Some horror history may have recently been unearthed. The Halloween franchise has been going strong for about four decades and, during that time, it's had its fair share of ups and downs. One of those downs, in the eyes of many, came with Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. As is, the movie is a strange addition to the canon, as it introduces the Man in Black and the beginnings of The Cult of Thorn, which took the franchise in a very bizarre direction. However, the movie had a lot of footage cut out ahead of its release, which has never been seen. That may change very soon.

We learned in February that the hunt was on for the long-lost footage from Halloween 5, with Compass International Pictures and Trancas International Films on the case. While the intention isn't clear, one would assume the hope is to assemble this footage into a director's cut of sorts, or something along those lines, so that it would more closely resemble what director Dominique Othenin-Girard had in mind. And it indeed seems that at least some of that footage has been located.

An update to the official Halloween Movies website revealed a photo that shows reels of film from the movie labeled "Dr. Death." This would appear to be one of the more infamous missing scenes from the movie, which features an alternate opening with a character named Dr. Death who manages to resurrect Michael Myers using a spell, only to have the masked murderer butcher him afterward. Actor Don Shanks, who portrayed Michael Myers in Halloween 5, talked a bit about the scene in an interview posted to the site.

"(I was) placed on this stone altar, and all around (the set) were things that the production had gotten from witches, and people that sell you the occult. And there were scrolls and different chants and this and that. And (suspended from) the altar, right above me, was this rock that looked like a stalactite, it was on a string and it would circle. And Dr. Death was doing an incantation on me, and then he tattoos on me the Thorn rune, which is the sign of eternal life. And so he does all these incantations, and on Halloween Eve (one year later) I come back to life. So I put the mask on and I grab Dr. Death by the throat and pick him up over my head and break his back, and then put him on the altar, and take the stalactite and I go through his chest with it. I thought it was one of my better kills. But Moustapha [Akkad] thought it was too much of the occult type thing. So they decided to shoot it differently."

2018's Halloween completely reset the canon of the franchise, making every movie but John Carpenter's original totally obsolete. Still, for horror fans, getting to see this footage, on its own or in a new cut of the movie, would be truly special. Hopefully, we learn more about what they plan to do with this footage in the near future. Be sure to check out the photo below. For the full interview with Don Shanks, head on over to HalloweenMovies.com.