'Halloween' movie ending explained (detailed)

The ending of Halloween Ends (2022) concludes the franchise's reboot trilogy, giving Michael Myers an evil fate while Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally allows her personal evil to die. Halloween Ends takes place four years after the end of Halloween Kills, with Laurie and Allison living together as they work through their grief and trauma from Michael's latest rampage. Meanwhile, Allison begins an affair with Haddonfield's new outcast Corey Cunningham, who has been accused of murdering the boy he babysat three years ago. As more tragedies occur in Michael's absence, the end of Halloween positions Corey as the new Boogeyman and asks an important question about the franchise: Is evil born or made?

Michael Myers has been in hiding for the past four years, but the original Boogeyman finally returns in "Halloween" when Corey is thrown off a bridge by a group of bullies. Michael drags Corey into his lair in the shadows of the sewers, intending to kill him, but then looks into Corey's eyes and sees his past crime. New Halloween character Cory turns into a whole new person and starts committing murders, which drives another wedge between Lori and Allison. However, Laurie and Allison reunite to finally end the evil in Haddonfield. They work together to kill Michael Myers and move past his overwhelming grief and trauma. While the ending of Halloween makes clear the immortality of evil in the franchise, it looks like Laurie Strode's Boogeyman is no more.

What happens at the end of Halloween

The final act of Halloween Ends takes place on Halloween night, when Corey dons the Michael Myers mask and begins killing the residents of Haddonfield who had previously terrorized him. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode reports her own suicide to the police in order to lure Corey to her home, and Jamie Lee Curtis's character in the movie Halloween throws the new Boogeyman down the stairs. Of course, Corey doesn't die, but instead stabs himself in the throat to frame Laurie for his murder, reasoning that if he can't have Allison, no one can. Allison arrives and continues to blame Laurie for Michael Myers' actions, repeating that Laurie may be the evil that attracts the killer. In another fake death, Corey survives a self-stabbing before being killed by Michael, who has come to collect his mask.

Laurie then fights Michael before successfully immobilizing him by pinning his arms with knives on her counter and then throwing a refrigerator at his feet. Slowly, Allison helps Laurie kill the mortal Michael Myers: Laurie slashes his throat and wrists to make him bleed to death. After Frank and the police arrive, the residents of Haddonfield ritually gather at the landfill, and Laurie throws Michael's body into an industrial shredder to make sure his horror is finally over. Halloween ends as Allison leaves Haddonfield and Laurie ends her memoir by explaining that "evil doesn't die, it changes shape" - a nod to Michael Myers originally being called "The Shape".

Why Corey turned into Michael Myers

In keeping with Laurie's belief that evil simply changes form, Corey, by donning a Michael Myers mask, mechanical suit, and menacing personality, was meant to express that "Michael Myers" is indeed the personification of evil. Whether "The Shape" goes by the name Michael Myers or Corey Cunningham, it is the form taken by a figure completely consumed by evil. Michael from Halloween, as the essence of evil, saw the potential in Corey when he looked into his eyes. Michael grew older and weaker as Laurie began to let go of her past and work through her grief and trauma, meaning he needed a new, younger form to feed off of others. Corey had the opportunity to lead a relatively normal life with Allison, but he was consumed by the evil within and the outward hysteria of a city that labeled him a monster.

Why Laurie was able to kill Michael in the Halloween movie ending

Laurie Strode has tried to kill Michael Myers countless times since the original 1978 Halloween film, and she finally succeeded in Halloween Ends. Michael was the personification of her overwhelming fear, grief and trauma, so until she could let go of this evil, Michael would never die. Over the past few years, Laurie has also been blamed for Michael's excesses, with the residents of Haddonfield explaining that she only invites Michael back so that he can kill and destroy those around her. If Michael never died, then Haddonfield needed another tangible figure to blame, and survivor Laurie Strode made a suitable outcast. Just as the portrayal of Haddonfield in Halloween Ends shows the town creating a new Michael in Corey Cunningham, people did the same with Laurie.

While it's funny to blame Laurie for Michael's dark murders, her supposed guilt is meant to show that Laurie, completely consumed by her fear and trauma, is harming not only herself, but everyone around her. Lori's fear cost her countless relationships and opportunities in life, ultimately harming her daughter, son-in-law, friends and neighbors. Once Laurie was able to confront her own evil caused by Michael's vile actions, the overwhelming power of Michael's influence was washed away from Haddonfield. Laurie can now live her own life, unfettered by the constraints of Michael's evil, and the ending of Halloween even hints at her optimistic romance with Frank Hawkins.

Why Lori survived the Halloween movie ending

Halloween” positions Laurie and Michael as a dyad in which each influences the other; Michael survived thanks to Laurie's fear, so the call for suicide was not entirely inaccurate. Laurie slit Michael's wrists to kill the part of herself completely driven and consumed by the fear he caused, giving rise to a new Laurie in the finale of Halloween. Laurie didn't have to die to complete the Halloween franchise, she just had to defeat the Boogeyman. If both Michael and Laurie had died at the end of Halloween, the all-consuming nature of evil and fear would still have won in the end. Instead, at the end of Halloween, Laurie is left to live, and her story becomes a triumphant demonstration of victory over grief and trauma.

Is Michael Myers really dead in the Halloween ending?

The countless instances of Michael Myers being shot, stabbed, thrown out of windows, set on fire, beaten, and run over roads throughout the Halloween franchise raise questions. And the ending of Halloween finally answers that question. Michael Myers, the Haddonfield man who killed his sister on Halloween night in 1963, is dead; but what he represents has not died and will probably never die. Evil doesn't really die, it just changes form. But this is a story about Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, which means Michael's death is the end of Laurie's personal evil. Her grief and trauma over the past 44 years had created an evil within her that festered alongside Michael's image and memory, and that horror died with Michael's body in the shredder.

The mortal Michael Myers, who terrorized Laurie Strode and Haddonfield since 1978, is dead, but the more philosophical "Michael Myers" is never truly dead. Michael Myers is the personification of evil, which has no face, but only takes on a recognizable form. Whether "evil" is named Michael Myers or Corey Cunningham, it takes the same form, inspires the same fear, and can consume its victim beyond recognition. Yes, Michael Myers is dead, but the Boogeyman with a capital "B" is not. The next time Haddonfield needs something to fear, to push its fears onto, and to rally against, another Michael Myers will rise up.

What does the ending of the Halloween movie really mean?

The ending of Halloween Ends is a cathartic and collective cleansing of the grief and trauma that has defined life in the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, for decades. The evil that infected the people of Haddonfield was not simply finished off with Michael's knife, it moved within the community as hysteria spread. After the death of Michael Myers, Haddonfield moves forward and vows to no longer let the fear of the Boogeyman rule their lives. Laurie's comment that "evil doesn't die, it changes shape" at the end of Halloween shows that the town may be moving forward and healing, but there is still the possibility that evil will once again enter Haddonfield - just not in the form of Michael. Myers. Thus, Haddonfield and Laurie will have to work to prevent the internalization and repetition of the evil that has led to many more tragedies than just Michael's excesses.

Is the end of Halloween really the end of the franchise?

Halloween Ends officially ends the franchise's reboot trilogy and Jamie Lee Curtis' time as Laurie Strode. Halloween director John Carpenter has been relatively forthcoming in saying that the franchise will exist as long as it continues to make money, so it's unlikely that this is truly the end for Michael Myers. However, it appears that Halloween Ends is the conclusion to the story of Laurie Strode and the original Michael Myers. Jamie Lee Curtis takes her final bow as Laurie Strode, who defined the heart of the franchise in her eternal struggle with Michael Myers.

The Halloween Ends movie is the end of the storyline, but there's always a chance that Halloween will be remade, rebooted, or take on a new twist. Corey Cunningham turning into Michael Myers in Halloween Ends 2022 suggests that anyone consumed by evil can don the mask and costume and achieve Michael's menacing character, so even if the next Boogeyman isn't the real Michael Myers, his spirit is still may equally triumph. Although the ending of the Halloween movie shows that Laurie keeps the Michael Myers mask, it can always fall into the wrong hands.