At the end of Halloween H20, Laurie Strode appears to kill Michael Myers, but his death almost went down in a much different, gorier way. Of course, in hindsight we now all know that Laurie didn't actually off her former brother, thanks to a nonsensical plot twist involving Michael putting his clothes and mask on a paramedic and crushing his throat so he couldn't speak. Until then, Halloween H20's ending was arguably the perfect conclusion to Laurie and Michael's saga, but the best slashers never stay gone long.

Oddly enough, all of that was rendered moot 20 years after H20's release, when Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green teamed up with Halloween creator John Carpenter to retcon all the prior sequels out of existence, which H20 had actually done too, from 3 onward. Needless to say, Halloween's franchise continuity is very complex, and trying to make any sense of all the different timelines is quite liable to lead to fan frustration. It's best to just sit back and watch Michael do his thing.

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While Halloween H20's final scene was Laurie's seeming decapitation of Michael Myers with an ax, the film went through multiple script iterations, as many films do. An early version of H20 killed "Michael" off in a completely different way, one much more appropriate for an action blockbuster.

How Halloween H20 Originally Killed Michael Myers

Halloween H20

Halloween H20 was based on a story idea by Kevin Williamson, creator of the Scream franchise. Of course, what made it to the screen was changed quite a bit from his version, as evidenced by his not being credited as a writer on the final film. Williamson went through several scenarios for Michael's ending death, including one where Laurie stabbed Michael with a javelin after trapping him inside a gymnasium. Needless to say, Halloween H20 could've been a much stranger movie than the one fans ultimately got.

Far and away the craziest proposed way of killing Michael Myers off, at least temporarily, was him getting chopped into pieces by the rotor blades of a helicopter. For those who don't remember a helicopter appearing at the end of Halloween H20, Williamson's version included an elaborate final chase sequence involving Laurie, Michael, a helicopter, and a bus. With that in mind, which sounds more like a cross between Speed and Mission: Impossible, it's not really a wonder why late, budget-minded producer Moustapha Akkad said thanks but no thanks to much of Williamson's ideas for the sequel. Money issues were also why John Carpenter didn't return to direct, as Akkad didn't want to pay his fee.

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