Halloween Kills Is Flirting With The Cult of Thorn’s Michael Myers Mythology

The Halloween reboot movies completely dismiss all events after the original John Carpenter movie, meaning the Cult of Thorn has nothing to do with this storyline, but the trailer for Halloween Kills hints at a somewhat similar origin for Michael Myers. The Halloween franchise has gone through different retcons since the original movie was released, and it’s currently going through a reboot. This new trilogy serves as a direct sequel to the original movie, completely ignoring all the events from Halloween II onward.

The basis of Halloween is the story of Michael Myers, who killed his sister on Halloween night 1963 when he was just six years old. Michael was then sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he stayed for over a decade. Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael escaped and returned to his hometown Haddonfield, Illinois, where he began to stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends on Halloween night. Laurie became the only survivor of his killing spree and his main target in subsequent movies, with her daughter Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) taking her place after her death. However, this story has gone through various changes through the years, and one of the most criticized storylines Michael has been given is that of the Cult of Thorn.

In order to explain why Michael Myers kills people and why he seems to be immortal, the Halloween franchise, starting in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, started to build a backstory for Michael that involved a Celtic ritual and cult named The Cult of Thorn, which was at the front and center of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. Thorn is an ancient, supernatural, dark demon who bestows great power upon someone possessed by it, and Michael Myers was possessed by Thorn when he was a child. Thorn forces its host to kill their family members on the night of Samhain, and it was Halloween’s way to explain and represent what “pure evil” is. Through the Cult of Thorn, writers attempted to explain why Michael Myers went after his family members and why he couldn’t be killed by anything nor anyone, and while this origin has been left in the past since the first retcon in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, the reboot seems to be flirting with the basic idea of it.

In the trailer for Halloween Kills, Laurie tells her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), that “evil dies tonight” and that Michael is flesh and blood but “a man couldn’t survive that fire” and “the more he kills, the more he transcends”, with another female voice saying he’s “the essence of evil”. Halloween Kills is continuing the “pure evil” description of Michael Myers that began in the previous movie, but judging by the trailer, it’s getting too close to becoming mythical once more. Of course, there’s a big chance that the trailer is misleading the audience, and the reboot timeline is not going to include any supernatural elements to explain why Michael Myers is the way he is, and instead is just the way people in Haddonfield rationalize what has happened. Given how much the Cult of Thorn hurt the franchise (hence why it has been left aside more than once), it’s unlikely it will make a return in the reboot trilogy, but the concept of “pure evil” in Michael is dangerously close to it.

Halloween Kills could have a completely different explanation and backstory for Michael than what the trailer suggests, more so as his escape from the house seems to be completely different from what Laurie believes (though it’s still incredible how he could survive a fire and explosion). Hopefully, the reboot movies won’t get too close to the Cult of Thorn, as they would risk repeating one of the franchise’s biggest mistakes.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
(3270 Articles Published)

Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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