8. We Tried Something New...It Didn't Work. Let's Go Back To The Old Format
Evidence:
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. I've got a soft spot of
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. If you think about it, it's the most dark and tragic of all the Halloween films. A company run by the villainous Conal Cochran (played sinisterly by Dan O'Herlihy) plans to distribute millions of Halloween masks across America; masks channelled by witchcraft that will cause every child to die horribly. So naturally it is up to the hero, Tom Atkin's Daniel Challis to stop this bloodshed from happening. He does right? No. Every child dies. The end. Halloween III was designed to be anthology Halloween series; the first two surrounding slasher killer Michael Myers, the third witchcraft, the rest... I guess we'll never know. You see, people wanted Michael Myers, not killer masks and so the third film was widely derided. Which is a shame, because despite its many flaws, it was still worth a look, if just for Cochran's speech alone (provided
here for your viewing pleasure). So the fourth film in the Halloween franchise went back to the white masked killer...and proceeded to get worse and worse with each film. I've got to wonder if Director Dwight H. Little and writer Alan B. McElroy had even seen the masterpiece that was John Capenter's
Halloween. Definitely a case of be careful what you wish for. Because Halloween 4 (and its follow ups) went from tense to laughable incredibly quickly. Only
Halloween: H20 came close to greatness, and that was undone by its follow up. And no, I haven't dared to see Rod Zombie's remakes... Other fourth films that fit this 'model':
Underworld: Awakening.