HALLOWEEN 5: MICHAEL LIVES (FANEDIT)

Michael-Myers.net General Discussion
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Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) is a divisive movie amongst fans of the franchise. Despite releasing just one year after the solid Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), Halloween 5 feels like a very different beast - often for the worse.

With this fanedit, I have attempted to bring the film closer in look & tone to Halloween 4 with extensive colour correction & grading throughout. I have pan & scan adjusted the film to a 2:40:1 ratio to make it feel more cinematic. There are tons of continuity fixes and some restructuring of scenes in order to make the movie flow more naturally. Tina & Spitz are far less annoying due to various cuts to their screen time, while an extended Halloween 4 intro gives Rachel a little more time to shine.

Despite working as hard as possible to correct continuity errors and goofs in the movie, some mistakes could not be corrected. These include Tina referring to Jamie as a nine year old girl when she should be eight, as well as the body of Rachel suddenly appearing in a chair between shots. Although some mistakes are present, I have addressed the majority of them. I hope you enjoy this fanedit!

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/kKO0WpeBr2w?si=QI7t_VhVshlzDDV_

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CHANGE LOG

  • Every shot in the film has been transferred from 16:9 to 2:40:1 (from 1920 x 1080 to 1920 x 800). Heavy use of vertical panning in almost every shot to keep the important content or action in frame.
  • Film has been extensively colour graded to more closely resemble Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). Outdoor scenes have a light pinkish hue, warm colours are much stronger and night scenes are blue rather than grey/brown.
  • Numerous cues and sound effects from the Halloween 5 score (particularly the odd rumbling pipes sound) lightly sprinkled throughout the movie to add more atmosphere.
  • The opening scene has been reworked to replace the oddly edited Halloween 4 footage with the actual scene from the final act, beginning with Michael Myers on the roof of the truck to Michael being blasted into the mineshaft. The edits made in Halloween 5 were jarring and created continuity errors between movies.
  • Added a Gregorian chant-style stinger from the Halloween 5 score to the shot of Michael waking up and grabbing his knife after Jamie touches him.
  • Fixed a continuity error during the shootout - the hillbilly on the far left of the shot goes from lighting a stick of dynamite, to loading a gun, back to holding dynamite. Now he just has the dynamite.
  • Layered another explosion sound effect over the mineshaft explosion, as it sounded too weak.
  • Removed the insert shot of Rachel clasping her ears as this is from the beginning of the shootout. You could see the lynch mob still arriving into the scene behind her.
  • Layered the Halloween 4 ‘rock’ theme over the scene of Michael drifting down the river, again connecting it back to the previous movie in tone.
  • Replaced all scenes of the nonsensical Mountain Man (Harper Roisman) with Dr. Death (Theron Read), restoring the original opening of the movie before Moustapha Akkad ordered reshoots.
  • Jamie’s hospital bed flashback to stabbing her adopted mother is now presented in black and white, connecting to the Halloween 5 flashback seen in the Producer’s Cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995).
  • Removed Rachel telling Tina that Jamie doesn’t remember last night. This doesn’t make sense in the movie as Jamie is clearly aware of her visions/seizure.
  • Slight trim to Jamie playing with Max the dog for continuity between shots.
  • Trimmed the false scare between Rachel looking for Max and picking the phone up again as it adds nothing to the scene.
  • Removed the ‘clown theme’ when the cops finish their search of the house.
  • Trimmed their screen time in the scene. I kept the lines about cats and dogs as it adds character, but removed the goofy exit.
  • Cut the tail end of Loomis’ outburst at Jamie when he asks her to write what she knows as I felt it made his character too cruel.
  • Audio stinger added to emphasise Rachel being stabbed.
  • Numerous trims to Loomis and Sheriff Meeker’s exchange. ‘My memory goes back twelve years’ is gone as it creates a timeline issue.
  • Added a dramatic stinger from Halloween 4’s score to the shot of Michael in the window as Tina and Sam leave Rachel’s house, now leading into Loomis arriving at the Myers house.
  • Brought the scene of Loomis investigating the Myers house forward for numerous reasons:
  1. I removed the arrival of the Man in Black as a) the scene is too comedic and b) with the reveal of his identity in Halloween 6, it does not make sense for him to be travelling into Haddonfield in this manner. Now, he is already in the Myers house, watching from the shadows, one step ahead of Loomis.
  2. In the theatrical cut, Tina and Sam appear to teleport from Rachel’s house to the children’s hospital. Now, there is breathing space between scenes, allowing them time to travel.
  3. Before Tina arrives at Rachel’s, Loomis and Meeker visit the cemetery offscreen to investigate the theft of a child’s coffin. It makes sense for Loomis to inspect the Myers house soon after this discovery, taking the initiative. His lines still make sense in this context (‘I know what you want from her’, ect.)
  4. Placing Loomis’ second outburst at Jamie gives more balance to his character. It is jarring to see him snap at a child twice before taking matters into his own hands. Now his madness throughout the movie escalates in a more natural manner.
  5. Cutting back and forth between scenes with the girls and scenes with Loomis helps the movie flow better.
  • Cut the shot of Loomis laughing after the rat carcasses fall out of the laundry chute. While I do like it in the theatrical cut as it adds levity, I chose to have Loomis remain completely serious in my version.
  • During Loomis’ outburst at Jamie where he bring up the coffin theft, I removed the line where he says Jamie is nine years old. Although this error is unavoidably brought up again by Tina later in the movie, any removal of this timeline error helps.
  • Lost the nurse calling Loomis by name as a result of the previous cut.
  • Cut Loomis’ line after ‘There’s a reason he has this power over you’ as I feel ending it there is more ominous. Also, at no point does Jamie ever find out why they have the psychic connection, rendering Loomis’ final line in this scene useless.
  • Cut from Tina smacking Spitz away from Mikey to the guys loading the trunk full of beers. Not only is there some horrendous ADR work here with Tina’s line about blood pressure, but the action of Mikey pulling the car around the back of the store is boring and kills the pacing.
  • Added the uncensored Mikey kill back into the movie, along with a stinger from the Halloween 4 score.
  • Removed the delay in Michael unlocking the car door for Tina. I feel the tension ramps up much better now, giving Tina less obvious signs that he isn’t her Mikey.
  • Cuts to Michael and Tina’s car journey and arrival at the gas station. I tried to reduce the horrible ADR mismatch of Tina’s line ‘Is it because I want to see Jamie?’, as well as improve the pacing of the scene.
  • A number of cuts and trims to the infamous ‘cookie woman’ scene. Loomis asks the cop to call Meeker quicker, adding urgency to the scene. Removed some of Billy’s ‘translation’ of Jamie’s lines as it was too much.
  • Added real Chevrolet Camaro sounds to Michael’s offscreen exit from the gas station. The Shape might be able to leave the scene on foot without making a sound, but to drive away in silence? Impossible. Timed the car sounds to Tina’s reaction as best as I could.
  • Cut Tina and Jamie’s scene down as Tina comes off looking incredibly cruel to Jamie. This is a scene that angers many Halloween fans - and rightfully so. Now the transition to Jamie saying that ‘The Boogeyman’ was with her to Tina shouting at Loomis about ‘that Boogeyman crap’ feels a lot more natural.
  • Cuts to Loomis barking orders at the two cops, as well as them approaching Tina, in an attempt to restore a sense of seriousness to the scene.
  • Jamie bumps into Billy much sooner now. This re-arranging of scenes between the hospital, the Tower Farm and Jamie on the streets flows better than the theatrical cut (in my opinion), although things still move a little too fast for my liking.
  • Major cuts to Spitz dressed as Michael Myers pranking the cops, as well as the trio heading into the barn. Now the cops appear much more serious and Spitz doesn’t get to unleash his disgusting screams and laughter. You’re welcome.
  • Extensive cuts to everything in the barn. Spitz and Sam don’t scare Tina, Spitz doesn’t scare Sam. There’s a lot of time cut here, but in my opinion, those false scares really hurt the movie and are far too annoying to try and salvage. Despite the loss of runtime, Jamie and Billy’s rush to the Tower Farm is not noticeably affected.
  • Added the uncensored Spitz kill back into the movie.
  • Stinger from the Halloween 4 score added to Sam’s death.
  • Shot cut when Michael begins chasing Tina in the car to improve pacing.
  • Cuts to Tina leaving the farm house and entering the barn, improving the pacing.
  • Added sound effects to the car hitting Billy. In the theatrical cut, we see the car make impact and some part of it shatter, but we hear nothing. Now we get brakes screeching from a real Camaro, as well as an impact hit and crunching/shattering of the car.
  • Slight trims to Jamie being chased and the explosive aftermath. Removed a lingering shot of Tina with her breast exposed. Trimmed the relief on Jamie’s face down as she would not look that confident in Michael’s demise after everything she has been through.
  • Removed the spinning camera shot when Tina is stabbed. It is an odd distraction from the scene.
  • Removed/covered up the horrible ADR on Meeker as he carries Jamie out of the forest. We hear him say “everything’s alright” as he should, however the additional line is cut. Not only was his mouth not moving, but the delivery of the line is completely out-of-sync with the scene.
  • Cut Loomis asking Jamie if she’s now willing to help him as it comes off as cruel. It also makes Loomis’ half smile as he walks away more reassuring to Jamie.
  • Majorly cut down Loomis talking to Michael in the forest, removing any shots of Michael amongst the trees as they looked cheesy, while preserving the point of Loomis’ speech.
  • Cut Meeker telling Loomis to calm down, that this is his operation. The bickering the two is instantly negated by Meeker taking Loomis’ advice anyway, so the scene flows better now.
  • Slight cleanup on shots as the police leave the Myers house, removing an odd camera bump/cut.
  • Numerous trims and cuts to Michael arriving and killing Eddie. The editing in this scene is odd, so I tried to make it flow better. Added a screeching car brake sound to Michael crashing into Eddie’s cruiser also.
  • Removed the shot of Charlie barricading the door as it created a continuity error, along with one of two Michael Myers POV shots.
  • Cut Loomis attempting to take Michael’s knife. For me, I can buy Loomis trying to calm Michael and bait him into following him downstairs, but reaching for the knife feels like a reach for the character. I attempted to cut the scene in a way where Loomis sees the knife as Michael swings it, catching him by surprise. I also feel that the ‘jump scare’ in the scene works better now, though that may just be personal preference.
  • Trimmed Charlie shooting at Michael through the door. Now, Charlie correctly fires six shots from his revolver.
  • Slight trim of Jamie falling down the laundry chute. There were slight continuity errors between shots of where her hands should be while clinging on.
  • Repeated some sound effects of Michael trying to stab upwards into the laundry chute. For some reason, the sounds of Michael banging against the chute were barely audible.
  • Added the uncensored shot of Jamie getting stabbed through the leg.
  • Numerous cuts to Michael unmasking for Jamie. These include Jamie calling him ‘boogeyman’ as it negates the emotional impact of the previous ‘uncle’ exclamation. Instead of Jamie saying “let me see”, the word ‘uncle’ prompts Michael into unmasking of his own accord, emphasising this brief breakthrough of humanity from him. Cut Michael crying as, even though I like this shot, I feel that the “You’re just like me” and Jamie reaching out to touch the face of her uncle have enough emotional impact without the artsy shot of the single tear. The colour grading of this scene also helps obscure Michael’s appearance better.
  • Added the Halloween II-style stinger from the Halloween 5 score to Michael flinching backwards, as well as trimming footage slightly to better obscure his face.
  • Some cuts and edits to Loomis baiting Michael, dropping the net and beating him down. Removed some of the dartgun shots, considering that Loomis has to manually load them one-by-one. Moved around a shot of Jamie climbing into the windowframe as it created a continuity error.
  • Trimmed footage of Michael in the cell as it looked cheesy. Also darkened the shot so the mask is less obvious.
  • Cut the shot of Michael jingling his chains completely as it is a ridiculous visual.
  • Added the track ‘Michael’s Curse - Producer’s Cut’ from the Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers score when Jamie sees the damage to the jail. This gives the movie a final scare, as well as tying into the sequel better. Despite the time difference between movies, this track still feels like it fits in well with Halloween 5 sonically. This track runs for the duration of the credits.
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Nice edit.

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Thank you! :pumpkin:

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I’m loving this! Thank you

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Very impressive, I will make sure to check this out!

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BUMP: LINK IN OP HAS BEEN UPDATED!

Please enjoy version 2!