This is the first in a new series of articles revisiting films that could have been so much better.
The movie opens with a tense flashback to the immediate aftermath of “Halloween Kills.” Michael Myers, severely wounded, stumbles as an unrelenting Laurie Strode pursues him with Sheriff Barker, even as she is still recovering from the events of the first film. She confronts him on a bridge, and with multiple shotgun blasts, Michael falls into the murky waters below. The town breathes a sigh of relief, but Laurie knows better; it isn’t over.
In the present, Corey Cunningham, irreversibly changed after the loss of the child he was babysitting, spirals into darkness. Unable to cope, he obsesses over Michael Myers, seeing him not as a monster, but as an avatar of his own rage and pain. When Corey discovers a vintage Michael Myers mask for sale online, he doesn’t hesitate. He purchases the mask and dons it, beginning a new cycle of violence in Haddonfield.
Corey’s descent into madness troubles his girlfriend, Allyson, Laurie’s granddaughter, who is still grappling with her own trauma and the loss of her mother. She confronts Corey, accusing him of being consumed by the darkness that Michael left behind, to which he coldly replies, “You’re not my mother; my mother is dead.”
The town is gripped by fear once more, with the early onset of killings that bear the hallmark of Michael Myers. Laurie, however, senses a difference in these new crimes – The primary one being that the first murder takes place two days before Halloween. Her partner, Deputy Hawkins, suggests that Michael couldn’t have survived their last encounter, but Laurie’s instincts tell her otherwise.
As the killings escalate, the true Michael Myers discovers what has happened on Halloween morning, overhearing two teenagers discussing it while they are spelunking. Myers kills the teenagers and emerges from his seclusion in a cave, enraged to find his legacy usurped.
In a violent confrontation in early evening, Michael reclaims his position as Haddonfield’s nightmare, killing Corey and taking back the mask that is rightfully his. With a near mint mask, he looks reborn, just as he looked in 1978 when it ll began. He starts slowly and methodically killing once more, alerting Hawkins and Laurie. They come upon the scene of Corey’s murder, and realizes that Corey was killed by the real Myers.
The stage is set for the final confrontation between Laurie and Michael. Laurie, having anticipated Michael’s return, has prepared an elaborate trap in his childhood home. Michael, driven by a force that cannot be reasoned with, walks right into it. He is chained and immobilized in the very place where his madness began.
Laurie sets the house ablaze, determined to end the cycle of horror once and for all. As the flames rise, she watches unflinchingly through the window. Hawkins, anxious to leave, urges her to go, but Laurie’s resolve is ironclad. “I’m not leaving until I see his ashes,” she declares, ready to witness the final destruction of the boogeyman who has haunted her for decades.
The fire rages, and as the house collapses into embers, so too does the myth of Michael Myers. Laurie, her mission complete, can finally let go of the vigilance that has dominated her life.