Review of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) by Andrew F — 24 Feb 2008

1989 was the year that a bunch of these big 80's horror franchises hit that one sequel too many. After the interesting ending to the not needed but sorta decent Halloween 4, the filmmakers decided to go even crazier with the new twists and story directions. So now, in addition to the usual tired stalking of teenagers, there's telepathy and a mysterious stranger who rolls into town. They don't really get into the meaning of this stuff until next time, but rest assured it's all a bunch of Druid bullshit that explains away anything that was cool about Michael Myers to begin with.

It's a really annoying, unpleasant film. I remember reading about how they brought in a French director, Dominique Othenin-Girard, to give it a little touch of class. So now it's a shitty slasher sequel, but with crazy angles! This group of disposable characters is the worst yet, especially the excruciating-to-watch Wendy Kaplan as Tina. Donald Pleasance seems embarassed to be here, as his character becomes cartoonishly nutty. And then there's the comic relief cops with their circus music. Even the mask in this one looks stupid.