Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Ten years after the hospital fire, Michael Myers is still in a coma. On October 30, 1988, he is moved by ambulance from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium to Smith's Grove, and nobody tells his doctor, Sam Loomis. On the way, the attendants mention that Michael has a niece living in Haddonfield. Michael wakes up, kills both attendants and escapes. At the sanitarium Loomis learns of the transfer and of an accident on the road with no sign of Michael's body. He knows Michael is going home to kill the girl.

The niece is Jamie Lloyd, the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode. Jamie lives with Richard and Darlene Carruthers, their teenage daughter Rachel, and a dog named Sunday, and she has nightmares about her uncle. Kids at school tease her for being the boogeyman's niece. On Halloween the parents have to go out, so Rachel cancels a date with her boyfriend Brady to watch Jamie. At the store where Brady works, Jamie tries on a clown costume while Rachel cancels the date. Brady trades looks with coworker Kelly Meeker, the sheriff's daughter. Michael slips into the store and steals a mask, and Jamie screams, but he is gone when everyone comes running.

Outside Haddonfield, Loomis stops at a gas station and diner and finds bodies. Michael has killed a mechanic for his coveralls and a waitress. Loomis sees Michael in the garage and fires but misses. Michael speeds away in a tow truck and blows up the gas pumps and Loomis's car. The fire takes out the phone lines, cutting off long-distance calls to town. Loomis hitches a ride into town with an odd preacher, Reverend Jackson P. Sayer. Michael kills a worker at the power station by throwing him into a transformer, and the town goes dark. Loomis convinces Sheriff Ben Meeker that Michael has come back, and they head out to find Jamie. At the Carruthers house they find the dog dead and leave Deputy Logan to guard the house.

Meeker and Loomis pick up Rachel and Jamie and drive to the police station, only to find Michael has killed everyone inside. Bar owner Earl Ford and his friends show up armed, and Loomis tells them Michael is back. Meeker is angry that Loomis has started a mob, but Loomis says they may be the town's only defense. Later the mob shoots an innocent man in the park thinking he is Michael. Meeker takes everyone to his own house. Deputy Logan drives over too, not knowing Michael is hiding in his cruiser. Brady is already there with Kelly, and Rachel catches them together. Logan and Brady board up the house while Meeker radios the state police, and Loomis leaves to wait for Michael at the Carruthers house.

Kelly takes coffee to Deputy Logan, finds his body and is impaled on a shotgun. Rachel finds the bodies and runs upstairs. Brady stays behind to face Michael so the girls can get to the attic, and Michael kills him. Rachel and Jamie climb out onto the steep roof, and Rachel lowers Jamie to the ground with an electrical cord. Michael stabs at Rachel, and she falls. Jamie runs screaming through the streets and finds Loomis. They hide in the schoolhouse, where Michael throws Loomis through a door. Rachel, alive after the fall, sprays Michael with a fire extinguisher and gets Jamie out as Earl's men arrive.

Earl drives the girls toward the state police in his pickup with several men riding in the back. Michael crawls out from under the truck, kills the men in back, climbs onto the roof and kills Earl. Rachel pushes Earl's body out, takes the wheel and swerves to shake Michael. When she slams on the brakes, Michael flies off onto the road, and as he gets up she runs him over. Meeker and the state police arrive.

Jamie sees Michael's hand move toward his knife and takes his hand while the others yell for her to get back. When she moves away, Michael stands up with the knife raised. The officers open fire, and Michael falls into a deep mine shaft. Meeker and Loomis take the girls home. Darlene runs Jamie a bath. Jamie puts on her clown mask and picks up a pair of scissors. The others hear screams and find Jamie at the top of the stairs covered in blood, holding the scissors, looking just like young Michael in 1963. Loomis aims his gun at her, but Meeker stops him, and Loomis breaks down in horror.

Story notes

• A decade after the original massacre, Michael Myers escapes during a transfer and returns to Haddonfield to hunt Jamie Lloyd, the young daughter of Laurie Strode.
• Jamie's foster sister Rachel and Dr. Loomis race to keep her alive.

Release facts

• Budget: $5,000,000 (Box Office Mojo); the official site says less than $5 million
• Worldwide: $17,768,757 (no international gross reported)
• Distributor: Galaxy International Releasing (United States); 20th Century Fox (United Kingdom, 1989)

Galaxy International Releasing opened the film October 21, 1988, in 1,679 theaters per Wikipedia, or 1,677 per the Hollywood Reporter. Galaxy first estimated a $7,215,000 weekend, citing computer problems at AMC Theatres. Other distributors thought that was $500,000 too high, and Galaxy lowered it by $400,000. Box Office Mojo lists $6,831,250, while a Daily Variety ad claimed $7,125,000 for the first three days. It was number one for its first two weekends.

It finished with $17,768,757 domestic on a $5 million budget, about 4.3 million tickets. 20th Century Fox released it in the United Kingdom on November 3, 1989.

Critics mostly panned it. Variety called it a no-frills, workmanlike picture. Caryn James of The New York Times said suspense and psychological horror had been replaced by superhuman strength. Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times said anyone who went deserved what they got. Betsy Sherman of The Boston Globe called the script a pile of cliches. Ted Mahar of The Oregonian liked it, calling Harris affecting and the film a faithful sequel. The Des Moines Register found Harris convincing in a weak film. Rotten Tomatoes lists 43 percent from 35 critics, and Metacritic scores it 34.

Fans came around to it. Eric Goldman of IGN called it the second-best film in the series. John Fallon of JoBlo said it was his favorite after the original. Adam Tyner of DVD Talk called it one of the best late-1980s slashers, and Tyler Geis of MovieWeb praised its fall atmosphere. Kim Newman of Empire still called it stupid and plodding in 2000. Little later said people resisted it at first but love it now.

It got 1990 Saturn Award nominations for Best Horror Film and for McElroy's writing. In 2015 the Halloween: The Complete Collection box set, which includes it, won the Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Collection.

Press and marketing

• Theatrical key-art / poster campaign reference: IMP Awards — Halloween 4 poster archive.

Cast

Crew

Production

In December 1982 the Hollywood Reporter said Irwin Yablans planned Halloween IV, with Carpenter and Hill producing and Moustapha Akkad backing it. Later, Cannon Films approached Carpenter to write and direct a fourth film. Carpenter worked on a script with horror writer Dennis Etchison, with Hill set to produce. Akkad turned it down as too cerebral and wanted Michael back as a flesh-and-blood killer. Carpenter and Hill sold their rights to Akkad and walked away, and Carpenter's only credit on the finished film is his original theme. Producer Paul Freeman said everyone came out of Halloween III asking where Michael was.

Dwight H. Little asked Alan B. McElroy to write the script, and McElroy came aboard on February 25, 1988. The Writers Guild strike began March 7. McElroy came up with the idea, pitched it and finished a draft in 11 days, beating the strike by only hours. He created Laurie's daughter, whose name was later changed to Jamie as a nod to Jamie Lee Curtis. His script had Sheriff Meeker dying and a fire on the rooftop. Both were cut for budget and replaced with the teen love triangle. Curtis turned down a return, so Laurie was written as dead. She did let the production use her personal photos for pictures of Laurie.

Pleasence was the only actor from the earlier films to come back. For Jamie, Melissa Joan Hart was among the young actresses who auditioned. Danielle Harris, known from One Life to Live, was about the tenth to audition. Little said he knew she was right the moment she walked in. Rebecca Schaeffer auditioned for Rachel but had to drop out because of her schedule. Ellie Cornell, 23, won the role after a screen test.

Principal photography started April 11, 1988, in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which was cheaper than Pasadena. The official site says the shoot ran through March and April. It lasted about 35 days. Since it was spring, the crew brought in leaves and painted squash orange to use as pumpkins. The art department used a book of eerie Halloween photos as a guide. The crew put orange gel over car headlights to give the night an orange Halloween glow. Little wanted to mix mystery with the first film's atmosphere, and producer Paul Freeman said the humor came from the situations, not parody.

There were accidents. Gaffer Garlan Wilde cut his wrists dropping a light during Brady's scene and was rushed to the hospital. Ellie Cornell cut her stomach on a nail sliding down the roof and finished the scene bandaged. The roof shots used a replica built for safety. Donald Pleasence got so cold on night shoots that he wore a hat without the crew noticing, and more than six hours of footage had to be reshot.

George P. Wilbur wore hockey pads under the coveralls to look bigger. He was often shot in reflections or partly out of frame. Little asked him to play Michael as if he were thinking, as if he did not have the mask on. Wilbur often took the mask off around Danielle Harris to remind her it was make-believe.

After a rough cut screening in the Thalberg Building on the MGM lot, Little and Akkad decided the violence was too mild. They added a day of shooting for gorier effects, especially for the ending. John Carl Buechler's company Magical Media Industries did the added effects. The official site says the paramedic attack and Earl's torn throat were both created in post-production. To save money, the shots of the ambulance leaving are the arrival shots flipped. The official site says Akkad cut back the nudity in one scene even though the film was rated R. Mike Lookinland of The Brady Bunch was a production assistant.

The film premiered October 17, 1988, as a benefit screening for the Actors Fund. In 1990 Daily Variety reported that Kuwaiti company Modern Systems Network International sued Trancas and Akkad. It claimed Trancas agreed in September 1988 to pay $5 million to buy out its partnership stake and never paid. The outcome is not known.

Alan B. McElroy completed the screenplay in eleven days ahead of a Writers Guild strike, after Dwight H. Little recommended him for the rewrite.

Principal photography took place in Salt Lake City during March and April. The Ellis Mansion supplied Sheriff Meeker’s house interiors.

Art director Roger Crandall used a book of eerie Halloween photographs as a visual reference for the seasonal decorations.

Little aimed to combine mystery with the original film’s atmosphere. Producer Paul Freeman described the humor as arising from situations rather than parody.

Filming locations

• Salt Lake City, Utah, and surrounding area: Haddonfield, Illinois
• Ellis Mansion, Salt Lake City area: Interiors of Sheriff Meeker's house
• Roof replica built for the production: The rooftop escape stunts, built for safety
• Well built for the film: The shaft Michael falls into at the end
• Electric Melody Studios: Recording the score
• Halloween 4 was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah during March and April, with the Ellis Mansion used for Sheriff Meeker's house; the production dressed springtime Utah to read as late-October Haddonfield.

Effects and makeup

John Carl Buechler of Magical Media Industries designed and supervised the special effects makeup, with John Foster as effects production manager. TMDB also lists Wayne Toth. Buechler had just directed Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.

Most of the gorier moments were shot on an added day after the rough cut. The official site says the paramedic attack in the ambulance was one of them.

Loomis's burn scars from the Halloween II fire were toned down during filming because the first version looked too extreme.

Larry Fioritto was the special effects coordinator, with assistants Bob Phillips, George Zamora and Tom Tallon.

Fred Lerner coordinated stunts. Tom Morga and George P. Wilbur did stunt work as Michael, with Debbie Evans and Carl Ciarfalio among the stunt team.

Dr. Loomis's burn-scar makeup was revised during filming because the first version read as too extreme, giving the finished film a deliberately toned-down prosthetic continuity from the Halloween II fire.

George P. Wilbur wore hockey pads beneath Michael’s coveralls to broaden the character’s silhouette.

The ambulance paramedic attack and the late throat-tearing effect were added after principal photography.

Props and costumes

The original modified Captain Kirk mask was not available, so the crew bought a new costume shop mask and altered it. It was adjusted several times to look like the original while fitting Wilbur's bigger head.

In the school scene where Michael throws Loomis through the glass, Michael's mask is visibly different, with blond hair and no alterations. Wikipedia says producers tested an unaltered store-bought mask, did not like it, and reshot those scenes, leaving this one shot in. The official site says the hero mask had gone missing for a while. Little has said a tired crew member probably grabbed the wrong mask. The mistake was caught in editing, but there was no time to reshoot.

Wilbur wore hockey padding under the coveralls.

Jamie's clown costume and mask echo young Michael's 1963 costume, which pays off in the ending.

Kathleen Kinmont's Cops Do It By The Book T-shirt was made for the film.

Rosalie Wallace designed the costumes.

Propstore documents a Chicago Cutlery kitchen knife as one of four hero knives made for Friday the 13th Part VII. Magical Media Industries also used it on Halloween 4.

Trick or Treat Studios makes an officially licensed Halloween 4 butcher knife replica, 18.25 inches, injection-molded with an electroplated blade.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History holds a Halloween 4 video press kit in its Video Press Kits Collection.

The new Myers mask was repeatedly adjusted to evoke the original while fitting the larger head and body of George P. Wilbur; one incorrectly selected blond-haired backup mask remained in the school sequence because the production lacked time to reshoot it.

Wilbur wore hockey padding beneath the jumpsuit to broaden Michael's silhouette and make the returning Shape physically more imposing.

Production artifacts

Scripts and documents

The killers

Deaths

Alan Howarth, who worked with Carpenter on Halloween II and III, scored the film alone. He reworked Carpenter's theme with synthesizers and added new cues like Jamie's Nightmare, Return of the Shape and Police Station. Carpenter gets credit for the original theme.

The score was recorded at Electric Melody Studios.

The soundtrack came out September 28, 1988, on CD, vinyl and cassette.

The film was released in Ultra Stereo rather than Dolby.

Home Media

• May 18, 1989, VHS, CBS/Fox Video. Rental release in pan and scan, followed by a sell-through release in October 1989 and a LaserDisc.
• 1999, VHS and DVD, Anchor Bay Entertainment. The DVD has widescreen video, trailers for Halloween 4 and the original Halloween, and a cardboard insert. Wikipedia dates the Anchor Bay VHS and DVD to October 2000.
• October 2001, DVD, Anchor Bay. Widescreen, the trailer, and the 17-minute documentary Halloween 4: Final Cut. A tin limited to 40,000 copies added a fold-out color brochure.
• June 2006, DVD, Anchor Bay DiviMax Special Edition. It has new commentaries by writer Alan B. McElroy and by Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris, the trailer, Halloween 4: Final Cut, deleted scenes, and the Halloween 4/5 panel from the Return to Haddonfield convention.
• 2008, DVD and Blu-ray, included in the 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set of the original Halloween.
• 2010, DVD, Anchor Bay double feature with Halloween 5.
• May 4, 2012, Blu-ray, Germany.
• August 21, 2012, Blu-ray, Anchor Bay. It has a new commentary by Dwight H. Little moderated by Justin Beahm of HalloweenMovies, the Cornell and Harris commentary, the 18-minute Halloween 4/5 panel from a 2003 convention with Danielle Harris, Kathleen Kinmont, Sasha Jenson and Jeffrey Landman, and the trailer. The DiviMax deleted scenes are not included.
• September 23, 2014, Blu-ray, Scream Factory and Anchor Bay Halloween: The Complete Collection box set.
• 2021, 4K Ultra HD plus Blu-ray, Scream Factory Collector's Edition. The official site gives a September 28 street date, and Wikipedia lists October 5. It has a new 4K scan of the original camera negative and a new Dolby Atmos track, commentaries by Cornell and Harris and by Little with Justin Beahm, The Making of Halloween 4: Final Cut, The Making of Halloween 4, the trailer, TV spots and a still gallery.

Home video history

• Halloween IV novelization by Nicholas Grabowsky. Critic's Choice Paperbacks, 1988, 224 pages. It closely follows the film with minor changes. A 2003 reissue added new material and cover art. The 2013 hardcover, Halloween IV: The Ultimate Authorized Edition, added an unpublished epilogue that changes the ending.
• Halloween 4 soundtrack by Alan Howarth, released September 28, 1988, on CD, vinyl and cassette.
• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers trading cards, Fright-Rags, 2023. 81 movie cards plus a checklist, 24 packs of 10 cards per box, and 300 sealed boxes made. Inserts include 9 stickers with puzzle backs, 6 blue-border parallels and printing plates. Autographs from Danielle Harris, Kathleen Kinmont, Sasha Jenson and Erik Preston come at 1 per 24 packs, with one printing plate per box.
• Trick or Treat Studios officially licensed line: Michael Myers mask, poster mask, Jamie Lloyd clown face mask, Michael Myers 1:6 scale figure, figure stand, butcher knife prop, wall decor, enamel pins and a Fear Freshener.
• Trick or Treat Studios Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Michael Myers 1:6 scale figure.

Books and publishing

Replica props and masks

Trading cards

The catalog

Trailers & clips

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Props

Merchandise