Halloween Alternate Ending Reveals Deleted Laurie Vs Michael Knife Fight

Warning: Spoilers For Halloween (2018) Below

Halloween 2018’s alternate ending featured a brutal knife fight between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. The character of Laurie Strode has had a complicated journey through the Halloween franchise. Following her encounter with Michael Myers in the original, 1981’s Halloween II had the shock revelation that she was actually his sister, and that’s why she was being targeted. Creator John Carpenter has since admitted this twist was a desperate attempt to break out of writer’s block, but it’s a reveal the sequels followed closely.

Curtis opted out of Halloween IV: The Return Of Michael Myers, which revealed Laurie died in a car accident and Michael instead stalks her daughter Jamie Lloyd. Curtis then returned for Halloween H20, which ignored parts IV-VI and revealed Laurie went into hiding following the second movie. She seemingly kills Michael for good in the finale, only for Halloween: Resurrection to reveal he switched places with an unlucky victim. Resurrection also killed Laurie in the opening scene, with Curtis uninterested in further sequels.

Related: Why Michael Doesn’t Kill The Baby In Halloween

Of course, trying to explain the various timelines and continuities of the Halloween franchise to newcomers is almost an exercise in madness, which is why the new sequel opted to ignore everything bar the 1978 original. Halloween 2018 reveals Laurie has waited 40 years for Michael to break out again so she could kill him, and she’s spent that time preparing. This leads to an immensely satisfying showdown, but PDF Screenplays have revealed pages from an alternate ending that was filmed but removed following test screenings.

These pages reveal Halloween 2018 could have ended on a markedly different note, with Laurie facing off in a knife fight with Michael in order to protect her granddaughter Allyson. Michael eventually gets the upper hand and stabs her in the chest, only for her daughter Karen – named Shanah in this draft – emerging from the house with a crossbow. She shoots Michael in the back, who then stumbles away from the three women as they are driven away in the back of pick-up truck, as in the final version. The final page has a badly wounded Michael resting among Laurie’s shattered target practice mannequins and breathing deeply, with the script implying his death.

Shots of this fight between Laurie and Michael can be glimpsed in the trailer for Halloween 2018, implying at least part of this sequence was filmed. It’s unknown if this ending was shot side by side with the current climax, which feels like the more satisfying conclusion. Apparently, this alternate finale was shown during test screenings but removed following feedback. There were also reports of Halloween 2018 going back for ending reshoots in May following test screenings.

While Halloween 2018 still ends with Laurie Strode wounded, this alternate ending suggests her wounds are fatal, with the script noting Michael twists his knife after he stabs her. It’s an intriguing, quieter alternative to the current ending, with Michael’s fate also being more ambiguous, but the current finale is also more of a crowd pleaser, and it feels like the ending the movie was building towards.

More: Halloween 2018 Ending Explained

Source: PDF Screenplays (via Peter Sciretta)

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3494 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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