Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers Blu-ray Review

On the heels of the success of Halloween 4, which had successfully revitalized the dormant franchise, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers hit theaters just one year later. Unfortunately though, it was a huge step down in quality, delivering a very subpar and frustrating installment of the series.

Where Halloween 4 had managed to get the elements right for a crowd-pleasing entry in the series that didn't insult the audience, Revenge was not nearly as satisfying. First off was the decision to essentially undo the wonderful twist ending to the fourth film: while these events are not ignored, they are quickly made to be far less severe than they appeared and their ramifications are ultimately not dealt with. It was a real copout and letdown for audiences who were very excited to see where the series was going to go, after 4 seemed to strongly hint that some big changes were in store.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Blu-ray Review

Once again, Michael is pursuing his young niece, Jamie (Danielle Harris) and Harris is easily the best thing about Halloween 5. In an unnecessary move, Jamie has been rendered mute as the film begins, but Harris again brings a lot of gravity and seriousness to her role as this very traumatized little girl, who once again finds Uncle Michael trying to kill her on a night most kids have a ton of fun on. Also back again is Dr. Loomis (the late Donald Pleasance), here perhaps at his most manic and unhinged; in a few scenes, Jamie seems in danger from Loomis too, who seems like he's finally really lost it a bit, having pursued Michael all these years.

On the other hand, the film is a total mess when it comes to introducing new characters. Tina (Wendy Kaplan) takes up a ton of screen time - a flighty friend of Jamie's family who finds herself in the midst of Michael's new killing spree. The character is meant to be a funky, offbeat girl who dances to the beat of her own drum, in her own, lovable way. However, she comes off as insufferably annoying, with her little noises and forced quirks. And then there are the "comic relief" cops, who seem to have been transplanted in from Police Academy, and come complete with nauseating sound effects and wacky music.

Where Halloween 4 (mostly) had characters behave more appropriately and proactively, Halloween 5 is firmly entrenched in the cliché horror movie realm where the characters do everything movies like this are mocked for, continually putting themselves in needless danger. Meanwhile, a well-liked returning character is dispatched early on here, and not only does it feel like a questionable decision, but then it's not used in any interesting way, nor even mentioned or discovered by anyone else for the next hour of the film.

Then there's the incredibly random and out of nowhere inclusion of the Man in Black, a mysterious stranger who watches from afar throughout the film, clearly having a connection to Michael that raises many questions the film gives no answers to. Halloween 5 features a huge cliffhanger, which while nowhere near as powerful as Halloween 4's conclusion, definitely left the fans anxiously awaiting what would happen next. Sadly the answers Halloween 6 delivered six year later were some of the worst, most laughable decisions possible. Of course, you don't want to hold another film against it, but Halloween 5 is a poor film by itself.

There are a couple of nicely done sequences, most notably a rather scary and claustrophobic scene in which Jamie is trapped inside a laundry chute, with Michael doing everything he can to pull or stab her out of it. But more often, the film just doesn't hit the mark and coming off of Halloween 4, it's easy to note how little the film works by comparison.

Halloween 5, for all its faults, was always a rather well-shot and often “pretty” example of a slasher movie, and the new, first-ever Blu-ray release of The Revenge of Michael Myers definitely delivers a strong transfer. Even better looking than the already-impressive 2006 DVD, Halloween 5’s transfer is very clean and clear and the best this movie has ever been, visually. The audio isn’t as impressive, but is serviceable.

The one brand new extra feature is a new commentary track from Don Shanks, who played Michael Myers in the film, and Justin Beahm (editor-in-chief of halloweenmovies.com and author of the upcoming Halloween: The Complete Authorized History). Beahm’s presence helps the commentary immensely, as he asks Shanks a lot of questions about his time on the set, although there are moments where the actor’s memory and/or area of expertise can’t fully answer a question. Still, it’s an informative commentary. [Note: The packaging incorrectly says the new commentary is with Dominique Othenin-Girard and Beahm.]

Ported over from the 2006 DVD is an earlier commentary from Danielle Harris, Jeffrey Landman (he played Jamie’s young friend, Billy) and director Dominique Othenin-Girard. As weak as a film as Halloween 5 is, this is a great commentary track, with Landman providing plenty of great stories (this guy has an impressive memory) and Harris and Othenin-Girard engaging in a friendly but in-depth conversation, as she asks him some rather pointed questions about some of his decisions on the film that it’s clear she wasn’t quite thrilled with.

Also ported over from the 2006 DVD is a rather random assortment of behind-the-scenes footage, though the “Inside Halloween 5” featurette from both the 2001 and 2006 DVDs is not on this release. However, the two commentaries provided are more than sufficient when it comes to discussing the making of this film from several key players.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers will be released on Blu-ray on Tuesday, August 21st.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

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The World Ends With You: Why We Need a Sequel

The World Ends With You is one of the biggest success stories from a handheld that has had many such stories to tell. It was a Square Enix-published RPG, developed by Jupiter (the makers of the Kingdom Hearts franchise), and it launched in North America in April 2008. It was praised by critics, earning positive reviews across the industry. And it sold well at release, though not record-setting numbers by any stretch.

It was what happened after that launch that really mattered, though. TWEWY began to build momentum. Those who bought it and played it loved it, and they told their friends. Then their friends tried it, loved it too, and they told more friends. The game's reputation grew, and grew some more, and the game achieved that rare and intangible accomplishment – cult classic status.

We realize, though, that not everyone is part of this in-crowd. That TWEWY's slow, under-the-radar growth to achieving its dedicated audience still may never have caught your attention. That you find yourself asking, "Just what is the big deal with The World Ends With You" after all? Well, we're here to help. Here's a refresher on what the game is, what makes it so great, and why we desperately need that recently rumored sequel.

The World of The World Ends With You

Square Enix was one of the most prolific third-party publishers for Nintendo's DS, bringing more than 30 different games to the handheld in North America over the course of the system's life cycle. By and large, though, those games were all sequels, ports or spin-offs of pre-existing brands – Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests and even a couple of Manas. So The World Ends With You stood out immediately thanks simply to the fact that it was a new IP. Made by the Kingdom Hearts people, sure, but not a spin-off of that series – TWEWY had its own new world.

That world, though, is one that our hero Neku Sakuraba has no interest in. As TWEWY opens we meet this young, anti-social kid, strolling through Tokyo's crowded Shibuya district and getting so fed up with all the people and noise and commotion around him that he screams for everyone to just "Shut up!"

And then they do. Everyone goes quiet. Everyone begins to totally ignore Neku, and extremely so – it's like they can't hear him or see him or sense him at all. Neku has unexpectedly gotten his wish, as he's flung into an alternate version of Shibuya where he's little more than a ghost.

Then a countdown appears on his hand, and a swarm of frogs assaults him.

Things get strange pretty quickly in The World Ends With You, and it should come as no surprise that another game from the Kingdom Hearts team would feature an odd, otherworldly and altogether hard-to-follow storyline. But to try to sum it up succinctly, Neku has been drawn unwillingly into the "Reaper's Game," a deadly week-long series of missions to fight against physical manifestations of the world's social distortions. That anti-social attitude he had in the game's opening moments? That was part of the problem, and now he's being forced to deal with the damage his negativity has done to the world around him. (Which, again, somehow translates to attacking amphibians.)

Neku isn't alone in this Reaper's Game, though, as there are other players that have been drawn in as well – each with their own reason for being there in the shadowy, alternate Shibuya and each with their own prize if they're somehow able to survive long enough to "win" the game. Neku, at first, is simply fighting for understanding – to figure out how he ended up in this place, and figure out the rules of this crazy game he's been thrown into. He ends up partnering with another player almost immediately just to help him get a sense of what's going on.

And that's when things really start getting weird.

The Gameplay of The World Ends With You

The gameplay design of The World Ends With You is focused on a two-character, double-screen simultaneous combat system. While Neku appears on the touch screen and you guide his movements and attacks with the stylus, his partners show up on the upper screen - fighting the same enemies, just not exactly with Neku. The two characters are somehow split into two overlapping, concurrent realities and foes have to be killed in both places for them to truly be defeated.

The DS system's upper screen, though, is not a touch screen – so the partner character who appears there has his or her actions directed by an entirely different method of input. You tap the D-Pad and face buttons to input commands for them in a new riff on the card-battling system first seen in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. And remember, at the same time, you're still also directing Neku with the stylus down below.

The two-screens-at-once battle system is wild, imaginative, complicated and even more difficult to master than it is to explain. But it proves to be incredibly compelling for those who learn its rhythms, and it remains the cornerstone of TWEWY's appeal – especially since now, years later, no other games have come along to mimic its method of madness.

Those battles end up just being one of TWEWY's crazy game design ideas, and each other element Jupiter tossed into this mix helps further define the game's personality. There are pins to collect. Little buttons, each embued with psychic powers and used to activate Neku's attacks in battle – you equip them and even level them up over time, while the physical actions they demand range from simple taps on the screens to wide slashes across enemy sprites. There are something like 300 different pins and attacks. Neku himself levels up after enough battling too – an RPG staple – but then you have the option of sacrificing Neku's gained levels to increase the probability of more pin drops from fallen foes. Another unprecedented idea.

Then there's the fashion scene. Pins aren't the only thing to wear, as in the clothing-conscious neighborhoods of Shibuya you're actually given further bonuses in battle for equipping your heroes in outfits that match the trending style of each location. And then there's the food – almost every RPG features standard things like HP-recovering potions or meat, but in TWEWY you buy things like hot dogs and essentially equip them into your heroes' stomachs. There, they digest over time and ultimately grant a permanent stat bonus after they've been fully absorbed into the body.

TWEWY even boasted the wireless tagging of "Mingle Mode," which was essentially Jupiter inventing StreetPass years before Nintendo built it into the 3DS.

Wrapping all of these wonderfully ridiculous design elements together is one of the best soundtracks ever crafted in gaming, and a visual style so bold that it's no wonder the game inspired a full manga adaptation shortly after its release in Japan. That release, by the way, was on July 26, 2007 – meaning The World Ends With You just celebrated its fifth anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

The Future of The World Ends With You

That milestone could be seen as significant on its own, but it's made much more interesting by the not-so-coincidental timing of a new Square Enix release in the same week this year. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance debuted in Europe, Australia and North America in late July, all within a week of that fifth anniversary date. And Kingdom Hearts 3D also happens to host the first reappearance of characters from The World Ends With You we've ever seen.

Half a decade has come and gone with no proper TWEWY sequel, but the makers of Kingdom Hearts continue to make Kingdom Hearts – and in this latest 3DS adventure, the series most well known for its crossovers with Disney films and characters instead sidelines Mickey Mouse and his friends for one chapter to give Neku Sakuraba a second chance to step into the spotlight. Sora teams up with Neku in Kingdom Hearts' recurring village locale, Traverse Town – while Riku, on his own adventure, meets up with Shiki Misaki, who was Neku's first partner character in TWEWY. Other major characters also reappear as Sora and Riku help the gang through a truncated version of TWEWY's plot, as Kingdom Hearts chapters often do with the Disney films they draw on for inspiration.Neku, Shiki and all the rest appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3D is a paradigm-shifting event for the KH franchise – they've become the first non-Disney, non-Final Fantasy characters to ever cross over into the series. Square Enix has plenty of other properties to draw on. You'd think a Dragon Quest hero would've made the cut by now, or even just the iconic Slime. But no, it's never happened – The World Ends With You is the first to get the honor, and you've got to think that it's all a nod to Square Enix's plans to publish a TWEWY sequel.

And, appropriately enough, a countdown has now appeared that looks like it will announce exactly that.

A new teaser site has just gone live this morning. The site contains nothing more than a countdown and a bit of music playing on a loop, but the countdown of one week, the font of the numbers, the music, the image of the Shibuya silhouette displayed in the background and even the URL itself all point unmistakably to The World Ends With You. If all goes to plan, in less than a week we hope to discover that Square Enix has finally made The World Ends With You 2 official.

So what does that mean, for all of you who still haven't experienced the original? Well, your time to play this incredible game before its series moves on without you is running out. I'll leave you with the advice of one of our IGN readers:

"always wanted to try the world ends with you" - MaverickHall2

"Stop trying and DO IT. Its worth whatever you have to pay to get it." - _AbBaNdOn

Lucas M. Thomas made the mistake of not picking up TWEWY the instant it came out in America back in 2008. Don't repeat his mistake. Play the game now. (And follow Lucas on Twitter.)

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MTV's The Inbetweeners: "First Day" Review

Remaking a British sitcom can be a dangerous exercise. For every success, there are many, many more failures. So while the U.S. version of The Office has enjoyed years of success, the likes of Coupling and Free Agents have failed in their first season, while Red Dwarf and Spaced didn’t even make it beyond the pilot stage.

So it’s with some trepidation that one approaches The Inbetweeners, MTV’s remake of the British sitcom of the same name, which spawned three hugely successful series and a low-budget spin-off movie that grossed tens of millions at the U.K. box office.

In response to such success, MTV has taken an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to the show, appropriating the same characters, situations and in many instances jokes and simply transplanting them to America.

And if the below trailer was anything to go by, it was set to be a disaster; a louder and more obnoxious carbon copy of the Channel 4 show. But trailers can be misleading, and so it is with The Inbetweeners, a comedy cover that, while not the equal of the original, nevertheless regularly delivers laughs.

As with the U.K. version, proceedings kick off with teenager Will (Joey Pollari) being transferred to public school Grove High because his mother can no longer pay his private school fees. Showing up with a blazer and briefcase, Will is a walking, talking target to the rest of the kids, so the vice-principal quickly pairs him with nice-guy Simon (Bubba Smith) to show him around.

And that’s where the fun begins, as Simon and best friends Jay (Zack Pearlman) and Neil (Mark L. Young) initially rip the living piss out of Will before eventually taking him under their wing, the three mismatched friends soon becoming four.

They share the same traits as their UK counterparts; Will awkward and uptight, Neil dumb as a rock, Jay a compulsive liar and Simon a wet blanket who’s obsessed with childhood sweetheart Carly D’Amato.

And once the first half of the U.S. pilot has mined the first half of the U.K. pilot for jokes (Will’s mum being hot, Neil’s dad being gay, Jay claiming to have stuffed both his penis and balls into a girl) it then cribs from a different episode in which the boys bunk off school, buy booze, get dunk, and visit Carly’s house, with predictably disastrous results.

Joey Pollari as Will, Mark L. Young as Neil, Zack Pearlman as Jay and Bubba Lewis as Simon.

Yet while the proceedings are caked in the stench of déjà vu, the episode is nevertheless consistently funny, the old jokes just about hitting their mark second time around, and the new ones laugh-out-loud funny, most notably a marvellous set-up and pay-off involving a child molester.

The show also manages to be just as rude, if not ruder that the original (you actually see Simon’s boner in this one, albeit through his trousers) though it’s a shame that the more explicit swear words are bleeped out, and we wait with baited breath for the American equivalent of the word ‘clunge.’

And after a somewhat shaky start, the cast quickly settle into their roles, though their delivery apes the British performances a little too closely, with none of the lads yet the comic equal of the originals, most notably Zack Pearlman as a less cruel and therefore less funny version of Jay.

With the U.S. series following the template of The Office by interspersing U.K.-inspired scripts with original episodes throughout the first season however, it looks like the American cast will soon get the chance to flex their own comedic muscles in new settings and situations.

But on this early evidence, MTV’s The Inbetweeners is much better than it has any right to be, never quite hitting the hilarious highs of the original, but delivering just enough laughs to make the Transatlantic journey worthwhile.

Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN and definitely doesn't look like Will from the British Inbetweeners. His idle chit-chat can be found on both Twitter and MyIGN.

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