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Lots of bad comments have been made about this movie over the years, and after watching Halloween for myself, I consider all disrespecting comments unjust and incorrect. Although it doesn’t quite match up to the brilliance of Halloween , this fifth installment in the franchise is still a worthy movie, and contains many a pulse-raising moment – in fact it does seem to be the most emotionally-frightening of the entire series due to the viewer’s investment in young Jamie.
Once again Danielle Harris shines as Jamie Lloyd, and she actually manages to top her performance in Halloween as she plays an emotionally and physically exhausted girl who is unable to speak due to the things she has witnessed in her past. Again the audience is able to associate with her innocence and fear, and feel her pain when she is suffering (something which not many actors can pull off successfully without excessive amounts of cheese!).
Also returning was Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis, who here is particularly dislikable as he bullies Jamie into helping him find her Uncle, and then uses her as bait for Michael. Not nice. But Ellie Cornell was as vibrant and easy on the eyes as usual, and her most effecting scene is one of the movies most shocking.
There have been some noticeable changes in Halloween , and they are most probably the reasons why this installment is put down the most. Michael’s mask itself has never looked more ridiculous, as here he comes across as something of a mad scientist with his new ‘do, and the Myers’ house – which was once a nondescript shack – has become something of a rambling mansion. While the new Myers building is a great setting and has lots of atmosphere to it, fans of the series were no doubt outraged by the sudden change in its appearance.
Although the above bad points were so obvious and no doubt fuelled people’s rebellions against this movie, Halloween has more than its fair share of saving graces. Dominique Othenin-Girard’s direction keeps with the series’ seeming rule of reinvention with each installment, and here the film is both dark and almost spoof-esque while still managing to be undeniably scary at times. The first half of the movie – while pretty slow at times – sets up some great moments for the final showdown. In particular, a scene where Jamie is forced into a laundry shoot with little escape, and a segment within a shadowy barn are the most frightening and innovative of the film.
#OVERALL SUMMARY
While the movie sometimes suffers from having to conform the formula set by the previous Halloween installments, Halloween still manages to be a fresh and original movie. As a fourth sequel, it works perfectly.
