New Jersey Stage 2015 - Issue 10 | Page 42

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) With audiences and critics reacting poorly to Halloween 3, it was inevitable that a fourth movie would feature Michael Myers and a return to the slasher formula that made the original a hit. By the late ‘80s, slasher movies were more likely to be found on the shelves of video stores than playing in theatres. It was important that Halloween 4 be a success, so as to save the franNewJerseyStage.com chise from an exile in straight-tovideo hell. It was indeed a success, at least financially, ensuring the survival of Myers for quite a while. Producer Moustapha Akkad, who had taken control of the rights, half-jokingly said he would make 24 sequels before he retired Myers. A script had been penned by Dennis Etchison, writer of the novelisations of the first three 2015 - ISSUE 10 42