It turns out that masked serial killer Michael Myers (played this time around by stuntman George P. Wilbur) and his psychiatrist doctor, Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), weren’t burned to death when an explosion at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital appeared to have wiped them both out at the end of 1981’s "Halloween II." Seven years later, on the eve of Halloween circa 1988, a comatose and presumed brain-dead Myers is transferred from his prison hospital bed to another location by ambulance in the middle of, what else, a dark and stormy night. Myers overhears a paramedic talk about a surviving relative of the serial killer still living in Haddonfield, a young niece named Jamie Lloyd. Something clicks in Michael’s brain, and he promptly snaps into action by cracking open the skull of one of the paramedics with his bare hands (ouch!). By the time a deformed and pistol-packing Dr. Loomis arrives at the scene of an accident involving the ambulance carrying Myers (four paramedics dead) the serial killer is long gone.

Loomis runs into Michael at a nearby gas station, where the maniac has already killed two people, smashed the phone and made himself comfortable in yet another mechanics outfit (just like the one he stole from an unsuspecting tow driver in the original "Halloween"). After causing an explosion that almost kills Loomis with a tow truck (an explosion that also just happens to disconnect phone services and disable the psychiatrist’s own vehicle) it’s off to Haddonfield on Halloween day, 1988. Michael’s niece, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), lives there as the adopted daughter of the Carruthers family with which the young girl is best friends with step-sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell). Though she seems like a normal and well-adjusted 10 year-old, Jamie’s constant nightmares and repeated taunts at school about being ‘the bogeyman’s niece’ clearly hint that she’s had a rough childhood. Jamie holds pictures of her mother Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) in a box in her room’s closet; no mention is given as to whether Jamie’s mom died, abandoned her, went nuts selling wireless long distance phone service, etc.

The rest of the serviceable plot in 1988’s "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" (courtesy of four screenwriters, including "Spawn: The Animated Series" developer Alan B. McElroy) is quite predictable if you’re well-versed on your horror movie clichés. Dr. Loomis arrives to Haddonfield’s police station and asks the new top cop, Sheriff Meeker (Beau Starr), to cancel all Halloween festivities and check on Jamie’s whereabouts. The young girl (wearing a clown outfit very much like the one young Michael wore when he killed his sister) and step-sister Rachel are trick-or-treating for candy when they run into Rachel’s boyfriend Brady (Sasha Jenson), who’s two-timing her with Sheriff Meeker’s daughter Kelly (a delightfully slutty Kathleen Kinmont). Jamie gets separated from Rachel, which gives ample time for director Dwight H. Little to set-up lots of fake scares and some delightful scenes of mob mentality taking over Haddonfield’s blue collar (and gun-packing) population. The paranoia is justified given that Myers, on a couple of free moments (and apparently able to teleport to multiple Haddonfield locations at once), shuts down electricity to the entire city by tossing a worker into the power station while also wiping out the police department’s station house.

Everyone takes refuge in Sheriff Meeker’s fortified home, where they think by locking themselves in and sealing the outside world they’ll be safe. Instead it turns into their undoing (for most of the supporting characters anyway) when Michael breaks into the house and gets busy with a shotgun in an odd and laugh out-loud hilarious way (Ch.19). This leads to a most-impressive rooftop chase, a return to school for both Jamie and uncle Michael, a decent truck fight finale and a truly disturbing final scene that apes both Paramount’s "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" and the opening scene from John Carpenter’s 1978 "Halloween" almost to a tee. It’s clear that "Halloween 4’s" filmmakers are in awe of Carpenter’s original movie, since they do their darnest to both pay homage and play by its rules (the movie takes place in the same town and on the same time frames as the ’78 "Halloween"). This is what separates "Halloween 4" from all the other inferior "Halloween" sequels (with the possible exception of the leap-of-faith that was "Halloween III"): though far-out and not perfect, it’s still kind-of believable and spooky to have a crazy killer relentlessly chasing innocent relatives for no apparent reason. It certainly beats Jason Verhee's tired resurrection tirades in the 10 "Friday the 13th" flicks we've been exposed to so far.

Nostalgia often clouds the judgment of the filmmakers though. As much as it creeps the shit out of me to see a little girl do to her mother in "Halloween 4" what Myers did to her sister ten years prior in the original "Halloween," it just places the series on the wrong path to keep trying to shock audiences with plot points that are then either abandoned ("Halloween 5") or foolishly exploited past the point of credulity ("The Curse of Michael Myers"). At least "Halloween 4" introduces in Danielle Harris’ Jamie Lloyd an innocent victim that is more sympathetic and likable than Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode ever was. Whenever Harris’ face and eyes are shown one can truly relate to her fear at not only what ‘the bogeyman’ might do to her, but to the horror of knowing that the monster that’s chasing her is a close relative. Donald Pleasence and Ellie Cornell’s supporting performances are decent, but make no mistake about it folks: "Halloween 4" succeeds at what it sets to do because of the credible performance of then-young Danielle Harris and the restrain the filmmakers showed in playing it straight.

1/2