Michael Strode Back In
So in "Halloween V" we had the introduction of the mysterious man in black which basically signalled a sequel was going to come and it did 6 years later with "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers". Now to be honest by this stage in the "Halloween" franchise logic had gone out the window and anything was possible to the point if they introduced aliens it wouldn't have shocked me. But that does mean that to watch and enjoy "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" you need to stop over thinking things, enjoy trying to work out how all the pieces connect and not get miffed that this is just an ordinary teen slasher flick and not the master piece of horror making which kicked off the franchise.
6 years have passed since Michael (George P. Wilbur) and Jamie (J.C. Brandy) both disappeared, that is until a frantic Jamie escapes an occult building where she has been forced to have a baby. With the baby she heads towards Haddonfield knowing that Michael will be coming after her and makes a plea on a radio call in show for Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) to help. Jamie's baby ends up in the hands of Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd - Clueless) who remembers very well the horror of Michael having been the boy Laurie Strode was baby sitting all those years ago when he tried to kill her and he is now obsessed with Michael. He also lives opposite the old Myers home where Laurie's uncle and aunt have moved in with their family and he is convinced they will be in danger when Michael returns.
Far fetched does not get anywhere close to describing "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" and with all the references back to the original movie which also include the character of Dr. Wynn appearing again it is seriously contrived. But in a strange way that is the movie's saving grace because stylistically this is nothing more than your teen slasher movie yet because it makes you think what the connections are it becomes more interesting. I will admit it took a while for me to remember who Tommy was and I had pretty much forgotten about Dr. Wynn but whilst making it hugely contrived does use these characters as part of the far fetched story rather than just for novelty value.
But as I said for all sense and purpose "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" is just a typical teen slasher movie and all the style which made it the original movie a classic is missing. Now on one hand it makes it disappointing because John Carpenter's styling was why the original movie was great but at the same time it means that "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" works for its desired audience with pace, humour and blood splattering horror. And yes there are some semi shocking scenes of horror with people dying in gruesome ways, unfortunately it isn't really scary and when it tries to be suggestively scary instead of in your face it falls flat.
As for the acting well Paul Rudd and Marianne Hagan look good, are easy on the eye and their characters don't come across as dumb despite doing some typically stupid things which makes them okay. As for the rest of the cast well most of them seem to think that they should over act when it comes to horror and sadly Kim Darby as Mrs. Stroud certainly over acts when it comes to her big scene. There is also the return of Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis and to be honest whilst Pleasence age and health meant his part was less than in the previous movies he is the best thing about the movie.
What this all boils down to is that "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" sort of works because it delivers the sort of horror entertainment its target audience liked. But for fans of the "Halloween" franchise it is far fetched, contrived and lacking in any of the style which made the original a classic.
