Well to be fair this film has everything to go for after the lackluster Halloween 5 disappointed most Halloween fans.
The films sees Michael returning to Haddonfield to find Jamie Lloyd's young child that is now in Tommy Doyle's (Paul Rudd) possession. But Michael is coming home to a surprise as now the Strodes are living in his house and he isn't best pleased to find them there.
The plot of this film is one which has continued to cause controversy since the very release of the film yet all the plot tries to do is give Michael reasoning, reasoning to who he is, what he is and why he is which in this reviewers opinion wasn't a bad idea but came a little too late in the franchise for any real Halloween fan to accept. While the narrative is driven with good characters such as the Tommy Doyle character and of course Dr. Loomis the films seems to suffer in other areas.
Of course as most Halloween fans know the theatrical cut is not the only cut out there. A producers cut can be highly sought after and is often talked of as being better than the theatrical version and this may very well be a factor in the poor editing and at many times shoddy directing.
The film suffers from poor editing as it tries top cover up and bridge scenes obviously taken out from the final theatrical cut of the film, this in effect takes you right out of the film and at times makes you think how in the hell could they release this to theaters? The direction suffers in places but doesn't exclude Joe Chappelle from leaving his mark on the franchise with his music video approach to the film.
OK now your wondering why i have given this six out of ten and only gone on about bad points, well there are a few but it does have some great things going for it. The film's narrative is clever and Daniel Farrands should be praised for a different approach to the film from what could have been the simple hack and slash that we'd expect of Myers by now. This film however refuses to fall into that trap to some extent and deliver a clever story.
The acting should also be commended for this entry in the series, Donald Pleasance is as good as ever but fails to gain the amount of screen time he deserves for being with the series as long as he did. Paul Rudd plays the total opposite of what we would expect today playing a character who knows he must stop Michael but also has the demons within. These two performances alone made the film gain the extra mark to give it a six out of ten for me, had these performances not been there then this probably would be a lackluster five out of ten.
Of course it wouldn't be right for me not to talk about George P. Wilbur who of course plays Michael Myers for his second time and is still the only person to do so. Michael in this film feels a little different to what he has been in previous incarnation yet it is still the Michael we know and love. Wilbur does however give a good turn as Michael as he did with Halloween 4 and i believe is one of the stronger performers of Michael even if he did look as though he had a beer gut in the film.
Overall the film was everything i expected from a 90's horror cliché film yet i wanted more than the total runtime would allow. The ending feels altogether rushed and rather OTT and you are left feeling there was no resolution and of course we do not find out what happened to certain characters which is a real downer. I feel a great warmth to the character of Dr. Loomis and yet i think the director felt that his character was none too important well to you sir i say you do not know this franchise! The films worth seeing just to see the idea being played out which continues to cause controversy amongst fans today. Although considered one of the weakest films in the franchise i'd say give it a shot, i was very unwilling but upon watching i saw something different to the masses and you might do too. All i'll say is it's better than H5 and certainly on par with H4!
So is the film really a thron in the series side? in my opinion certainly not. ****** out of **********
The films sees Michael returning to Haddonfield to find Jamie Lloyd's young child that is now in Tommy Doyle's (Paul Rudd) possession. But Michael is coming home to a surprise as now the Strodes are living in his house and he isn't best pleased to find them there.
The plot of this film is one which has continued to cause controversy since the very release of the film yet all the plot tries to do is give Michael reasoning, reasoning to who he is, what he is and why he is which in this reviewers opinion wasn't a bad idea but came a little too late in the franchise for any real Halloween fan to accept. While the narrative is driven with good characters such as the Tommy Doyle character and of course Dr. Loomis the films seems to suffer in other areas.
Of course as most Halloween fans know the theatrical cut is not the only cut out there. A producers cut can be highly sought after and is often talked of as being better than the theatrical version and this may very well be a factor in the poor editing and at many times shoddy directing.
The film suffers from poor editing as it tries top cover up and bridge scenes obviously taken out from the final theatrical cut of the film, this in effect takes you right out of the film and at times makes you think how in the hell could they release this to theaters? The direction suffers in places but doesn't exclude Joe Chappelle from leaving his mark on the franchise with his music video approach to the film.
OK now your wondering why i have given this six out of ten and only gone on about bad points, well there are a few but it does have some great things going for it. The film's narrative is clever and Daniel Farrands should be praised for a different approach to the film from what could have been the simple hack and slash that we'd expect of Myers by now. This film however refuses to fall into that trap to some extent and deliver a clever story.
The acting should also be commended for this entry in the series, Donald Pleasance is as good as ever but fails to gain the amount of screen time he deserves for being with the series as long as he did. Paul Rudd plays the total opposite of what we would expect today playing a character who knows he must stop Michael but also has the demons within. These two performances alone made the film gain the extra mark to give it a six out of ten for me, had these performances not been there then this probably would be a lackluster five out of ten.
Of course it wouldn't be right for me not to talk about George P. Wilbur who of course plays Michael Myers for his second time and is still the only person to do so. Michael in this film feels a little different to what he has been in previous incarnation yet it is still the Michael we know and love. Wilbur does however give a good turn as Michael as he did with Halloween 4 and i believe is one of the stronger performers of Michael even if he did look as though he had a beer gut in the film.
Overall the film was everything i expected from a 90's horror cliché film yet i wanted more than the total runtime would allow. The ending feels altogether rushed and rather OTT and you are left feeling there was no resolution and of course we do not find out what happened to certain characters which is a real downer. I feel a great warmth to the character of Dr. Loomis and yet i think the director felt that his character was none too important well to you sir i say you do not know this franchise! The films worth seeing just to see the idea being played out which continues to cause controversy amongst fans today. Although considered one of the weakest films in the franchise i'd say give it a shot, i was very unwilling but upon watching i saw something different to the masses and you might do too. All i'll say is it's better than H5 and certainly on par with H4!
So is the film really a thron in the series side? in my opinion certainly not. ****** out of **********