Credit: Universal Pictures / Blumhouse Productions / MiramaxDespite a poor critical reception and backlash from fans, Halloween Ends (2022) slashed its way through the box office, grossing $105.4 million against a budget of $33 million. It’s the final installment in the trilogy from director David Gordon Green and Blumhouse Pictures, but it obviously won’t be the last Halloween movie altogether.
In fact, a Halloween TV series—a first for the long-running franchise—is currently in the works from Miramax and Trancas. We don’t know much about it, but we know that it’s going back to the original 1978 film by John Carpenter in some shape or form.
If you’ve seen the latest film, like everyone else you’ll probably be wondering where the Halloween franchise can go from here. Since its inception with the original Halloween (1978), the series has been no stranger to sequels, reboots, and even anthology movies, but at this point we can’t help but feel like we’ve seen it all.
Even the TV series doesn’t have us that excited — unless it really is going back to the beginning.
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Whatever the Halloween TV series ends up being about, fans will undoubtedly expect more Michael Myers, seeing as many were disappointed by how Halloween Ends is very much lacking in the bogeyman department. In the latest film, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) is, to an extent, “replaced” by newcomer Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell).
With the exception of Halloween (2018)—the first installment in the latest series from David Gordon Green—the films overall weren’t well-received by fans and critics despite being box office successes. But while Halloween Ends is the most divisive film in the entire franchise — let alone the new trilogy — Halloween Kills (2021) was also met with a prickly reception.
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The second chapter in David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy picks up immediately where the 2018 film ends — on the same Halloween night. After being left to burn in a fire in the last film, Michael Myers emerges more dangerous and more powerful than ever, and unleashes chaos upon Haddonfield, all the while an angry mob tries to hunt him down.
Though the film does exactly what it says on the tin (gory kills from start to finish), many criticized the convoluted plot and the corny dialogue (three words: evil dies tonight). But not every aspect of Halloween Ends was subjected to slaughter. In fact, an early sequence in the film was extremely well received, and has been a talking point among fans since its release.
Related: 5 Most Shocking Moments In ‘Halloween Ends’
Before the signature Halloween opening credits intro, we go back to Halloween night in 1978, picking up just after Michael Myers (Nick Castle) was shot out of a window by Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence), before vanishing into the night, as seen in the ending of the 1978 film.
We’re quickly reunited with Myers (this time played by Airon Armstrong), though, who’s evading local law enforcement by weaving in and out of alleyways.
Hot on his trail is young Officer Frank Hawkins (Thomas Mann) and Officer Pete McCabe (Jim Cummings), who follow the bogeyman directly into his childhood home, where they find him hiding in an upstairs closet (he sure does like those things).
Related: Does Michael Myers Actually Talk In ‘Halloween Kills’?!
After killing Officer McCabe, Michael is arrested by the Haddonfield police department, who have been waiting outside with Loomis (played by the film’s art director Tom Jones Jr.). We don’t see the actual arrest, though, as the scene freezes, echoing the similar pre-opening credits scene with the young Michael in the original film.
There are some major takeaways from this flashback sequence (there’s another one later in the film). For starters, Michael Myers looks fantastic— his mask is clean-white, untouched by the 40 years’ worth of degradation and fiery explosions that follow. And stuntman coordinator Airon Armstrong has The Shape’s movements down to a T — he’s swift and sharp, yet eerily steady-paced.
Related: A Recap of the ‘Halloween’ Franchise Before You Watch ‘Halloween Ends’’
But he’s also ferocious, cunning, sneaky, and incredibly strong, making him a worthy successor to Nick Castle’s 1978 version, and an excellent precursor to James Jude Courtney’s modern-day iteration. Donald Pleasence’s Loomis, whose likeness was re-created using nothing more than prosthetics, is also hugely impressive.
What’s particularly special about the 1978 flashback, though, is the cinematography, as it makes you feel like you’ve been transported into the heart of John Carpenter’s world. The lightning, the color pallet — everything is on point. Unfortunately, it leaves us wishing that Halloween Kills had stayed in the past, giving us more of “the night he came home”.
While this was already done in Halloween II (1981), which also picks up on the same night as its predecessor, Halloween Kills had every opportunity to tell of a different chain of events following Michael’s tumble over the balcony. But Halloween (2018) made sure this couldn’t happen by addressing the fact that the bogeyman only killed a handful of people in 1978.
Either way, the 1978 flashback sequence had a ton of potential. Perhaps the upcoming Halloween TV series can take us back in time to that fateful night and tell an entirely new story. The question, however, is whether or not a different studio and creative crew could pull it off in the same way David Gordon Green and his team did.
Would you like to see the next Halloween movie or TV series return to Halloween night in 1978? Let us know in the comments down below!