MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 246 this week

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

R  |   |  Horror, Thriller  |  21 October 1988 (USA)
5.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 5.9/10 from 27,236 users   Metascore: 43/100
Reviews: 368 user | 138 critic | 5 from Metacritic.com

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece on Halloween. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?

Director:

Writers:

(story), (story), 3 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON TV
ON DISC
ALL

10 Best Action Heroes

We consulted IMDb's Highest-Rated Action-Family Films to came up with 10 scene-stealing action figures your kids can relate to, look up to, and be inspired by.

Visit our Family Entertainment Guide

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 21 titles
created 21 Oct 2011
 
a list of 34 titles
created 31 May 2012
 
a list of 25 titles
created 30 Oct 2012
 
a list of 46 titles
created 9 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) on IMDb 5.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

User Polls

2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Halloween 5 (1989)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.2/10 X  

It's one year later after the events of Halloween 4. Michael survives the shootings and on October 31st he returns with a vengeance. Lurking and stalking, Jamie, Rachel, and Rachel's ... See full summary »

Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell
Halloween II (1981)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

While Sheriff Brackett and Dr. Loomis hunt for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to hospital, and the serial killer is not far behind her.

Director: Rick Rosenthal
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.6/10 X  

Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time and now the life of her own son hangs in the balance.

Director: Steve Miner
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.9/10 X  

Six years after Michael Myers last terrorized Haddonfield, he returns there in pursuit of his niece, Jamie Lloyd, who has escaped with her newborn child, for which Michael and a mysterious cult have sinister plans.

Director: Joe Chappelle
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd, Marianne Hagan
Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.5/10 X  

Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Stars: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy
Halloween (1978)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

On Halloween night of 1963, 6-year old Michael Myers stabbed his sister to death. After sitting in a mental hospital for 15 years, Myers escapes and returns to Haddonfield to kill.

Director: John Carpenter
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Horror | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

Mrs. Voorhees is dead, and Camp Crystal Lake is shut down, but a camp next to the infamous place is stalked by an unknown assailant. Is it Mrs. Voorhees' son Jason, who did not really drown in the lake some 30 years before?

Director: Steve Miner
Stars: Betsy Palmer, Amy Steel, John Furey
Comedy | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.1/10 X  

Three years after he last terrorized his sister, Michael Myers confronts her again, before traveling to Haddonfield to deal with the cast and crew of a reality show which is being broadcast from his old home.

Director: Rick Rosenthal
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Busta Rhymes, Brad Loree
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

After being mortally wounded and taken to the morgue, murderer Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives and embarks on a killing spree as he makes his way back to his home at Camp Crystal Lake.

Director: Joseph Zito
Stars: Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.7/10 X  

Having revived from his wound, Jason Voorhees; now donning a new appearance, refuges at a cabin near Crystal Lake. As a group of co-eds reside there for their vacation, Jason continues his spree.

Director: Steve Miner
Stars: Dana Kimmell, Tracie Savage, Richard Brooker
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

Tommy Jarvis goes to the graveyard to get rid of Jason Voorhees' body once and for all, but inadvertently brings him back to life instead. The newly revived killer once again seeks revenge, and Tommy may be the only one who can defeat him.

Director: Tom McLoughlin
Stars: Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen
Halloween (2007)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

After being committed for 17 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution (where he was committed as a 10 year old) and he immediately returns to Haddonfield, where he wants to find his baby sister, Laurie. Anyone who crosses his path is in mortal danger.

Director: Rob Zombie
Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
George P. Wilbur ...
...
Beau Starr ...
...
Sasha Jenson ...
Gene Ross ...
Carmen Filpi ...
...
Jeff Olson ...
Karen Alston ...
Nancy Borgenicht ...
David Jensen ...
Edit

Storyline

It's October 30, 1988 and Michael Myers has been in a coma since his pursuit of Laurie Strode, 10 years ago, was finally stopped (events of H1 and H2). However when he is transfered from Richmond Mental Institute to Smith's Grove he awakes when he hears that he has a niece in Haddonfield and after killing the transfer crew he escapes. In Haddonfield, the niece, Jamie, has been adopted by the Carruthers family but keeps having nightmares about Michael (but she doesn't know who he is). On Halloween night, Jamie goes out trick and treating, little knowing that her murdering Uncle is following her and her step-sister Rachel. Rushing to her aid is Dr. Loomis and with the help of Sheriff Meeker starts to search the town for Michael and to find Jamie to protect her. But can anything stop Michael this time? Written by Lee Horton <Leeh@tcp.co.uk>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Horror has returned to Haddonfield See more »

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Halloween 4  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$17,768,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dwight H. Little did extensive research on the history of Halloween and many of its harvest images were put in the creepy opening sequence. See more »

Goofs

When Dr. Loomis & Dr. Hoffman are in the mental hospital, Dr. Hoffman answers the phone. He says, "I see. I see, thank you," but his mouth movements don't match the words. We then hear him yell, "Loomis! Loomis!" but he is clearly not actually yelling. See more »

Quotes

Security Guard: Yeah, the one you're picking up, just thinkin' about him gives me the 'willies.' A decade ago-Halloween night-he murdered sixteen people, maybe more, trying to get to his sister. Nearly got her, too. But his doctor, of all people, shot him six times, then he set him on fire. Both of them nearly burned to death. Yeah, I'll be glad to see this one gone. Oh yes, indeed-dee!
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Michael Vs. Jason (2004) See more »

Soundtracks

Halloween Theme
by John Carpenter
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Not bad . . .
2 December 2003 | by (USA) – See all my reviews

. . . considering Halloween 4 came some eight years after the previous Myers-inclusive Halloween, considering Carpenter had even less influence, considering the plot took a slightly different direction, considering most other franchises really suck before they even get to 3 sequels.

The problem I have with most horror sequels is the fact it switches over to new characters every film, and none of the characters really get much sympathy. I dunno if I ever cared about anyone in Friday the 13th. But in the Halloweens (1,2,4,and 5), they've always taken the time to get to know the main characters first and stick with them for at least one sequel. Also in Halloween, we had a staple character besides Myers - Donald Pleasence - who returned to battle Myers every time until his untimely death.

I really liked the Jamie Lloyd character (I mean, getting decent actors in horror is difficult enough, but getting a good child actor in horror? Look at Child's Play! We struck gold with Danielle), her storyline, and the rest of the new characters for Michael to stalk. Oh yes, and of course, Donald Pleasence.

Alan Howarth parts with Carpenter, and takes the score solo, playing some fun twists to the main Halloween and the stalking theme, giving Jamie a theme appropriately derivative of Laurie's theme and intermingling all the themes in various places for an original sound with music that's been with us for 2 movies now.

Hopefully the viewer won't remember the end of Halloween 2 well enough to recall Laurie shooting Michael's eyes out, and him stumbling around slicing blindly as blood ran down his mask--wait, this is horror, everyone's accustomed to inconsistency with horror. Nevermind. Besides, compared to the plot holes of Curse of Michael Myers and then H20 neglecting Halloween 4 & 5, who cares about that minor detail.

Despite the new look, new characters, new tweaks, Halloween 4 can't escape the fact that it is a sequel slasher and so despite everything that's new (that works) . . . it's all the same. That's where my problem with the film lay, and that's why I can't rank this up there with some of my favorite horror films of all time. It's a good Halloween sequel, but there are better, more original films, within this series and especially in other series. Oh well.


25 of 30 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Can anyone with memories from 87-88 Arcade85
Always on TV moviefan413
Best Intro for the series other than the original NikTL
Your interpretation of Laurie's offspring? cavsbkball23
deputy logan mariamsc89
Halloween 4 vs Halloween 5 (Dark Knight Edition) astonmartino

Contribute to This Page