There was kind of a weird time in my youth, when my grandparents still lived within driving distance and almost every weekend I would visit them. Of course it was fun as they would spoil me, like grandparents do and it always seemed like a perfect place to be at. And I could also stay up rather late on the weekends, which is always the best thing when you are young, since there were always good things on TV at those late hours. At least, there usually is and I thought so at the time. It was where I got exposed to more dumb movies and what defined my taste in movies for a while. I remember when AMC used to have late night horror movies on at the time. Although for me, the usual movies that I ended up watching that were on for some reason were the Halloween sequels, 4 and 5 to be exact. But while I could talk about 4 right now, I honestly didn't watch it that much, except for maybe the final half hour or so. So it is fair for me to say that even though it has been years since I watched either movie, I probably have watched Halloween 5 more than most movies and to be honest, even when I was a kid it wasn't particularly a favorite of mine. I mean, I liked it enough at the time to watch it when it was on but I never thought it was that great. Kind of the opposite I guess of what happened with ION and Goodfellas, which was also on all the time for some reason and I watched it when it was on, but I still like Goodfellas. My feelings towards Halloween 5 are kind of mixed though.
Now if there was anything good that came of watching that movie, it was a growing appreciation for the acting talent that was Donald Pleasence. The way he played Dr. Loomis in the film, while when compared to the original Halloween isn't as perfect, is still wonderful to watch. He does suffer from a lackluster story and script, most of the points I didn't realize until recently, but you can tell that he can become the character so easily that his appearance in the sequels might be the only reason they kept getting made. The only other actor really worth mentioning is Danielle Harris, who played Jamie in 4 and 5. She is pretty good in the movies (and I always thought so), showing a solid amount of talent in portraying the survivor role in a slasher film rather well. Otherwise, no one else was rather worth mentioning as it seemed like they were just doing their job, like anyone else could have fit into the roles and it wouldn't have lost anything.
And of course, since it is a Halloween sequel, the plot just melts down to Michael Myers kills teenagers, chases a family member, while Loomis tries to stop him. There are elements that do make it somewhat different, although maybe just making it all the more silly, like Jamie having a psychic connection to her uncle and the ending with the mysterious Man in Black (explained in the worst way in the sequel following this one). It did kind of dismiss the implied meaning of the previous movie where it was assumed that Jamie would become a killer just like Michael (an ending that might have been taken from its contemporary/rival Friday the 13th, with the ending of part 5 being similar), where she ends up in a mental institution as is a mute for most of the movie. There are some notable moments in the movie that I rather like, those being where a main character, either Loomis or Jamie, are having quiet moments with The Shape. The first one being where Loomis is trying to reason with Michael, kind of showing how he had not really given up on helping him out, still trying to save everyone he can while he still can. Of course, it doesn't work though. The second moment being where when Michael is about to kill Jamie and she calls him uncle, triggering some sort of connection with her, making it easy to see that despite that he is near pure evil, there is still some sort of humanity inside of him. He takes off his mask to show her his face and eyes (kind of a retcon I guess due to in Halloween 2 having his eyes shot out) but when she tries to touch his face, he goes into a frenzy again.
It's hard to say if I really find it hard to realize that I've watched this movie more than I would now that I'm older and my tastes in movies have changed. I've already said that there are a few good things about the movie so there is that. It's just that as whole, and as is the case of most horror sequels, it's just not a good movie. And I don't really hold the first movie in too high of a regard, even though I do really enjoy it. For what it is, the first Halloween is a good slasher film, one that is shot really well, builds quite a bit of suspense, and doesn't explain too much which give this sense of mystery of what is going on with The Shape. The sequel, while it is okay, does ruin the first movie a little due to the twist. And I'm on the camp that the series should have become an anthology type thing like the original plan with Halloween 3 so there is that too. But my appreciation of horror films came from watch crap like Halloween 4 and 5 so maybe that isn't too bad of a deal maybe.
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