Halloween 4 bad opening titles!!

[shape22]

I've always maintained that H4 is the best Halloween sequel. And the opening credits sequence is tremendously well done. I wish the rest of the sequels featured as much fall atmosphere as that one sequence. That montage takes me right back to my childhood and all the autumn days I spent looking forward to the big night and trick or treating. Seeing it on the big screen back in '88 was a huge thrill.

I know most people strongly prefer HII. But if H4 had the advantages of Dean Cundey, Carpenter's awesome electronic score, and H2's superior-looking Myers I think it'd be much more highly regarded.

[ronnie21]

yeah its only my opinion, iam not trying to change anyones minds. just trying to see if anyone else here thought the same.. Iam actually surprised it took from 1982 to 1988 to revive the myers character, you would have thought with all the demand they would have done it a little sooner.. like maybe 85 or 86..

[shape22]

You're good Ronnie. Differing opinions keep the site going strong. Of course, that doesn't mean a lot of us won't go into attack formation when our favorite children are criticized. Ha.

[Mikey Horror]

The only thing that bugs me about part 4 is probably the most important aspect of the movie and that's the mask. What the hell were they thinking with that thing? The only one worse is part 5. It really irritates me that they didn't try harder to keep even a little consistancy with the mask designs.

[Mutilated Prey]

^ Agreed - the mask in H4 looks like he's constipated.

[Myron Breck]

Not as jarring as 5s opening title sequence, but I thought that the sparse rural landscapes really helped it.

[ronnie21]

i do recall back in the fall of 88 all the halloween 4 hype and seeing it at the theater. It did well too which with all the demand for myers back i would have hoped it did..

[shape22]

Originally Posted by Mikey Horror

The only thing that bugs me about part 4 is probably the most important aspect of the movie and that's the mask. What the hell were they thinking with that thing? The only one worse is part 5. It really irritates me that they didn't try harder to keep even a little consistancy with the mask designs.

They apparently had good intentions. But somewhere in the execution everything fell apart.

As everyone knows, the "hero" mask from the original was converted from a 1975 William Shatner Captain Kirk mask. Tommy Lee Wallace enlarged the eye holes, pulled off the sideburns, and painted the mask and the hair. And voila, an icon was born.

But unfortunately latex masks, especially at that time, had a very limited shelf life. And the original hero was apparently kept in a shoebox underneath someone's bed for a long period of time.

It's interesting that many people think the mask changed drastically between the original and HII. But it's the same mask. Some of the difference arose because it warped while it was stored in such an inappropriate manner. But there's another more important reason that it looks so different. The original mask was mass-produced for trick or treaters. So it was relatively small and extremely thin and pliable. That meant that the mask would conform itself to the face of the person wearing it. And Dick Warlock had a much wider head than "horse-headed" Nick Castle (and to a lesser extent Tommy Lee Wallace, who was Myers for the closest scene at the end of the original). As a result, the mask took on a drastically different look for H2.

By the time H4 rolled around the original hero was damaged and difficult to locate. So they set out to convert another Kirk mask. And believe it or not, there's proof in the final film. If you don't buy that, pay special attention to the scene where Myers tosses Doctor Loomis in the schoolhouse near the climax. You can clearly see Kirk's blonde hair on the Myers mask in that one scene.

They obviously figured out The Shape wasn't supposed to have blonde hair. And did their best to convert the Kirk mask after some initial scenes were shot. But they did a lousy job. The eye cuts are way too small. And the brown eyebrows give it an unintentionally silly look. But the pre-conversion masks for Halloween and H4 were very similar. Don Post issued several new releases of the Kirk over the years. And 75 masks were rare even by 1988. So a newer revision was almost certainly used for H4. That said, the whole family of Kirks looks very similar to untrained eyes. Had the H4 mask been converted correctly (and worn by a tall, thin Myers) it would have looked very similar to the original hero.

[Mutilated Prey]

Originally Posted by shape22

By the time H4 rolled around the original hero was damaged and difficult to locate. So they set out to convert another Kirk mask. And believe it or not, there's proof in the final film. If you don't buy that, pay special attention to the scene where Myers tosses Doctor Loomis in the schoolhouse near the climax. You can clearly see Kirk's blonde hair on the Myers mask in that one scene.

I always noticed that and wondered what the deal was there - such an obvious difference.

[dave13]

Originally Posted by shape22

They apparently had good intentions. But somewhere in the execution everything fell apart.

As everyone knows, the "hero" mask from the original was converted from a 1975 William Shatner Captain Kirk mask. Tommy Lee Wallace enlarged the eye holes, pulled off the sideburns, and painted the mask and the hair. And voila, an icon was born.

But unfortunately latex masks, especially at that time, had a very limited shelf life. And the original hero was apparently kept in a shoebox underneath someone's bed for a long period of time.

It's interesting that many people think the mask changed drastically between the original and HII. But it's the same mask. Some of the difference arose because it warped while it was stored in such an inappropriate manner. But there's another more important reason that it looks so different. The original mask was mass-produced for trick or treaters. So it was relatively small and extremely thin and pliable. That meant that the mask would conform itself to the face of the person wearing it. And Dick Warlock had a much wider head than "horse-headed" Nick Castle (and to a lesser extent Tommy Lee Wallace, who was Myers for the closest scene at the end of the original). As a result, the mask took on a drastically different look for H2.

By the time H4 rolled around the original hero was damaged and difficult to locate. So they set out to convert another Kirk mask. And believe it or not, there's proof in the final film. If you don't buy that, pay special attention to the scene where Myers tosses Doctor Loomis in the schoolhouse near the climax. You can clearly see Kirk's blonde hair on the Myers mask in that one scene.

They obviously figured out The Shape wasn't supposed to have blonde hair. And did their best to convert the Kirk mask after some initial scenes were shot. But they did a lousy job. The eye cuts are way too small. And the brown eyebrows give it an unintentionally silly look. But the pre-conversion masks for Halloween and H4 were very similar. Don Post issued several new releases of the Kirk over the years. And 75 masks were rare even by 1988. So a newer revision was almost certainly used for H4. That said, the whole family of Kirks looks very similar to untrained eyes. Had the H4 mask been converted correctly (and worn by a tall, thin Myers) it would have looked very similar to the original hero.

thats really interesting. i'd never heard any of that before.

[Mok]

Originally Posted by fattyjoe37

Can't agree with the sentiment here at all. Halloween 4 has one of my favorite opening credit sequences of all time. I love how moody and atmospheric it is. It really sells the spirit of Halloween.

Same here.

[startide]

Note to self: rewatch Halloween 4. Sounds interesting.