Universal Pictures releases the final trailer for Halloween Kills offering new looks at the franchise’s legacy characters returning in the film. The latest installment in the horror franchise picks up right after the events of the 2018 reboot in which iconic heroine Laurie Strode and her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson have successfully left Michael Myers caged in the basement of Laurie’s home as it burns down. However, with firefighters attempting to put out the fire leading to Michael’s escape, the Strode women join forces with a group of other survivors and the rest of Haddonfield to form a mob and hunt him down.
Halloween Kills was announced to be in development shortly after the release of the 2018 film in addition to the threequel Halloween Ends, intended to conclude a trilogy. The film suffered frequent release delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with Universal ultimately electing to keep its October theatrical release date and add a simultaneous Peacock release on paid tiers of the streaming platform. Halloween Kills first made its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it would receive generally mixed reviews from critics who praised its kills, franchise references and performances, but felt it added nothing new to the long-running series.
With just a few weeks remaining until the film’s release, Universal Pictures has unveiled the final trailer for Halloween Kills. The video offers a better look at the franchise’s legacy characters returning in the film with a side by side comparison from the original film as well as hinting at Michael Myers finally being unmasked. Check out the final trailer below:
The 2018 Halloween reboot marked an interesting step forward for the franchise in its decision to retcon all of the previous sequels and stand as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s original film. This decision was largely celebrated by critics and audiences alike, namely in how this effectively wiped the slate clean of the muddled mythology regarding Michael’s continued survival and connections to Laurie. The announcements of original film characters returning for Halloween Kills proved another interesting decision to audiences and the final trailer does a great job to offer a better look at their involvement in the story and to help those less familiar with the original film better remember and associate Kyle Richards’ Lindsey Wallace, Anthony Michael Hall’s Tommy Doyle, Nancy Stephens’ Marion Chambers and Robert Longstreet’s Lonnie Elam.
One issue some will likely take with the final trailer for Halloween Kills will be its later emphasis on unmasking Michael Myers. Much like fellow slasher icon Jason Voorhees, the unmasked face of Michael has been a concept many filmmakers have explored over the years, including Carpenter himself in the original film, though never in a way audiences have truly connected with or cared about, making the tease of the Strode women pulling his mask off likely something many will scoff at or find disinterest in. Only time will tell if it’s a moment worth discussing when Halloween Kills hits theaters and Peacock on October 15.
