This might sound funny, but I keep watching the Halloween movies expecting to not like each subsequent sequel. But I'll tell you, I dig H5 for the most part too. Sure it has it's problems, but I Michael Myers is still my favorite slasher and I just love seeing him skulking behind clueless dudes and dudettes. And you know what? Danielle Harris is awesome as Jamie. She's 12 in this one (she was 11 in the previous one) and I think she does a damn good job of acting scared. It might seem easy at first thought and I've never personally been chased by a maniac with a knife, but I feel like her fear fills up the screen just as much as the images. Good for her.
The basic idea behind H5 is that Jamie's getting hunted by her uncle, Michael Myers but folks like Dr. Loomis, Jamie's step sister Rachel and Rachel's friend Tina are standing between The Shape and this little girl. But as you might remember from the very end of H4 Jamie stabbed her step mom. They kind of explain that away by saying Jamie was influenced by her uncle. In this flick, Jamie's got some kind of psychic connection to her uncle that gives her a kind of Spidey Sense when Michael's killing someone.
Donald Pleasence's Dr. Loomis gets even crazier in this sequel and it's awesome. Watching the transformation from movie to movie has been pretty fun. In this one he threatens another police officer and grabs Jamie as bait. It's a great bit of business because we're not sure if Loomis is really nuts and wants to end the madness by letting Michael kill Jamie or if it's a trap for Michael.
I also really like the opening credits. You get treated to scenes of a knife slashing through something that turns out to be a pumpkin. There's just something so brutal about the knife work. It does a good job of setting the sometimes brutal tone that the movie has.
But it's not all love and hugs for H5. There's a character that he only see in profile or at ankle level dubbed The Man in Black that breaks Michael out of jail at the end. He seems to have only been introduced to do just that. He's not a character he's just a plot point.
Another problem I have is how easily duped the Haddonfield police department is. For a force that now has a SWAT team (hey, it's about time, if for no other occasion than the yearly murderfest, they should get their own tank) they make a really stupid mistake. They're all camped out at the Myers' house until Jamie has a vision of Michael attacking the children's hospital. Loomis and the cops actually listen, but then ALL OF THE COPS leave the house and go to the hospital. Really guys? You've never heard of a bait and switch? Sheesh. Loomis knows right away.
Sure there are stumbling blocks along the way, but I think H5 looks pretty good for a movie rushed into production a year after H4 came out. And yet again, I find myself not looking forward to Curse of Michael Myers, except for the performance of a young Paul Rudd. After that I've got H20, Resurrection and, huh, the remake. I'm REALLY not looking forward to those three.
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