He's been riddled with bullets, set ablaze, electrocuted, and even injected with corrosives,
so you didn't really think that a flaming basement would be Michael Myers' coffin now,
did you?
Here's the ending of "Halloween Kills," explained.
During the conclusion of 2018's "Halloween," the Shape was last seen trapped in the burning
basement of Laurie Strode's compound — a fiery snare the tactical heroine devised herself.
As a severely wounded Laurie, daughter Karen, and granddaughter Allyson all fled to safety,
they flagged down a passing truck and escaped into town.
We then cut back to the basement ... and saw no sign of Michael.
It's here where "Halloween Kills" picks up.
"No no no!
Let it burn!
Let it burn!"
Meanwhile, back at the compound, firefighters unwittingly free Michael from his pit of flames,
and there's no gratitude from the guy whatsoever.
He thanks his rescuers by immediately dispatching them in brutal fashion.
In this very first scene, it's immediately clear that writer-director David Gordon Green
isn't playing around.
This is Michael Myers dialed up to 11, and he goes on to slay dozens of Haddonfield residents
with a fury we've never seen before — and the camera never shies away.
The story of "Halloween Kills" is simple: Michael goes on a murderous rampage as Haddonfield
residents band together to hunt him down while Laurie recovers in the hospital.
It all leads up to a bloody battle royale between Michael and an angry mob.
As Laurie is rushed to the hospital, we cut to a local Haddonfield bar filled with residents
who are not yet aware of what went down at the Strode homestead.
During a memorial ceremony, we're reintroduced to three characters from the 1978 movie: Marion
Chambers, who survived an attack when Michael first escaped Smith's Grove Sanitarium, and
Lindsey Wallace and Tommy Doyle, the two kids Laurie was babysitting on Halloween night.
Tommy takes to the stage and tells the traumatic story of his encounter with Michael Myers.
It's evident that he is suffering from PTSD, so when the news breaks that Laurie was attacked
at her compound and photos of a crashed Smith's Grove sanitarium bus flash on the television
screen, this immediately triggers him to go into full-on vigilante mode.
Armed with a bat provided by the bartender, he quickly stirs up an angry mob, who've decided
they will take the law into their own hands and hunt down Michael themselves.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, we're reintroduced to former town sheriff Brackett, who now works
as a hospital security officer.
In the original movie, he was also the father of Laurie's best friend Annie.
She was also one of Michael's victims, so much like Tommy and the rest of the riled-up
mob, Brackett wants some good old-fashioned revenge.
"When he gets here, I'm going to kill him.
Because 40 years ago when I was a kid, you protected me."
While Laurie is sedated and recovering at the hospital, Karen and Allyson learn that
Michael is still at large.
When Allyson learns that her boyfriend Cameron and his father Lonnie are joining in on the
hunt for Myers, she signs up, much against her mother's wishes.
After all, Michael did kill her father in the previous film, so as you can see, everyone
wants in on the action.
Fun fact: Lonnie is a lesser-known character who was only in a few scenes in the 1978 original.
One of Tommy's bullies, he was also the kid being dared to enter the Myers house.
"Lonnie, get your ass away from there!"
During the final act, Lonnie takes a look at a town map and realizes that Michael's
blood trail points directly to his childhood home, the Myers house, which is now occupied
by a couple, Big John and Little John, who unfortunately have already met their end at
the hands of you know who.
As Cameron, Allyson and Lonnie drive up to the house, Lonnie decides to have a look-see
and makes the ill-advised choice of going in alone.
After a blaring gunshot is heard, Cameron and Allyson rush in, only to discover yet
another bloodbath.
After they discover the bodies of Big John, Little John, and Lonnie, Michael appears and
takes out Cameron by repeatedly bludgeoning him against the banister.
During the bone-crushing struggle, he then sets his gaze on Allyson, who suffers a fall
down the staircase.
As Michael readies to plunge his knife, Allyson fearlessly screams, "Do it!" just as he is
pierced from behind by a pitchfork.
Surprise, it's momma Karen to the rescue.
While Michael is fazed by the sneak attack, she takes off his mask and taunts him with
it.
"Come and get it!"
As Michael pursues Karen behind the Myers house, he's lured to a quiet empty street
with nothing but his mask laying in the middle of the road.
It's a trap!
As he goes to reclaim it, the angry mob emerges, which includes Tommy and Brackett and numerous
armed local residents.
It's here Michael is met with some hardcore Haddonfield justice.
Michael is riddled with bullets and stabbed multiple times while Tommy gets to put his
rage and trusty bat to full-throttle use.
Even Karen gets in on the action.
Grabbing a knife, she delivers the final blow — or is it?
Unfortunately, the mob lets their guard down and thinks it's over.
As Karen heads back to the Myers house to check on her daughter, Michael springs to
his feet and takes everyone out, including Tommy and Brackett.
Back at the Myers house, Karen gazes out the very same window Michael once did, unaware
of the carnage taking place outside.
Soon, the victorious Shape emerges from behind her and does what he does best.
Karen's lifeless body drops to the floor.
Could she be alive?
It's doubtful, but you never know with these movies.
But her lifeless eyes most likely spell death.
The ending of "Halloween Kills" is the polar opposite of the previous film's conclusion.
As we learned in 2018's "Halloween," Karen had a strained relationship with her mother.
She resented Laurie and pegged her as a crazy alcoholic who spent her entire life obsessing
over some "boogeyman" who randomly attacked her on a Halloween night.
But she ultimately learned that the boogeyman was indeed real, and her mother was only preparing
her.
It may have taken a horrific event to bring them together, but Laurie seemingly vanquished
her nemesis and she did it side by side with her daughter, ultimately gaining her back.
She succeeded at protecting her family from the evil she knew would one day return.
In her eyes, she won.
But as we learn in "Halloween Kills," that victory was short-lived.
Karen's demise sets the stage for what could be the darkest, most revenge-fueled "Halloween"
movie yet.
Losing her only child may very well push Laurie Strode to the brink of madness.
Will she torture herself for not being able to protect her daughter from the one thing
she feared the most?
Now, 40 years after the night that reshaped her life, the nightmare she dreaded so much
— the one she tried so hard to prevent — finally came true.
Laurie is pretty much down for the count and recovering during most of "Halloween Kills"
and she's not around for the big showdown, so when word of Karen's death reaches her
ears in the next movie, we may perhaps see the most unhinged version of the character
yet.
And then there's Allyson, who seems to be living out a fate not too different from her
grandmother — the Halloween curse now has infected a new generation of the Strode family.
She has now lost two parents in the same night at the hands of Michael Myers.
The question is, will she spiral down a dark path similar to that of Laurie?
Or perhaps she'll be stricken with a terrible guilt in addition to all that grief.
After all, she did disobey Karen, who implored her to stay at the hospital.
"The police are out there looking for him.
You think you're going to be the one to find him?"
Instead of sitting tight and staying safe, she became obsessed with settling a score
and allowed herself to get swept up in the whole mob mentality.
Had she stayed at the hospital, her mother would still, most likely, be alive.
As for Michael, how could he have survived?
In this new trilogy, you have people describing him as evil incarnate or saying things like
"The more he kills, the more he transcends," but the source of his unnatural abilities
has yet to be explained.
"A man couldn't have survived that fire."
No human would be able to withstand the pulverizing inflicted on him during the "Halloween Kills''
finale.
Is he superhuman?
Or maybe even something supernatural?
So far, it hasn't been addressed in David Gordon Green's saga, but we may find out next
year when the trilogy wraps up with "Halloween Ends."
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