4 Pies

Reviewed by Yankee

Plot Summary

Six years after the end of Halloween 5, Jamie Lloyd (thought dead by the world) escapes (with her newborn) from the clutches of the evil cult that kidnapped her years ago. Now Michael must find his grand-nephew/son to complete his curse so it may be passed on to his dead sister’s nephew from her adopted family that moved into his old house before the curse is stopped permanently by someone his sister babysat the first time he went after her in Halloween…. Sounds like a pretty bad soap opera, doesn’t it???

Review

Here’s a confession: I actually only saw this movie for the first time around three years ago. The second time was just a couple of weeks ago for this review. That should surprise those that know me and understand how Michael Meyer’s has always been my all time favorite slasher. The fact that I continued on to see the remaining films(even saw one in the cinema) but never sought this one out could be seen as sacrilege if I didn’t have my reasons.

I actually had not known that Halloween 6 (as I will call it from this point forward) was even in the works until it had already been in theaters and was supposedly floating around the video stores. This was when there was a video rental store in every town. But every store that I visited never carried the video and I was beginning to think that Halloween 6 was an urban myth. (If only)

A year or so later I became acquainted with the Internet and on a whim searched for information on Halloween 6. I found a written summary of the movie’s plot that just made me cringe. At that point, I no longer wanted anything to do with it. It was clear that the true horror was not in the scenes of death and macabre, but in how thoroughly my favorite horror franchise had been butchered.

A couple of years later, I heard of a “producer’s cut” that basically was how the movie was originally intended as opposed to the version that suffered from massive rewrites, reshoots and editing. Those who reviewed it claimed that it was a vast improvement over what they had seen. I admit to feeling intrigue and even trying to get a copy of this for myself but was frustrated when all I could find was sorely overpriced VHS tapes on eBay. At this point, I simply gave up…

Here we are years later and I’ve recently referred to my second viewing of this as “taking one for the team”… you’re welcome!

Quotes:

Barry Simms: OK, next caller. We have Duanne on the line. What's on your feeble excuse for a brain?

Tommy Doyle: Michael's work is not finished in Haddonfield. And soon, very soon, he'll come back.

Dr. Wynn: I'd like you to come back to Smith's Grove.

Doctor Sam Loomis: You are... a mad man.

Spook Factor: ¼ Pie

Any chance this movie had at being creepier than the last one was MURDERED by the music. See Soundtrack below.

Antagonist: ¾ Pie

Apparently, the six years off from hunting Jaime was good for Michael as he came back more formidable and badass then he has been since Halloween 4! He was even powerful enough to break the hold that The Thorn had on him and to repay their “hospitality”. Damn, Michael! I guess I’d be pissed too if I was written into such a bad sequel.

Story: ½ Pie

What was already a an idea so bad that it infected two movies was made worse by massive rewrites and reshoots. For a movie whose intent was to explain everything and finally close the book on Michael Meyers, it sure did leave out a lot of story in the final cut. The most annoying of which is the final scene. They spend roughly 70 or so minutes (a lot of which was wasted on nonsense) to build up your expectations for a final showdown and then they just send everybody home and we’re derived of that final confrontation with Dr. Loomis.

The other travesty here is how much potential was lost in bringing back Tommy Doyle. I swear when he first appeared on screen and was given us a taste of the person Tommy had become, I actually had hope for a great story here! I was all ready to curse the Internet for spreading lies of a terrible sequel. Too bad the Internet was right.

Acting: ½ Pie

What was lost in not rehiring Danielle Harris was made up for by Marianne Hagan’s portrayal of Laurie’s adopted sister Kara. And of course we get to see Donald Pleasance return to his famous role as Dr. Loomis. Sadly this is the last we shall see of both Dr. Loomis AND Donald Pleasance as he died before Halloween 6 was finished.

Directing: ¼ Pie

I have to honestly say that this was the worst directing in the entire Halloween franchise INCLUDING the reboot films! I’m not sure if there was a major rush due to having to rewrite and reshoot scenes but it’s blatantly all over the place. Poor direction giving us a choppy story, mediocre build up, little payoff and a distracting soundtrack…

Soundtrack: ¼ Pie

Once again, the attempt to redo or rehash the original theme to be new or modern fails miserably. The low point of this soundtrack is hearing a distorted guitar play those low notes that usually mean that Michael is creeping up to start the bloodshed. It rendered scary scenes almost comical. And the guitar squeal every couple of bars sent waves of disgust down my spine instead of chills…

Special Effects: ¼ Pie

You wouldn’t know that this was made on a 5 million dollar budget by looking at the special effects. It was very inconsistent. Some scenes had good special effects and then the rest were done cheap.

Gore: ¼ Pie

Again, inconstancy that suggests rushing and running out of money. Considering that most of the deathblows happen off screen, we were deprived the gore that came from them. The few gore scenes are OK.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ¼ Pie

It is just ever so slightly rewatchable. Just enough to grit my teeth and watch it a second time for the sake of reviewing and that is really it. Even when AMC does their Halloween marathon this time of the years and run through the entire series… they always leave this one out…. Hmmm.. gee, I wonder why?

Pros

Finally seeing what happened next after Halloween 5 and the return of Tommy Dole.

Cons

Finally seeing what happened next after Halloween 5, not seeing what happened in the end, the explanation to why Michael is, the fate of Jaime Lloyd, the under use of Tommy Doyle, the production, … I can do this all day…..

Final Word

In case you missed it, let me spell it out right now… I DO NOT LIKE this entry to the Halloween series. It destroyed a fabulous resurrection of a great franchise and not for nothing but even the parts of the story that are intact seem to not make any sense. Even The Producer’s Cut does littleto change that… but that’s a complaint for another time…

Enough of this Michael Myers bullshit!