Because this was released when I was already nearing the end of high school it wasn't really a part of my horror culture when I was a kid. I watched it once when I rented it with a friend, but honestly that was probably when we were in college, past my cutoff year of 1996 for this October series.
Click here for a list of all other films reviewed and considered for this October 2012 series of horror reviews.
As incredible as it was that Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers improved upon the
quality, or lack therof, of Halloween 4:
The Return of Michael Myers, that’s nothing compared to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,
the series’ sixth film. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to criticize here,
but taken as a whole experience it’s more fun, better written and acted, and
scarier than most other horror sequels.
By this point the series really begins to demonstrate a
bit of Michael Myers fatigue. Screenwriter Daniel Farrands’ solution to that is
to develop a larger back story to explain the source of Michael’s evil.
Unfortunately, while adding a deeper thriller element, it has the effect of
making him somewhat less frightening. As a specter, a haunting presence who
killed indiscriminately and without purpose, he was one of the scariest of all
slasher villains.
Halloween 6 is
populated with better actors than a film of this caliber has any right to. Paul
Rudd made his film debut as Tommy Doyle, the little boy Laurie was babysitting
when Michael attacked all those years ago. He intones a sober narration
recapping some of the town’s history with Michael and keeps watch over the
Myers house, now occupied by another Strode family – aunt, uncle and cousins of
Laurie. There is an abusive alcoholic father (so we know we’ll get some glee
from his death scene) and a mouse-like mother played by Kim Darby, who demonstrated
much more pluck as the teenaged Maddie in True
Grit. Their eldest daughter has a son of about seven or eight years and
their teenage son seals his own fate by getting horny with his girlfriend. Meanwhile
the long-suffering Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence in his final role) has retired
although his old colleague Dr. Wynn (veteran character actor Mitch Ryan) tries
to lure him back to service.
Six years have passed and Jamie Lloyd has grown up a bit.
She should be fifteen, but the actress who plays her looks about ten years
older than that. It’s revealed that she disappeared after the events of the
last film and it turns out she was abducted by the strange cult of that
mysterious man in black, part of a cult of Druid worshippers. We see that man
in black again, that strange symbol from Michael’s wrists and a room full of
lit candles as Jamie gives birth to a son being offered up for sacrifice. She
escapes and makes a distressed plea to a radio phone-in show that Loomis
happens to be listening to, which suddenly brings him back into the mix.
The whole subplot of a ritualistic cult that caused the
evil within Michael and might now be threatening the young Strode boy helps tie
up some loose ends left by the last film, but it’s completely uninteresting and
sort of derivative of Rosemary’s Baby.
On the other hand, director Joe Chappelle fosters a film that is tonally a bit
more exciting and even fun while it’s trying to scare you. It is greatly aided
by Rudd’s performance which contains small traces of his signature delivery for
modern comedies.
The film stays on track with an effective tone until the
finale which involves underground steam tunnels beneath the psychiatric institute,
more antics from the Michael cult, and a giant bloodbath of murder. It kind of
goes off the rails a bit as if it’s attempting to oversell itself with a grand
finale. The thing is, a well-made horror film doesn’t need grandiosity or a big
climax to close. The slow burn can be a much better way to wrap things up.
Granted, the story involved in this film sort of demanded some kind of big
explanation and more than a fade to black. The talent was here for a much
better film, but it’s not to be written off entirely.
No comments:
Post a Comment