Explaining The Ending Of Halloween And What It Means

Blumhouse’s Halloween sequel/remake/reboot of John Carpenter’s 1978 classic has to be the biggest horror movie of the year and due to the huge amount of hype surrounding it, it’s set to smash box office records. And now that it’s here, we can finally dive right into it, including its exciting ending.

The thrilling final act of 2018’s Halloween takes place in Laurie Strode’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) heavily-fortified house in the middle of nowhere, as – just like she always predicted – her eternal tormentor Michael Myers once again comes for her and her family. Specifically, her estranged daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).

However, Laurie’s spent the last 40 years preparing for this so things play out a bit like an R-rated reboot of Home Alone, as Myers chases Laurie through her tricked-out house. The final refuse in the place is a panic room hidden underneath the kitchen. Obviously, Myers tracks the three women to their hideaway and all looks bleak. But Laurie has one last trick up her sleeve. Continuing a line brought up earlier, Karen explains to Allyson that the house “isn’t a prison. It’s a trap.”

Michael’s then locked in the panic room due to some trip bars that block the door and Laurie fills the room with gas, lights a fire and the place goes up in flames. And Michael with it. The trio then hitch a ride with a passing trucker and live to see another Halloween.

In this way, the film’s ending resembles the final moments of H20, which also appeared to close the book on the franchise by having Laurie finally defeat Myers. Trapping him in a burning down building also recalls the end of H20′s sequel, Resurrection. However, just like in both of those cases, all the signs point to the serial killer having escaped certain doom.

There’s one clue in particular that most would’ve noticed if they were paying attention. In a shot of the flaming building, the camera returns to the basement panic room and shows it engulfed in an inferno. The only thing is, though, Michael’s nowhere in sight. If we forget everything we know about the horror genre, maybe it’s possible that he’s just already dead by this point. He was at the center of the blast, after all.

The big clue that Michael’s survived, though, occurs in a brief post-credits scene. Well, scene would be putting it too strongly. We don’t get Jason Vorhees showing up to recruit Myers to a horror villain league like in a Marvel movie or anything, but what we do get is equally sequel-baiting. It’s not much, but we hear the distinctive heavy breathing of our favorite Shatner mask-wearing killer.