Halloween Kills Suffers the Middle Child Syndrome, But Builds to a Fantastic Finale

So Halloween is over, but for horror fans, there’s still plenty of time to watch horror movies. I recently caught up with the latest in the Halloween franchise, “Halloween Kills”, and it was…. well… alright. I’ll say that I do like this particular time line of the franchise and prefer it over others. And there was some pretty solid action and some pretty wicked gore. But this movie in particular suffered the “middle child syndrome”. Meaning, it’s public knowledge that this movie is the middle of the 3 in the most recent trilogy. This may be a spoiler for some, and it may turn some off from this movie knowing there will not be any closure in it. But I argue it will be necessary to watch, as what they’re building to may be a fantastic finish to the Myers-Strode saga.

So if you don’t want spoilers for the new Halloween Kills, turn back now, and come back when you’re caught up.

For the remainder of this piece, I want to concentrate on 3 main points that we saw in Halloween Kills we are going to want to remember for next year’s Halloween Ends. Because while we didn’t receive closure in this movie, most knew we wouldn’t, and there are things that happened that will play key rolls in next year’s film.

1: Allyson has a broken leg.
Towards the end of the film, just before Michael kills her “boyfriend?” (RIP Cameron), Allyson is thrown down the stairs and audibly (and visibly) breaks her leg. This series so far has made a point to pick up each movie immediately where the last movie left off. What likely remains in her future is a trip to the hospital, where Laurie has been the entire movie. This will unite the remaining Strode women, who are both now badly injured and vulnerable thanks to the events of the previous two movies.

2: Michael is, in fact, supernatural in this time line.
Well, sorta. It’s very badly explained. This is what I’ve always hated about the Halloween franchise. Michael’s status as being supernatural, or merely an extraordinary human, have been jumbled around as much as there are time lines. The 4-6 time line established that he is supernatural, via the Curse of Thorn. However, this is crossed out as the H:20 time line skips over this. In that time line, he’s merely human. In the Rob Zombie remakes, he does have supernatural ability, but immortality isn’t one of his powers. This trilogy started with him seemingly human, but has now established he is a supernatural entity. It’s just explained poorly.
Laurie goes on this rant in the hospital about how normal laws of nature don’t apply to him. It seems like they made him supernatural because he simply “has” to be. Hopefully we receive a better explanation in Halloween Ends. But he has to be supernatural to some extent to go from basically dead in the street, to killing the entire crowd that attacked him in what was one of the coolest scenes in the flick. They’ll have a lot to explain, including my third point to remember.

3: Laurie Teases The Curse of Thorn…. Somewhat
Halfway through the movie, while talking to Karen, Laurie makes this comment stating she seems to think Michael can’t be killed unless she’s dead. For long time fans of the series, this is somewhat of a callback to the Curse of Thorn. As stated above, the 4-6 time line established Michael was supernatural because he was cursed with the Curse of Thorn. This curse forces him to kill every living member of his family, and he can’t be stopped or killed until he accomplishes his goal. There’s just one problem with this here.
This franchise begins directly after the original 1978 Halloween, completely subverting the revelation made in Halloween 2 that Laurie is Michael’s younger sister. So they are not related in this time line. Or are they? Is this yet another bit of information that will hit us in Halloween Ends?

Whatever happens, it seems Laurie is willing to sacrifice herself if that’s what it takes to kill Michael for good. So we’ll be heading for the final showdown between The Boogeyman, and the Ultimate Final Girl.
So even though Halloween Kills suffers in that middle position knowing there won’t be closure, it’s going to be a necessary watch to get yourself in position to watch Halloween Ends next year.

365 days till next Halloween, but who’s counting?