Blumhouse's Halloween Kills hits theaters almost exactly one year before Halloween Ends, giving it the chance to be the Avengers: Infinity War of horror movies. In April 2018, Marvel Studios' latest blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War arrived to make the box office bow down to its might. Infinity War was easily 2018's highest-grossing film, and Marvel's most successful movie to date. Yet, Infinity War was only part one of a two-part story arc, one that promised to only get bigger in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
Avengers: Endgame more than lived up to expectations, knocking off Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, and setting the stage for a new era of Marvel Studios' MCU. The one-two punch of Infinity War and Endgame dominated their respective years, proving that fans can maintain their enthusiasm over such a long break between the first half of a story and the second half. That's where Halloween comes in to the conversation.
A few months back, it was confirmed that Halloween's 2018 reboot would receive two sequels. Halloween Kills will hit theaters in October 2020, while Halloween Ends will premiere in October 2021. It's a very similar schedule to Infinity War and Endgame, and with the right strategy, Halloween Kills and Ends could well become the horror equivalent of that formidable pair.
Halloween Kills Needs to End on a Massive Cliffhanger
One of the biggest factors involved with Avengers: Infinity War's success was its breathtaking ending cliffhanger, in which Thanos uses the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to "snap" half the universe out of existence. While it's impossible for a semi-realistic world like that inhabited by Halloween to present something of that enormous scale, there's no reason Halloween Kills can't leave fans counting the days until Halloween Ends by concluding on a major, shocking cliffhanger.
The best way to go would probably be teasing the death of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), Michael Myers' ultimate nemesis. Perhaps Michael should be bearing down on a defenseless Laurie with a giant knife, then Halloween Kills cuts to credits, leaving fans wondering if she'll survive for the next year. On the other hand, Halloween Kills could deal Laurie a personal version of Infinity War's snap, and have Michael kill off everyone that matters to her, leaving fans wondering how she'll ultimately recover and defeat Michael in Halloween Ends.
Halloween Kills & Ends Need to Have Marvel-Like Secrecy
Of course, the strategy of ending Halloween Kills on a major cliffhanger that gets resolved in Halloween Ends only works if Blumhouse Productions, Universal, and the filmmakers involved clamp down as much as possible on information leaks. The Halloween reboot had a lot of info leak in advance of the film's release, and Halloween Kills has already had its fair share of set material emerge, although thankfully nothing that really spoils plot elements. From now on, those involved need to try and emulate Marvel, and protect plot details of the two films with their lives. Hyperbole aside, the cliffhanger getting conclusively spoiled in advance would be death to this whole enterprise. If they can pull it off though, Halloween Kills could definitely become the Infinity War of horror.
