Spoilers for Halloween Ends below!The tragic opening scene of Halloween ends was originally less ambiguous. Written and directed by David Gordon Green, the latest entry in the long-running slasher horror franchise features the return of Jamie Lee Curtis in her final appearance as Laurie Strode, leading her to H40 trilogy. Four years after the events of Halloween killsIn which Michael Myers survives an ambush by a Haddonfield mob and kills Karen Nelson (Judy Greer), Laurie struggles to find a solution by chronicling 40 years of past trauma in a memoir. However, after helping Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) deal with local bullies, they retaliate and unknowingly send the young man on a collision course with Michael Myers.
Halloween ends begins on Halloween Night, a year after Myers wreaked havoc on Haddonfield. Corey babysits Jeremy Allen (Jaxon Goldberg), a spoiled rich kid who pushes Corey’s buttons and berates him with insults. When Jeremy plays a prank on Corey, furnishes his house to make it look like Myers is inside and attacks Jeremy, Corey tries to help but is locked in a small attic room. Corey kicks open the door, angry and panicked out of the darkness, and knocks on Jeremy, causing him to fall off the railing on the third floor and meet his death.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood ReporterAndi Matichak, who portrays Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson Nelson, revealed how Halloween ends‘ opening scene was originally less ambiguous. When asked if Green re-recorded the opening scene due to the studio’s production notes stating that Jeremy “plunged into his death with a knife in his chest“Matichak explained that the scene was always meant to be”unclearbut had gone through several more explicit versions. Read what the actor said below:
The tail of how he died had been left vague by design. There were a few iterations where I believe [Corey] had the knife as a weapon, thinking Michael was in the house, and then it ends [in Jeremy]. Or Jeremy had it, and when he fell, he nearly impaled himself with it. So the whole thing was ambiguous, but no, there was none of that. What’s interesting about this movie is that there were a lot of different versions and a lot of coverage of things, so they had a lot of leeway in editing. And so it was really interesting to see the film for the first time because we had no idea what would be used and what would not.
How Halloween Ends Opening Scene Parallels Original Halloween Opening?
Though brutal and tragic, sharp Halloween fans may have noticed Halloween ends’ opening scene is similar to the one in Halloween (1978), the film that started the popular franchise. In the original, Myers grabs a kitchen knife, marches upstairs and stabs his sister, marking the beginning of evil in him. Halloween ends finds Corey running upstairs and killing, not out of murderous intent, but in a desperate attempt to save Jeremy’s life. Although the child’s death was an accident, Corey is to blame for the incident. However, both Myers and Corey suffer the same fate: they wear the iconic mask and murder the residents of Haddonfield.
Halloween ends maybe not well received by critics or audiences, but it was trying to wrap up a franchise that started 40 years earlier. Using themes and images from the original Halloween film, Green’s conclusion of his H40 trilogy certainly concludes Myers’ story. Although the Halloween franchise has been revived several times over the decades since its inception, Halloween ends will likely be Myers’ last on-screen appearance for some time.
Source: THR
