It’s widely known that the new Halloween film is a sequel to the 1978 original only, disregarding each of the seven sequels and two reboots that followed. In doing so, it gets rid of plot elements like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode being siblings, Laurie having kids named Jamie or John, and–thankfully–the Curse of Thorn.
However, there’s also one element of the original movie it’s changing. At the end of the first Halloween film, Michael Myers simply gets away. He’s shot by Dr. Loomis six times and falls from a balcony. However, when Loomis goes to check the body, it has disappeared. In theory, that would mean Michael got away with it.
In the new film, though, it’s revealed that isn’t the case. Instead, the movie begins with Michael back in Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, having been recaptured after Loomis shot him.
While it’s entirely possible a manhunt caught up to Michael after he disappeared in the original film, such a thing isn’t mentioned in the new movie. Instead, it’s just explained to audiences that this is where Michael has been the past 40 years.
As producer Jason Blum told GameSpot, though, this is a decision that co-writers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride thought serviced the story best. “I think part of the creating the ultimate evil. It’s very satisfying to have that evil contained and escape in the first act of the movie, and I think that’s why they did it,” he said.
Truthfully, it makes for a very compelling opening to the film, which fans can see pieces of in the various trailers for the movie. In the short looks at Michael in Smith’s Grove, we see that he’s a much older man now. Likewise, Laurie has also aged, spending her life waiting for the night Michael breaks out to continue his killing spree once again.
Outside of that one small change, though, the new movie sticks very close to the original Halloween, helping to right a very confusing movie timeline once and for all. With the new movie retconning all of those other films, any new sequels that follow can do so without the baggage of the various twists, turns, and poor plot decisions made over the years.
Halloween is in theaters on October 19.
