'Halloween Kills' Trailer Breakdown: Laurie Strode Is Coming For Michael Myers
Last night brought the surprise debut of the latest trailer for the horror sequel Halloween Kills. Despite being left to die in Laurie Strode's burning fortress of a house in the middle of the woods, Michael Myers is still alive. As terrifying as it might be to have the masked killer stalking the streets of Haddonfield again, it appears the residents aren't going to sit back and let him slice and slash through the town without a fight.
In our Halloween Kills trailer breakdown, see how the town of Haddonfield looks ready to fight back against Michael Myers, check out some Easter eggs referencing the original Halloween franchise, and get ready for another stand-off between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the face of pure evil.
The end of Halloween 2018 left Michael Myers trapped in the house of Laurie Strode after she and her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) tricked the slasher and trapped him in the basement just before the house was rigged to burn down. But unfortunately, he's not left to burn.
When we last saw Laurie Strode and her family, they had been picked up by a truck that was heading back into town. As they leave the burning house, they see a group of firetrucks heading to put the fire out at the house. The three women scream as they drive by. "Let it burn!" This isn't over.
As firefighters try to put out the blaze, seemingly looking for any potential survivors, one falls into the basement. When another firefighter tries to help him out, he ends up pulled down into the basement by Michael Myers, who now has a way out. In this incredible shot, we can see that Michael Myers also has a new weapon: a pry bar
Michael Myers doesn't hesitate to dispatch these firefighters in an absolute massacre. A cool POV shot finds the pry bar smashing through a firefighter's helmet faceguard, the glass shattering and blood splattering. Meanwhile, another is done in by a chainsaw, and we see that death unfold from the POV of the stabbed firefighter now lying on the ground.
Of course, Laurie Strode and her family end up at the hospital. Not only have they just suffered a traumatizing ordeal, but Laurie was stabbed by Michael Myers in their stand-off back at the house. It also echoes the original Halloween II, when young teenage Laurie was taken to the hospital after the events of the original Halloween, and Michael Myers eventually found her there. Of course, that movie isn't canon anymore, and it doesn't look like the killer will be stalking her there again.
Meanwhile, Michael Myers is making his way back across Haddonfield, continuing to randomly kill its residents. This woman ends up at the wrong end of fluorescent tube light bulb that is jammed straight into her neck. That Michael Myers always finds the best things to stab people with.
Back at the hospital, Laurie Strode isn't going to lie in bed while Michael Myers is still at large. She gives herself some kind of shot, presumably to deal with the pain of her injury, and she says, "Evil dies tonight." It's a little cheesy, but Michael Myers has been personified as pure evil, and it's a fun line for Laurie to say with such intensity.
Halloween Kills will again make reference to Halloween III: Season of the Witch. In the sequel from 1982 that doesn't feature Michael Myers, masks from a Halloween store called Silver Shamrock are used to carry out a Celtic curse that will kill millions of children. Three of the prominent masks in the movie are the skeleton, jack-o'-lantern, and skeleton seen above. These masks can actually be seen briefly in a trick-or-treat scene from 2018's Halloween. In fact, the victims dressed as a nurse and doctor who are found lying on the carousel park equipment were also seen in that same scene.
We're not sure who this new character is, but Allyson and her boyfriend are in the car with him when he points out that all the victims that Michael Myers has killed seem to show him on a path to his childhood home. Exactly what is he doing besides killing people? Does he have an endgame?
It should also be noted that throughout these scenes, the Halloween theme is heard not only with piano keys, but with deep strings as well. It seems that much like how Halloween II gave us a different sound for the score, Halloween Kills will also play with the composition a bit.
Another throwback to the original Halloween franchise brings back Nancy Stephens as nurse Marion Chambers from the first movie. This shot recreates the scene where Michael Myers escapes from the mental hospital. After climbing atop Dr. Loomis' car with the nurse in the passenger seat, Michael smashes his hand on the window and breaks the glass. This is clearly recreating that moment, and we're not sure the nurse is going to survive this time.
Remember Allyson's shitty boyfriend? He's back, but maybe not for long. He ends up encountering Michael Myers along with Allyson, but before he's killed, Allyson intervenes with a shotgun.
During a struggle with Michael Myers, a shotgun blast blows away a jack-o'-lantern looking similar to the one from the opening credits of the original movie. Maybe take it as a metaphor for what these new Halloween sequels are doing to the old ones.
A bloody knife gets turned back at Allyson after she stops Michael Myers from killing her boyfriend...or maybe ex-boyfriend, whether it's because they're broken up or because he's dead. But then there's another Strode family intervention.
Karen is back, and with a name like that, you should expect that she'll make trouble. She plucks the mask off Michael Myers' face. Does that mean we'll see the face of this cold-blooded killer again, just as we did in the original Halloween? Or will director David Gordon Green keep him hidden?
There's also a shot of a returning character from the original Halloween. We see him earlier in the trailer walking out of a bar with a baseball bat and smacking a car with it. Here's a close-up shot that appears to be from that same sequence. The character in question is Tommy Doyle, the young boy who was terrorized by Michael Myers when Laurie Strode babysat him in the original movie. He's all grown up now (played by Anthony Michael Hall), and when he hears the killer who gave him nightmares for years is back, he's probably going to be looking for a fight.
Finally, we get a shot of Laurie Strode walking with determination out of the hospital, which appears to be in chaos after many killings executed by Michael Myers. She carries a knife and we hear Jamie Lee Curtis in voiceover saying, "I'm coming for you, Michael." We can't wait.
Halloween Kills arrives in theaters this fall on October 15, 2021.