughter of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who was put up for adoption to save her from Michael. It also saw the return of Donald Pleasance in his as the fan favorite Dr. Loomis.
The film maybe full of plot holes, but it does keep the that sense of tension and still has it’s creepy atmosphere. The one thing that always slightly annoys me about this film is Michael, His mask looks different, he seems to have got shorter and a little porky, bit weird for a man who’s been in a coma for ten years, but like I said the film is full of little niggling plot holes like that.
Despite all that it is a solid installment in the series, and a very enjoyable film, Donald Pleasance as always is fantastic and the casting isn’t too bad either, an unknown cast but strong acting . Despite the fact that this film was enjoyed by fans, It would be a while before the series produced such a strong “Halloween” film.