Halloween Kills continues the stories of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and adds more to the wider Halloween universe – and here’s what the current timeline looks like. The 1980s is widely considered as the most important decade in the horror genre, and it saw the beginnings of a couple of franchises that became classics, among those Halloween. In 1978, John Carpenter brought Halloween, a slasher movie that even though wasn’t well-received upon its initial release, it’s now considered one of the most influential horror movies ever, becoming a favorite among horror fans and a must-watch during Halloween season.
Halloween introduced the audience to Michael Myers, a six-year-old boy who on Halloween night 1963, murdered his older sister. Michael was then sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he stayed for over a decade and became the subject of many studies, led by Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence). Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael escaped and returned to his hometown Haddonfield, Illinois, and began to stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends. Laurie became the only survivor of Michael’s killing spree on Halloween night and became the final girl of the franchise, though she wasn’t the only one as at one point, her daughter Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) took over. Now, after a couple of retcons, the Halloween franchise is going through a reboot with a new trilogy and timeline, and the new installment is Halloween Kills.
The reboot trilogy, which began in 2018 with David Gordon Green’s Halloween, serves as a direct continuation to Carpenter’s original movie and ignores all the sequels that came after it. This means that in this new timeline, Michael and Laurie aren’t related, Jamie and John (Laurie’s son in the Halloween H20: 20 Years Later timeline, played by Josh Hartnett) never existed, and Laurie is very much alive. Halloween, then, was a direct sequel to the first movie, and the next installment in the reboot trilogy, Halloween Kills, will continue exploring the stories of Michael, Laurie, her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), while also expanding on the events from the first movie and everything that happened between the 1978 movie and the 2018 reboot. Here’s the Halloween Kills timeline explained.
Before Halloween Night 1963
A flashback to 1978 reveals that Michael had always been a strange child. A deputy who knew Michael when he was little shared that he had a weird habit of staring out of his sister’s room at “something”, and this small piece of information about Michael’s past becomes important later on in Halloween Kills. Not much is known about Michael Myers’ past in the current Halloween timeline, and this is the first hint at what really goes on with Michael Myers.
Halloween Night 1963
As mentioned above, Halloween night 1963 was one full of tragedy for the Myers family. Six-year-old Michael Myers was supposed to be under the care of his sister Judith, but she preferred to spend an intimate night with her boyfriend. Michael, dressed as a clown, waited until Judith’s boyfriend left to grab a knife from the kitchen, go to Judith’s room, and stab her to death. He then left the house and stood in the front yard, where he waited for his parents and the police to arrest him. As a result, Michael was sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where Dr. Loomis was assigned as his psychiatrist.
1963-1978
During his time at Smith’s Grove, Michael didn’t say a word, which made him a fascinating yet terrifying case study, with Loomis spending years trying to understand what was going on with him. Michael was emotionless when he arrived and stayed like that for years, so Loomis recognized deep-rooted trauma in him, but as he continued studying Michael and trying to break through him to no success, he came to a horrifying conclusion: Michael Myers is evil, and thus a danger to society. Loomis spent the following years trying to keep Michael locked up, preferably at a maximum-security ward, as he knew if he broke out, he would be capable of unimaginable horrors, but Michael turned out to be a lot more intelligent and skilled than he thought.
Halloween Night 1978 (First Film)
On October 30, 1978, Loomis and his colleague Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) arrived at Smith’s Grove to escort Michael to court for a hearing that Loomis hoped would keep Michael locked up for the rest of his days, but Michael had other plans. Michael escaped from Smith’s Grove, stole the car that was going to take him to court, and he drove away. On his way back to Haddonfield, Michael murdered a truck driver and stole his boiler suit, and once in Haddonfield, he stole a Halloween mask, thus creating his signature look. Michael then set eyes on a young Laurie Strode and her friends Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda Van Der Klok (P.J. Soles), and began stalking them. Michael killed Annie, Lynda, and the latter’s boyfriend, and attempted to kill Laurie, who was at the Doyles’ house babysitting Tommy and his friend Lindsey Wallace. Meanwhile, Loomis continued looking for him all over Haddonfield, and after seeing Tommy and Lindsey running and screaming on the street, looking for help, he arrived at the Doyles’ house.
Once there, Loomis found Michael attacking Laurie, who had just ripped Michael’s mask off. Michael stopped to put it back on, giving Loomis the chance to shoot his former patient six times, knocking him off the balcony. Laurie asked Loomis if Michael was “the boogeyman” and he agreed, but when he walked to the balcony and looked down, he found that Michael had vanished, because shooting him six times in the chest wasn’t enough to defeat the incarnation of evil.
Halloween Night 1978 (Flashback)
Halloween Kills expands on the events of Halloween night 1978 with a flashback to that horrifying night, where a young officer Hawkins (Thomas Mann, with Will Patton playing the older version of the character) spotted Michael Myers and searched the neighborhood for him. Hawkins and his partner tracked Michael to his old house, and once there, Michael snatched the latter and Hawkins accidentally shot the other officer in the neck. The police finally arrived and Michael was arrested, but Loomis was still determined to kill him and tried to shoot him, but was stopped by Hawkins. This flashback also shows a young Lonnie (played in the original movie by Brent Le Page, and in Halloween Kills by Tristian Eggerling and with Robert Longstreet as the adult version) briefly coming across Michael on an empty street, but he was left unharmed.
Halloween Night 2018
Michael Myers was then sent to Smith’s Grove Psychiatric Hospital, where he came under the care of Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), a student of Loomis who took over Michael’s case after Loomis’ passing. Just like his mentor, Sartain worked hard to understand Michael’s motives and get him to speak, but he was also unsuccessful. However, Sartain became obsessed with Michael, and in 2018, as Michael was getting ready to be transferred to a new facility, he insisted on going along with the security guards who were escorting his patient. Michael escaped once again and returned to Haddonfield, where he went on a new murder spree and came face to face with Laurie after all these years. Laurie ended up bringing Karen and Allyson to her isolated and heavily guarded house to defend themselves, with Michael eventually finding them. After seemingly killing Laurie and cornering Allyson and Karen, Michael was taken by surprise by the Strode women, who shot him. Michael tumbled down the stairs to the booby-trapped basement, where Laurie trapped him and then set the house on fire, leaving the boogeyman to die there. Laurie, Karen, and Allyson took a ride from a stranger driving a truck who was passing by, as they watched the house burning down.
Halloween Night 2018 (Halloween Kills)
Not even fire was enough to kill Michael Myers, and Halloween Kills picks up just a couple of minutes after the ending of Halloween, showing that Michael survived once more. He escapes from the basement and goes on a new killing spree as soon as he can on his way back home – literally home, as he returns to his old house just to look out his sister’s window. Laurie is taken to the hospital (very much like in Halloween II) while town residents, including past survivors Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), and Lonnie, organize to track Michael down, and an escaped asylum patient is confused for Michael and chased through the hospital by the furious mob, much to Michael’s luck. Halloween Kills adds a lot of new details to the backstory of Michael Myers, and all this will be key in understanding him, his motives, and whatever Halloween Ends brings to the mix.
