On a $5.5 million budget, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers grossed $11.6 million, becoming the lowest-grossing entry. Due to poor commercial and critical performance, producer Moustapha Akkad put the series on hold for a few years. In the early 90s, aspiring writer Daniel Farrands, a self-described fan, submitted a script that the producers really liked. Unfortunately, plans stalled until Miramax acquired the franchise rights, but production further stalled after numerous writers and directors dropped out. Eventually, the studio brought Farrands back to write a final draft and hired Joe Chappelle to direct. Donald Pleasance agreed to come back after being impressed by Farrands’s script, and a then-unknown Paul Rudd made his debut. Filming took place in Salt Lake City in late 1994, but the studio demanded reshoots after poor test screenings. After numerous reshoots and re-edits, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers hit theaters in September 1995.
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Synopsis
Six years after the last film, Jamie Lloyd (J. C. Brandy) gives birth while being held prisoner by a cult. She manages to escape and hides the baby, but gets killed by Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur). Meanwhile, single mother Kara (Marianne Hagan) and her son Danny (Devin Gardner) live with her parents in the Myers house. Next door, Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) has become a recluse obsessed with Michael Myers since the original film. He finds the baby and runs into Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), who tries to warn Kara and her family. Unfortunately, Michael Myers returns home and begins killing Kara’s family to get the baby. Tommy explains that the Thorn cult controls Michael and must kill every member of his family. Will Michael succeed in carrying out the cult’s plans, or will our heroes stop the curse once and for all?
Review
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a complete mess of ideas, not helped by the awful editing. There are so many quick cuts, flashing lights, and overly close-up shots that make for a confusing watch. Even going into this completely blind, you can tell that this film had a very troubled production. From what I understand, the producer’s cut is slightly better, but I’m going strictly by the theatrical cut. If I can give the theatrical cut any credit, there are some fun kills, most prominently a satisfying head explosion. Even still, not only is the editing hard to watch, but there are so many dropped subplots and unsatisfying resolutions. For instance, they bring back Jamie Lloyd only to kill her in the first few minutes. Also, there’s a subplot about the Thorn cult trying to recruit Dr. Loomis that ultimately goes nowhere.
Speaking of Dr. Loomis, despite literally dying, Donald Pleasence still turns in an excellent performance. Even if his dialogue is stock and generic, he still delivers a level of gravitas you wouldn’t expect here. On the flip side, Paul Rudd falls flat here, but I don’t entirely blame him for his lackluster performance. For one, it was his first film, and second, he was miscast as the weird recluse obsessed with murder. Marianne Hagan, who also made her debut here, gives a genuinely outstanding performance as a struggling single mother. As easy as it is to hate that Danielle Harris didn’t come back, J.C. Brandy did the best she could. Mitch Ryan is fairly creepy as Dr. Wynn, and Bradford English is wonderfully hateable as Kara’s abusive father. Aside from George P. Wilbur making for another good Michael Myers, the rest of the cast is unremarkable.
Before I mention my feelings about director Joe Chapelle, some of his directing is decent. There are some effectively creepy shots here and there that capture an appropriately haunting feel. Still, you can tell he didn’t care for this project, and he seemed to have contempt for it. For instance, he cut most of Donald Pleasence’s scenes because he found him “too boring,” which is ridiculous. Regardless of his directing style, the movie’s biggest flaw is in trying to overexplain Michael’s motivations. I commend the filmmakers for attempting to commit to what the previous entries established, but it comes off as convoluted. The original film worked because of its simplicity, whereas this and the other sequels tried adding motivation nobody asked for. Overall, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a far cry from the John Carpenter classic that fails to deliver.
Buy Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4nqNLtX.
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Where to watch Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
