Review: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

People in the Movie:  Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris

Director:  Dominique Othenin-Girard

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Slasher

The Basics: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers takes place 1 year after the events Halloween 4.  Michael survived being shot multiple times and falling down a mine shaft at the end of the prior installment, so he is now ready to restart his pursuit of his niece, Jamie Lloyd (Harris).  Jamie, traumatized from her Halloween encounter last year, is in an institution, and she is now mute.  Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasence) is her psychiatrist (having the family ties, and all) – and believes Michael is still alive.  He is right, of course, and another night of stalking and bloodshed awaits Haddonfield.

Recommendation:   If you are a fan of the series and plan on watching the next Halloween (and beyond), then you should probably give this movie at least a once-over.  If you are a fan of Harris, Pleasence, or like typical late 80’s slasher films, then you could enjoy it.  As a standalone (meaning you had watched none of the prior films) you would be completely lost. ‘R’ rating is for violence, gore, language, character stupidity, and a brief scene of sexuality.

My Take:  The end of Halloween 4 set this film up with so many great possibilities for plotlines, so it was such a disappointment, in my opinion, that the on-screen product fell so flat.  The movie was rushed into production to capitalize on the moderate success of Halloween 4 very much at the expense of a decent script, direction, and overall story.

**spoiler alert** Halloween 5 opens with a brief replay of the end of number 4; we see how Michael escaped the mine shaft after being shot and that he was nursed back to health by an old hermit, who Michael then kills the following year on Halloween and proceeds back to Haddonfield, again, to start yet another killing spree.

And then multiple dominos fall to knock this movie down to very “mediocre” horror sequel status:

Jamie Lloyd is in a psychiatric institution, however, the completely awesome theme that Michael’s “evil” had entered/ possessed/ taken over Jamie at the end of the prior film (hence why she was shown stabbing her adoptive mother) was completely abandoned.  I thought there might have been an ounce of hope, because Jamie is shown to have some sort of psychic link to Michael, but that point is also not really expanded, either.

Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell), who I would call the hero of number 4, is killed by Michael barely 20 minutes into this film.  This was such a colossal mistake killing her so early; Rachel was a likable strong female character that played Jamie’s protector, as well as the potential teen victim who survived Michael’s attacks for the entire prior movie.  I would have understood if she would have sacrificed herself towards the end of this one in some “final standoff”, but she was taken out so quickly, it felt disrespectful.  I understand writers and directors have to make each film “their own”, and sometimes that means killing off likable characters, but Rachel’s demise really soured me.

So with this now ‘bitter’ feeling over Rachel’s exit, we are treated to the usual stalking and murder of not-so-smart teens, and dopey policeman.  Loomis, with Jamie being used as “bait” eventually lures Michael back to his old house, where it all started.  (Although series purists should beware, because the filming was done in a different house that did not even look the Myer’s house from the original.)  Michael is eventually incapacitated and taken into custody.  And then the end… (which I will get to in a moment)

Where Halloween 4 rekindled interest in the franchise and brought Michael Myers back into the conversation as one of the great horror characters, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers deteriorated into a stereotypical late 80’s slasher movie in which one might root for the next stupid person to get killed, or questioning out loud “who’s next?”.  I think this was a very unfortunate result, considering all the routes the writers could have gone using Jamie as evil character.  Even using her as a mute telepath could have worked for a cat-and-mouse stalking, but instead those 2 elements were introduced then discarded.  

The conclusion: Halloween 5 ends with a mysterious Man in Black attacking the police station where Michael is being held, in order to break him out.  Several officers are shot, while others are killed due to an explosion, and the last thing we see is Jamie walking through this now-slaughterhouse and seeing Michael’s cell empty.  It was probably the most interesting plot element in the whole film, why this mysterious person would want to help Michael, and was obviously setting up the next sequel.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun: According to Donald Pleasence, his character was originally supposed to die at the end of this film… The film poster and DVD cover show Jamie in the clown costume, even though that was from 4, not this film...