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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Halloween V’ Is Lazy, Anti-Climatic, Rushed, And Tedious
Reviewed by Mike Ferraro
Perhaps the coolest thing about Halloween 5 I can recall deals with a certain theatrical adventure from my childhood. It was 1989 and technology had not yet ruined the planet. Drive-in theaters were a lot more common than they are today, but they were still dying out even in that time. I was 8 years old and my parents took me to see a double feature. The bill? Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, followed by Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.
At the beginning, my level of excitement was off the charts. Then, as the films progressed, this level all but disappeared into a state of sadness. It didn’t matter to me the order of which they played, because they were both equally disappointing, and I haven’t watched Halloween 5 since.
Danielle Harris returns as Jamie Lloyd, the infamous niece of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis from the first two Halloween films). She now resides in a mental institution, as the events of the last film no doubt put her there (she did attack her stepmother with a large pair of scissors during the big twist ending).
Michael Myers survived the infinite amount of gunshots a vicious gang of police and rednecks blasted into him during from the end of Halloween 4 and was in a coma for an entire year, only to wake up on – you guessed it – Halloween! How fun it must be to write scripts with so many surprising twists and turns like that! Great job Michael Jacobs, Dominique Othenin-Girard (who also directed this installment), and Shem Bitterman.
Jamie’s psychic visions from Halloween 4 are back with a vengeance. She now dreams of Michael and his killings, and can even pinpoint where he is at a certain times. Too bad it doesn’t help her save her poor friends, but then again, what would a slasher film be without the slashing?
If Halloween 4 was made to bring back a beloved character from a franchise that John Carpenter was trying to kill (again, see Halloween III – it isn’t as bad as people tell you), then Halloween 5 is a great reminder as to why Carpenter wanted it to end. It’s lazy, anti-climatic, rushed, and tedious. Producer Moustapha Akkad is definitely to blame here; after part 4 was such a success, he did his best to essentially make the same film again. But what happens when you technically remake a film that wasn’t very good to begin with? You make an even worse film.
Halloween 5 was followed-up 6 years later with The Curse of Michael Myers, and follows the Jamie character (although played by a different actress) to her conclusion. While that film had more production troubles than just about any film in history, it’s the last time the franchise ever mentions these characters – and for good reason. In next installment, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, they completely ignore everything in the franchise but the first two entries.
Much like the new Halloween 4 blu-ray released by Anchor Bay, some of the special features from the DVD have carried over (promos and a trailer). There are 2 new audio commentaries – one with actor Don Shanks (Michael Myers) and author Justin Beahm and another with director Dominique Othenin-Girard, Danielle Harris, and Jeffrey Landman. The Shanks-Beahm commentary is the most fascinating, as Beahm – the Halloween aficionado he is – guides the commentary with a naturalistic interview feel.
Visually, the print looks a lot crisper than the DVD release, only, just like Halloween 4, the colors often fall flat. The disc also has a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and sounds just as good as you’d expect.
So what is the historical impact of Halloween 5? Well, to date, it is the least successful of the franchise (how sad it is when Halloween: Resurrection makes more money than you?). For fans that simply have to own everything that has to do with Halloween and Michael Myers, nothing anyone can say will sway you away.
Score: 1/5
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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