SLASHER FILM RULES - Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

Every genre has cliches, but how well do the Halloween films follow the Slasher film rules?

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) is set a year after the previous film and Micheal is back for the usual high-jinks, this time with a mental connection to his niece, Jamie.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)

Rule #1

A Warning Will Come From...

"Come on... You sense something don't you? Tell me. Tell me what you know... Here write, write, write. Write what you know! Jamie please, Please." ~ Dr Sam Loomis.

• Max, the dog, barks at a hidden Michael a few times.  Rachel constantly ignores him, leading to her own death.
• Jamie Lloyd, who now has a mental link to Michael and is ignored by most.  Dr Sam Loomis certainly listens to her, but...
• Dr Sam Loomis, is still the crazy old guy obsessed with Michael who no one listens to until it is too late.

Rule #2

There Will Be T&A

"Sam? You guys? You guys, I don't hear any noise, are you sure your doing it right...? You guys wanna come skinny dipping...? Maybe you guys are already naked?" ~ Tina Williams.

• Nudity - Again the film mostly lacked nudity:  Rachel Carruthers hinted at it (shirt and underwear, seen through show door, running in the street dressed in a towel) and Samantha's top was unbuttoned, but nothing was shown.  Tina Williams may fall out of her skimpy costume while being chased, revealing a nipple.
• Sex - Samantha is losing her virginity to Spitz when a pitchfork goes through him, just before she too is killed.

Rule #3

Death Will Be A Punishment For...

"Take me, but spare my friend... She's a virgin" ~ Tina Williams.

3a.  Sex - Tina has a sexual relationship with Mikey (but it isn't shown).  Spitz is actually killed during the act with Samantha.  Samantha is killed immediately after.  All four die.

3b.  Nudity - Rachel, the nice girl in the previous film frolics around the house and showers (obviously nude).  She's then forced to rush to the neighbours in just a towel.  Fairly innocent nudity, but she does die.   It should be noted that an entire party leaves Michael's killzone to go skinny-dipping and thus survive.

3c.  Drinking - There is alcohol at the party.  None of the victims seem to drink it, but they were involved in getting it for the party.

3d.  Drugs - None obvious.

3e.  Hitchhiking - Didn't happen.

3f.  Other criminal behaviour - Illegally getting alcohol.  

3g.  Being annoying/being cowardly/being a sleazy guy - Spitz.  Mikey.  Probably the two deputies.

3h.  Being a bystander - The old hermit.  All the cops.

Rule #4

Never Go...

"No, she's not up there Michael. She's down here. In the middle of the old house...your house Michael, your house." ~ Sam Loomis.

• 4a.  Basements - Probably Jamie while being chased.
• 4b.  Upstairs - In the old Myers house, Jamie is taken upstairs where she is used as bait for Michael.  She does survive, but Deputy Bloch who with her is hung from the window he couldn't escape from.
• 4c.  Showers - Rachel showers and is targeted by Michael as she does..
• 4d.  Into old sheds or outbuildings - The barn at the party is where Spitz and Samantha are killed.  Tina spends time there but dies later...
• 4e.  Running off to the “safety” of the forest - Tina, Billy and Jamie fit this category.  Tina is killed protecting the others
• 4f.  Anywhere alone - The old hermit (it's in his job description).  Mikey is killed while alone.  The others less so.
• 4g.  Anywhere Remote, Isolated or Confined - The location of the party seems remote.
• 4h.  Abandoned buildings - Everything comes back to the old Myer's house again.

Rule #5

Order of Death...

"How many people did he kill last year? Have you forgotten? Your own daughter!" ~ Dr Sam Loomis.

• 5a:  First person to appear on screen -  Beyond the drivers of police cars (figures barely seen) Michael is the first we see on the top of a vehicle, followed by Rachel (the second victim) driving it.  But that's all in footage from the previous film.  The first character we see in new footage (beyond Michael again) is the old Hermit (who is the first victim).
• 5b:  Black guy dies first - No black guys.
• 5c.  The Stoner - None really.
• 5d:  The Bimbo - Tina, a party girl, in a sexual relationship with Mikey but dances with others and doesn't care where he is.  Samantha, less so, loses her virginity to Spitz.  Both are believers in the slutty-Halloween costume.  Rachel has gain some elements single the last film (mostly being freer).
• 5e:  Nerdy/Funny Guy - Deputy Charlie Bloch, a little.
• 5f:  The Macho-Jerk - Mikey and Spitz, obviously.  At least some of the police.
• 5g.  The Strong Female Character - Rachel, the final girl from the previous film (although she isn't in this one much to show it).  Tina, who acts as a defender of Jamie and knows what she wants (yeah, this contradicts 5d, your point?).  Perhaps Nurse Patsey West.
• 5h.  The Protector - Dr Sam Loomis, again, although at times he seems to act otherwise.  Deputy Charlie Bloch, a little, when Loomis is acting otherwise.  All the police in their own way.
• 5i.  The Sensitive Guy - Deputy Charlie Bloch, mostly.  Perhaps Dr Hart.  At least some of the police.
• 5j.  Children and animals – Squawky, a parrot.  Jamie, a little girl.  Billy, a little boy. Max, a dog.  An unnamed kitten, a kitten (pay attention).  Max the dog is killed.  Squawky probably survives.   The others survive.
• 5k. The Final Girl - Jamie.

1.          (52)  The Old Hermit [A][I]
2.          (53)  Rachel Carruthers [G]
3.          (54)  Mikey [F]
4.          (55)  Spitz [F]
5.          (56)  Samantha Thomas [D]
6. & 7.  (57 & 58)  Deputies Tom Farrah & Deputies Nick Ross [E][F][I]
8.          (59)  Tina Williams [D] or [G]
9.          (60)  Dr Hart [I]
10.        (61)  Nurse Patsey West [G]
11.        (62)  Deputy Eddie Grey [H]
12.        (63)  Deputy Charlie Bloch [I]
13 - 20. At least 8 Police Officers at station [F]/[I]/[H] (Not killed by Michael Myers).

Rule #6

Especially When They Are Most Needed, The Following Things Cannot Be Relied On…

"Definitely not funny. Somebody could even be dead right now."  ~ Deputy Tom Farrah.
"Fortunately we're lousy cops." ~ :Deputy Nick Ross.

• 6a.  Communication devices - Dr Loomis destroys a police radio.
• 6b.  Lighting problems - Only really in the old abandoned Myers' place.
• 6c.  Vehicular Transport - No real issues.  Michael does crash a car into a tree.
• 6d.  Your Own Legs - Jamie and others fall while being chased.
• 6e.  The Authorities - The authorities either ignore the problem, are incompetent or easily tricked.  By the end of the film at least 10 of them are dead.
• 6f.  Weapons – Guns knock Michael back but have no effect otherwise.
• 6g.  Escape routes - Dr Loomis locks Charlie and Jamie in a room to attract Michael.  Charlie attempts to go out the window but can't get the rope ladder out it in time.

Rule #7

The Final Girl

"You...You've come back to us, Michael...  I...I know why you've come back ,Michael. Because the little girl, the little girl can stop the rage inside. She knows how to do it, Michael... If you let her she can stop the rage, the rage inside." ~ Dr Sam Loomis.

Jamie Lloyd

One of the survivors of the previous film, and the niece

• 7a. Final - Yes.
• 7b.  Girl - Yes.
• 7c.  Boyish - Young so a little.
• 7d.  Well Drawn - Yes, especially the Uncle Boogeyman scene.
• 7e.  Virginal & innocent - Oh, God, I hope so.
• 7f.  Will be reborn - On a number of levels.  Breaking her trauma-caused silence, going after Michael and surviving him again.

Rule #8 

The Killer has a connection to...

"Uncle....Bogyman...  Let me see...  You're just like me." ~ Jamie Lloyd.

Michael Myers

• 8a.  The Location - Haddonfield's still his hunting ground.
• 8b.  The Final Girl - Literally has a psychic connection to Jamie.  (Also her uncle.)
• 8c.  The Protector - The same ongoing connection to Dr Loomis (his psychiatrist years earlier).
• 8d.  The Other Victims - No.
• 8e.  Feminity - No.  Although (and we don't see much) but he does have soft features when he removes the mask.
• 8f.  A Specific Look - Yes, the Shatner mask and overalls.  Again that was enough for someone else to where it to copy his look.
• 8g.  A Specific Weapon - Machette, anything that comes to hand.

Rule #9

Evil Never Dies...

"National Guard will take him to a maximum security facility where he'll stay till the day he dies." ~ Sherrif Meeker.

"He'll never die." ~ Jamie Lloyd.

• 9a. You always have to kill the bad guy twice - Shot, falls back... comes back fine.
• 9b. Even then the bad guy lives on - Not killed-killed in this one, and his survival from the previous film's death is explained here.
• 9c. Evil is immortal - Jamies says so.  He's certainly immune to bullets.

Rule #10

The Sequel Will Be Bigger/More Formulaic

"No, of course you don't forget. How could you? You never looked into his face, did you? You never saw his eyes. You never saw that, that nothing no expression, blank. My memory goes back 12 years to the night I offered...I'm gonna show you. Show you something, look... look at this, look at that. I prayed that he would burn in Hell, but in my heart, I knew that Hell would not have him." ~ Dr Sam Loomis.

• 10a. They will follow the rules more - About the same as the previous film.

• 10b. They will be more formulaic -  Michael kills people randomly, especially in Haddonfield on Halloween.  He hunts a family member (a more recent addition) and kills people having sex.  The him clearly surviving the film and the mysterious stranger who rescues him is a new wrinkle.
• 10c. There will be more T&A - Again almost none, especially compared to the first two films.
• 10d. There will be more and bigger deaths of the victims - About the same number of deaths as the previous film, so more than the first 2.  A large number of those deaths were by someone off-screen by someone else at the end.  Three of Michael's kills were completely off-screen.  There were only a couple of big deaths of those seen.  Some I'm going for smaller than the previous film over all.
• 10e. The killer’s death will be bigger - The killer doesn't die in this one.  In fact he is freed.

Results

"So you coming to the spring?" ~ Guy in Mole Costume.
"Oh baby, you just wanna see me naked." ~ Tina Williams.
"I wouldn't mind. Come on, the hell with Mike, he ain't gonna show." ~ Guy in Mole Costume.

• The following rules are followed:  1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
• The following rules are partially followed:  2, 3, 10.

~ DUG.


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