Michael Myers: Man Or Monster?

[Michael Myers]

I've been having a discussion with some other people about the old Myers' boy. I've always been of the belief that he wasn't just some nutjob that escapes from an institution (which, of course, he was) but he was, in fact, also the boogeyman (or at least possessed by him). By that I mean he had supernatural powers of sorts, ie his invunerability. However, several people keep saying that Carpenter et al had no intention of him being in any way supernatural - and, in fact, newly discovered footage shows an alternative ending to HALLOWEEN where he is actually killed once and for all.

Just curious, what's everyone's take on Myers: mortal flesh or something more sinister?

[~LadyGraywolf~]

there was already a halloween discussion thread going, and this would have been a nice addition to it, but that's ok.

part of Carpenters inspiration for the character came from a trip his college (i believe psychology) class took to a mental institution, in Kentucky. There he saw a boy who just sat and stared at the wall, but not seeing the wall, looking beyond the wall, sound familiar, it was in the film. and the boy turned and looked at Carpenter and his eyes were blank and expressionless. He never forgot how that child's eyes looked. That was one part of the inspiration of Myers. Now, with that being said that child was probably dealing with some major trauma of some sort and Carpenter being a master storyteller was able to take the innocence of a child and make it into something we all fear, pure evil. Evil is supernatural. Carpenter intended this character to be the purest of evil so, in a way i think he did expect him to be supernatural.

As for the additional ending, all filmmakers shoot more than one and chose the best one. he chose the best one in my opinion. the "moral" was that evil doesn't die and it could be lurking anywhere, that why they had all the shots showing all the places where Myers had been previously. We don't know here he is or where he could show up was their basic point.

[Bob Hackett]

Personally, I prefer my franchise killers to be more human than monster. It probably stems from my love and fascination of true crime. And it explains why I love Halloween and the first sequel more than the others. There is something far more scarier to me about an unstoppable human killer than one who uses otherworldly powers to kill his prey.

Michael did take on some supernatural elements by Halloween 4 (I mean c'mon, he put his finger through a guy's forehead!), but I thought the series got more on track when they dropped the Druid angle and turned him back into Laurie's brother in Halloween H2O.