Halloween: The Real Reason Michael Myers Never Died In H20 (BTS Explained)

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later could have been a good ending for the Halloween franchise as it saw Laurie Strode finally defeating Michael Myers in a way that he couldn’t return – until Halloween: Resurrection happened and retconned the ending, bringing Michael back from the dead, which the writers legally had to do. In 1978, the audience met a new slasher villain in John Carpenter’s Halloween, and even though it wasn’t well-received during its initial release, with time it has become one of the most influential horror movies ever and a classic of the genre.

Halloween tells the story of Michael Myers, who on Halloween night 1963, in Haddonfield, Illinois, when he was six years old, murdered his older sister. Michael was sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he became the subject of many studies as he never spoke again, and was the patient of Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), who concluded that Michael Myers is the incarnation of evil. Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael escaped and returned to his hometown, where he began to stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends, with Laurie being the only survivor. Halloween made way for a franchise with 13 movies (including Rob Zombie’s remakes and the upcoming Halloween Ends) and different retcons, with Michael Myers escaping death multiple times, and he came very close to a definitive end in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.

Halloween H20 served as a direct sequel to Halloween II, explaining that Laurie faked her death for her safety, started a new life in California under the identity of “Keri Tate”, and had a son, John (Josh Hartnett). Set in 1998, Halloween H20 saw Michael Myers finding Laurie’s file at Loomis’ retirement house and going after her, while also terrorizing John’s friends and Laurie’s colleagues in the process. At the end of Halloween H20, Laurie stole the coroner’s van that carried a supposedly dead Michael Myers and slammed on the brakes when he awoke and attacked her, sending him crashing through the windshield. Laurie then hit him with the van, pinned him between the van and the tree, and decapitated him with an axe. It was a satisfying ending for final girl Laurie, but this was retconned in Halloween: Resurrection as there was a legal clause in the contract that prevented the writers from killing Michael Myers for good.

Jamie Lee Curtis explained in the documentary Halloween: The Inside Story that there was a clause in the contract that prevented them from killing Michael Myers, and she argued that there was “no possibility that he could come back” after she “chopped his head off”. Curtis added that she wasn’t “going to string along an audience again” as she had spent two decades hearing people question Laurie’s actions when she could have killed Michael on multiple occasions. In the documentary Blood Is Thicker Than Water – The Making of Halloween H20, it’s explained that the “no killing Michael” clause was the result of a dispute between Dimension Films and the filmmakers wanting to kill Michael Myers for good and producer Moustapha Akkad opposing. It was ultimately determined that Akkad had the legal right to block them from doing so, and so Halloween: Resurrection retconned Halloween H20’s satisfying ending.

Halloween: Resurrection explained that Michael Myers switched places with a paramedic, crushing his larynx in the process so he couldn’t speak and swapping their clothes, so the “Michael” that Laurie decapitated was actually an innocent man (who, surprisingly enough, was the same size as the real one). Of course, Halloween: Resurrection couldn’t kill Michael Myers either, and it ended with Michael awakening at the morgue. Michael Myers continues to be invincible, and not even multiple stabbings and bullets could kill him in Halloween Kills, so it’s to be seen if Halloween Ends will live up to its name or not.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
(3267 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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