Top 10 Dark Theories about the Halloween Franchise
Top 10 Dark Theories about the Halloween Movie Franchise that Will Haunt your Dreams
Just you when thought things couldn’t get any scarier. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Dark Theories About the Halloween Movie Franchise That Will Haunt Your Dreams. For this list, we’ll be looking at unique fan theories that add a whole new dimension to the horror of the Halloween franchise. Some of these are pretty out there, others feel more grounded, but they’re all compelling and fun to think about. Consider yourself warned, spoilers await around every corner.
#10: Michael Myers Is a Supernatural Force That Exists to Spread Fear
Unlike his peers Freddie Krueger and Jason Vorhees, there is nothing explicitly supernatural about Michael Myers - well, unless you count all of that Cult of Thorn stuff. For the most part, Myers is described as flesh and blood, a man who can be captured, incarcerated and (hypothetically) killed. It’s that last point where things get a little complicated though, as this apparently human killer refuses to die. For that reason, people have suggested that Michael is a supernatural force that only appears to be human. That being’s purpose? To spread fear. Think of him as a single-minded demon or a demigod. Monsters are scary and all, but there’s something about a seemingly earthly killer that’s more immediately terrifying.
#9: Michael Myers Is Triggered by Sex
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The original Halloween is considered by many to serve as the blueprint for both the final girl trope and the rules of the slasher genre. You likely know them well, but in the off chance that you don’t, here’s Randy from “Scream” to deliver a refresher. Though Michael’s killing pattern generally follows these rules, even more so than most of his peers, he seems to really target sexually active victims. It’s like he’s got a sixth sense for fornication. Some have suggested that based on his history in the films, including his very first kill (his sister after she had sex) he’s first and foremost driven by a violent, almost instinctive repulsion to sexual activity.
#8: Michael Myers Is the Physical Manifestation of Pure Evil
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Though this theory is perhaps similar to our first entry, there’s a big difference between fear and evil. Unpacking the psychology of Michael Myers is a seemingly insurmountable task; more than one psychologist in the film franchise has dedicated their lives to it with little success. As Dr. Sam Loomis put it in the first film, and as was hammered home again by his notes in the 2018 film, Michael is pure evil. There’s no complex psychology, there’s no cure - he is evil, pure and simple. It would seem that this is an opinion shared by series creator John Carpenter, who once described Michael as “almost a supernatural force—a force of nature. An evil force that's loose”.
#7: Laurie Strode Pushed the Bus off the Road
In the 2018 film, we’re reunited with Laurie Strode, a woman defined and haunted by her connection to Michael Myers. She’s got a strained relationship with her family and lives in isolation in a fortress of her own design. She’s spent her life preparing to kill Michael. She seems to believe with every fiber of her being that they are destined to meet again. In the film, she watches as the bus transporting Michael leaves the institution, and then she’s showing up to family dinner, drunk and very distraught. Off-screen, the bus has inexplicably crashed. When she sees news of it on TV, she hardly reacts. Could Laurie, in her obsession, forced the hands of fate?
#6: The Silver Shamrock Company Made Michael’s Childhood Mask
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“Halloween III” is an oddity. Carpenter tried to turn the series into a Halloween-themed anthology, but cinemagoers at the time were disinterested in Halloween without Michael Myers and so the franchise returned to the formula. In retrospect, it’s seen as an underrated standalone cult classic, but what if it is connected to core series? In the film, the Silver Shamrock company makes Halloween masks embedded with microchips and stonehenge fragments with the purpose of turning the child wearers into vessels for their evil machinations. What if the mask that Michael wore that fateful Halloween was a Silver Shamrock prototype that instead made him into the killer we know today?
#5: Sam Loomis Is the Same Character from ‘Psycho’
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Though Michael Myers is one of the most iconic villains to ever wield a knife, he’s indebted to the horror genre’s original stab-happy killer, Norman Bates. In Hitchcock’s seminal horror film, “Psycho”, Janet Leigh’s doomed Marion Crane is in a relationship with a man by the name of Sam Loomis. When she goes missing, Sam investigates and ultimately faces off against Bates. Now, the logical assumption is that Carpenter named his doctor Sam Loomis in homage to Hitchcock’s film. But what if Sam’s encounter with Norman Bates actually gave him a taste for deviant psychology and he decided to dedicate his life to the study of the criminally insane? The timeline actually works quite well.
#4: Michael Myers Has Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis
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We’ve talked about the supernatural explanations as to how Michael Myers can take such a beating , but like we said… Myers isn’t an inherently supernatural character. For those who prefer their slasher villain grounded in reality, this explanation goes a long way. An extremely rare condition, congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (or CIPA for short), is characterized by a complete lack of any nerve related sensation. No pain, no heat, no cold… pretty much the only thing that the person can feel is pressure. Could this explain how Michael can take such a beating and just keep on moving? It would certainly explain his fighting style.
#3: Michael Myers Is Possessed by Chucky
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Once upon a time, fans theorized that baby Michael from the first season American Horror Story was Michael Myers. Sadly… as of the season 8 of AHS, it no longer holds water. Thankfully, there’s another crossover that does - Halloween and Child’s Play series! It’s more than a little far-fetched, but it sure is fun. This theory posits that Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray, best know to horror lovers for using voodoo to jump into the body of a doll, briefly jumped into a human body… that of 6 year old Michael Myers. It certainly explains why a young child would suddenly murder his own sister. As for the rest of the killings… well, our next entry covers that.
#2: Sam Loomis Is the Real Villain of Halloween
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After Michael kills his sister, he goes outside and stands on the sidewalk, a stunned expression on his face. It’s far from lacking in emotion. Sure, this could be an awakening, but what if he’s horrified by his own actions? Loomis describes the boy as pure evil from the moment he met him… but that doesn’t match with the facial expression of the boy who committed the act. What if Dr. Loomis treated Michael like the evil killer he wanted to study, and that treatment made him into the man he is today? Michael’s escape, and Loomis’ actions during it, also feel suspect. Could it be that the Boogeyman is Dr. Loomis’s monster a la Frankenstein?
#1: Michael Is a Cyborg / Android Collaboration Between Shamrock & Cult
This one is freaking crazy, drawing on all of the weirdest and most wild elements of the Halloween franchise. But you know what? We actually kinda love it. The Silver Shamrock company not only made evil masks, but also, notably, constructed androids. Then there’s the Thorn Cult, which placed a curse on Michael Myers that ensures the survival of the cult while also imbuing the carrier with great power. So… what if, after Myers failed and was killed, the cult worked with Shamrock to resurrect Myers as a cyborg to continue to serve his purpose? The yellow secretion from his mask in Halloween 6 certainly supports this theory, as the Shamrock Androids also leaked yellow goo.