Halloween: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween: The Return of Michael Myers is the first installment of the Halloween Thorn Trilogy.

Plot
On Halloween Night, in Haddonfield Illinois, six year old Michael Myers slashes his sister to death in their home whilst wearing his clown Halloween costume. He is placed under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis in the Smith's Grove Sanitarium.

25 years later, Michael is to be transported to the Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium, which is overseen by Dr. Terrence Wynn. On the stormy night, Michael is placed in an ambulance and driven away. Two attendants discuss Michael's history and mention that he has no known family. Suddenly, Michael wakes up and kills them, causing the ambulance to crash and allowing him to escape.

The next day, Halloween, Loomis confronts Wynn and berates him for not informing Loomis of Michael's transfer. While he is there, wynn receives a call informing him that the ambulance wreck has been found. Loomis accompanies him to the site, where they cannot locate Michael's body. Wynn tells Loomis that Michael's body was probably thrown in the crash and that a comb of the area will find him. Loomis brushes these off and deduces that Michael will be headed back to Haddonfield.

Loomis arrives at a gas station where he finds the dead bodies of a mechanic and a waitress, as well as Michael, wearing the mechanic's overalls. Michael escapes and blows up the gas station, destroying Loomis' car and forcing him to hitch hike the rest of the way to Haddonfield.

Meanwhile, in Haddonfield, we are introduced to Jamie Lloyd, who was adopted by the Carruthers family. Jamie suffers from recurring nightmares involving a masked man, who she calls the Boogeyman. She also keeps a treasured shoebox containing young photos of her mother, Laurie, who died in a car crash. Mr. and Mrs. Carruthers are heading out for the night, forcing their own daughter Rachel to babysit. Rachel is upset because she will miss a date with local boy Brady.

Rachel takes Jamie to a local shop to find a Halloween costume and Jamie takes a liking to a clown costume which resembles the costume Michael was wearing when he butchered his sister. She sees a vision of him in the mirror as she tries the costume on. Behind her, Michael appears, steals a mask and approachs Jamie. Jamie begins to scream, recognizing her as the man from her dreams, and the mirror shatters. Rachel runs to her side but doesn't see Michael.

Loomis arrives in Haddonfield and partners up with Sheriff Ben Meeker to find Michael. Loomis explains the situation; after Michael killed his older sister, his baby sister was adopted by the Strode family. She then grew up to marry a man named Jimmy Lloyd. They had a daughter, but both died in a car accident. Unbeknownst to Jamie, she is in fact Michael's niece.

After Jamie and Rachel leave to go trick or treating, Michael enters the house finds the shoebox before killing their dog and begins to stalk them. They arrive at the Meeker house to find Kelly, the sheriff's hot blonde daughter, scantily clad and being kept company by Brady. Rachel becomes upset and runs off, leaving Jamie with a group of school friends. Meeker sends out a warning and issues a curfew, encouraging everyone to keep off the streets. Parents rush out and bundle their children into cars; leaving Jamie alone. As she searches for Jamie, Rachel sees Michael and starts to run, eventually finding Jamie. Michael goes to the local power station and throws an electrician onto an electrical transformer, causing a blackout. A drunken mob arrives at the police station demaning answers and Loomis informs them that Michael has returned. They arm themselves and form a lynch mob. Loomis and Meeker then find that Michael has already murdered most of the police force inside the station. They locate Jamie and Rachel and pick them up.

Meeker brings them to his home and narrowly misses walking in Kelly and Brady having sex. Meeker has the house locked and bolted up, while Loomis goes to search for Michael. Michael hides in the back of the squad car of a deputy who was called to the house. The mob, meanwhile, think they spot Michael and shoot a man to death, only to find it was a case of mistaken identity. At the house, tensions run high between Kelly, Rachel and Brady while they wait for the cavalry to arrive. When Meeker hears of the shooting, he too leaves the house to try and find the mob. This leaves only Rachel, Kelly, Brady, Jamie and Deputy Logan in the house. As well as an unwanted visitor...

With Jamie asleep upstairs, Rachel goes to fiddle with a radio in the basement, with Brady securing the attic. Kelly makes coffee for Logan, only to find his body upon lighting a candle. The figure in the rocking chair then reveals themselves as Michael, who kills her. Rachel comes upstairs and finds Kelly and Logan's bodies. She runs upstairs and finds Jamie missing. She desperately searches for her and Brady runs to her side. They try to escape but are unable to. They regroup on the landing and find Jamie, only to then find Michael ascending the stairs. Brady sends Rachel and Jamie into the attic, leaving himself to be killed by Michael.

Michael pursues Rachel and Jamie up onto the roof. Jamie is safely lowered down but Rachel falls and is knocked out. Michael chases Jamie to the schoolhouse, where she finds Loomis. They go inside and are attacked. Michael throws Loomis through a glass door and Jamie then falls down the stairs. Rachel then reappears and blasts Michael with a fire extinguisher, just as the mob arrives. They search the school but do not find Michael. They take Jamie and Rachel in their truck and drive out of Haddonfield as the cavalry passes by.

Suddenly, Michael appears, having been hiding under the truck the whole time. He singe-handedly takes out the mob, forcing Rachel to take the wheel. She manages to run him down and leaves him unconcious at the roadside. Just as the cavalry arrives, Jamie approaches the body of her uncle. Suddenly, Michael sits up, but the cavalry open fire. Michael stumbles back and falls down a mine shaft, which subsequently collapses. With Michael dead and buried, the girls are taken home.

The Carruthers return and Mrs. Carruthers goes to run Jamie a bath. An unseen figure then appraoches her and stabs her viciously with a scissors. The group hears her screaming downstairs and everybody rushes to the staircase. Meeker is forced to restrain Loomis, who lifts his gun to the culprit; Jamie, wearing her bloodied clown costume.

Sequels
The film was followed by the next two installments of the Thorn Trilogy; Halloween: The Revenge of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.