Summary
A rumor about John Carpenter’s horror classicHalloweenand Michael Myers’ fate was floating around, but luckily, Carpenter himself has now debunked it, and I’m relieved he did so. In 1978, Carpenter changed the horror genre withHalloween, a key movie in developing the slasher genre in the 1980s.Halloweenbrought one of the most iconic slasher villains thanks to Michael Myers, a memorable Final Girl in Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), and the basic formula for a slasher movie.
Halloweenbegins on Halloween night 1963, when six-year-old Michael Myers killed his sister Judith for no apparent reason. Michael was sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he became Dr. Sam Loomis’ (Donald Pleasence) patient and never spoke again. Fifteen years later, Michael escaped and returned to his hometown, Haddonfield, Illinois, where he began to stalk Laurie and her friends. Laurie survived her encounter with Michael Myers, but it was only the beginning of years of terror. AlthoughHalloweenwas released decades ago, it continues to be the subject of theories and rumors, and Carpenter has now debunked one that would have hurt the movie.
Halloween: Why The First Movie’s Reviews Were Negative (& How It Changed)
John Carpenter’s Halloween is one of the best horror movies ever, but it wasn’t well-received by critics when it was released. Here’s what happened.
John Carpenter Denied The Existence Of An Unseen Cut Of Halloween
There’s No Unseen & Almost Completely Different Cut Of Halloween
A rumor claimed there’s a storage bin filled with outtakes that make a cut of the movie that is 95% different from the final version.
Given its place in horror history, influence, legacy, and more, it’s not surprising thatHalloweenis still the topic of many theories and rumors – what’s surprising is the source of some of those rumors. A recent rumor about Carpenter’sHalloweenbegan with a now deleted post fromHollywood Horror Museum onX(previouslyTwitter), whoclaimed there’s an unseen cut ofHalloweenthat is “entirely different”. The account’s source was someone they know who worked on the Blu-ray restoration ofHalloweenand who claims there’s a storage bin filled with outtakes that make a cut of the movie that is 95% different from the final version.
The account went on to explain that the producers ofHalloweenlost control of this bin and it was bought by another person at an auction. According to them, the producers couldn’t work out a deal with the owner of the footage, so it remains unseen – andin that version, Michael Myers died. John Carpenter wasted no time and set the record straight onXby simply saying there’s no different version ofHalloween, and it was all a lie.
Leaving aside how unreliable the source was, an unseen cut ofHalloweenthat was almost entirely different and where Michael Myers dies would have caused unnecessary chaos and speculation around this horror classic. It’s hard to imagineHalloweenbeing different (and exactly how different could it be?), and of all the rumors there could be about this movie, this is oneI think would have been quite harmful toHalloween’s legacy, which is why I’m relieved that Carpenter quickly debunked it.
Halloween 1978 Already Has An Extended Cut (& It Isn’t Good)
To fill the two-hour time slot for Halloween’s TV broadcast, Carpenter filmed an extra 12 minutes during the production of Halloween II.
Extended cuts of any movie will always get the attention of the audience as they could include material that changes what the final cut established (as happened withHalloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), but that doesn’t mean all of them are good.Halloweenactually has an extended cut already that isn’t lost or hidden, but it isn’t good.
Halloween 6: Differences Between The Original & Producer’s Cut Explained
The Halloween 6 theatrical cut is very different from the producer’s cut. The film went through many changes after the original production wrapped.
In 1980, the TV rights toHalloweenwere sold to NBC, but there was a debate between Carpenter, Debra Hill, and NBC’s Standards and Practice over censoring certain scenes.Halloweenwas broadcast for the first time in 1981, but to fill the two-hour time slot, Carpenter filmed an extra 12 minutes during the production ofHalloween II.
The new scenes saw Loomis at the hospital board review of Michael, where Loomis was assigned as his psychiatrist; Loomis visiting six-year-old Michael in his room at Smith’s Grove, telling him he fooled everyone but not him; Loomis returning to Michael’s room after his escape in 1978, where he found the word “sister” scratched on the door; and Laurie at home with Lynda coming over to ask her for a silk blouse (and tell her she was being followed) and Annie calling her to ask for the same blouse.
These scenes are more fillers than actual additions to the story ofHalloween, though I must say that they do change the way I see Dr. Loomis. In the theatrical cut ofHalloween, Loomis is the only one who believes Michael is the embodiment of evil until he goes on his infamous murder spree, but the extra material for the TV version shows an almost aggressive Loomis who isn’t on board with taking Michael as a patient. This attitude fuels thetheory of Loomis being the reason for Michael’s evil, so, ultimately, the TV cut did more harm than good.
Michael dying at the end ofHalloweenwould have been anticlimactic, no matter what happened before in the supposed “unseen” cut.
An “unseen” cut ofHalloweenthat would have been almost entirely different from the theatrical cut and where Michael Myers died would have ruined the movie and its legacy. As mentioned above,Halloweenas it is was key to developing the slasher genre and building the basic formula of slashers, andMichael’s survival was what established him as one of the scariest slashers. Michael dying at the end ofHalloweenwould have been anticlimactic, no matter what happened before in the supposed “unseen” cut.
Even if there was an unseen cut ofHalloweenthat changed the movie almost entirely, it makes no sense to release the footage or even make it public knowledge that such a cut exists, as the theatrical version is what established the movie as a classic and highly influential movie. It’s a huge relief that John Carpenter quickly debunked this particularHalloweenrumor, and he pretty much saved the legacy and reputation of his movie.
Halloween
Halloween is a horror film released in 1978 that centers on the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, as a masked serial killer terrorizes it. Over a decade after the brutal murder of Judith Myers by her brother, Michael, Michael escapes from the local Sanitarium to continue his silent killing spree- with teenage Laurie Strode being his new potential victim.
