A Deep Dive into the Previous Mythology of The Shape and the Source of the Evil that Stalked Haddonfield
Thanks to the lackluster reaction to Halloween III, which didn’t do quite the box office the producers would have hoped, the executive decision was made to return to Haddonfield to keep the franchise financially viable. This began what is known to fans as “The Thorn Trilogy’’: encompassing Halloween 4, 5, and 6, which came in the tail end of the 80s slasher craze. The three films not only feature the character arc of Laurie Strode’s daughter, Jamie Lloyd, but a fascinating attempt to explain Michael Myers and the lore surrounding him. By doing so it gave the series a morosely intriguing mythology that wasn’t fully available to the public until Scream Factory’s 15 disc release and the most recently their 4K UHD release of 5.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) introduces the most tragic character of the franchise, six year old Jamie Lloyd, played in the first two films of the trilogy by Danielle Harris. When we meet Jamie, she is saddled with the burden of her lineage and in the care of her adopted family the Carruthers, who took her in after Laurie and her father died in a car crash a few months earlier. Now that we have our new final girl, we quickly discover Loomis and Myers didn’t actually die in the hospital explosion at the end of two. Loomis was just horribly disfigured and Myers has been in a coma for the last decade in Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium. That is until he is about to be transferred to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and he once again breaks free to hunt down this newly introduced member of his family.
Jamie is tormented by dreams of her uncle and ostracized by those around her for her family’s history.The film basically returns the series to it roots, as Loomis is hunting Myers who is hunting Jamie on Halloween night. This was probably one of the more developed entries of the franchise script/story-wise, and feels focused in its direction. The narrative is well paced, and Harris carries the film rather effortlessly on her young capable shoulders with a surprisingly powerful take on the troubled young girl.The story ends with Myers facing a firing squad of state troopers and falling into a well after being gunned down. We are then treated to one of the greatest lost opportunities of the series. Traumatized by the night of carnage she has just endured, the film cuts to that same dreaded POV shot from the original Halloween as Jamie still in her Halloween costume attacks her adopted mother with a pair of scissors, just like her uncle did in that first film as the screen cuts to black.
This narrative cliffhanger was something that was left to the next director to resolve when director Dwight H. Little decided to part ways with the franchise after his success on 4 and revitalizing the series. I also think the fact that they wanted a sequel completed in less than a year probably had something to do with it as well. Halloween 5 was immediately thrust into production without a finished script, after a script where Jamie became the new evil was promptly rejected by the producers in favor of more Myers-centric mayhem. From those ashes came the “Cult of Thorn”, a bizarre thread that would be partially deleted from 5 only to make its full return in 6 and be deleted yet again.
Speaking of which, the big draw for fans of Scream Factory’s latest 4K UHD release of Halloween 5 is it includes the recently discovered “lost” “Doctor Death” opening of the film that fully restores all the missing pieces from the “Cult of Thorn” throughline, that would pay off in Halloween 6. In the theatrical cut, a homeless man finds Michael Myers after falling down the well and nurses him back to life only to have him promptly wake up and kill him, which makes no sense. This new opening here, released for the first time, has the killer found by a hermit who practices the black, who places the “Curse of Thorn” on Myers to revive him. This not only gives him the Thorn tattoo on his wrist, but psychically links him to Jamie Lloyd. Myers then promptly wakes from his slumber and murders the druid. So it makes a bit more sense with this new beginning, now that we know where the psychic link originated from and The Shape’s fresh ink, that didn’t appear until this entry.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) is a bit of a mess and has a mute Jamie Lloyd in the care of Doctor Loomis after attacking her Adopted mother a year earlier in a fit of “temporary madness”. Myers resurfaces and then it’s back to business as usual, as the mute Jamie runs from Myers with Loomis and the police of Haddonfield hot on his trail as they attempt to capture him (?!?) this time around, which they actually do. This entry also introduces the mysterious “Man in Black”, clad in a black duster and cowboy boots, this character was invented to attempt to resolve some continuity errors in the script, they ran into during post production due to the lack of script. This character played by the same actor as Myers also shared the Thorn tattoo and remained in the shadows for the majority of the film. That is until the police capture The Shape and he is broken out of jail by this mysterious man in another cliffhanger, as the credits roll after the explosive jailbreak.
When I was a kid I hyper focused on the “Man in Black” subplot and I was absolutely floored by this take, that someone was working in tandem with one of these iconic slashers. This was fresh territory and it gave the film an air of plausibility given Micheal wouldn’t be able to do everything in these films on his own. Plus given the “Satanic Panic” was still very fresh in everyone’s minds, it gave this storyline a bit of relevance leaning into very real, real life fears. Little did I know the primary function of this character was to fix issues after the fact and the character really didn’t have a narrative purpose other than that. The character was rumored to have been based on an onlooker the director saw, who would religiously be front and center during filming. That cliffhanger among the rest of the half baked mythology that’s been hinted at thus far would be something the producers on the next film would want to resolve, finally. That and allocating more time in preproduction since Halloween 5 would on release become the lowest reviewed film of the series.
In a move that is more commonplace today, than it was in the late 80s early 90s, a fan of the series would be brought in to fix the series and script the followup to 5 attempting to tie up all the loose ends. It would be the most infamous entry of all the films in the series thanks to Dimension films and the Weinsteins who now had a say in the film because they were distributing it. This would birth a version of the film that would be “lost”, only available on grainy bootlegs, that is until Scream Factory included it on their 15 Disc set in full HD. I am talking about Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers The Producer’s Cut (1995), a film that would go headfirst into the mythology of Micheal Myers in an attempt to tie together the entire franchise, and in my opinion did a very commendable job answering the questions left so far.
It was called the “Producer’s Cut” because this was the intended direction of the producers who wished to delve into the mysteries of Myers, while the director with no loyalty to the franchise fully cooperated with studio notes in the hopes of scoring another gig from the Weinsteins.
For this commentary I am going to stick to the “Producer’s Cut” edit here since it keeps its ties to the “Cult of Thorn” thread intact and offers the original — or as close as possible — intent of the scripted film. The film starts off as we discover the “Man in Black” not only freed Michael at the end of 5, but kidnapped Jamie Lloyd as well, who we find is about to give birth in the Thorn compound with Myers front and center in the opening moments. In this entry she’s played by J.C. Brandy in some backstage drama that no doubt reeks of the Weinstein involvement. Jamie escapes with her newly born baby and is later put in a coma by Myers, but not before hiding the child who is found later by Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), who Laurie Strode babysat back in 1978 and now is a Myers conspiracy nut. Tommy and Loomis eventually team up as six year old Danny Strode, who now lives in the old Myers house is hearing the same voice that “young Mikey Myers” once heard.
It’s was then up to Tommy Doyle to save not only Jamie’s baby Steven from “The Cult of Thorn”, but young Danny as well.
It’s in this entry all of these threads somewhat coalesce, even some bits of Halloween 3. “The Cult of Thorn” worships the Celtic run Thorn, known for its evil power. They believe that one bloodline is chosen to be “cursed” in order to keep the order. This curse has the chosen sacrificing its next of kin on the night of Samhain AKA Halloween, until he reaches the end of the line, once he’s fulfilled that task the curse is then passed to another family. In order to pass on the Druid curse, Michael had a child with his niece Jamie that could be then sacrificed to remove the curse from his family and pass it on. This mythology somehow manages to encompass just about everything, from the sibling revelation, Samhain on the chalkboard in II and the Celtic weirdness of III.
The final revelation of 6 is that the man in black was actually Dr. Wynn, a minor character from the first film, and the head of Smith’s Grove who was charged with watching over Myers all these years. Halloween 6 ends with Dr. Wynn passing on the mark of Thorn to Loomis to be his new protector, as Myers walks off, the new “Man in Black”. Shortly after production wrapped Donald Pleasence passed away, that coupled with the release of Scream and the new wave of self are meta-slashers made going forward as is, nearly impossible.
The fight behind the scenes on this one resulted in most of this mythos being gutted from the film and young Steven being relegated to a sort of clone of Michael Myers. I’m not sure what the Weinsteins’ obsession with infusing horror franchises with new technologies was given the clone thing, and a rumored script for six that involved a homeless Michael Myers and a virtual reality Ouija board. The father of Jamie’s baby was never disclosed in the theatrical cut and Michael Myers dies by Tommy beating him to death, after first injecting him with a corrosive substance causing him to literally melt in the process. Hilariously enough this entire trilogy would later be retconned three years later, along with Jamie Lloyd’s character with Halloween H20. This entry would bring back Jamie Lee Curtis to the series with a film that looked to have her square off against Myers for the 20th anniversary and kill him once and for all.
But we know how that worked out.
Looking back on the “Thorn Trilogy”, it’s fascinating that not only was this made, but it was unmade immediately after the fact in both films and not publicly viewable till 26 years later; when all this lost footage would be found. It’s ambitious, it’s dark, it’s weird, it’s a bit clunky and very ahead of its time with its attempt to create a more serial story with a purpose out of a series of films about a serial killer in a mask. It’s something Halloween Kills is attempting now, to give The Shape and its evil that inhabits it a back story and I am interested to see how that plays out. Of all the players here I probably feel mostly sympathetic to Danielle Harris who became the new face of the series after Jamie Lee Curtis left, only to have her role in all of this erased. Given how young she was, her performance was nothing to shrug off since she definitely imbued the character with a real sense of tragedy that elevated her two entries making her a fan favorite to this day. I just wish when they decided to bring Curtis back, they would give the other heroine of the franchise her due as well.
The Release (Halloween 4/5 UHD)
The two discs for Halloween 5 and 6 definitely have a different look to them thanks to the departure of cinematographer Dean Cundey. They are shot in 1:85, rather than 2.35:1 and have a brighter image all around. That being said the transfers here still look damn impressive with both films sporting a good contrast, even though it leans a bit towards the bright side. They have a pleasing grain presence throughout given these we both scanned from the Camera Negatives and both films sport a new Dolby Atmos Tracks. While not as robust as the previous three films, they still attempt to utilize the sound stage a bit more effectively than their predecessors. Personally, I think 4 was the stronger transfer of the two, but I mean this is the best either film has ever looked.
The big draw here for fans is the lost “Doctor Death” opening of Halloween 5 that was recently discovered after Scream’s previous 15 disc juggernaut of a set was already in the wild. If that wasn’t enough they even included the trims of the gore from 5 as well, that landed it an X rating originally. You can read above why the addition of the “Doctor Death” footage is such a big deal and with this Scream has uncovered almost everything imaginable that a fan could possibly want to see from these films. That’s kind of shocking that they’re just now finishing this wish list give how many times Anchor Bay released these films back in the day.
Did anyone else have that bizarre tin?
But I honestly feel like it’s not a one or the other with these releases, but both sets, the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD really compliment one another for fan of the series like myself.
I FINALLY feel like I dont need to buy Halloween 1–5 ever and again and for that Scream Factory I thank you.
Here’s a rundown of the complete extras:
Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD)
Special Features:
DISC 1: 4K Ultra HD
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1, Original DVD 5.1, Dolby Atmos — English SDH
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- Audio Commentary with actors Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris
- Audio Commentary with director Dwight H. Little and author Justin Beahm
DISC 2: Blu-Ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1, Original DVD 5.1, Dolby Atmos– English SDH
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- Audio Commentary with actors Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris
- Audio Commentary with director Dwight H. Little and author Justin Beahm
- The Making of HALLOWEEN 4: The Final Cut
- Back to Basics — The Making of HALLOWEEN 4 — a two-part featurette
- Horror’s Hallowed Grounds — a look at the original film locations
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- NEW Newspaper Ad Still Gallery by Drive-In Asylum
- Still Gallery
Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD)
Special Features:
DISC 1: 4K Ultra HD
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1, Dolby Atmos — English SDH
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- Audio Commentary with actor Don Shanks and author Justin Beahm
- Audio Commentary with director Dominique Othenin-Girard and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman
DISC 2: Blu-Ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1 — English SDH
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- Audio Commentary with actor Don Shanks and author Justin Beahm
- Audio Commentary with director Dominique Othenin-Girard and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman
- NEW long-lost alternate opening sequence featuring the appearance of Dr. Death
- NEW extra snippets of gore cut to obtain an R-Rating
- NEW Of Darkness and Shadows — The Cinematography of HALLOWEEN 5 — an interview with cinematographer Robert Draper
- Inside Halloween 5
- Dead Man’s Party — The Making of HALLOWEEN 5 — a two-part featurette
- On the Set: Behind the Scenes footage
- Halloween 5 Original Promo
- Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: A look at the film’s original locations
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- NEW Newspaper Ad Still Gallery by Drive-In Asylum
- Still Gallery
4K Ultra-HD with Dolby Vision HDR playback requires Dolby Vision-capable Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player and Dolby Vision-capable 4K UHD Television.
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Halloween 4 Scream Factory 4K UHD Blu-ray
Halloween 5 Scream Factory 4K UHD Blu-ray
Halloween 6: The Producer’s Cut (OOP) Blu-ray
