Passes the Bechdel test
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
1988. Directed by Dwight H. Little, written by Dhani Lipsius and Larry Rattner and Benjamin Ruffner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 98. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
It's October 30, 1988 and Michael Myers has been in a coma since his pursuit of Laurie Strode, 10 years ago, was finally stopped (events of H1 and H2). However when he is transferred from Ridgemont Mental Institute to Smith's Grove he awakes when he hears that he has a niece in Haddonfield and after killing the transfer crew he escapes. In Haddonfield, the niece, Jamie, has been adopted by the Carruthers family but keeps having nightmares about Michael (but she doesn't know who he is). On Halloween night, Jamie goes out trick and treating, little knowing that her murdering Uncle is following her and her step-sister Rachel. Rushing to her aid is Dr. Loomis and with the help of Sheriff Meeker starts to search the town for Michael and to find Jamie to protect her. But can anything stop Michael this time?
- Released
- 21 Oct 1988
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 34 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rachel 103 lines, woman
- Loomis 81 lines, man
- Meeker 55 lines, man
- Britti 47 lines, woman
- Brady 39 lines, man
- Hoffman 34 lines, man
- Earl 20 lines, man
- Darlene 16 lines, woman
- Kelley 15 lines
- Jack Sayer 11 lines, man
Full cast, 39 people
- Danielle Harris as Jamie Lloyd
- Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis
- Ellie Cornell as Rachel Carruthers
- George P. Wilbur as Michael Myers
- Michael Pataki as Dr. Hoffman
- Beau Starr as Sheriff Meeker
- Kathleen Kinmont as Kelly
- Sasha Jenson as Brady
- Gene Ross as Earl
- Carmen Filpi as Jack Sayer
- Raymond O'Connor as Security Guard
- Jeff Olson as Richard Carruthers
- Karen Alston as Darlene Carruthers
- Nancy Borgenicht as Woman Attendant
- David Jensen as Man Attendant
- Rand Kennedy as Trooper #1
- Don Glover as Trooper #2
- Robert Conder as Trooper #3
- Richard Jewkes as Trooper #4
- Jordan Bradley as Kyle
- Richy Cumba as Boy
- Stephanie Dees as Girl
- Leslie L. Rohland as Leslie
- M.J. McDonnell as Female Staffer
- Harlow Marks as Power Worker
- Richard Stay as Wade
- Danny Ray as Tommy
- Michael Flynn as Deputy Pierce
- Beverly Rowland as Elderly Woman
- George Sullivan as Logan
- Ron Harrison as Hick Kid
- Tami Sanders as Anchorwoman
- Logan Field as Unger
- Michael Ruud as Big Al
- Eric Hart as Orrin
- Donré Sampson as State Police
- Kelly Lookinland as Dead Penney's Gas Waitress (uncredited)
- Erik Preston as Young Michael Myers (uncredited)
- Alan B. McElroy as State Trooper (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 98
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 13 | 17 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 26 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 22 |
| 16 to 18 | 26 | 6 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 3 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 1 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 21 |
| 46 to 48 | 29 | 37 |
| 49 to 51 | 19 | 41 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 25 |
| 58 to 60 | 5 | 10 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 19 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 7 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 26 |
| 73 to 75 | 41 | 33 |
| 76 to 78 | 7 | 11 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 0 |
| 97 to 98 | 2 | 7 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
RACHEL: Mom, I'm on a diet. You want an oinker for a daughter. DARLENE: Sorry .. , do you think Susan could just bring her crutches •. ? Stupid question. Tell her I hope she feels better. DARLENE: Susan's mother. She can't babysit tonight.
RACHEL: Where were you going? I thought we had a date for ice cream, kiddo. BRITTI: I want to get a costume and go trick or treating like the other kids. RACHEL: But I thought you didn't want to ..• go trick or treating .. ? BRITT! Can't a kid change her mind? RACHEL: I guess she can if she's as cute and ticklish as you are.
BRITTI: Come look with me, Rachel. RACHEL: In a second. We have to talk.
RACHEL: At least you're not cut. Come on, let's go home. BRITTI: You said ice cream. RACHEL: Ice cream ... I didn't forget.
RACHEL: Britti, wait for me. BRITTI: This is great, Rachel. ELDERLY WOMAN: Oh what a cheery little clown. Let me see what I've got for you. ELDERLY WOMAN: There you are sweetheart.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
172 lines from women, 335 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 28 men in the cast. 4 women and 29 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 38 of 575.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 62 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (1,541), men 69% (3,370). Women have 34% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
19
Two men
32
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Dwight H. Little (man)
- Written by
- Alan B. McElroy (man)
- Produced by
- Paul Freeman (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Lyons Collister (man)
- Edited by
- Curtiss Clayton (man)
- Music by
- Alan Howarth (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosalie Wallace (woman)
- Cast by
- Paul Bengston (man), David Cohn (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 12 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 19 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Danielle Harris 11, Kathleen Kinmont 23, Ellie Cornell 24
Men
Sasha Jenson 23, Beau Starr 44, George P. Wilbur 47, Michael Pataki 50, Gene Ross 58, Carmen Filpi 65, Donald Pleasence 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $17.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 98 scenes and 575 lines of dialogue. How the test works
