Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the daughter of Laurie Strode, with Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) once more pursuing him.

As the title suggests, this film marks the return of Michael Myers, the central villain of Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981), due to his absence in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill retired the Myers plot outline 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. However, due to the poor financial performance of the third film, Halloween 4 reintroduced a Myers-related plot.

Michael Myers, who survived the explosion at the end of Halloween II and has been in a coma since, escapes while being transferred from one sanitarium to another, killing the driver and paramedics inside the ambulance in which he is riding. Prior to escaping, Michael learns that Laurie is dead from a car accident and that she has a daughter, Jamie Lloyd. So he goes back to Haddonfield to try and kill her. Dr. Samuel Loomis, Michael's old psychiatrist, who also survived the explosion 10 years earlier, learns of Michael's escape and resumes his pursuit to try to stop his murderous patient. He follows Michael to a small gas station and eatery, where Loomis learns Michael has killed a mechanic for his clothes, along with a clerk. Michael then escapes in a tow truck and causes a small explosion, destroying Loomis's car in the process. Loomis is then forced to hitchhike to Haddonfield.

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons main title theme as well as the 1989 Batman movie theme. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo, from 1976 to 1995. He has scored the majority of the films for his long-time friend Tim Burton.

Born in Los Angeles, he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring début in in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.

Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force. Elfman grew up in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman.