Black robe, white death mask, superhuman strength – this is Michael Myers! The most ineradicable monster of all times and peoples returns, having escaped during transportation from one psychiatric clinic to another. On the night of All Saints’ Eve, he again appears in his hometown, exterminating everyone on his way to the main victim – Jamie’s little niece …

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When John Carpenter was offered to make a horror film about a maniac killing young nannies who indulge in sinful entertainment while they need to look after children, he still did not have a special reputation and solid directorial experience, and nevertheless, producer Irwin Yablans decided to entrust the director with his a promising idea and did not lose. The tape, called “Halloween”, turned out to be that breath of fresh air that was so necessary for the genre and again returned viewers to cinemas for the latest screenings. The story of the bloody journey of the silent killer Michael Myers, who returned to his hometown in order to kill a number of teenagers led by Laurie Strode, turned out to be so alarming and frightening that some viewers could not recover for a long time after watching and began to perceive Halloween as that inexplicably nightmare date. , which must be survived in a barricaded house and not let anyone inside until the very morning. But despite the fact that Carpenter’s film was in fact frightening, causing nervous tremors in the knees, the audience continued to show him increased attention, thanks to which “Halloween” grossed tens of millions of dollars at the box office, turning its main creator into a living classic of genre cinema. However, in the work on the subsequent sequels, Carpenter decided to distance himself from directing, acting only as a producer, screenwriter and creative consultant for the series, and over time, the master completely abandoned any work on “Halloween”, considering it degenerate. Carpenter’s colleagues at the head, see Mustafa Akkad, believed in a completely different way. Having learned the fullness of the anger of the fans during the rental of “Halloween 3”, in which Michael Myers was not observed a priori, the holders of the rights to the chilling story considered it necessary to urgently return the horrific curse of Haddonfield to work and even tricked into the set of actor Donald Plaisance, again returned as Dr. Loomis. Wanting to please viewers with a traditional film of the franchise with all the lamentable attributes, including a knife and a white mask, the producers, who have lost the last rudiments of John Carpenter’s interest, have forgotten that “Halloween” is not only murder, familiar faces and blood, but also an oppressive atmosphere , strong deeds and ineradicable artistic frenzy, which in an elegant form complemented the general concept of the first two parts. And without these components, it was impossible to fully return to the streets of Haddonfield.

So, the plot of the film unfolds on the eve of Halloween 1988, that is, exactly 10 years after the brutal killer Michael Myers returned to his hometown of Haddonfield to deal with Laurie Strode, who turned out to be not just an accidental victim, but his younger sister. However, despite all the attempts to stab the innocent girl with a knife, Michael never succeeded in reaching his goal. And even more, thanks to the selfless efforts of Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Plasens), Laurie managed to escape, and Michael himself fell into a fire trap, after which he fell into a coma, in which he remained for a whole decade. Lying indestructible in a hospital bed, the sinister maniac showed no sign that he would get back on his feet, thereby relaxing the clinic’s attendants to the point that they stopped taking the monster in human flesh seriously. Moreover, the carelessness of the doctors even reached the point that they decided on the night of Halloween to transfer Myers to another medical institution, where he was ordered to lie until the end of his days. And no warnings from Dr. Loomis could influence the decision, after which Michael was loaded into a special bed and sent on the road, which very soon turns into a bloodbath for those who do not listen to the voice of reason and are frivolous about the threat silently sneaking up from behind. Hearing that Laurie Strode, somewhere behind the scenes who died in a terrible car accident, has a daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Daniel Harris), Michael decided not to hesitate and broke free, going to the same Haddonfield, where the baby lives in a foster family , and begins another campaign with a knife in hand against everyone who separates him from the last relative, who by all means must be sent to the next world.

The main challenge that we set ourselves when working on “Halloween 4: Return” was the so-called resurrection of Michael Myers, who will re-fit and feel much better than usual. However, forget about that terrifying and invisible monster that terrified in the first two parts, created with the direct participation of John Carpenter. The creators of “The Return” reasoned that since Michael Myers masks are sold on Halloween in almost every second store, it means that he is no longer just a monster, but an object of universal adoration, and he needs to be transformed from a killer hiding in the shadows into an invincible robot that is not afraid of open to go to a whole crowd of tall men and capable of scattering bodies on transformer booths, like cardboard idols. However, along with an increase in the level of entertainment, meaningless for an ingratiating tense slasher, suspense has almost completely disappeared from history, which is certainly impossible for the authors to forgive. Due to the desire to show Michael Myers as an immortal two-meter bumpkin who is practically in no way inferior to the Terminator, the fourth film in the series turns for the most part into an unpretentious second-rate attraction, which is no different from various now forgotten slashers, designed to amuse the audience only while watching. after which they are completely erased from memory. However, even with all the invincibility of Myers, his actions and image are very difficult to take seriously due to some completely unimaginable slowness, which director Dwight Little endowed him with. Previously, the already unhurried maniac now moves extremely slowly, but at the same time, without any problems, he finds himself where it is necessary, as if the gate between space and time had become subject to him. And as much as one would like to admit it, however, in The Return, Michael Myers becomes one of the weakest elements that should have worked in a completely different way.

But unlike the invincible Myers, the very young Daniel Harris, who played the role of Jamie, Michael’s niece, who is destined to play her special role in this story, was able to please the audience. Despite her very young age, Harris plays very convincingly and seems to really believe that she is in danger. Watching Myers’ movements, Jamie tries not to panic, but in her eyes, anxiety is clearly visible, which is not so easy to get out of her head. But when the hour of decisive confrontation comes, she finds the strength and desire to escape from the trap of certain death, using all available opportunities for this. And in the company with Dr. Loomis, played again by Donald Plaisance, Jamie forms a very winning creative tandem, which at least partially saves Dwight Little’s tape from absolute defeat.

See next part: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers 4K 1989

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (80.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital Stereo

Subtitles
English SDH.