Alternate 'Halloween 5' Opening Scene Reportedly Unearthed

Last year's Halloween proved to horror audiences that Michael Myers couldn't stay dead forever, [...]

Last year's Halloween proved to horror audiences that Michael Myers couldn't stay dead forever, with that film becoming one of last year's biggest genre successes. Thanks in part to the film's box office numbers, fans of the franchise have been investigating various corners of the series' history, with Halloween Movies focusing their attention on Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. The film famously cut a number of major sequences that fans have been waiting to see for decades, including an alternate opening sequence. According to a recent interview, that opening may have finally been discovered.

The conclusion of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers depicted the masked killer being injured and seemingly falling to his demise in a mine shaft, with the opening of Halloween 5 seeing an old hermit help the killer recuperate. Don Shanks, who played the killer, detailed the possibly recovered footage.

"(I was) placed on this stone alter, and all around (the set) were things that the production had gotten from witches, and people that sell you the occult," Shanks explained to the site. "And there were scrolls and different chants and this and that. And (suspended from) the altar, right above me, was this rock that looked like a stalactite – it was on a string and it would circle. And Dr. Death was doing an incantation on me, and then he tattoos on me the Thorn rune, which is the sign of eternal life. And so he does all these incantations, and on Halloween Eve (one year later) I come back to life."

He added, "So I put the mask on and I grab Dr. Death by the throat and pick him up over my head and break his back, and then put him on the altar, and take the stalactite and I go through his chest with it. I thought it was one of my better kills. But [producer] Moustapha [Akkad] thought it was too much of the occult type thing. So they decided to shoot it differently."

The site also included a photo of what is potentially the lost footage, including this alternate opening, deleted scenes, and more gruesome death scenes.

Halloween 4 helped revive interest in the franchise following Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a sequel which was devoid of Myers altogether, resulting in Halloween 5 being rushed into production to capitalize on the newfound popularity. That film helped to introduce various concepts about the Thorn Cult, which would go on to be established as the reasoning behind Myers' physical resilience and motivations for murder, though it clearly suffered from a variety of production complications that resulted in an underwhelming response from fans.

Stay tuned for details on the rare Halloween 5 footage.

Do you think this opening sounds better than the theatrical cut? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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