5 ¾ 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…. Whoah… déjà vu!

Review

If you have already read my review of Halloween 6, then you could clearly see how this version (dubbed The Producer’s Cut for the rest of this review) does nothing to change the underlying story. It is still, “a confusing mess of a plot” as my British partner eloquently phrased it in a recent email about these movies. And he is quite right. While watching the original does fill in more blanks and leaves you feeling less like you suffer from ADD, the logic and progression of this story is still extremely flawed.

That being said, I do happen to concur with the masses that claim that this cut of the film exceeds the theatrical one. I do hope that you read that last statement for exactly what it said… “exceeds the theatrical one”! This is not in anyway to be confused with me saying that it is a good or great Halloween movie. Truth be told, if this had been released as intended… it still would have been the worst entry in the entire Halloween franchise.

I’ll base the scoring as if this was the only version of the movie, but the comments will provide insight into how they differ...

Quotes:

Doctor Sam Loomis: Michael Myers is my business.

Dr. Wynn: Well don't tell me that the Revered Rasputin of Smithsgrove has grown complacent in his old age!

Doctor Sam Loomis: It's his game, and I know where he wants to play it.

Doctor Sam Loomis: I thought Michael was a monster, but you...

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

The scenes play a lot closer to the style of the original Halloween and Halloween 4 and thus manage to come across creepier; at least in the scenes where Michael is in his element.

Antagonist: ½ Pie

He may be scarier in this cut, but in this story Michael is practically The Thorn's bitch! That's right; they called all the shots until the power given to him was not enough. And Tommy's ability to literally stop him in his tracks by some choice words signified that Michael just wasn't having a good Halloween this year.

Story: ½ Pie

The flow is much better. The pacing is more consistent. Most of the holes seen in theatrical version are filled. The story and the explanations provided are much clearer and the message does get across. However, the logic behind The Thorn's history, their connection to Michael and the curse is still heavily flawed and ridiculous.

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: ½ Pie

I don't know if it's because this version was not finished before they had to change everything, but it played out SO much better this way. The scenes are a little rawer. The lighting is gloomier. The feel of the movie was much closer to the first two films than it had been since Halloween 4. It's quite apparent how damaging the decision was to change the ending and other parts of this movie at the last minute.

Soundtrack: ¾ Pie

Remember how I said that this version was spookier then the released? Remember how I mentioned it having that classic Halloween feel? A big part of that was this soundtrack. The only thing I can think of was that older versions of the music was used as place holders during the rough draft and wasn't changed until after the reshoots and post production. They should have found a way to leave it in because it worked far better.

Special Effects: ½ Pie

The effects here still didn't seem like they were from a 5 million dollar budgeted movie in the mid 1990s. However, they were more consistent and do not feel like a rushed product.

Gore: ¼ Pie

There are less kills in this version and thus less gore but it's still nothing to write home about.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ½ Pie

I will admit that watching this version of the movie WAS less painful then the theatrical version. It did have a better flow and most of the movie wasn't as cringe worthy either. Unfortunately, The Thorn is still there to frustrate me so it wouldn't exactly be at the top of my re-watch list.

Pros

Seeing what happened after Halloween 5 , the return of Tommy Dole, one more performance by Donald Pleasance and .getting back the original ending.

Cons

The whole The Thorn story line, an unsatisfying final scene, Michael's origin, the fate of Jamie Lloyd, the under use of Tommy Doyle, and countless others….

Final Word

I recently read that the reshoots were a reaction to the passing of Donald Pleasance because he would not have been available for the sequel. Besides the fact that it was more than the Dr. Loomis scenes that were changed (Jaime Lloyd's), it's still seems foolish. They could have written around it. But that point's moot because the whole Thorn premise destroyed the franchise. Anyone watching this in 1995 would have concluded that once again, Halloween was dead…

Not dead, just very much retired.

R.I.P Donald Pleasance