Now That You’ve Seen ‘Halloween Kills,’ It’s The Perfect Time to Revisit ‘Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers’

As of October 2021, there have been 10 films that continue or reimagine the story of Michael Myers that was first laid out in John Carpenter’s Halloween, and unless you’re a devotee of the franchise there’s a good chance you’ve forgotten most of them. At this point in its history, the Halloween franchise has been rebooted once (by Rob Zombie in 2007) and retconned twice (by Halloween H20 in 1998 and Halloween in 2018), creating no less than four different continuities, so you’d be forgiven for letting a few of those go. 

Not me, though. I’m a ride or die Halloween viewer who will follow Michael Myers into as many weird narrative dead-ends as producers dare to send him down, which means I’m constantly combing back through these sequels in the search for value, meaning, and fresh entertainment. 

If you like Halloween, there’s a good chance you spent a couple of hours (perhaps more!) over the last week watching Halloween Kills, the follow-up to director David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween (a direct sequel to the original 1978 classic). If you enjoyed it, you’re probably itching for more Michael Myers action. If you didn’t, you’re probably looking for some kind of Halloween palate cleanser. Either way, I’m here to tell you what to watch next: 1988’s Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. 

Yes, really.

Like I said, unless you’re a devoted fan of the franchise who frequently revisits these things, you may have written off many of the sequels (with the possible exception of H20 and its late ’90s slasher allure) as forgettable, but each has its own layer of intrigue, and Halloween 4 in particular stands out as an exceptionally ambitious chapter in the series. Atmospheric, tense, and full of memorable moments, it’s a better sequel than most people remember, and a solid follow-up to your time with Halloween Kills. 

With Halloween III: Season of the Witch in 1982 (another worthy film that’s a discussion for another time), producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were hoping to use the franchise name to branch out into other, non-Michael Myers stories. Faced with mixed results, Halloween producer Moustapha Akkad demanded a back-to-basics approach for the next installment, leading to the aptly named The Return of Michael Myers. But without the involvement of John Carpenter, Debra Hill, or original series lead Jamie Lee Curtis, director Dwight H. Little and writer Alan B. McElroy had to get a little creative. In retrospect, it’s remarkable that their gambit worked as well as it did. 

In the timeline of Halloween 4, both Michael Myers and Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) managed to survive the hospital explosion at the end of Halloween II. Loomis was left scarred and limping, while Michael went into a 10-year coma and was confined to a bed in an asylum. In the meantime, Laurie Strode died in a car accident, leaving behind an orphan daughter (Danielle Harris) who’s plagued by visions of a masked man threatening her life. In October of 1988, a prisoner transfer gives Michael the opportunity to finally wake from his sleep, overpower his jailers, and make his way back to Haddonfield, and to his niece Jamie (yes, you read that correctly — they really named her after Jamie Lee Curtis). 

In some ways, this setup definitely lends itself to the back-to-basics approach Akkad was hoping for in an effort to ensure a better box office. It’s another story about Michael escaping custody and heading back to his hometown to kill a vulnerable girl, all while Dr. Loomis tries to convince local law enforcement that they should be very, very afraid. It begins on a rainy night, features its fair share of teen Halloween shenanigans, and culminates in a Halloween night killing spree with Jamie in the crosshairs. If you’re looking for familiarity, Halloween 4 certainly has it, but what sets it apart, and indeed makes it one of the most watchable sequels, is just how far it’s willing to stray from the basics of its approach. 

Like Halloween II before, Little’s film comes up with increasingly elaborate and wild ways for Michael to kill people, underlining the apparent supernatural influence at work in his killing spree. In Halloween, he lifts a teenage boy up with one hand to impale him on a door. In Halloween 4, he lifts a teenage girl up by impaling her on a shotgun and pinning her to a door, because in Michael’s world, even guns are for stabbing. In Halloween and Halloween II he pursues with a silent, deliberate walk through hospitals and neighborhoods. By Halloween 4 he’s clambering up rooftops behind his victims, and climbing into the backs of trucks to battle his would-be killers. 

“In Michael Myers’ world, even guns are for stabbing.”

And oh yes, there are many would-be killers. If you’re looking for the film that originated Halloween Kills‘ “assemble a posse to get the bad guy” bit, this is it. As his rampage ripples through the city, the Haddonfield police attempt to enforce a curfew, which doesn’t set well with the people drinking at the local bar. Instead of going home, they grab their guns and their trucks and go on a Michael hunt, adding an extra layer of mayhem to an already chaotic night. 

Then there are the central performances, anchored by Pleasence and Harris. Despite her young age — she turned 11 while on the set of H4 — Harris dives headlong into the scares of the franchise, delivering some of the most believable moments of child-in-peril terror you’re ever likely to find in ’80s horror (the Golden Age of child-in-peril terror), while Pleasence takes all the unhinged obsession he poured into his first two outings and dials it up even higher, slamming his fist against countertops and shouting that DEATH IS COMING for all of Haddonfield. It’s arguably his most enjoyable performance in the whole series, and that’s honestly saying something. 

All of this combines to create a sense that, while Halloween 4 is certainly playing it safe with some aspects of its worldbuilding, there’s a real ambition lurking beneath the veneer of franchise restoration. Its victims are somehow even more vulnerable, more terrified, than the original. Its survivors are more motivated, more determined to wreak havoc alongside Michael instead of just reacting to him. Its setpieces are, while sometimes clumsy, bigger and more over-the-top than even certain things Halloween II was willing to do. And of course, its Michael is, despite (in)famously dealing with an unsettling new mask, somehow more energetic and motivated this time around. 

Does it always work? No. There are certainly moments where the budget shows in ways it didn’t in even the original film, and some things are just never going to be able to top what the first film did where Michael Myers and his menacing aura are concerned. Halloween 4 is certainly not the best film in the franchise, and might not even be the best sequel. What it is, though, is a film willing to take big swings with a beloved character 10 years after he was first introduced, and in the process becomes one of the most thoroughly entertaining films of the franchise.

RELATED: How To Watch All 11 Michael Myers Halloween Movies In Order

Matthew Jackson is a pop culture writer and nerd-for-hire whose work has appeared at Syfy Wire, Mental Floss, Looper, Playboy, and Uproxx, among others. He lives in Austin, Texas, and he’s always counting the days until Christmas. Find him on Twitter: @awalrusdarkly.

Where to stream Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers