In the Halloween franchise there have been a few reasons given as to why Michael Myers kills.
What I have listed are those reasons (taken with a bit of license on my part to flush them out a little) for your consideration.
Halloween (1978): Michael Myers kills because he is simply and purely evil.
Halloween II (1981): Michael is after his baby sister.
Halloween III (1982): This one is the biggest stretch. What if the mask itself was evil? That would explain why he kept using the same mask. Perhaps he wore the famous white mask for the first time when he picked out his clown costume and since then the evil of the mask saturated his soul.
Halloween VI (1995): He was curse with the mark of thorn and must kill his family.
Halloween Remake (2007): A terrifying childhood brings Michael to the brink of insanity.
Michael kills because he is purely and simply evil IMO. However you failed to mention 4,5, h20, or resurrection. 4 and 5 he kills trying to reach his niece Jamie. H20 he kills trying to reach his sister Laurie and in resurection he actually finally kills his sister. Just thought I’d throw in my 2 cents on that one, but in the end it’s all because he’s purely and simply evil!
When I tried to make an official list I had problems with retroactive continuity. Retroactive continuity is when a film (or book) changes facts or plot lines from previously known stories to fit with the current story. Example: It is established in H1 that Michael is just crazy, they change that to crazy AND looking for his sister in H2. Then H6 changes that with the mark of thorn which explains Jamie’s connection to Michael in H4 and H5 and alters Michael’s action from H1 to H5 from being just a mad man on a hunt for his sister/niece to a man who has been cursed to kill all his family. I figured I’d keep things simple.
I included Halloween 3 just to have fun and seen if any one liked it. I wasn’t a fan of the idea but thought I’d put it up there any way.
Although I’d like to point out that it’s never really explained WHY Michael killed in Zombie’s films, other than the fact that he enjoys it and would do anything to keep on killing (like imagining that his mother is encouraging him to kill). I think his home life only made murder seem more tantalizing than it did before, and after that there was no stopping him.
The sister angle and Thorn were never that appealing to me. Carpenter even admitted that making Laurie Michael’s sister was a desperate attempt at a twist. Thorn just makes that desperation more apparent.
The initial allure is the unknown; once you begin filling up the mesmerizing black void with conventional reason, purpose, understanding & explanation, the allure, in my opinion, vanishes… as quickly as the Shape
The Shape is from the darkness. “It” is best not brought into the light, so to speak…
With Halloween I (1978) leading the pack with 10 of 12 votes would any one like to share why one specific explanation does not appeal to them? Also, does any one have their own ideas on what might make a good reason for Myers to kill?
Halloween II does explain that Michael is Laurie’s brother, however in my opinion, He is still very much unknown to her, she doesn’t find that fact out in the course of the movie! She is still very much in fear and even MORE that this man found her in the hospital where she was admitted to. That being said, AFTER Halloween II things got out of hand, out of control, and over the top, and of course by H20 she knew he was her brother. But in the defense of Halloween II, he was unknown to her and to us most of the movie, and for me it was a great deal of fun that the fear here is this man just WON’T stop.
