Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 American slasher film directed by Dwight H. Little, written by Alan B. McElroy, and starring Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris in her film debut, and Michael Pataki. It is the fourth installment in the Halloween franchise and a sequel to Halloween II (1981). The film marks the return of Michael Myers as the primary antagonist following his absence in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), and focuses on his escape from years of comatose incarceration while being transported from a maximum security institution and carves his way to Haddonfield to kill his young niece, Jamie Lloyd, a decade after his first killing spree. Initially, John Carpenter and co-producer Debra Hill intended to create an anthology series with only the first two films being connected, but after the poor reception of Halloween III, the idea was abandoned.