Halloween 5 (1989) - Weasello Rating: {>>--} (Hrrm) {{ Prequel | Sequel }}
Please note that this review is laden with spoilers.
One should never watch this movie before Halloween 4 as I did. You miss way too much plot. As a result, I think my movie-watching experience, and therefore noding quality, suffered.
I apologize if I have missed anything; please, please message me if I have messed anything up.
Body count: In one of the most unproportional sexist murdering sprees of all time, Michael kills a mere 3 females in this movie... And 12 males. True, 5 of those 12 may have been killed by someone else, but who knows. There is also one bonus killing in a dream sequence, that happened in Halloween 4. I will make the final tally 15.
Michael Injury Tally: These first injuries are most probably a recap from the previous movie, but here goes anyway: Michael is tossed through the window of a truck, lands and rolls across pavement for a few meters. He is then wrapped around the bumper of a truck, sent flying through the air, crashing through a fence, and landing in a graveyard. The police then show up. he is shot approximately 15-20 times by a few shotguns and about 5-10 handgun shots. He flails backwards, and falls into an abandoned mineshaft. He narrowly avoids being blown to smithereens by a stick of TNT.
I beleive this is where the movie-proper begins.
Michael avoids quite a few injuries at the beginning of the movie, as is proper for a horror flick. He punches his fist through a car window, and proceeds to steal the car and drive like a maniac. He ends up hitting a tree, and the car promptly explodes and bursts into flames. He is shot 8 times, and a little girl makes him cry. He is then trapped under a chain-net, is tranquilized 4 times, and beat over the head 19 times by a two-by-four.
Scream Count: At least 20 screams by the female gender, and 2 screams by the male team. Considering the number of male deaths, this seems wrong.
Outline: In this movie, our friend Dr. Loomis from Halloween II has gone a little insane and is trying to use a girl with a psychic connection to Michael Meyers to lure him into a trap. Other than this most basic, rudimentiary plot, Mike's kills seem to have been random and thoughtless...
Dr. Loomis eventually lures Mike back into his old, abandoned house and traps him under a chain net... And beats him 19 times over the head with a two-by-four. He is taken to prison, locked up, and everyone is told "first thing in the morning, he is going to a maximum security prison... FOR LIFE!"
It would be interesting to note that throughout the movie, for no real rhyme or reason, there is some dude dressed in black with a cowboy hat and spurs, that walks around slowly and seems to be following Dr. Loomis everywhere. He has a very evil, ominous tone about him, but you never see his face or him do anything until the very end of the movie.
Apparantly Mr. Evil Cowboy turns out to be some random guy with a machine gun that walks through the police station, killing everyone and freeing Michael.
Fade to black, shout "Sequel."
My Opinion: Some parts of this movie were extremely horrible and painful - and the sound and music was very tastelessly done. For Example, when the Bumbling Police force talks or walks or anything, they're stupid theme song comes on... which is a random collection of timpani drums, duck quacks, and fart noises. Even the title music proper was re-done with synthesizer bells instead of creepy piano.
Other than those mistakes (and the horrible 80's wardrobe!), the suspense was pretty well done and I didn't *mind* watching it. I would never rent it again, but I am not yet sure if it is a vital movie in the chain of the series. I'll let you know once I watch Halloween 6.
All in all, a very forgetable movie. I give it 1/4, my wifey gives it 3/4.
Interesting Notes:
- This is the first Halloween movie to use a CAR CAM; that is, a camera mounted on the hood of a car that chases people in the night.
- In this movie, Michael's house appears as a large, overgrown with vegetation, old-fashioned house. In Halloween and Halloween II, his house is identified as a normal 2 story house on a relatively busy suburban street.
Lead roles:
Directed by: Dominique Othenin-Girard
Writing credits: Shem Bitterman & John Carpenter (characters)
Tagline: Michael Lives, And This Time They're Ready!
Sources: The oh-so-wonderful IMDB, my head, and the box.
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