Halloween Horror Nights House Preview: 'Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers'

Halloween Horror Nights keeps on delivering more exciting news as we come a mere month from go time. The latest announcement features one of our favorite characters in recent memory with Michael Myers returning once again to HHN. Myers scared his way into our hearts at HHN 24, as well as HHN 26. For my money, “Hell Comes to Haddonfield” was the best house, so hearing that he’s returning makes me very excited.

Quick thing to address those not in the know. Why skip over “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch?” Well, it’s the one film in the franchise that does not have Michael Myers in it. As the franchise was originally conceived to tell different stories each time out. However, after the first film became so popular, they rolled back Myers into the 2nd film to capitalize on “Halloween” Fever. The problem was Michael Myers became an iconic horror villain almost overnight. When the 3rd film, which does not feature Myers or even Haddonfield, struggled at the box office, the producers decided to recommit to our white-faced friend. Since that time, the name Michael Myers is synonymous with the franchise.

That said, we’ve already seen “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” show up in the Hell Comes to Haddonfield house. As you walked through the streets of Haddonfield, little trick or treaters jumped out of the corners. Those kids wore the masks that play a central role in the film. As you’ll see below, it could be a good idea to bring them back once again. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s jump into the “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” house preview.

EXPECTED WAIT TIME

This one’s a tough one. If it’s at the entrance in the Shrek 2 theater as many are predicting, it will vary greatly throughout the night.

Average: 20-45 minutes

An hour or more early in the night. By the 2nd or 3rd hour, this wait time should plummet. There’s potential for 10 minute waits at times.

LOCATIONS WE HOPE TO GET

The Gas Station

This feels like a good place to start, especially if we’re following the narrative. You can quickly cross the broken ambulance and find yourself next to some of his first victims. It also gives you a great place to interact with Michael AND Loomis before we get deeper into the house.

Streets of Haddonfield

After passing through the gas station, we want more the streets of Haddonfield. One of the coolest scenes in the HHN26 house, it gives us plenty of spaces for us to get Michael randomly killing. It also could feature an electrocuted serviceman who barked up the wrong tree.

Sheriff Ben Meeker’s House

The majority of the film takes place in Sheriff Ben Meeker’s house. There are a few choice places where the killings can take place. Among these locations is the living room, where several characters meet their end, the stairwell, where someone’s head gets crushed, and a creepy as hell attic. Michael walks all over this house before anyone seems to notice, quickly building the tension in the process. It would make for a good transition facade as well, similar to the house in “Krampus,” also from HHN 26. Three characters meet their end here, and we could throw in an extra sheriff or two for good measure.

Schoolhouse

After leaving the Meeker house, Jamie escapes to the schoolhouse. Michael follows her, and the scene is creepy. We also get more Loomis vs. Michael, which may not be poised to be the next big house, but should be fun for the audience.

Crash Scene

The movie comes to an end after Michael murders dozens more people while beating the “Cape Fear” remake to the punch (yeah it’d be done before then, but this was still cool). While we can’t necessarily get the joy of getting in a moving vehicle that Michael Myers is actively attacking, the crash site is fun on it’s own. We can also get a different look at Jaime if they want to.

SURPRISE AREA

Not for nothing, but I don’t know why Universal would roll out “Halloween 4” when they have a new film on the way just a few weeks later. However, last year, they gave us a great idea. The concept of a “living trailer” would be great to use again. Saw featured it ahead of the release of “Jigsaw.” It may have only been for one scene, but it did the trick. Assuming we’re locating this house in Shrek 2, the scene doesn’t have to be long, but could quickly build excitement for the new film.

CHARACTERS/EFFECTS WE HOPE TO SEE

Michael Myers – the obvious one that the house will be built around. I’d expect a couple big shots from the movie to find their way into the house. Let’s look at a few below.

We should get both versions of Michael in the house. He once again escapes from the FBI, this time in a Smithgrove Ambulance. They likely won’t showcase the flipped ambulance, but we could easily walk through the gas station where he first encounters his good friend Dr. Loomis before he actually heads to Haddonfield.

The mirror effect has also been used in both of the other houses. Considering it actually played into this film, get ready for it again. There’s going to be a couple dozen other ways to bring Michael into the house. Expect a shotgun-wielding Michael, a pipe, and of course, his handy-dandy knife.

Dr. Loomis – a character that has made multiple appearances in the other houses continues his role in the franchise. He’ll be back, this time with more scarring.

Jamie Lloyd – Michael Myers’ niece and the daughter of Laurie Strode. She is who Michael is hunting, and thus critical to the plot of the house. Don’t fret, she’s got her own moment to shine at the end of the film. She also dresses as a clown and wears a mask, just as Michael did in the first film. Jamie also has a variety of visions that would translate well into scares in the house.

Rachel Carruthers – Jamie’s foster sister, who turns into Michael’s biggest problem throughout the film. Rachel kicks his ass over and over again, even hitting Michael with a car at one point. She should be featured throughout the house.

Bar Mob – One of the surprising groups that could be really fun to see in the house is a group of bar patrons who go looking for Michael. They accidentally shoot Tommy Doyle, the young boy in “Halloween,” and are an easy way to mix up the house.

Halloween 3 Trick or Treaters – Hear me out. This has been done, yes. But it was really enjoyable then. Michael also has a distance to travel between the gas station and the houses he kills in. Let us walk through the street of Haddonfield once more and pay homage to the missing Halloween film.

There are other characters but they don’t really matter. Expect a lot of bodies though. This one upped the count and is your traditional ’80’s slasher in the vein of “Friday the 13th.” So expect some great kills throughout.

WHAT TO WATCH

“Halloween“/”Halloween 4: The Revenge of Michael Myers” – The tricky thing about “The Revenge of Michael Myers” is that it’s not currently available on streaming platforms you might expect. I was able to find it, but it was as an on-demand movie on my DirectTV Now account. I guess AMC played it recently, and I could stream it there. If you don’t have DirectTV Now, there are other options. You have to either buy the Blu-Rays of the entire series ($40 for 10 movies is actually a good deal). The other options are to buy it by itself on Blu-Ray for $10, or buy the DVD combo pack with “Halloween 5” for $10. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

“Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” (1984) – Celebrate another classic slasher with the best of the series. “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” has the most creative kills, the slow-moving killer element, and a young kid to wrap up the story. It’s surprisingly similar to “Halloween 4,” and remains one of the most popular films int he franchise. It’s also the last one in the franchise to treat Jason like he’s a human being.

“Black Christmas” (1974) – An early precursor to the slasher genre is “Black Christmas,” which actually was a big influence on the original “Halloween.” The idea to attach the Michael Myers story to a holiday comes from this film, and Carpenter pulled some ideas from it. Beyond helping build your knowledge of the slasher genre, it also remains one of Steve Martin’s favorite movies. Whether he’s said it as a joke or not, you can’t go wrong with Steve Martin.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997) – Take a throwback to a 1990s teen slasher you probably forgot launched a franchise. The first film is madness, and in many ways, the killer is Michael Myers-esque. If you can get past the pouting teens, you can probably enjoy this one. What’s probably most fun about it is the plethora of ’90’s names that somehow got involved. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Geller, and even Johnny Galecki are in this one. If you’re still building up to “Halloween,” this is a good start point.

“Halloween” (2018) – One of my personal most anticipated movies of the year is the new “Halloween” film. Yeah, it’s not out yet. But it will be soon, during the HHN run to be exact. For the lucky (or unlucky) that will cross the path after the movie comes out, expect the wait times to rise. At the same time, you’ll probably be able to pick out an Easter Egg or two in the house.