Review of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) by Brian W — 05 May 2011

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

The back of the DVD reads, "following her mysterious behaviour at the end of Halloween 4: The return of Michael Myers, young Jamie is committed..." I don't need to go. Her mysterious behaviour was murdering her adoptive mother... I would just like to say I find dressing as a clown and killing someone you've lived with for years a little bit more than mysterious. But essential this explains the plotline quite well, Jamie has been put under the care of Dr. Loomis, who has been met with much more positive results than he did with Michael. Eventually, he discovers that she and Michael share a telepathic link, which Michael is using to home in on her.

What I Liked: Ok so by this point the series is definitely dragging, I liked how Myers was the main character in it again, but the franchise has definitely lost it scares and at this point in viewable for its 'fun' quality, more so than anything else. Donald Pleasance's acting once again stands out as one of the best features of the film, as does the acting of Danielle Harris (Jamie). I always find myself impressed with child actors, especially when they are faced with heavy material.

What I Didn't Like: As I have previously mentioned, Halloween is already on it slippery slope downwards. There were numerous things which I didn't like about this film, they really accented the 'curse' by which Michael is afflicted, and I hated the telepathic link he shared with his niece. All in all, this story was poorly scripted and poorly done. I also didn't like how the twist ending I was so fond of in Halloween 4 had no significance in this film whatsoever. Pleasance apparently argued, that following the events of Halloween 4, Jamie's character should have been one that was totally evil. That is something I agree with, and I maybe would have liked to see her take on the role of the killer rather than Michael, I fear that his prolonged exposure as the killer in the films has lead to his becoming a joke. Finally, though the ending of Halloween 4 was superb in my opinion, the ending of 5 was ridiculous, and the final blow to the franchise as far as I am concerned.

Conclusion: To conclude, if you consider yourself a died in the blood Halloween fan then yes, definitely this is a must see. And if you were left with questions at the end of Halloween 4 then once again you'll probably be tempted to watch this. All in all however, this isn't the film for me, you shouldn't watch it as a standalone either. 40%.