Halloween Kills

The film picks up on Halloween night 2018, minutes after the last one ended. Cameron Elam finds Deputy Frank Hawkins bleeding in the road where Dr. Sartain left him, and calls an ambulance. Hawkins is sorry he ever let Michael live, and he swears he will kill him.

A flashback goes to the same night in 1978. Young Officer Hawkins and his partner Pete McCabe close in on the Myers house. Michael grabs McCabe and uses him as a shield, and Hawkins shoots McCabe dead by accident. Michael then surrenders outside his old home, and Hawkins stops Dr. Loomis from shooting him.

In the present, Tommy Doyle is at a local bar marking 40 years since Michael's capture. With him are other 1978 survivors: Marion Chambers, Lindsey Wallace and Lonnie Elam, Cameron's father. Laurie, Karen and Allyson reach Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where Laurie goes into surgery. Firefighters arrive at Laurie's burning house, and Michael escapes the fire and kills the whole crew with their own equipment. Then he kills Laurie's neighbor Phil and badly wounds Phil's wife Sondra before heading into town.

An emergency alert tells the bar that Michael is loose. Tommy forms a mob to hunt him. Karen learns Michael is alive and keeps it from Laurie so she can rest. Allyson makes up with Cameron and joins Tommy to avenge her father Ray. Marion, Lindsey and two bar patrons dressed as a nurse and doctor, Vanessa and Marcus, go out to warn people to stay inside. Michael finds them by their car. Marion is stabbed, Marcus is stabbed in the eye, and Vanessa shoots herself by accident when Michael kicks the car door into her gun. Lindsey gets away and is found alive by Tommy, Lonnie, Allyson and Cameron. The group maps Michael's path and figures he is going home to the Myers house.

Tommy takes Lindsey to the hospital and runs into Leigh Brackett, the former sheriff whose daughter Annie died in 1978. They tell Laurie that Michael survived. Across town, Michael kills Big John and Little John, the couple who now own his childhood home. At the hospital, the crowd spots Lance Tivoli, another patient who escaped from the bus crash, and decides he is Michael. The mob chases him through the halls. Karen realizes he is not Michael and tries to stop it, but Lance jumps out a window to his death. Laurie tells Karen to help Tommy and Brackett finish Michael.

Lonnie goes into the Myers house alone and is killed. Allyson and Cameron find his body, and Michael kills Cameron. Before Michael can kill Allyson, Karen stabs him in the back with a pitchfork, pulls off his mask and gets him to chase her into Tommy's mob. The crowd beats and stabs him until he stops moving. When they let their guard down, Michael gets up and slaughters them, including Brackett and Tommy, whom he kills with Tommy's own bat.

Karen goes back to the Myers house and sees a vision of Michael as a little boy in Judith's old bedroom. She walks upstairs, and Michael steps out and stabs her to death. At the hospital, Laurie stares out of her room's window.

Story notes

• The same Halloween night continues after Michael escapes Laurie's burning house.
• Laurie is hospitalized while Karen, Allyson and an increasingly violent Haddonfield mob organize to hunt Michael.

Release facts

• Runtime: 105 min theatrical (1:44:59 on 4K/Blu-ray); 109 min Extended Cut (1:49:00)
• Rated: R for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use
• Worldwide: $133,423,964 (Box Office Mojo, all releases); $130,851,162 (The Numbers)

The world premiere was at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2021. Universal released it in the US on October 15, 2021, a year late because of COVID-19. It streamed on Peacock's paid tiers the same day. Samba TV counted 2.8 million households watching on Peacock in the first 30 days.

It opened against The Last Duel in about 3,700 theaters with a $35 to $40 million projection. Thursday previews made $4.85 million, then the biggest for an R-rated or horror film during the pandemic. The first day made $22.8 million, more than the lifetime grosses of Halloween III, 4, 5 and The Curse of Michael Myers. The $49.4 million opening led the box office and was the best R-rated opening of the pandemic until John Wick: Chapter 4. It fell 71% to $14.5 million in its second weekend, behind Dune, then made $8.7 million and $2.3 million.

It grossed $92 million domestic and about $133.4 million worldwide on a $20 million budget, selling roughly 9 million domestic tickets.

Rotten Tomatoes has 38% from 276 reviews, averaging 5/10. Metacritic has 42 from 45 critics. CinemaScore gave it a B-minus, down from the 2018 film's B+, and PostTrak showed 69% positive. Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a mess that is almost never scary. David Fear of Rolling Stone said it nearly erased the goodwill of the 2018 film. Marshall Shaffer of /Film gave it 7.5/10, and Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail found it entertaining despite its odd choices.

Awards: Fangoria Chainsaw Awards wins for Best Score and Best Makeup FX (Christopher Nelson) on May 15, 2022. Nominations for The Drama Movie of 2021 and Drama Movie Star of 2021 (Curtis) at the People's Choice Awards. James Jude Courtney was nominated for Best Villain and Kyle Richards for Most Frightened Performance at the 2022 MTV Movie and TV Awards.

Press and marketing

• Theatrical key-art / poster campaign reference: IMP Awards — Halloween Kills poster archive.

Cast

Crew

Production

In June 2018, Danny McBride said he and Green first thought about shooting two films back to back, then decided to wait and see how the first one did. Jason Blum said in September 2018 that a sequel depended on box office. McBride confirmed early work had started after the October 2018 opening. In February 2019, Collider reported that Scott Teems was in talks to write. He had already written a treatment.

Green, McBride and Jeff Fradley had mapped out two films, then realized they had enough for three. On July 19, 2019, Universal announced Halloween Kills for October 16, 2020, and Halloween Ends for October 15, 2021. Green would direct both and co-write with McBride. Teems co-wrote Kills, and Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier were named for Ends.

Nick Castle's return for both sequels was confirmed July 26, 2019. Anthony Michael Hall was cast as Tommy Doyle on August 26, 2019, after Paul Rudd, who played Tommy in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, turned it down because of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Kyle Richards returned as Lindsey on August 30. Robert Longstreet was announced as Lonnie Elam on September 5, and Nancy Stephens as Marion on September 27. Charles Cyphers was confirmed in October, his first film role since Methodic in 2007. Thomas Mann's casting was revealed in May 2021.

Filming started September 16, 2019, in Wilmington, North Carolina. A car wreck scene was shot September 20 and 21, and gunfire scenes on September 27, September 30 and October 1. Curtis shot her scenes from October 7 to October 19. More filming took place October 16, and the shoot wrapped November 3, 2019. The final mob massacre was filmed on a rotating stage that turned around the camera like a lazy susan.

Kyle Richards broke her nose shooting a fight with Michael and kept quiet about it so she would not be replaced by a stunt double. Andi Matichak said the plan to shoot Ends back to back with Kills was dropped because of the intense schedule.

In July 2020, Universal pushed the release back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 9, 2021, it announced the film would also stream on Peacock's paid tiers for 60 days.

Producers could not get the rights to John Michael Graham's likeness for the 1978 victim Bob Simms. They noticed Bob Odenkirk looked like him and used Odenkirk's real yearbook photo instead.

Christopher Nelson said 1978 scenes that were in the 2018 script but never filmed are not what ended up in Kills. Michael Simmonds shot Kills with Hawk anamorphic zooms.

Nelson said the unfilmed 1978 material from the 2018 screenplay was not the material used for Halloween Kills.

Simmonds used Hawk anamorphic zooms on Kills, then returned to spherical zooms with an anamorphic adapter for Ends.

Filming locations

• Wilmington, North Carolina: Stood in for Haddonfield; principal photography September 16 to November 3, 2019
• Halloween Kills filmed principally in Wilmington, North Carolina from September into November 2019, using EUE/Screen Gems Studios and Wilmington locations including the North Water Street area for Haddonfield Memorial Hospital material.

Effects and makeup

Christopher Nelson designed the makeup effects again, with Vincent Van Dyke as co-designer. Nelson said there was much more makeup and effects work than in 2018, which was a challenge on the budget.

The kills include multiple stabbings, a thumb gouging out a victim's eyes, knives driven through skulls, and the fire crew killed with a fireman's axe and a chainsaw.

Dr. Loomis in the 1978 flashbacks is construction coordinator Tom Jones Jr. in a 12-piece prosthetic makeup and hairpiece built to look like Donald Pleasence. Some viewers thought it was digital or real footage.

Nelson called his time on Kill Bill a master's degree in blood gags and said his years at KNB EFX Group taught him to solve problems fast on set.

Christopher Nelson described Halloween Kills as having significantly more makeup/effects volume than the 2018 film while still keeping most of the work practical.

The 1978 flashback Dr. Loomis likeness was created as an approximately 12-piece practical prosthetic makeup on construction coordinator Tom Jones Jr.,; not a fully digital face.

The 1978-flashback Dr. Loomis was created with an approximately twelve-piece prosthetic makeup and hairpiece on construction coordinator Tom Jones Jr.; the likeness is a practical transformation rather than a fully digital face replacement.

Nelson's department and Vincent Van Dyke Effects executed a much larger volume of physical kill gags than the 2018 film, coordinating blood, stunt choreography, prosthetics and camera effects across the firefighter attack and later mob violence.

Nelson designed the fire-damaged mask to preserve Michael’s recognizable face and silhouette while continuing the 2018 finale’s damage.

Nelson credited his Kill Bill work with teaching him to simplify blood gags and build effects quickly on set.

Props and costumes

The present-day mask had to show the fire at the end of the 2018 film. Nelson said the challenge was changing the look while keeping Michael mysterious.

The 1978 flashbacks needed a new period mask. Nelson, Van Dyke and sculptor Daniele Tirinnanzi made it at Van Dyke's Burbank shop. Nelson called the original mask 'a perfect storm of an accident,' since it looked different from shot to shot because of fit, lighting and camera angle.

Premiere Props auctioned a Dr. Loomis trench coat worn by Tom Jones Jr. that was used for tests and a stunt double.

Trick or Treat Studios made an officially licensed Halloween Kills Michael Myers mask from the movie master.

The 1978 flashback required a newly sculpted period Myers mask distinct from the scorched present-day mask. Christopher Nelson, Vincent Van Dyke and Daniele Tirinnanzi collaborated on the flashback sculpt after studying the variable look of the original 1978 mask frame by frame.

The present-day mask continues the exact 2018 object through fire damage, so its burned side, soot and melted surface function as story-state costume continuity rather than a clean redesign.

Production artifacts

Art and design

• The IMP Awards poster archive catalogs six designs; the primary one-sheet is credited to LA.

Scripts and documents

The killers

Deaths

Officer Pete McCabe

Played by

Jim Cummings

How

Shot in the neck by accident while Michael holds him as a shield (1978 flashback)

Where

Near the Myers house, 1978

By

Frank Hawkins

Haddonfield firefighters

How

Eleven firefighters (List of Deaths wiki count) killed with their own gear, including a fire hook and a saw

Where

Laurie Strode's burning compound

By

Michael Myers

Phil Dickerson

Played by

Lenny Clarke

How

Stabbed with several knives

Where

The Dickerson house

By

Michael Myers

Dennis

Played by

J. Gaven Wilde

How

Decapitated off-screen (per the List of Deaths wiki)

Where

Haddonfield

By

Michael Myers

Marion Chambers

Played by

Nancy Stephens

How

Stabbed with a kitchen knife

Where

Haddonfield street, by their car

By

Michael Myers

Marcus

Played by

Michael Smallwood

How

Stabbed in the eye with a kitchen knife

Where

Haddonfield street, by their car

By

Michael Myers

Vanessa

Played by

Carmela McNeal

How

Shoots herself in the head by accident when Michael kicks the car door into her gun

Where

Haddonfield street, by their car

By

Michael Myers

Big John

Played by

Scott MacArthur

How

Eyes gouged out

Where

The Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Little John

Played by

Michael McDonald

How

Stabbed with a kitchen knife off-screen

Where

The Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Lance Tivoli

Played by

Ross Bacon

How

Jumps from a hospital window while the mob chases him

Where

Haddonfield Memorial Hospital

By

Tommy Doyle's mob

Lonnie Elam

Played by

Robert Longstreet

How

Mangled off-screen, body found

Where

The Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Cameron Elam

Played by

Dylan Arnold

How

Neck snapped

Where

The Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Leigh Brackett

Played by

Charles Cyphers

How

Throat slit with a kitchen knife

Where

Street outside the Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Mob members

How

About 15 people stabbed, slashed and beaten, some off-screen (List of Deaths wiki count)

Where

Street outside the Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Karen Nelson

Played by

Judy Greer

How

Stabbed to death with a kitchen knife

Where

Upstairs in the Myers house

By

Michael Myers

Firefighter massacre

Method

Multiple tool/knife attacks

Killer

Michael Myers

Production note

High-volume practical makeup, masks and effects gags were run daily by Christopher Nelson, Vincent Van Dyke and crew.

Mob confrontation

Method

Mass attack

Killer

Michael Myers

Production note

Large practical-effects sequence with numerous wound gags; digital work supports; not replaces the core makeup effects.

Phil and Sondra

Method

Knife/blunt-force attacks

Killer

Michael Myers

Production note

Christopher Nelson's makeup-effects team created multiple graphic practical injuries for the home invasion.

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies scored the film. Most of the score was done before the pandemic. Carpenter said they start from the MIDI of his original score, update it and improvise new material to the final cut.

Halloween Kills (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Sacred Bones Records (SBR-263). iTunes on October 14, 2021, then all platforms on October 15, plus CD, LP and cassette. Twenty tracks, including Logos Kill, Halloween Kills (Main Title), Let It Burn, Gather the Mob, Rampage, It Needs to Die, Unkillable, Michael's Legend and Halloween Kills (End Titles).

Singles: Unkillable (August 19, 2021), Rampage (September 7, 2021) and Michael's Legend (September 25, 2021).

End credits song: Hunter's Moon by the Swedish band Ghost, released as a single September 30, 2021, and not on the soundtrack album.

The vinyl came in about a dozen variants from Sacred Bones and Waxwork Records. Examples include Flame Flicker (Sacred Bones Society), Molten (mail order), Swamp Green (Bull Moose), Orange/Red Split with Black Splatter (Newbury Comics), Orange and Black (BrooklynVegan) and Clear with Black and Orange Splatter (Shout! Factory). Sacred Bones also sold a Trick or Treat tote bag with Michael Myers art.

The album debuted at 9 on Billboard Top Album Sales and 15 on US Soundtrack Albums, and peaked at 33 on UK Soundtrack Albums. It won Best Score at the 2022 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.

Soundtrack releases

Home Media

• Digital with the Extended Cut: December 14, 2021, on iTunes in the US and Canada.
• Universal 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD: January 11, 2022. Theatrical and Extended Cuts are included. The 4K and Blu-ray discs have English Dolby Atmos, and the DVD has Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are English, Latin American Spanish and French Canadian. Runtimes are 1:44:59 theatrical and 1:49:00 extended on 4K and Blu-ray, and 1:45:05 and 1:49:07 on DVD.
• Extras: Extended Cut with alternate ending, deleted and extended scenes, gag reel, and commentary by David Gordon Green, Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer. Featurettes: Haddonfield's Open Wounds, The Kill Team, Strode Family Values, 1978 Transformations, The Power of Fear and Kill Count.
• HBO Max: both cuts added March 18, 2022.
• Home video sales estimated by The Numbers: $2.9 million on DVD and $4.2 million on Blu-ray.

• Halloween Kills: The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Waggoner, Titan Books, 2021.
• Sacred Bones and Waxwork Records: soundtrack vinyl variants, CD, cassette and a Trick or Treat tote bag, 2021.

Books and publishing

Replica props and masks

The catalog

Trailers & clips

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Press & Promo

Effects