Connect with us

Editorials

10 Fun Facts You May Not Know About ‘Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers’

Published

on

I may catch hell for this, but Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is in no way as bad as some make it out to be, and quite frankly speaking, one of the better installments in the franchise series. Personally, I rank The Return a close second to Season of the Witch – another one I constantly get shit on for loving way too much but that’s another bag of dicks for another day – with of course the original two Halloween films tied for that top spot. However, this is all just my own little worthless, humble opinion and I surely expect for many to disagree, which is exactly how this should work. The wide world of the interwebs would be incredibly boring if we all agreed on everything, now wouldn’t it my fellow Pilgrims?

Because of my weird obsession along with the sacred blood oath I’ve taken to defend this movie until peace on Earth commences, and with the glorious awakening of fall that this installment so beautifully catches in the opening credits, I figured what better way to officially kick off the Halloween season with a few fun facts on Halloween 4. Hey, you’ll most likely be watching it several times courtesy of AMC’s Fearfest, and who knows, maybe you’ll learn something new and see the film through a new set of peelers!


10. Halloween 4 screenwriter Alan B. McElroy penned the entire script in under eleven days, just in time before the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike took effect- the longest recorded strike in WGA history lasting 155 days. McElroy also has a cameo in the film, serving as one of the state troopers at the ambulance crash site seen below on the right.

Image via Patti Pauley/ Bloody Disgusting


9. Melissa Joan Hart of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” fame auditioned for the role of Jamie but was ultimately beat out by newcomer Danielle Harris who made her big screen debut in Halloween 4. Had Hart been chosen, Clarissa would have had a whole more explaining to do.

Image via Fanpop


8. Speaking of debut roles, Ellie Cornell who plays Jamie’s foster sister Rachel Carruthers, was also the actress’s first acting credit. Cornell also auditioned for another role that same year in a fellow little infamous horror franchise you may have heard of. Ellie had eyed and auditioned for Alice Johnson in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, but was beat out by Lisa Wilcox.


7. Vincent’s Drugstore, which served as Brady’s after school job and THE go-to-place in Haddonfield for the hippest Halloween costumes, was also used in Stephen King’s The Stand miniseries in 1994 and The Sandlot the previous year; making the mom and pop market sort of a historical filming location for awesome childhood films. Yes, The Stand television event is totally a childhood relic to me.

Image via Headhunters Horrorhouse


6. Dennis Etchison, who had written novelizations of Carpenter’s Halloween classics, originally wrote the first script for Halloween 4 in conjunction with Debra Hill and John Carpenter. The unused story placed Halloween 4 ten years after the events in Halloween II placing focus on Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace in a sort of Footloosestyle plot where Halloween is banned from Haddonfield. Of course, that doesn’t stop from Michael Myers showing up and showing the townsfolk what a real Halloween Havoc looks like- take that WCW.

However, of course, Carpenter and Hill left the project over differences with the studios and Etchison’s script never came to be.


5. In Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, we got to see that adult version, and kind of creepy, Tommy Doyle. However, we never fully got an adult Lindsay Wallace like we may have seen in The Return. Not only was she the main character in Etchison’s unused script, turns out Rachel’s friend Lindsay who drove the trio to Vincent’s Drug was actually supposed to be revealed later in the film to be that Lindsay Wallace, and initially had more scenes written for the character but was cut for budget reasons. Well, technically it is her, the film just doesn’t acknowledge it and I’m sticking to that story.

Image via Fandom


4. In the schoolhouse scene when you see Jamie and Dr. Loomis scurrying up the stairs, there’s an awesome albeit a bit fuzzy shot of a paper cutout of Michael Myers on one of the classroom doors of the second floor. * I really tried to get a good shot for you readers. Unfortunately, I’m a much better rambler than a photographer.

Image via Patti Pauley/ Bloody Disgusting


3. Sheriff Meeker was originally supposed to die in the film via Man vs. Myers in a combat battle in the basement of the Meeker residence. The struggle would have resulted in a knocked over furnace engulfing the house in flames, which in turn put Jamie and Rachel on the rooftop. However, the effects deemed too much for the film’s budget and were cut and Meeker’s screen life saved in the process.

Image via Heard County


2. If you’ve seen Halloween 4 at least 100 times like I have, you know of what I speak when it comes to the scene that sticks out like a sore thumb with that blond-haired Michael Myers in the schoolhouse. That one little scene, in particular, is the one shot of George P. Wilbur in a backup “Ben Tramer” Myers mask that was leftover from the Halloween II film. Several stories have made the rounds giving an explanation for the California fun in the sun Myers, however, the one that rings the most truth is that it was simply a mistake from the crew and budget restraints didn’t allow for a reshoot. This is all according to Gorezone magazine via the January 1988 issue.

Image via Jack’s Attic


1. There’s a long lost deleted opening scene rumored to have been shot but never finished for Halloween 4 that explains Loomis’ rescue and survival of the hospital fire at the end of Halloween II by being blasted out of the building. It’s also said to contain a shot where Loomis attempts to stop the firemen from extinguishing Michael by yelling at the men, “Let him burn!”

I would pay all the money in the world to see that ladies and gents. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, maybe $20; and $20 well spent I’d say.

Maybe you knew some of this stuff, or perhaps you caught some new knowledge of the underrated Halloween installment today! Either way, let’s discuss below if you have some more trivia tidbits regarding the night he came home….again!

Image via Compass International

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

Published

on

leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

Continue Reading