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‘Halloween Kills’ – What Can We Expect from the Extended Cut? The Novelization May Answer That Question

Published

2 years ago

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Ahead of the January 11, 2022 release on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD (plus a Best Buy Steelbook!), David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills will be released Digitally on December 13, 2021, with an “Extended Cut” of the movie being previewed by Amazon. In all likelihood, this new extended version of the sequel to Halloween 2018 will be available digitally and physically.

But what can we expect from the “Extended Cut”? We have no official details at this time, but David Gordon Green did recently tease that an extended version of the movie with an alternate ending was on the way. That reveal came in a chat with Collider last month.

Gordon Green explained, “There’s an additional scene that we filmed that was scripted. And actually I think is a pretty brilliant scene. So we’re going to do an extended version on the DVD, just so people can see an extended ending that’s different and cool.”

“We ended up lifting it when I became more confident of where we’re going to pick up in the next movie; it didn’t feel authentic to where we’re going to go,” he continues. “It’s part of the movie. It’s just not part of the appropriate momentum of… knowing where we’re going to pick up in [Halloween Ends], which, you’ll know in a year, it wasn’t the right look in the eye that we needed to give the audience.”

In the version of Halloween Kills that’s now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock, Michael survives a seemingly un-survivable assault from the residents of Haddonfield, massacring the mob and returning to his childhood home. In his deceased sister Judith Myers’s old bedroom, Michael seems to kill Karen Strode, and the film cuts to black from there.

As David Gordon Green notes, an “extended ending” was not only filmed but also originally scripted, and that last bit is interesting to note because writer Tim Waggoner based the official Halloween Kills novelization – which is now available – on the movie’s script. And wouldn’t ya know it, the novelization indeed does have an extended/alternate ending.

Waggoner recently explained to Bloody Disgusting’s Jason Jenkins, “The ending is the same as in the movie, except in the script it goes on just a touch longer. It doesn’t change anything about the ending at all. It just is a little different. It’s just like they ended thirty seconds early or something. Maybe that’ll show up on the special features of the DVD.”

Here’s how the novelization ends, after Michael kills Karen Strode…

Laurie turned and slowly walked toward the front of the recovery room. On the way, she stopped at her bed, reached beneath the blanket, and withdrew the knife that Allyson had left for her. Its solidness felt comforting, reassuring. Holding the blade tight, she continued toward the room’s entrance. A hospital phone was mounted on the wall next to the door. She lifted the receiver, tucked it between her cheek and shoulder, and began pressing digits. She knew Karen’s cell phone number by heart.

*

The Shape stands at his sister’s window as he did so many years ago, blood-splattered mask reflected in the glass before him. He does not see himself, though. He sees something else. Something beyond… something greater. He sees-

A series of musical tones plays then, distracting him. He turns toward the sound, sees the woman – Her daughter – lying dead on the floor, Christmas sweater in tatters, her chest a ragged mess of blood and torn meat. The music is coming from one of her pockets. The Shape tilts his head to the side, considers. The he kneels, reaches into the front pocket of the woman’s jeans with his three-fingered hand, and pulls out her phone. He stands, looks at the display, pushes a button, and raises the device to his head.

*

Laurie was relieved when the call was answered. She was about to speak when she heard heavy breathing on the other end, sick and distorted, as if whoever it was had been seriously injured. This wasn’t Karen. She knew that breathing, knew it as well as her own. She felt a tearing sensation deep inside then, as if a vital piece of her had been suddenly, violently ripped away.

Karen…

Her hand trembled, but when she spoke her voice was as cold as a windswept Arctic plain.

“I’m coming for you, Michael.”

Why would this extra little moment – Laurie declaring that she’s coming for Michael – not fit where Gordon Green is going next with Halloween Ends? Well, that could be because the next movie in the trilogy is going to jump ahead four years, so perhaps Gordon Green felt it best to not set the stage for that final battle so many years before it actually does take place.

This is all speculation on my part, of course, but it seems pretty clear at this point that the extended ending in the book is indeed also the extended ending in this new version of the movie that we’re going to be treated to on the road to Christmas. Which then begs the question: Will the Extended Cut feature even more new footage that we haven’t yet seen?

For starters, we’re hoping to see an additional shot of Michael Myers that was cut from the theatrical/streaming version, notable because it features ’78 star Nick Castle as The Shape.

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Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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Books

‘Halloween: Illustrated’ Review: Original Novelization of John Carpenter’s Classic Gets an Upgrade

Published

3 days ago

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April 16, 2024

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Film novelizations have existed for over 100 years, dating back to the silent era, but they peaked in popularity in the ’70s and ’80s, following the advent of the modern blockbuster but prior to the rise of home video. Despite many beloved properties receiving novelizations upon release, a perceived lack of interest have left a majority of them out of print for decades, with desirable titles attracting three figures on the secondary market.

Once such highly sought-after novelization is that of Halloween by Richard Curtis (under the pen name Curtis Richards), based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Originally published in 1979 by Bantam Books, the mass market paperback was reissued in the early ’80s but has been out of print for over 40 years.

But even in book form, you can’t kill the boogeyman. While a simple reprint would have satisfied the fanbase, boutique publisher Printed in Blood has gone above and beyond by turning the Halloween novelization into a coffee table book. Curtis’ unabridged original text is accompanied by nearly 100 new pieces of artwork by Orlando Arocena to create Halloween: Illustrated.

One of the reasons that The Shape is so scary is because he is, as Dr. Loomis eloquently puts it, “purely and simply evil.” Like the film sequels that would follow, the novelization attempts to give reason to the malevolence. More ambiguous than his sister or a cult, Curtis’ prologue ties Michael’s preternatural abilities to an ancient Celtic curse.

Jumping to 1963, the first few chapters delve into Michael’s childhood. Curtis hints at a familial history of evil by introducing a dogmatic grandmother, a concerned mother, and a 6-year-old boy plagued by violent nightmares and voices. The author also provides glimpses at Michael’s trial and his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, which not only strengthens Loomis’ motivation for keeping him institutionalized but also provides a more concrete theory on how Michael learned to drive.

Aside from a handful of minor discrepancies, including Laurie stabbing Michael in his manhood, the rest of the book essentially follows the film’s depiction of that fateful Halloween night in 1978 beat for beat. Some of the writing is dated — like a smutty fixation on every female character’s breasts and a casual use of the R-word — but it otherwise possesses a timelessness similar to its film counterpart. The written version benefits from expanded detail and enriched characters.

The addition of Arocena’s stunning illustrations, some of which are integrated into the text, creates a unique reading experience. The artwork has a painterly quality to it but is made digitally using vectors. He faithfully reproduces many of Halloween‘s most memorable moments, down to actor likeness, but his more expressionistic pieces are particularly striking.

The 224-page hardcover tome also includes an introduction by Curtis — who details the challenges of translating a script into a novel and explains the reasoning behind his decisions to occasionally subvert the source material — and a brief afterword from Arocena.

Novelizations allow readers to revisit worlds they love from a different perspective. It’s impossible to divorce Halloween from the film’s iconography — Carpenter’s atmospheric direction and score, Dean Cundey’s anamorphic cinematography, Michael’s expressionless mask, Jamie Lee Curtis’ star-making performance — but Halloween: Illustrated paints a vivid picture in the mind’s eye through Curtis’ writing and Arocena’s artwork.

Halloween: Illustrated is available now.

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