Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

Halloween 5:
The Revenge of Michael Myers

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard
Produced by Ramsey Thomas
Written by Michael Jacobs
Dominique Othenin-Girard
Shem Bitterman
Based on Characters 
by John Carpenter
& Debra Hill
Starring
Music by Alan Howarth
Cinematography Robert Draper
Edited by Charles Tetoni
Jerry Brady
Production
company
Magnum Pictures
Distributed by Galaxy International Releasing
Release dates
 October 13, 1989 (1989-10-13)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3 million[1]
Box office $11.6 million[1]

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth installment in the Halloween film series. It was directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard and starred Donald Pleasence, who again portrayed Dr. Sam Loomis, and Danielle Harris, who returned to play Jamie Lloyd. The film takes place exactly one year after the events depicted in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Michael Myers has returned to the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois to murder his niece, Jamie, who is now mute. Dr. Loomis tries to save the day with the help of Sheriff Meeker.

The film's on-screen titles do not display the "The Revenge of Michael Myers" subtitle which was used in all of the promotional material, TV spots, trailers, and merchandise. The main titles simply say "Halloween 5".

Plot

The film begins with the conclusion of the previous film after Michael Myers (Don Shanks) fell down a mine shaft. The state troopers tossed dynamite down the mine to make sure that Michael was dead. But Michael escapes and stumbles into a nearby river, where he is found by a hermit. Michael falls into a coma for one year while in the hermit's care. On October 30, 1989, Michael awakens, kills the hermit, and returns to Haddonfield, where his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) continues to live after nearly being killed by Michael the year before.

Jamie has been committed to a children's hospital, having been rendered mute due to psychological trauma, but exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her uncle. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) becomes aware of Jamie's psychic link with Michael, and tries to convince Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) that Michael is still alive. Meanwhile, Michael kills Jamie's sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) by stabbing her in the chest with a pair of scissors, and begins stalking her friend Tina (Wendy Kaplan).

Michael kills Tina's boyfriend Mike outside a car garage with a sharp rake to his head. That night, Tina and Sam and Spitz go to a Halloween party at the tower farm. Sensing that Tina is in danger, Jamie, having regained her ability to speak, goes to warn her; her friend Billy goes with her. While Sam and Spitz are having sex in the barn, Michael appears and murders them, impaling Spitz with a pitchfork and slicing Sam's chest open with a garden scythe. He then leaves the barn and kills the two deputies that Loomis has asked to keep an eye on Tina for her own protection.

After the party, Tina goes to the barn and discovers the bodies of Sam and Spitz and the deputies. Jamie, sensing that Tina is in danger, goes off to warn her; Jamie's friend, Billy, goes with her. Michael chases Tina, Jamie, and Billy with a car. While in pursuit of Jamie, Michael crashes into a tree and appears to be dead, but he soon emerges from the car, very much alive. Tina sacrifices herself to save Jamie, and Michael fatally stabs her in the chest. Loomis, Meeker, and the police arrive on the scene and rescue Jamie and Billy. Jamie agrees to put herself in danger to help Loomis stop Michael for good. Loomis lures Michael back to his abandoned home.

In the old Myers house, Dr. Loomis and the police create a set-up. Jamie has visions of Billy, which causes Meeker, along with most of his back-up, to leave the Myers house. Eventually, Michael arrives and kills the cop by banging his head on the dashboard. When Michael gets inside the house, Loomis finds him and tries to reason with him. While attempting to take his knife away, Michael attacks him and goes upstairs. At this time, a police deputy is dangling a rope out of the window and begins to help Jamie climb out. But things do not go according to plan and Michael murders the deputy by hanging him out the window with the rope. However, Jamie manages to run past Michael.

She hides in an old laundry chute and is forced to abandon safety after Michael finds her and repeatedly stabs the chute. Michael chases her upstairs. Jamie hides in the attic before spotting Rachel's dog Max hung from a noose, as well as the bodies of Mike and Rachel. Michael finds her, and Jamie tries appealing to her uncle's humanity but ultimately fails after touching Michael's face, sending him into a fit of rage. Loomis appears, using a tranquilizer gun to weaken him and then proceeds to violently beat him unconscious with a wooden plank until Loomis suffers a stroke and collapses. In the end, Michael is locked up in the sheriff's station, to eventually be escorted to a maximum-security prison. However, a stranger in black arrives and attacks the police station, shooting the officers and causing an explosion. At the end of the film, Jamie walks through the station finding the bodies of gunned officers, and goes over to Michael's holding cell to discover that it is empty. The movie ends with Jamie moaning in terror.

Cast

Production

"Drunk off the success of Halloween 4, we began production on Halloween 5."
 — Moustapha Akkad on Halloween 5.[2]

The success of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers had revived Michael Myers' fame as the 1980s slasher movie craze had begun to subside; 1980s-started film series like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street were also in decline. While the previous film was still in theaters, Moustapha Akkad had already laid out plans for Halloween 5. The producers wanted to screen the film in October, 1989, just one year after the previous sequel.

Writing

The first draft of the script was written by Shem Bitterman. Bitterman's idea was that Jamie Lloyd would become evil after stabbing her stepmother while The Shape was after her. This idea was rejected by the studio and Akkad, who brought in Michael Jacobs to write the script. After reviewing the script, director Dominique Othenin-Girard edited it to create new scenes for more violence.

Veteran actor Donald Pleasence had disagreements with Akkad and Othenin-Girard, citing that Jamie should have been portrayed as "all-evil" after stabbing her stepmother. Akkad disagreed, thinking that fans wanted to see more of The Shape. In an interview, Danielle Harris explained what she thought of the idea. Harris said,

The way Halloween 4 ended, I thought I was going to be the killer. I thought it would have been fun to come back as the killer, or Michael's sidekick. Scary, but fun.[3]

Halloween 5 was rushed into production on May 1, 1989 before the existence of a solid script. The script was filmed without perfections and many suspenseful scenes, such as Tina and Samantha doing cart-wheels near The Shape, were cut to less suspenseful scenes.

Originally, Rachel was supposed to be killed by having scissors shoved down her throat. Ellie Cornell, who played Rachel, did not like the idea and requested it be changed to simply being stabbed with the scissors.

The Hermit, who was shown in the beginning of the film as living in a quiet shack outside of the river with his parrot, was originally supposed to be a young man, named 'Dr. Death' in the script, who tried to bring The Shape back to life after finding him. His shack was supposed to be filled with ancient runes, tablets, and other items for resurrection. This scene was filmed, but was re-shot with an old man, instead of a younger man. The scythe that was supposed to kill Samantha was originally going to go through her forehead.

The scene where Michael Myers drives a car while wearing a different kind of mask was initially scripted to have him wear a Ronald Reagan mask. However, the idea of a Reagan mask was soon rejected in order to keep the film devoid of any political subtexts.

The script included "bumbling" cops, Deputies Nick and Tom, with their own "clown theme" to pay homage to Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left.[4]

Casting

Returning from Halloween 4 was veteran actor Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, along with Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, and Beau Starr, as Jamie Lloyd, Rachel Carruthers, and Sheriff Ben Meeker, respectively. Starr would later appear in an un-aired Halloween 5 television spot.

Karen Alston, who portrayed Darlene Carruthers in the previous film, reprised her role in the beginning of the film showing the anonymous person in the mask stabbing her as she falls into the bathtub of water. Her voice-over was recorded by Wendy Kaplan. Kaplan won the role of Tina Williams, the loud and wily friend of Rachel's. After Rachel's demise, Tina inherits the role of Jamie's protector.

George P. Wilbur, who had portrayed The Shape in the previous film, did not express interest in returning to play the role (although he did work as a stunt player on the film). Don Shanks was cast to play the speech-less, white-masked murderer. Shanks had already played a similar character in the first two Silent Night, Deadly Night films. Shanks also played the Man in Black. Wilbur, who had to wear hockey pads to appear to have a bigger build, would later portray the Shape again in the next installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Shanks did not have to wear the hockey pads because he already had a larger build.[5]

Max Robinson would play Maxwell Hart, the doctor who assists Jamie when she is having one of her nightmares in the beginning of the film. Betty Carvalho appears as his assistant, Nurse Patsey, who has a "motherly" feel to Jamie. Jeffrey Landman portrayed Billy Hill, Jamie's best friend, who has a stuttering problem. Landman worked with a coach who taught him about stuttering to help him prepare for the role.

Newcomers such as Tamara Glynn, Matthew Walker, and Jonathan Chapin appear as Samantha Thomas, Spitz, and Mike, who are friends of Tina and Rachel. Walker would later appear in another slasher film, Child's Play 3 (1991).

Direction

Debra Hill, who had written and produced the first two films, had sold her and John Carpenter's rights to the series before Halloween 4. She had met director Dominique Othenin-Girard at the Sundance Film Festival and liked his style.

She arranged a meeting with Othenin-Girard and Moustapha Akkad. Akkad liked Othenin-Girard and he became the director. This was Debra Hill's last involvement in the series. Othenin-Girard wanted to bring the series closer to the original, but wanted more blood in the film. The original uncut version of the film featured more explicit gore and violence. Akkad did not like this decision, as he felt that the original and Halloween 4 had worked better without showing as much detail.[5]

After filming for two weeks, Donald Pleasence gave his much bigger trailer to Danielle Harris once he left set. Harris's mother had been complaining about the small size of her daughter's trailer and Pleasence decided that she should have his.

Danielle Harris and Don Shanks became good friends over the course of filming, reportedly spending a lot of time together while off set.[6]

The film began production on May 1, 1989, and was filmed in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, just like its predecessor. The bus that the Man in Black gets off of stops outside exactly the same store where Jamie and Rachel went to get a Halloween costume in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

Unable to find a small Victorian house like the Myers House in Halloween, the filmmakers chose a bigger, more mansion-like house because they needed a house that could provide wide rooms, hallways, an attic, a basement, and a laundry chute. Donald Pleasence accidentally broke Don Shanks's nose on the set when they were filming the scene where Dr. Loomis beats The Shape with a 2×4 block of wood.

Don Shanks was also injured when he was filming the scene where The Shape crashes Mike's Camaro into the tree. Dominique Othenin-Girard had forgotten to yell "Cut!" and fire was beginning to emerge from the car (Shanks put this down to Othenin-Girard being sidetracked by seeing stunts take place during his first major directing job). Finally, stunt coordinator Don Hunt told Othenin-Girard to finally yell "cut". Wendy Kaplan was also injured in this scene, as the car almost ran over the top of her. She was uninjured as seen in Halloween: 25 Years of Terror.

Gregory Nicotero and Wendy Kaplan were seeing each other during filming.

Editing

The film had been fighting an X rating due to its violence, blood, and gore. Some scenes were trimmed down to keep it rated R, including a shot of Mikey quivering on the ground after Michael stabs him in the head with a garden fork, a shot of glass embedded in Officer Eddy's face after Michael punches through the windshield, and Billy's leg being hit by the Camaro.

In the scene in which Jamie climbs up the laundry chute, she was originally supposed to be stabbed in the leg, sending a splash of blood into the camera. The aftermath can be seen when Jamie gets out of the chute: a bloody stab wound is clearly visible on her right leg, and she walks with a noticeable limp. Danielle Harris wore a prosthetic leg for the filming, which she still owns.

An alternate opening was filmed with the Hermit replaced by a younger, hippy-like man named 'Dr. Death' with all kinds of ritualistic items in his cabin. This scene can be seen on Inside 'Halloween 5'.

More scenes with the character of Billy were filmed, but were cut. The scenes include Billy meeting Rachel and Tina for the first time on his bicycle with Max the dog, Jamie telling Billy to follow Tina to the Tower Farm, and a scene showing Billy being rushed into the children's clinic, while the police find the body of Dr. Hart.

KNB Effects had designed grotesque facial makeup for Michael Myers' unmasking towards the end of the film. The producers told them to do so as an option, either showing Michael's badly scarred face or keep it in the dark. They went for the latter.

Release

Reception

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers opened on October 13, 1989 at #2 and earned $5,093,428 from 1,495 theatres. It quickly fell from the box office with a scant $11,642,254—one of the least successful Halloween films to date. The film went straight to video outside of North America, with the exception of a few countries such as Argentina, Turkey and France. The film received a mixed critical reception from both contemporaneous and retroactive reviewers. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 14% "Rotten" approval rating based on 22 reviews. Despite the reception for the film, Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasence received praise for their performances.

Home video

The film has been released on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD. The original VHS was released by CBS/FOX. It has been released, along with Halloween 4, on Divimax, disc one of the 25 Years of Terror documentary and the Blu-ray, DVD and "extended edition cut" of the original Halloween in 2008 for the Halloween: 30th Anniversary commemorative box-set. A Blu-ray release for the US took place on August 21, 2012. The DVD release is THX certified. With the exception of the original VHS, Anchor Bay has handled all subsequent releases.[7] The Film Was Released on DVD/Blu-ray on October 2, 2013 in Australia and The DVD/Blu-ray Extras are Commentary, On The Set Footage and Trailer.

Popular culture references and notes

Horror author Dennis Etchison makes a reference to there being a Halloween 5, a couple of years before the actual movie is conceived, in his 1986 novel Darkside. The lead character in the book composes film scores, seemingly for mostly cheap horror flicks, and Halloween 5 is a project in his near future. This was before Michael Myers was confirmed to return to the series. Etchison also wrote the tie-in novels for Halloween II and III.

References

  1. 1 2 "Box office/business for Halloween 5".
  2. ↑ Moustapha Akkad (2006). Inside 'Halloween 5' documentary (DVD). United States: Trancas International Pictures.
  3. ↑ Danielle Harris (2006). Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD (DVD). United States: Trancas International Pictures.
  4. ↑ P.J. Soles (2006). Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD (DVD). United States: Trancas International Pictures.
  5. 1 2 Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD documentary
  6. ↑ Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers DVD: Inside Halloween 5
  7. ↑ "Halloween 5 Blu-ray | Free Shipping at". Deepdiscount.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28.

External links

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