Rob Zombie’s remakes of the Halloween movies remain controversial outliers in the franchise, but Halloween II raises more red flags than its predecessor, so Zombie shot multiple endings for the film.
Halloween II goes especially off the rails for a Rob Zombie film, let alone a Halloween installment. The film is unabashedly a Rob Zombie picture, for both better and worse. Here, he found his own twisted slant on the Michael Myers and Laurie Strode sibling angle. Throughout the film, Laurie exhibits symptoms of her own insanity and she’s treated like a ticking time bomb.
The theatrical and original conclusion to Halloween II definitely makes for one of the film’s biggest talking points, but not in a good way. Not only do both Loomis and Michael Myers perish, but Laurie Strode ostensibly becomes the “next Michael” and is imprisoned in a mental institution as she begins to suffer from delusions. It is a very bleak finale, so fans were excited when the announcement of Halloween II’s DVD included an alternate ending.
Halloween II’s Alternate Ending Is More Grim And Final
The ending in Zombie’s Director’s Cut of Halloween II is the same as the original up until the point Loomis enters the cabin with Michael and Laurie. At this point, Michael knocks Loomis through the wall of the cabin and stabs him to death, but not before he takes off his mask and yells out “Die!” Not only did Zombie unmask Michael and him talk, but he gave him the most pointless single line ever. There may have been riots in the theaters if audiences collectively got to hear Michael’s first words. The cops go on to execute Michael after his act on Loomis, but then a dazed Laurie goes to pick up Michael’s knife and approaches Loomis like she may stab his body, too. Despite Sheriff Brackett’s objections, the police open fire on Laurie and kill her, too. She appears to finally find peace in her final moments and a vision of the institution scene from the original plays over a cover of “Love Hurts” as Laurie sees Deborah Myers and the white horse.
Shockingly, this alternate ending is even more final than the original one and even though Zombie, at one point, had plans to direct another installment, there’s really no story left to follow from this new ending. Curiously, this ends up being the more optimistic of the two endings. Laurie and Michael share a real moment of recognition toward the end of their lives. Laurie also gets to go out on comforting images that promise peace rather than a future that’s either spent in a mental institution or becoming Haddonfield’s next big threat. It’s easy to see why this ending wasn’t the one that’s used, but it does more roundly reflect the film’s overall themes. It’s Zombie’s preferred of the two endings as well. However, a third Halloween in Zombie’s canon that turned Laurie Strode into the masked killer would be a misguided, but fascinating experiment.
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