Slasher with a Heart

Moustapha Akkad, exec producer of the bloody “Halloween” series, wants to apologize for the ever-increasing gore in the sequels: “It was bad judgment on our part.” And for “Halloween IV,” to roll in Salt Lake City April 4 under director Dwight H. Little, Akkad promises subdued violence. “What made the original ‘Halloween’ (so successful) was the suspense, not the gore and monsters with tin eyes and five legs.”

Donald Pleasence returns as crispy Dr. Loomis (he was badly burned in a fire). It’s 10 years later as masked Michael continues his lust for family revenge. His target is his 9-year-old niece, while her teen stepsister/baby-sitter tries to protect her.

Akkad hinted that the baby-sitter might disappear early: “There’s a limit. You can’t kill a child on the screen. Teen-agers are OK, I guess.”

And Michael will be “more humanized so that he doesn’t kill everything in sight.”