Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers:

Dhani Lipsius (story), Larry Rattner (story)

Stars:

Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Sam Loomis
Ellie Cornell	...	Rachel Carruthers
Danielle Harris	...	Jamie Lloyd
George P. Wilbur	...	Michael Myers
Michael Pataki	...	Dr. Hoffman
Beau Starr	...	Sheriff Ben Meeker
Kathleen Kinmont	...	Kelly Meeker
Sasha Jenson	...	Brady
Gene Ross	...	Earl
Carmen Filpi	...	Rev. Jackson P. Sayer
Raymond O'Connor	...	Security Guard
Jeff Olson	...	Richard Carruthers
Karen Alston	...	Darlene Carruthers
Nancy Borgenicht	...	Woman Attendant
David Jensen	...	Man Attendant

Storyline

It's October 30, 1988 and Michael Myers has been in a coma since his pursuit of Laurie Strode, 10 years ago, was finally stopped (events of H1 and H2). However when he is transfered from Richmond Mental Institute to Smith's Grove he awakes when he hears that he has a niece in Haddonfield and after killing the transfer crew he escapes. In Haddonfield, the niece, Jamie, has been adopted by the Carruthers family but keeps having nightmares about Michael (but she doesn't know who he is). On Halloween night, Jamie goes out trick and treating, little knowing that her murdering Uncle is following her and her step-sister Rachel. Rushing to her aid is Dr. Loomis and with the help of Sheriff Meeker starts to search the town for Michael and to find Jamie to protect her. But can anything stop Michael this time?

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Plot Keywords:

teenager | fourth part | gore | slasher | sequel | 

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Taglines:

Ten Years Ago he changed the face Of Halloween, now he's back.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Trancas International Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Halloween 4

Filming Locations:

Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,831,250, 23 October 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$17,768,757

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trancas International Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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 due to time constraints this sequence was not shot for this film, it was remembered by producer Moustapha Akkad and later re-used in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).

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Goofs

In the scene where Brady loads the shotgun as Michael ascends the stairs, when Brady looks up, the front door can be seen directly behind Michael, which shouldn't be possible, as they are on the stairs in the middle of the house.

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Quotes

Dr. Loomis: Maybe nobody knows how to stop him. But I've gotta try.

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Alternate Versions

The German version of this not-so violent film was cut during the gore scenes to get a 16 rating.

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Connections

Referenced in Halloween: Unforgiving

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Soundtracks

Halloween Theme
Composed by John Carpenter

User Reviews

Not nearly as bad as you'd think

I saw this for the first time today and agree with many of the posts that it's actually quite good. I had been put off anything to do with Halloween having recently wasted nearly 2 hours of my time and about £10.00 watching the remake which is as bad as anyone could have presumed. This though was quite suspenseful and did have enough anxious moments that you could say it works somewhat as a scary movie. Personally child actors are always a bit nauseating so I'd rather have a teenage heroine who can try and fight back than some screaming kid. As with Jason, Michael Myers now takes on a walking dead persona and somehow this makes them less interesting than when they are pure psychologically disturbed human beings. Also, his mask seemed too clean for my liking - as if it was an advert for Persil but his look still scares me more than Freddy and Jason. Despite these petty quibbles of mine, you still get the gloriously hammy Donald Pleasance and to this day, just that appearance of Myers at the edge of the screen prior to an attack still gives me shivers.