The second chapter in directorDavid Gordon Green’sHalloweentrilogy,Halloween Kills, delivered an incredibly high body count. Perhaps more surprising, not every kill was caused by the hand of Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney). But yes, most were, and the macabre setpieces were dialed up more than anything seen in the franchise, arguably was more violent than the deaths in the gritty remakes by directorRob Zombie.
In the past, even as recent as the 2018 film, the violence was either shown in the build-up or in the aftermath. It was raer you got that crucial, graphic middle section, where a character made clear contact with Myers’ choice of weapon and the camera lingers on the kill. But even the deaths not committed by Michael Myers inHalloween Killshave a sense of brutality to them. Fans are getting to see Michael Myers at his most enraged, and nobody is off-limits. Here is every kill inHalloween Kills, ranked.
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9. Hawkins’ Misfire
In a flashback to the Halloween night of 1978, we saw a haunting memory of returning character, Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton). Sure, Michael was taken into custody back then, but at a terrible price. When the Boogeyman charged at young Hawkin’s partner (Jim Cummings) and held the officer by the neck, Hawkins attempted to fire off a shot. The bullet did not hit the target. It struck his partner in the throat. Blood bubbled and gushed out of the fatal wound. A coverup was used to place blame elsewhere but Hawkins never forgave himself. It wouldn’t be the last time inHalloween Killsthat Michael Myers caused a death due to the fear of him.
8. Hospital Madness
If things weren’t already bad with the human embodiment of evil storming through the neighborhood, over at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, mob mentality takes over and the panicking town residents confuse someone for Michael in a bad case of mistaken identity. The man was a fellow escaped patient (Ross Bacon) from the same institution that housed Myers. It only makes sense when they believed they had Michael in their sights, they would not waste the opportunity to take him out.
Karen Nelson (Judy Greer) tried her best to protect the man. The Haddonfield police department, who should have ensured the man’s safety, were rendered completely useless as the mob closed in. The increasing chaos, with cops being punched and people tumbling down stairs, became too much for the man to handle. He ended up taking his own life, plummeting several stories out of a hospital window. When his body makes contact with the ground, his head is left a gory, mushy mess, all of it shown in graphic detail.
7. Compound Inferno
This fiery scene was spoiled in the promotional marketing leading up to the release ofHalloween Kills. That in no way eliminated the sheer ferocity put on display. A firetruck sped to the residence of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), which had been purposely set aflame. Trapped in the basement is Michael, who showed no panic; instead, he simply waited for an opportunity to escape. Billowing flames were the backdrop as Michael took out the firefighters who responded to the 911 call, one by one.
He was armed with a Halligan bar, a tool used to pry, strike, and otherwise get through a locked door. In the hands of the masked killer, the weapon tore through flesh and bone. There wasa lotof face trauma. One victim was impaled and lifted up by Michael as if they weighed as little as a pillow.
At a brisk pace, the scene was over quickly, but it was a memorable moment nonetheless. As to why the firefighters only went after Michael one after another, chalk that up to slasher movie logic. If all of them descended upon the Boogeyman, the movie would have probably reached its climax too early. In total, eleven first responders were killed off, with seven of them on screen. It certainly sucked royally to be a firefight in Haddonfield on this autumn night.
6. Neighborhood Watch
In the last act of the film, Karen managed to get Michael trapped on a neighborhood street and it seemed like the end of the Boogeyman was nigh. Legacy character Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) was there, along with other town residents, all of them with a weapon in hand. A special guest in attendance was none other than Leigh Brackett, ex-sheriff to Haddonfield, played by original actorCharles Cyphers. But the beat down they gave to Michael proved futile.
Not even getting shot or stabbed kept Michael down. He delivered the first strike to Brackett, slashing his throat with a knife. More throats were sliced open, arms and wrists suffered damage, too, until finally Michael and Tommy were the only ones left standing. There could only be one victor, though. Michael stabs Tommy and used the man’s own baseball bat to finish the job. Just like that, two legacy characters were effectively gone.
5. Myers Death House: Part 1
Big John (Scott MacArthur) and Little John (Michael McDonald), a couple living Michael’s childhood home, find a bloody handprint at their opened backdoor. No guesses were needed to figure out who the home invader was. They grabbed cutlery from their charcuterie board to defend themselves and methodically searched for the culprit. Big John took the second floor while Little John moved across the first.
Of course, it wasn’t long before Michael revealed himself, sticking a knife into Big John’s armpit. It’s squirm-inducing, but the movie took it further. Michael grabbed the man’s head and applied so much pressure to his eye sockets his eyeballs literally burst. Little John didn’t survive the night but he had the luxury of an off-screen death.
4. Home Invasion
An older couple, Phil (Lenny Clarke) and Sondra (Diva Tyler) were just trying to enjoy the late hour of their Halloween night. Unlucky for them, they lived on Michael’s path of destruction. If at any point you believ a stranger is standing in the darkened back room of your house, do not investigate like this couple did. The result: Phil gets his head smashed into a wall repeatedly before his neck is pushed through the shards of a broken window pane. As he’s left choking on his own blood, his wife doesn’t fare any better. Myers rips off a light fixture and slides its jagged end into her throat. It’s all very painful to watch. To make things even more unsettling, Sondra was left to die slowly, with a full view of Myers desecrating her husband’s corpse with butcher knives. A true nightmare situation all around.
3. Final Cut
How do you end the second film of a trilogy? A cliffhanger would do the trick. While Allyson Strode (Andi Matichak) is attended too by neighbors and paramedics outside the Myers house, Karen finds herself in the bedroom of Judith Myers, the sister Michael killed as a boy, his first victim. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a moment of quiet reflection while Michael Myers still lives; while taking in the view from the Myers house window, Karen is surprised by a sudden attack from Michael.
Karen couldn’t do much to protect herself. With that, the Strode family lost one of their survivors. Although the knife wounds were not seen and not nearly as graphic as the other kills, Karen was built up as a great protector inHalloween Kills. It made losing her in the last moments a shocking way to end this penultimate chapter.
2. Myers Death House: Part 2
AsHalloween Killsneared its climax, Allyson, her boyfriend Cameron Elam (Dylan Arnold), and his father, Lonnie (Robert Longstreet), went to the Myers house to find the Boogeyman. Of course, they were too late. Michael had already arrived and killed off the homeowners. When Lonnie stepped in first, it wasn’t long before his gun went off.
Cameron and Allyson hurried in after. Unfortunately, Cameron lost his steady aim when he saw his father’s body sticking out of the attic door. A very understandable mistake and one that Michael utilized by charging out of a closet. Allyson’s attempt to use a knife on the Boogeyman did little harm and ended with her being thrown down the stairs. Then things got much worse for Cameron.
Not only was he stabbed and his hand stomped on, but Michael forced Cameron’s head through the stair railing. Unable to help, Allyson is forced to watch as Cameron is tossed around. In an act devoid of any mercy, Michael finishes the job by twisting Cameron’s head, breaking his neck. The moans of pain that escaped from Cameron before his death lingered long enough to ensure audiences felt all of that suffering.
1. Playground Rampage
Vanessa (Carmela McNeal) and Marcus (Michael Smallwood), briefly seen inHalloween(2018), were given more screen time in this sequel. Well, up to a point. The two teamed up with legacy characters, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) and Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards) to hunt Michael Myers down. At a Haddonfield park, Lindsey is preoccupied with saving the lives of two obnoxious kids when Michael arrives, a third kid’s Halloween mask dripping red in his hand.
Then Michael attacks the car.
Marion is the first to bite it, defenseless with a gun that had no more bullets. As Marcus uses his stethoscope to try and strangle the killer, Michael plunges his knife into the man’s eye. It’s a gnarly kill, seen in full, with no holding back. But there was one more surprise in store. Outside the vehicle, Vanessa fires a gun, again and again. The bullets don’t hit Michael; he doesn’t even flinch. He just waits. In a clean and swift maneuver, he slams the car door into Vanessa, forcing her to accidentally shoot herself. Within a matter of seconds, Michael ended the lives of two victims in ways that surely made audiences gasp.
