Halloween is the one slasher horror franchise that really bought into the holiday season and delivered some big swings with the character, although they didn’t all hit. The first movie was John Carpenter’s classic that introduced the world to Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and helped popularize the entire slasher genre, which carried horror through the 1980s. After a great second movie and a third that had nothing to do with Michael Myers, things kind of went off the rails. A weird cult mythology started up, and then the franchise ignored that and went back to the originals for more sequels before Rob Zombie came along and rebooted everything. The last three Halloween movies were all sequels to only the first Carpenter movie and ignored the rest.
Through it all, Michael Myers had some creative and brutal kills, many of which fans will never forget. While the Friday the 13th series specialized in creative kills and A Nightmare on Elm Street used supernatural aspects to deliver kills that would otherwise be impossible, Michael Myers and Halloween had kills that were brutally realistic. That made several of Halloween’s kills moments that no one can unsee.
The best of the recent Halloween trilogy was the first movie, but there was a kill in the second of the films that no one can forget. In Halloween Kills, Michael Myers shows up to kill Big John (Scott MacArthur), a man who lives with his partner, Little John (Michael McDonald), in the old Myers house on Lampkin Lane. Their only crime is living in Michael Myers’ old childhood home. The kills here happen later in the film, and it is Big John’s death that is especially disturbing and unforgettable.
Before the mob’s showdown at the end, Michael Myers goes back to his childhood home. He approaches Big John upstairs and starts the attack by stabbing him in the side. However, it is what happens next that is completely unforgettable. Michael pushes his fingers into Big John’s eyes and keeps pushing until one of Big John’s eyeballs falls out and rolls down his face. It is a close-up shot of the kill and all done practically, ensuring that viewers will never be able to unsee that moment the eye falls out of John’s head.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is the movie that brings Michael back to the franchise after a one-movie departure, and it also changes the story to feature Jamie Lloyd, the new Final Girl for Michael, and one who is very young in this movie. Brady’s death is unforgettable, but he is also one of the people who Michael kills who fans don’t mind seeing go, as he is not a good person and was actually cheating on his girlfriend Rachel with the sheriff’s daughter, Kelly. However, deserve it or not, the kill was brutal.
When Michael Myers shows up at the house, Rachel is babysitting Jamie, and the two of them run for their lives while Brady tries to fight Michael face-to-face. Brady even has a shotgun, making it seem like he has a chance. The problem is that he missed and can’t reload the gun in time. Michael then reaches out, picks up Brady by the head, and then squeezes his head, squashing it with his immense strength until Brady’s neck snaps. It is a standout kill in the entire franchise, and one for someone who fans wanted to see die.
Jamie Lloyd’s death in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was controversial because the studio actually changed it before releasing it into theaters. Jamie Lloyd was the new hero of the franchise, replacing Laurie Strode, and by this movie, she wasn’t a little girl anymore. However, the big shock was that Michael Myers kills Jamie at the start of this movie, at least in the theatrical cut. Because Jamie won’t give up her newborn baby to Michael and went on the run, she sealed her fate.
Michael chases her onto a pumpkin farm, catches her, and then impales her on the spikes of a corn thresher in the barn. He then turns the machine on, and she is slaughtered. Since Jamie Lloyd was the franchise’s new star, her brutal death was one that most viewers never forgot, and it angered a lot of people. Interestingly, the producers didn’t want this, and it was ordered by the studio. The Producer’s Cut was finally released years later with the original death, which sees Jamie survive Michael’s attack only to be murdered by the cult while she is in the hospital. It was not as brutal and had a bigger effect on the mythology.
Halloween II sees Michael Myers return after his disappearance at the end of the first Halloween movie. Much of the movie takes place at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and Michael has a few victims from the hospital, including one nurse he kills in the hallway right in front of Laurie Strode. However, it is the death of Nurse Karen in the hydrotherapy pool that stands out as the scene no one can unsee. This shows Karen and EMS driver Budd messing around in the hospital’s therapy room.
Michael shows his intelligence here by turning up the water temperature from the next room. Karen asks Budd to go turn it down, and Michael kills him when he arrives in the room. This leaves Karen in the pool, and when Michael walks up behind her, she thinks it is Budd. When she sees Michael, it is too late, and he starts to hold her under the scalding hot water as her skin blisters and boils. It is easily the most disgusting kill in either of the first two movies.
The first two Halloween movies didn’t have the most creative kills, but Michael Myers is not someone who considers killing to be an art. He is brutal and efficient. However, there is one kill in the first movie that really sets the tone for what fans would expect from the series moving on. Bob Simms is Lynda’s boyfriend from the first movie and the two of them sneak into the Wallace house to have sex while Annie is out. This is one of the instances where the movie helps create the idea that premarital sex equates to death in a slasher movie.
Bob goes to the kitchen for a beer, and he hears something. He opens the closet door, and Michael shows up. Michael Myers then picks Bob up off the floor with one hand and drives a large knife through his chest, pinning him to the wall and leaving him dangling as he dies. However, what really makes this a Halloween death that no one can unsee is what happens next. As Bob dies, Michael stands there and tilts his head to the right and left, studying the body as it dies. It looks like Michael is admiring his kill, making him an even scarier boogeyman.
Did we miss any great Halloween kills you can never unsee? Let us know your favorite kills from the Halloween franchise in the comments below.
