David Gordon Green’s Halloween saw three generations of the Strode family come together to vanquish an old menace, but if Blumhouse Productions had kept in the ending that they’d originally shot, this slasher hit would’ve left its audiences on a very different note.
Initially, the latest entry in the decades-spanning slasher saga was going to climax with a knife fight between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode that leaves the latter severely injured and seemingly dying. Laurie’s daughter Karen then shoots Michael with a crossbow, mortally wounding the character as he wanders off into the night.
Hinting at the deaths of both Laurie and her murderous assailant, it’s certainly a dark note to end things on, but then this is a horror movie we’re talking about here. Nonetheless, according to producer Ryan Turek, the relatively optimistic conclusion they went with was deemed a more fitting way to tie the various arcs of the film’s three female leads together, telling Screen Rant:
“I think we went with the ending that fulfilled that promise of you’re going to see three generations of Strodes vs. Michael Myers. That’s what I’ll say. I think what we ultimately went with delivered more of what you want to see on both a cat-and-mouse, stalk-and-kill level as well as emotionally fulfilling a lot of the character arcs we set up for Judy Greer’s character and Laurie and Allyson.”
There’s definitely an argument to be made that the unused, less triumphant ending was more true to the spirit and tone of the 1978 original, but at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that Green’s film would’ve been quite the commercial hit it was if it had finished in such a grim manner.
In any case, Laurie’s death in the struggle would’ve arguably proved less meaningful if Blumhouse was just going to bring back Michael anyway for the next movie, and from the look of things, that’s exactly what they plan to do. As it stands, we’re still waiting to hear confirmation that any of the Strode family is returning for the sequel, but in the meantime, Green’s Halloween is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.