Halloween 5

The nadir of the Halloween series, Halloween 5 follows Michael Myers (Don Shanks) as he continues his pursuit of niece Jamie (Danielle Harris) while avoiding the relentless advances of the tenacious Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). It’s clear, ultimately, that Halloween 5 fares best within a semi-watchable opening stretch that boasts a few admittedly suspenseful set-pieces, including the relatively surprising death of Ellie Cornell’s Rachel, with the promising vibe persisting right up until the movie progresses into an increasingly static and flat-out interminable midsection littered with one snooze-inducing interlude after another (eg Loomis explores Michael’s dank, dimly-lit former home, Michael crashes a Halloween party attended by the less-than-sympathetic protagonists, etc). (There’s little doubt, as well, that the far-from-enthralling vibe is compounded by an ongoing emphasis on entirely questionable elements, with this particularly true of the entirely misbegotten decision to give Jamie a psychic link to her malevolent uncle.) And although Pleasence’s wildly over-the-top efforts occasionally (and all-too-briefly) liven up the proceedings, Halloween 5 closes with an absolutely endless climax that does, in the end, cement its place as a bottom-of-the-barrel sequel with few, if any, redeeming qualities.

* out of ****