Slashing It Up In `Halloween 6'

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X 1/2 "Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers," with Paul Stephen Rudd, Donald Pleasence. Gateway, Grand Cinemas Alderwood, Issaquah 9, Metro, Newmark, Parkway Plaza, Totem Lake. "R" - Restricted because of violence, nudity. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Myers, the masked bogeyman introduced in John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), has now outlasted the marquee value of "Wayne's World's" Mike Meyers.

But will "Halloween 6" still be playing when Halloween 1995 arrives? This installment is essentially the same mix as before, with only a better-than-average cast to recommend it.

The late Donald Pleasence still knew how to use his velvety line readings to chill when he made this picture. Paul Stephen Rudd, who was Alicia Silverstone's brainy boyfriend in "Clueless," gives an intriguingly eccentric performance as Tommy, the now-grown-up survivor of the first "Halloween."

The movie gets off to a promising start with a talk-radio spoof. "I really think I'm in love with him; he's so untamed," says one of the Myers-infatuated listeners. But instead of sending up the current glut of serial-killer movies, the filmmakers trot out the old slasher tactics.

"I'm gonna take a shower," says a teenager who has just slept with his girlfriend in Myers' old dark homestead. "Watch out for the bogeyman," she winks. Guess who hands him a drying towel.