House of Horror (Archive)

Author: Nightmarewebmaster

  • Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street #2


    Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street #2
    Written by Steve Gerber
    Art by Tony DeZuniga, Alfredo Alcala, and Joe Jusko
    Released: 1989
    Publisher: Marvel Comics
    Story: Dreamstalkers Part 2

    Premise: In 1989, Marvel Comics began publishing the first comic book series to feature Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm Street mythos. Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was published in classic black and white, on magazine sized stock, running for two issues before it was cancelled.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Allison and Juliann sink into Krueger’s brain, where Freddy manages to separate them and confronts Juliann in the boiler room. After degrading her, Freddy is repelled by Allison, who had taken the form of an energy bolt. The two dreamers awake shortly after; stunned at what occurred. Juliann, intrigued, prescribes Allison Hypnocil, to keep her from dreaming until she has had a chance to learn more about controlling her nightmares. Later, Juliann contacts one of her mentors and inquires about those who can dream stalk, as she thinks Allison has the ability. Her mentor warns her that dream stalking can be disastrous, and to heed caution. Meanwhile, Allison is to be transferred to Westin Hills from Springwood Medical, under the care of the skeptical Dr. Watley. After she is transferred, she will be taken off Hypnocil, as the institution is still reeling from the lawsuits incurred from the events in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Juliann, knowing their time is short, questions Allison regarding the first time she dreamt of Freddy. Allison explains she had a severe case of scarlet fever months ago and had a dream where she visited Freddy in a bar full of ghouls, walking off the path of “good” dreams. When Krueger tried to kill her, he found out he couldn’t, because she didn’t belong there. Allison escaped back to the path of good dreams, though Krueger has been after her ever since. Juliann, convinced Allison’s inner strength can destroy Freddy, informs Allison of her theory. Afterward, Juliann retires back at her apartment, contemplating her next move. While thinking, she drifts off asleep and is confronted by Krueger. After a game of cat and mouse, he tricks Juliann and stabs her in the stomach, killing her. Allison, distraught over Juliann’s death, vows to destroy Krueger once and for all. Three weeks later, after successfully ignoring Dr. Watley’s counseling, Allison draws pictures of herself to use in the dream; a wrestler, a punk warrior, and more. She’s confident that when the time comes, she will be able to finally eliminate the threat Krueger poses. While doodling Freddy’s sweater, glove and hat, she falls asleep, only to confront Krueger sooner than she planned. Allison combats Freddy using the different dream forms she drew; albeit to no effect. In a moment of self realization, Allison becomes Freddy, using the sweater, hat, and glove she drew. Freddy and Allison square off, where tapping into his power, she manages to wound him. When poised to deliver the killing strike, she awakens to a startled Dr. Watley, who thinking she is having an episode, orders for her to be sedated immediately. Allison, too weak from her previous encounter with Freddy, cries out in terror.
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  • Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street #1


    Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street #1
    Written by Steve Gerber
    Art by Rich Buckler, Tony DeZuniga, and Joe Jusko
    Released: 1989
    Publisher: Marvel Comics
    Story: Dreamstalkers Part 1

    Premise: In 1989, Marvel Comics began publishing the first comic book series to feature Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm Street mythos. Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was published in classic black and white, on magazine sized stock, running for two issues before it was cancelled.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): In Springwood, paramedics are called to the home of Allison Hayes. Allison, a teenage girl, was found by her parents in bed, severely wounded and barley breathing. The paramedics, thinking Allison’s parents abused her, call the police to investigate. Meanwhile, in New York City, Dr. Juliann Quinn is in the process of moving back to Springwood. She is having nightmares relating to child murderer Fred Krueger, and wants to find a way to confront and stop the horrific dreams. On the plane ride over, Juliann reads a letter from a nun who worked with Amanda Krueger, Freddy’s birth mother. The nun details the events of Amanda’s rape at the hands of the one hundred patients at Our Lady of Sorrows mental institution. Following the letter, Juliann examines the psychologist’s report on Krueger, compiled during his trial. The next morning, after another terrifying nightmare, Juliann attends a meeting at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, where she is assigned Allison’s case. Allison survived her ordeal and now refuses to sleep. Juliann meets with the girl, and the two discover they share the same nightmare about Fred Krueger. Juliann is concerned, as she knows Krueger has targeted her because her parents were part of the mob that burned him alive, but she doesn’t understand why he has targeted Allison. Later, Juliann convinces Allison to partake in a dream exercise, which will allow Allison to exert control over dreams. Allison reluctantly agrees. Starting out, Juliann draws a picture of a rock formation and hypnotically suggests to Allison that the two can meet there in the dream. After they fall asleep, they soon awake on top of the rock formation in Juliann’s drawing. Juliann takes Allison through some dream exercises, allowing Allison to tap into her “dream power.” Just as the two dreamers make some progress, Freddy appears and threatens to kill them both. The rock under the girls’ feet begins to change to a tissue substance, making them sink into the ground. Freddy, gloating over their impending doom, reveals the rock formation is his head and they are sinking in his brain.
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  • Halloween: 20 Years Later (H20)

    Halloween: 20 Years Later (H20)
    Tagline: This summer, terror won’t be taking a vacation.
    Released: 1998
    Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, and Michelle Williams
    Directed by Steve Miner
    Written by Robert Zapia, Matt Greenberg, and Kevin Williamson (uncredited)

    Format: DVD
    Distributed by Dimension Films
    DVD Release Date: October 19, 1999

    Features:
    Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1)
    Unmasking the Horror
    Trivia Game
    Music Video – “What’s this Life For” performed by Creed

    Premise: This smart and suspenseful thriller scares up a bone-chilling good time with original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies, Halloween I & II) and a hot cast of hip young stars! Now the headmistress of a private school, Laurie Strode (Curtis) is struggling with the horrifying, 20-year-old memories of the maniacal killer Michael Myers… when he suddenly reappears with a vengeance! And this Halloween, his terror will strike a whole new generation! Laurie’s rebellious son John (Josh Hartnett – The Faculty), his girlfriend (Michelle Williams – TV’s Dawson’s Creek), and the school security guard (LL Cool J) will become Michael’s newest victims unless Laurie can conquer her greatest fears and put evil in its place once and for all! The time has come again for you to experience the frightening fun of Halloween – the motion picture series that totally redefined terror!

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): On October 29th, 1998, in Langdon, Illinois, Nurse Marion Chambers-Wittington (Nancy Stephens, Halloween and Halloween II) returns home to find her house has been burglarized. Alarmed, she asks assistance from Jimmy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a teen who lives next door, and his accompanying friend. After calling the police, Jimmy investigates Marion’s house and is unable to find anything out of place, except that her office was ransacked. After the boys leave, Marion inspects the mess in her office. She notices a file folder labeled Laurie Strode, which has been opened and the contents taken. Feeling like someone is still there, she rushes to Jimmy’s house, only to discover he and his friend have been killed. As she tries to escape the murder scene, the killer makes himself known: Michael Myers. Marion attempts to flee, though Myers catches up to her and slits her throat. As the police finally arrive, answering the original burglary report, Myers manages to slip by them into the night. The next morning, detectives note Dr. Loomis’s files on Myers in Marion’s home and alert Haddonfield that Michael Myers, whose body has been missing for 20 years, might be returning home.

    On October 31st, in Summer Glenn, California, a secluded private school is planning a field trip. The buses leave that night, and students are expected to be packed and ready by time the buses leave. Keri Tate (Jamie Lee Curtis), headmistress of the school, begins the morning by arguing with her 17 year-old son, John (Josh Hartnett), about going on the trip. She feels he isn’t ready to go alone without her supervision. As the day goes on, Keri is haunted by the tragic events that took place on Halloween 20 years ago, when Michael Myers tracked her down and tried to kill her. Since then, she has become a functioning alcoholic, overbearing parent, and unable to maintain intimate relationships. Her boyfriend, Will (Adam Arkin), who works as a counselor at the school, notes her mood and her attempts to distance him. Later, before the buses leave, Keri has a change of heart and gives John her permission to go on the trip. However, unbeknownst to Keri, John, his girlfriend Molly (Michelle Williams), and friends Sarah and Charlie, plan on having a covert Halloween party in the empty school. As the buses depart, Michael Myers unnoticeably gains entrance onto the grounds, and disconnects the phone lines.

    Later that night, Keri confides in Will that she is really Laurie Strode, the survivor of the 1978 Halloween murders. She had faked her death in a car accident years ago to go into hiding under an assumed name. She prays every year that her brother, Michael Myers, will be unable to find her. While Keri discloses her past to Will, John and his friends continue with their private Halloween party. Myers stalks the unsuspecting teens, and after the pairs separate, kills Charlie and Sarah. John and Molly, concerned that their two friends have not returned, set out to find them. Meanwhile, Keri notices that John’s camping equipment is still in his room and believes him to be somewhere on campus. Worried, she grabs a gun under her pillow and sets out to look for him, with Will in tow.

    As John and Molly continue their search, they soon discover the dead body of Sarah, with Michael Myers revealing himself soon after. The two teens escape with Myers in pursuit, eventually ending up outside the doors of the locked dorm. Keri and Will, who could hear the kids’ screaming, get to the locked door moments before Myers catches up to them, and after kids are safely inside, Keri and Michael come face-to-face through the door’s port window. While Keri reaches for her gun, Myers disappears. Afterward, Keri and Will secure the kids in a closet and go looking for the elusive killer. Myers soon emerges, killing Will and prompting Keri to run. She gathers the kids and the three make it to her SUV, driving off toward the school’s front gate. When they arrive, Keri gets out and instructs the kids to drive to the nearest house and call the police. After the vehicle leaves, Keri destroys the gate’s controls, locking herself in with Myers. She grabs a fire axe and sets off into the school looking for Michael.

    Upon entering the school’s second level, Keri shouts out at Michael, only to have him come down behind her. Knowing, she strikes him in the chest with the axe, albeit to no effect. The two engage in a game of cat-and-mouse, until Keri is able to surprise Michael, stabbing him numerous times, and pushing him off the second floor balcony to the ground below. Later, after the police arrive, Myers’s body is placed in a body bag and loaded into a coroners’ van. Keri, knowing Michael’s not really dead, grabs her axe and steals the van, driving off with Michael’s body. Under Keri’s watchful eye, Myers eventually escapes the body bag and tries to kill her. Keri slams on the brakes, sending Myers through the windshield. In a desperate attempt to kill him, she drives full speed at Myers, pinning him to the front of the van and then sending the vehicle tumbling down a hill, where it pins Myers against a tree. Keri, now wounded from being thrown from the van, finds her axe and approaches the trapped killer. Michael reaches out to her. Instinctively, she reaches out, and pulls back while remembering everything he’s done to her. Keri chops his heads off with the axe, finally killing him. Michael’s head then rolls down the hill.
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  • Halloween: NightDance #1


    Halloween: NightDance #1
    Written by Stefan Hutchinson
    Art by Tim Seeley
    Released: February 2008
    Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing
    Story: Chapter One: A Shape in the Void

    Premise: Halloween: NightDance is a four issue mini-series based around the Halloween mythos, with Michael Myers haunting the small town of Russellville, Illinois. This series takes place within the new continuity set into motion with Halloween: H20 and Halloween: Resurrection.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): On October 29th, 2000, in Russellville, Illinois, Lisa reflects on her nightmares and darkening inner thoughts, hoping to one day dance herself free of them like a ballerina. The next day, she receives mail from a boy she used to babysit, Daniel. Daniel draws her pictures, which his mother then leaves for Lisa in her mailbox. Lisa takes her envelope from Daniel to school, where she and two friends discuss skipping school the next day to visit a traveling carnival. Lisa is shocked when she decides to open Daniel’s envelope and finds a child’s drawing, in crayon, depicting her death. Cut to Chicago, where Ryan and Marcie are taking a road trip Russellville, to visit Marcie’s family. They have not answered any of her calls, and concerned, she and Ryan plan to visit in person. Ryan reflects on how much he loves Marcie and what a good couple he thinks them to be. Later that night, a girl is held captive in an abandoned house, where she hears the screams of her companion, Ben, dying. She manages to escape her bonds and sees a man sitting in a chair looking at the dead body of Ben, which is tacked up to the wall. The girl manages to escape the house and flee into the storming night, with the man she saw in close pursuit. Meanwhile, Ryan and Marcie arrive in Russellville, where in the heavy storm, don’t see the running girl emerge from the woods. They hit her full on with their car, which then crashes nearby. Marcie gets out of the car to check on the girl, who is still alive. Ryan, hurt from crash, is horrified when a white masked man comes up from behind Marcie, stabs her in the back, and drags her into the darkness. In a panic, he stumbles out of the car after her, only to pass out. The next morning, Lisa checks her mailbox and finds another envelope, which she decides not to open. Her friend picks her up shortly after, and the two begin their “Halloween trip” to the traveling carnival. Unbeknownst to the car’s occupants however, Michael Myers begins stalking them.
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  • Friday the 13th: Bad Land #2


    Friday the 13th: Bad Land #2
    Written by Ron Marz
    Art by Mike Huddleston
    Released: February 2008
    Publisher: Wildstorm Publishing
    Story: Bad Land Part 2

    Premise: Wildstorm Publishing continues their “House of Horror” titles based on New Line Cinema characters. Friday the 13th: Bad Land is a two issue mini-series featuring a short story about Jason Voorhees and the violent past of Crystal Lake.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): In the past, one of the fur trappers panics about the wounded Indian man, repeating “bad place, bad place,” and flees into the woods. The remaining two trappers argue over going after their colleague, and after some sharp exchanges, one of them leaves the tipi in pursuit. In the present, Philip sets out into the woods to walk off his anger over Diane and Jeremy’s relationship. Diane, thinking him foolish, pleads for Jeremy to go after him and bring him back. Jeremy sets off after Philip, only to run into Jason Voorhees. Jason decapitates him with swift efficiency. Back at the tipi, the remaining trapper dismisses his colleagues’ worries, only to be killed by the wounded Indian’s tomahawk. Diane, worried about Philip, is surprised when he returns to the cabin. Distraught after finding Jeremy’s body, he begins to barricade the cabin against possible intruders. Philip explains the situation to Diane, only to be killed by the unstoppable Jason. Jason then moves in on Diane for the kill, but she manages to escape into the woods. In the past, the following fur trapper comes across a clearing and finds his colleague severely wounded, still muttering, “bad place.” While the wounded trapper finally dies from his wounds, the Indian surprises his new target and kills him. In the present, Jason continues to track Diane, eventually catching up to her. Hopelessly trapped, she mutters, “this is a bad place, bad place” as Jason delivers the killing blow. Afterward, he drags her body into the icy lake and joins her in the watery grave. Jason’s actions mirror the wounded Indian, who in the past, dragged his dead mate and child into lake and joined them in their icy resting place.
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  • Friday the 13th: Bad Land #1


    Friday the 13th: Bad Land #1
    Written by Ron Marz
    Art by Mike Huddleston
    Released: January 2008
    Publisher: Wildstorm Publishing
    Story: Bad Land Part 1

    Premise: Wildstorm Publishing continues their “House of Horror” titles based on New Line Cinema characters. Friday the 13th: Bad Land is a two issue mini-series featuring a short story about Jason Voorhees and the violent past of Crystal Lake.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): In the early 1800s, a raging blizzard blankets the land, forcing three fur trappers to take shelter in a lone tipi in the middle of the woods. In the present, a raging blizzard blankets the land, forcing three hikers to take shelter in a lone cabin where the tipi once stood, now part of Camp Crystal Lake. Within the tipi, the three trappers find an Indian woman nursing her baby. Afraid, she keeps to one side of the tipi, while the men take refuge on the other side, eating the fish roasting on the tipi’s spit. In the cabin, the three hikers, Diane, Jeremy, and Philip, make a fire and find cans of tuna in the cupboards. Philip has a crush on Diane, but she sidesteps his advances. Later, Diane and Jeremy retire to the bedroom, leaving Philip asleep in the living room. While the two covert lovers consummate, Diane notices a hockey masked figure watching them through the window. In a panic, she screams, waking Philip. In the tipi, two of the trappers, now “hungry for something else,” attack the Indian woman and rape her. Afterwards, while she tends to her baby, one of the trappers notices her reaching under a blanket. Thinking she has a weapon, he shoots and kills her and the baby. While the men argue over the killing, the woman’s mate enters the tipi and finds the bodies of the woman and child. Enraged, he attacks the trappers, only to be shot in the face. The man, now wounded, escapes into the woods, while the trappers debate following him. In the cabin, the three hikers debate what Diane saw. Philip, hurt over her interest in Jeremy, leaves the two to “finish what they started.” Unbeknownst to the hikers however, Jason Voorhees is waiting in the woods, paralleling the wounded Indian man waiting to strike back at the trappers.
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  • Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

    Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
    Tagline: Terror Never Rest in Peace!
    Released: 1995
    Starring Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd, Marianne Hagan, and Mitch Ryan
    Directed by Joe Chappelle
    Written by Daniel Farrands and Joe Chappelle (uncredited)

    Format: DVD
    Distributed by Dimension Films
    DVD Release Date: October 10, 2000

    Features:
    Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1)

    Premise: For pulse-pounding suspense and relentless thrills, nothing can match Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers – one of the most frightening chapters in the chilling Halloween series! In a single horrifying night, Michael Myers’s masked reign of terror changed Halloween forever! Now, six years after he was presumed dead in a fire, Myers has returned to kill again – and this time there’s no escape! As the homicidal fury builds to a spine-tingling climax, the long-hidden secrets of the screen’s most maniacal murderer are revealed… with shocking results! Starring a thrilling cast, including legendary Donald Pleasence (Halloween, The Advocate) and Paul Rudd (The Cider House Rules, Clueless).

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Six years have passed since the events of Halloween 5. Michael Myers, his niece Jamie Lloyd, and the mysterious stranger have all disappeared after the conclusion of the last film; now thought to be dead. Unbeknownst to the public however, the mysterious “Man in Black” had actually kidnapped Jamie and had her impregnated. Jamie (J.C. Brandy) gives birth to a baby boy on Halloween Eve, and with the help of her midwife, manages to escape into the night with her infant. While on the run, she is able to call into a nightly radio show requesting help. Michael Myers, who had been in pursuit since Jamie escaped, eventually catches up to her and finally murders his niece.

    Meanwhile, Tommy Doyle (the child Laurie Strode babysat for in the original film, portrayed by Paul Rudd) has his eye on the family who’s moved into the old Myers house. The family living there are extended relatives of Laurie Strode’s adoptive family. Tommy has become obsessed with Michael Myers over the years and plans to be ready if he ever returns. After hearing Jamie screaming for help on the radio show, Tommy retraces her steps, finds the baby, and hides him. Also listening to the radio show was Dr. Loomis, who now retired, is writing a book about his experiences with Myers. Dr. Loomis, along with his old colleague Dr. Terrence Wynn from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, return to Haddonfield to follow up on Jamie’s plea.

    While Loomis and Wynn follow the police trail to Jamie’s body, Michael stalks the Strode family. Danny, the illegitimate son of Kara Strode, has been hearing voices similar to ones Michael heard when he was a child. The voices tell Danny to murder his family, unbeknownst to be the influence of the Man in Black. While Kara and Danny are away at school, Michael murders Kara’s mother, then later her father, brother, and his girlfriend.

    Tommy, concerned for the baby, takes him to Haddonfield’s hospital where he runs into Dr. Loomis, who recently arrived with Jamie’s body. He explains to Loomis that Jamie was not the last of Michael’s bloodline and Loomis should meet with him later so he can explain further. Tommy hastily leaves, only to end up confronting Kara Strode about her house’s past. Tommy reveals that Michael has been marked with a runic symbol called Thorn (or Thurisaz), an ancient Druid curse that drives those who are marked with it to wipe out their entire family for the good of civilization. For their safety, Tommy escorts Kara and Danny back to his apartment, and tells them to stay with the baby until he is able to meet with Loomis.

    Later, Jamie’s autopsy confirms she recently gave birth, prompting Loomis to meet with Tommy immediately, with Wynn in tow. Tommy and Loomis meet, only to find the baby missing. The plot takes a turn when the Man in Black is revealed to be Dr. Wynn. Wynn, part of a Druidic cult which has been experimenting with pure evil all these years, has kept their work secret within the bowels of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium (where Michael was held for most of his youth). The cult captures Kara, Danny, and the baby, taking them to Smith’s Grove, leaving Loomis and Tommy unconscious.

    After regaining consciousness, Tommy and Loomis follow to Smith’s Grove, where Tommy manages to free the imprisoned Kara, and Loomis confronts Wynn. Wynn reveals to Loomis that the baby is to be Michael’s final sacrifice, with the curse being passed on to another, Danny. Wynn then has Loomis knocked out, while he and fellow cult members continue with an experiment, with Danny and the baby held close by. Tommy and Kara, now on the run and with Michael close behind, free Danny and the baby, but not before Michael murders the cult members in a gory bid for the group to expose themselves. In a desperate attempt to hide from Michael, the group takes refuge in a room geared for genetic engineering. Michael soon finds them, though Kara escapes with Danny and the baby, leaving Tommy to confront Michael. Tommy manages to inject Michael with various chemicals, and bludgeons him numerous times with a lead pipe, leaving him for dead. Afterward, the group plans to leave “far away from here,” while Loomis stays behind to “take care of some unfinished business,” never to return.
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  • Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
    Tagline: Michael lives… and this time they’re ready!
    Released: 1989
    Starring Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, and Wendy Kaplan
    Directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard
    Written by Michael Jacobs, Dominique Othenin-Girard, and Shem Bitterman

    Format: DVD
    Distributed by Starz/Anchor Bay
    DVD Release Date: September 5, 2000

    Features:
    Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1)
    Full-Frame Presentation
    Theatrical Trailer
    Inside Halloween 5 – Documentary featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage, a cut scene, and interviews with Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Executive Producer Moustapha Akkad, Cinematographer Rob Draper, and Don Shanks who played Michael Myers.

    Premise: Following her mysterious behavior at the conclusion of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, young Jamie (Danielle Harris) is committed to the psychiatric care of Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). Meanwhile, Michael Myers is presumed dead following a shootout with the Haddonfield Police and a fatal fall down a mine shaft entrance. But all is not as it seems. A well-meaning derelict nurses Michael back to health, and one year later he is back to kill again! Jamie finds herself the object of Michael’s murderous rage, and along with new friends and Dr. Loomis, she tries to prevent Michael from continuing his bloody rampage. However, there is a new visitor in town – a man dressed in black who quietly walks the streets with an unknown but sinister purpose. Why is he here? What is his connection to Michael? By the end of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, many will be dead – you will be screaming!

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): The film begins with a recap of Michael Myers being shot and falling into the mine shaft from Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Michael finds a way out shortly after falling and stumbles into a nearby river. After floating downstream, he staggers into a small shack by the river owned by a local hermit. Once there Michael collapses and remains in a comatose state for a full year. On October 30th, 1989, Michael reawakens, revealing a mark of the rune Thorn (or Thurisaz) on his right wrist, and kills the hermit. He then returns to Haddonfield, where his young niece, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) continues to live after nearly being killed by Michael the year before.

    Jamie has been unable to speak since attacking her foster mother in a state of shock at the end of part four, but exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her evil uncle. Dr. Sam Loomis realizes that this link exists, and plans to use it to put an end to Michael. Michael begins stalking Rachel (Jamie’s foster sister, portrayed by Ellie Cornell), and her friend Tina (Wendy Kaplan). After both are killed, Jamie agrees to put herself in danger to help Loomis stop Michael for good. With Jamie’s help, Loomis lures Michael back to the old Myers house.

    Michael makes many attempts to kill Jamie, finally getting the chance to kill her in the attic. In a desperate move, Jamie tries appealing to Michael’s humanity by saying “Uncle.” This causes Myers to pause. When Jamie asks to see his face, he takes off his mask. A lone tear runs down his face. Jamie reaches up to wipe it away, and Michael is thrown into a rage. The killer pursues Jamie who runs into Loomis. The good doctor seems to turn on the girl as he shouts for Michael to come and take her. It turns out that he has used the girl as bait and Michael walks beneath a heavy chain net that is dropped over him. After two ineffectual shots from a tranquilizer gun, Loomis ends up beating him repeatedly with a 2×4. They take Michael to the local police station. However, a mysterious stranger, dressed in all black and marked with the same Thorn rune, has come to Haddonfield. Jamie, sitting in a patrol car outside the station, hears multiple guns shots, followed by an explosion. Jamie gets out of the car and walks through the station, finding bodies of dead police officers. She goes over to Michael’s jail cell to discover that it’s empty. Jamie begins to sob, realizing Myers is once again able to get to her.
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  • Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

    Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
    Tagline: Ten years ago he changed the face of Halloween. Tonight he’s back!
    Released: 1988
    Starring Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, and Beau Starr
    Directed by Dwight H. Little
    Written by Alan B. McElroy

    Format: DVD
    Distributed by Starz/Anchor Bay
    DVD Release Date: October 9, 2001

    Features:
    Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1)
    Halloween 4 “Final Cut” – An all-new 17 minute documentary Produced and Directed by Mark Cerulli
    Theatrical Trailer

    Premise: It is a decade after the original Halloween massacre in Haddonfield, and Michael Myers lays comatose in a maximum security prison hospital. But when he learns of the existence of his young niece Jamie (Danielle Harris), he escapes to return home and fulfill his destiny of destruction. Can Michael’s relentless killing spree be stopped by Dr. Loomis (the legendary Donald Pleasence) or will this inhuman evil again survive the most frightening night of the year? Halloween 4 marked the triumphant rebirth of the series and is considered by many fans and critics to be the best of all the sequels. This is the Return of Michael Myers like you’ve never seen or heard it before, now loaded with extras and better than ever!

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Michael Myers has been in a coma since the events of Halloween II, when his massacre was stopped by Dr. Sam Loomis. At the beginning of this film, Myers is being transferred from Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium back to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium. He awakens when he hears that Laurie Strode, his sister, is deceased, but her daughter is alive and well in Haddonfield. He kills the ambulance crew and escapes. Dr. Loomis, disfigured from the events of Halloween II, races to Haddonfield in an attempt to bring Myers’s killing spree to an end once and for all.

    In Haddonfield, his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) has been adopted by the Carruthers family. She has frequent nightmares about Michael, though she does not know who he is. On Halloween night, Jamie goes out trick-or-treating dressed as a clown (a costume that is very similar to the one worn by young Michael Myers at the beginning of the original Halloween) with her teenage foster sister Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell). Her uncle, Michael, follows them.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis arrives in Haddonfield after an exhausting journey, and contacts the police department to inform them of Myers’s escape. He and Haddonfield’s new Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) begin to search the town for Michael and Jamie. They find that Myers has singlehandedly annihilated the entire police force and taken out the town’s power. After Loomis manages to locate the two girls, they are taken to the sheriff’s house for protection. While the sheriff attends to the chaos ensuing due to the lack of police coverage, Loomis returns to the Carruthers’ home, thinking Michael will go there looking for Jamie. Soon after, Michael finds Rachel and Jamie at the sheriff’s house, though they manage to elude him and leave Haddonfield. Unbeknownst to them however, Myers managed to hide in the back of the pick-up truck they used to escape. Michael soon emerges and tries to kill Rachel while she frantically tries to drive the vehicle. Eventually, Michael is thrown from truck and Rachel hits him head on, throwing him off the road and knocking him out. After Rachel stops the vehicle, Jamie gets out, goes over to Michael and holds his hand. When Michael rises, the Illinois state troopers catch up to them and shoot Michael relentlessly. He falls into an abandoned mine shaft which collapses on him when the troopers throw dynamite down the shaft.

    Back at the Carruthers house, Jamie puts on her clown mask and stabs her foster mother. Dr. Loomis attempts to shoot her, but Sheriff Meeker prevents it. The film ends with a shot of Jamie, wearing the clown mask and the holding bloody scissors, reminiscent of young Michael Myers after killing his older sister Judith.
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  • Halloween I I I: Season of the Witch

    Halloween III: Season of the Witch
    Tagline: The night no one comes home.
    Released: 1982
    Starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O’Herlihy, and Michael Currie
    Directed and Written by Tommy Lee Wallace

    Format: DVD
    Distributed by Goodtimes
    DVD Release Date: May 1, 2001

    Features:
    Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1)
    Foreign Subtitles

    Premise: Tom Atkins, who also starred in John Carpenter’s The Fog, uncovers a new kind of Halloween horror in this third entry in the successful series from producer-composer Carpenter (Escape from New York). Dr. Daniel Challis (Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) stumble onto a series of gruesome murders when her father, who sells Halloween novelties, is killed by an emotionless assassin. An Oscar nominee for The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Dan O’Herlihy is Conal Cochran, a demented toymaker who wants to return the holiday to its dark roots using his Silver Shamrock masks. His unspeakable scheme will unleash death and destruction across the country, unless Challis can stop him in time, in this nightmarish thriller from Tommy Lee Wallace, the director of Stephen King’s It.

    Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Halloween III: Season of the Witch takes the Halloween franchise in a new direction, with the intent of creating an anthology based horror series set around the holiday.

    On Saturday, October 23, shop owner Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) is chased by mysterious figures wearing business suits. He collapses at a filling station clutching a Silver Shamrock jack-o’-lantern mask and is driven to the hospital by the filling station attendant (Essex Smith), all the while ranting, “They’re gonna kill us. All of us.” Grimbridge is placed under the care of Dr. Daniel “Dan” Challis (Tom Atkins). While Grimbridge is hospitalized, another man in a suit enters his room and pulls his skull apart, killing him immediately. The man then enters his vehicle, douses himself with gasoline and lights himself on fire, causing the car to explode.

    Challis, together with Grimbridge’s daughter, Ellie, begins an investigation that leads them to the small town of Santa Mira, California, home of the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory. They learn from a hotel manager, Mr. Rafferty (Michael Currie), that the source of the town’s prosperity is Irishman Conal Cochran and his factory, and that the majority of the town’s population is made up of descendants of Irish immigrants. Challis learns that Ellie’s father had stayed at the same hotel. Other guests of the hotel included shop owners Marge Guttman (Garn Stephens) and the Kupfer family: Buddy (Ralph Strait), Betty (Jadeen Barbor) and their son “Little” Buddy (Bradley Schacter). All have business at the factory and eventually meet gruesome ends because of the Silver Shamrock masks.

    A day after arriving in Santa Mira, Challis and Ellie tour the Silver Shamrock factory with the Kupfers and are alarmed to discover Grimbridge’s car in a storage building guarded by more men dressed in suits. They return to their hotel, but find they cannot contact anyone outside Santa Mira. Ellie is kidnapped by the men in suits from the factory, and in an attempt to locate her, Challis breaks into the factory. There he discovers that the men in suits are actually androids created by Cochran. Although Challis succeeds in neutralizing one of the androids (Dick Warlock), he is eventually captured by them, while Cochran reveals his plan to kill children on Halloween night. He explains that the Silver Shamrock trademark on the masks contain a computer chip embedded with a small fragment of a five ton sacrificial stone stolen from Stonehenge. When the Silver Shamrock television commercial airs on Halloween night, the chip will activate, causing the wearers’ heads to dissolve and spew insects and snakes. Cochran further explains that he is attempting to resurrect the more macabre aspects of the Celtic festival Samhain.

    Challis escapes, and rescues someone he believes to be Ellie. They manage to destroy the factory and Cochran in the process. However, Challis finds that Cochran replaced Ellie with an android. After destroying it, Challis returns to the same filling station where Ellie’s father had come eight days earlier. Challis contacts the television stations and convinces all but one of the station managers to remove the commercial. The film ends with Challis screaming into the telephone, “Turn it off! Stop it! Stop it!” while the commercial runs uninterrupted.
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