WHY DOES MICHAEL KILL IN HALLOWEEN (1978)
HALLOWEEN returns to the simplicity of horror.
Psalm 127:3 - “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." (NLT)
Michael Myers returns to the silver screen after a forty years reign. However, the new Halloween is not an addition to the eight movie franchise. All sequels to the original Halloween are no longer canon. Only two Halloween films remain canon: Halloween (1978) and Halloween (2018). Michael and Laurie are no longer siblings. His motivation changes. No longer does he feel the need to eliminate his family.
Director David Gordon Green explains, "...we want to start fresh for a new generation but with great appreciation for the previous.” (see full article )
What is Michael's motivation to murder?
The clues of his motivation lie within the original Halloween .
After fifteen years of therapy while being institutionalized, his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis can only settle on one conclusion: Michael is evil.
Loomis doesn't believe Michael has a rhyme or reason for killing his sister. He writes Michael off as a lost cause. He judges Michael calling him "the evil".
James 4:11 - "Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you." (NLT)
Loomis doesn't appear to be good at his job. He fails to treat Michael. He allows Michael to escape the hospital during a patient transfer. He slowly follows Michael back to his hometown Haddonfield despite the trail of evidence he leaves behind. Worst of all, he is agonizingly slow to intervene on Michael's murder spree. Nothing he does suggests that he is a reliable source or rescuer. Let's not pay heed to his opinion.
Instead, pay attention to the pattern between his victims. Four of five victims are teenagers responsible for the neglect of a child on Halloween night. His first victim is his older sister Judith who chose to sex with her boyfriend over looking after her six-year-old brother. Michael stabs her to death after a night of neglect.
This pattern develops after fifteen years of brooding during his isolation in the hospital. Loomis states he has the mind of a child. Michael is locked away with no access to education or emotional nurturing. At this point, he wants to go home. It's all he has left in the world. After escaping the institution, he kills a mechanic for clothes to help him get home in a less conspicuous way. This murder is a matter of obtaining resources.
That is until Laurie strolls onto his porch with Tommy, the boy under her care. This is Michael's first trigger. He sees his sister in Laurie and himself in the boy. Unlike his sister, Laurie is a responsible and attentive caregiver. He follows her throughout the movie, but he does not engage. She is safe from his wrath, and his attention turns to her two friends. Both girls are irresponsible girls who focus more on a night of pleasure, drugs, and drinking. As a result, little Lindsey is neglected. This behavior triggers Michael once again. They become his next victims along with the guy in their company.
Matthew 18:10 - “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father." (NLT)
His grace with Laura then ends when she makes the decision to abandon her post. She leaves the Tommy and Lindsey home alone and ventures into the house across the street hoping to visit her friends. Instead, she finds his carnage, and he lashes out defensively. He follows her back to her house and attacks her. Fortunately, she survives, but he escapes.
Michael fancies himself a guardian angel of children. His mentality is severely twisted and misguided. After fifteen years of isolation and judgement, he has nothing else in which to believe. Loomis' lack of vigilance and insight unleashes this twisted mentality upon the world.
Forty years later, Michael returns. Who will he target next? What sin will they commit to incur his wrath? Who will be able to end his violent wrath? The story continues with Halloween (2018), available in theaters now.
