As the title suggests, this film marks the return of Michael Myers after being absent in the previous installment, Season of the Witch. Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill retired the Michael Myers storyline after the second installment of the series, intending to feature a new Halloween-season-related plot every sequel, of which Halloween III would be the first. Halloween 4 was originally intended to be a ghost story;[citation needed] however, due to the disappointing financial performance of the third film, Halloween 4 reintroduced Michael Myers.
Plot:
On October 30, 1988, Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur), who has been in a comatose state for ten years, is transferred to Smith's Grove Sanitarium by ambulance. En route, Michael awakens, kills the ambulance personnel, and makes his way to Haddonfield. Michael's former psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), learns of Michael's escape and gives chase. He follows Michael to a gas station, where he has killed a mechanic for his clothes, along with a clerk and disabled the phones. Michael then escapes in a tow truck and causes an explosion, destroying Loomis's car in the process. Loomis is then forced to catch a ride to Haddonfield.
Meanwhile, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the daughter of Laurie Strode and Michael's niece, is living in Haddonfield with her foster family, Richard and Darlene Carruthers, and their teenage daughter, Rachel (Ellie Cornell). Jamie knows about Michael, but she is unaware he is the strange man she has been having nightmares about. Richard and Darlene head out for the night and leave Rachel to look after Jamie, causing her to miss her date with her boyfriend Brady (Sasha Jenson). After school, Rachel takes Jamie to buy ice cream and a Halloween costume. At that point, Michael has already arrived in Haddonfield, and nearly attacks Jamie in the store.
That night, as Rachel takes Jamie trick-or-treating, Michael goes to the electrical substation and kills a worker by throwing him into high voltage equipment, plunging the town into darkness. Meanwhile, Loomis arrives in Haddonfield and warns Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) that Michael has returned. Michael attacks the police station and kills all of the officers. A lynch mob is formed by the town's men to kill Michael. Rachel discovers Brady cheating on her with Sheriff Meeker's daughter Kelly (Kathleen Kinmont), and loses Jamie. After being chased by Michael, Rachel finds Jamie.
Sheriff Meeker and Loomis arrive and take the girls to Meeker's house with Brady, Kelly, and a deputy. They barricade the house, and Loomis departs to look for Michael. With Sheriff Meeker in the basement awaiting the arrival of the state police, Michael sneaks in and kills the deputy and Kelly. Discovering the bodies, Rachel, Jamie, and Brady realize they are trapped in the house. Rachel and Jamie flee to the attic when Michael appears, but Brady stays to fend him off and is killed. The girls climb through a window onto the roof and Jamie is lowered down safely, but Michael attacks Rachel and knocks her off the roof.
Pursued by Michael, Jamie runs down the street and finds Loomis. They take shelter in the school, but Michael appears and subdues Loomis before chasing Jamie through the building. Jamie trips and falls down a flight of stairs. Before Michael can kill her, Rachel, who survived the fall, subdues him with a fire extinguisher. The lynch mob and the state police arrive at the school after hearing the alarm go off. The lynch mob agrees to take Jamie and Rachel to the next town in a pickup truck. However, Michael, hiding underneath the truck, climbs aboard and kills the men. Rachel is forced to drive, continuously attempting to throw Michael off. She succeeds in doing so and then rams him with the truck, sending him flying into a ditch near an abandoned mine. The police, along with Loomis, arrive, but when Jamie approaches Michael and touches his hand, he rises. The police relentlessly shoot Michael until he falls down the mine, where he is presumed dead.
Jamie and Rachel are taken home, and Darlene and Richard, who have arrived home, console the girls. As Darlene goes upstairs to run Jamie a bath, she is suddenly attacked by a mysterious figure. Loomis hears Darlene's screams and sees Jamie standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a clown mask, emotionless with a pair of scissors in her hand and stained with blood. He screams out as Rachel, Richard, and Sheriff Meeker stare in horror.
