It’s been nearly three years since Halloween Ends closed the book on the reboot films, but there’s still more to learn about it.
According to BloodyDisgusting, the recently published book Horror’s New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse by David Schilling reveals an alternate ending to the conclusion of Ends. In the theatrical version, Laurie Strode defeats Michael Myers in her home, then disposes of his dead body with her granddaughter Allison and the people of Haddonfield in industrial shredder. But there were different versions of that fateful brawl, and it’d have ended with the reboots in a darker or more self-referential place.
In the book, Jamie Lee Curtis revealed an ending they filmed which would’ve seen Laurie essentially become Michael upon killing him, leading to her living in isolation again, as she was doing in the 2018 Halloween. This was likened to a “transference,” and she conceded it might’ve been “too dark and too profound to satisfy the hunger of this 40-year journey.” As a result, she asserted it’d be better for Laurie to be with Frank and have a happier ending.
But interestingly, Curtis also discussed the original ending (back when it was titled Halloween Dies) where Laurie and Michael fought in a mask factory crafting his mask for the spooky season. In her words, it’d have been the film’s way of saying, “‘We’re all monsters if we put on the mask. It’s not just Michael, it’s all of us, if we wear the mask.’” The location was ultimately “too intellectual for this finale,” but she stands by the intent and thinks the ending they filmed showing Michael’s mask in her house conveys a similar effect.
As BD noted, Halloween Ends director David Gordon Green said in 2023 he’d written an ending that would’ve taken place in a factory owned by Silver Shamrock, a novelty company featured prominently throughout Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Despite loving the film and “having the temptation” to make that reference, he cut it since it would’ve just been fan service for the subset of viewers who caught the reference. But maybe the next stab at Halloween will call back to Halloween III in some way?
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