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Michael Myers — the immortal villain in the legendary Halloween franchise — is synonymous with his brute nature and graphic kills that continue to resonate with horror fans to this day. In the original timeline of films, The Shape is motivated by his desire to locate and murder his younger sister Laurie Strode — and will brutally slaughter any individual in his way. On the other hand, in David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy, Myers and Strode are not siblings, though his desire to kill her — and anybody else in his way — is still just as high.
While the characters in each of these timelines receive a unique death at the hands of Myers, these kills help to convey the message of his merciless behavior and appetite for destruction. With Halloween Ends set to release on Oct. 14, horror fans undoubtedly have an abundance of future kills to look forward to. For now, let’s take a look back at Michael Myers’ best kills in the Halloween franchise thus far.
Stab lift – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Will Brennan was a significant character in Halloween H20, serving as the love interest of Keri State — who is actually Laurie Strode under witness protection — and stood by her side even after discovering the truth about her. Unfortunately for Will, his death was sadistically brutal and painful at the hands of Laurie’s brother Michael.
While Will, Laurie, Laurie’s son John, and John’s girlfriend Molly were all attempting to escape Michael’s wrath, Michael surprised Will with a butcher knife through his spine and lifted Will’s body up in the process while driving the knife further into his back. It was a merciless act by Michael, and one of his best kills that left Laurie emotionally distraught.
Electrocution – Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
You’d be hard-pressed to find any Halloween fan that actually enjoyed John Strode as a character, and many will express pure delight that Michael killed him in such a vengeful way. As an abusive husband to Debra Strode, many folks weren’t that upset when Michael brought a well-deserved demise to John after John went to the basement to fix the power in his house after it went out.
While in the basement, John is attacked by Michael and violently stabbed in the abdomen. Michael instinctively decided that wasn’t enough, and proceeded to lift John up onto the fuse box for the electricity and electrocuted John until his head exploded. It was insanely graphic and definitely rings in as one of Michael’s most memorable kills.
Skull crush – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
While many folks label the Halloween sequels as less-than-favorable, there’s no denying that the films produce a plethora of memorable kills that are still discussed to this day. Seeing as the fourth installment in the franchise was the first Michael Myers-inspired film in almost a decade, the creators wanted to go big for the death scenes — which leads us to the murder of Brady.
Brady was one of the more memorable and heroic characters in the legendary slasher franchise. While attempting to protect girlfriend Rachel and Michael’s niece Jamie, Brady tried to reload his shotgun readily to put an end to Michael’s terror. Instead, Michael lifted Brady in the air and forcibly pressed his thumb into Brady’s cheek until his neck snapped. In terms of sheer brutality and a lack of remorse, it remains one of Michael’s best kills.
Jack-o-Lantern – Halloween (2018)
David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy sought to completely revitalize the original franchise. In doing so, Green decided to ignore every Halloween film except for John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece and chose to not have Michael and Laurie as siblings. The return of Michael’s ruthless disposition garnered tremendous acclaim and attention for Halloween (2018) and features many of Michael’s most vicious kills.
When news broke that Michael Myers had returned to Haddonfield, two police officers were assigned to protect Laurie Strode and watch her house. Even though both officers were killed off-screen, it proves to be incredibly memorable when it is revealed that Michael created a makeshift jack-o-lantern out one of the heads and appropriately made it appear to look like a Halloween decoration. It’s not as brutal as the rest, but it’s definitely one of the most fun for the audience to see.
Nurse syringe – Halloween II (1981)
Michael’s kill in the original Halloween sequel still remains one of the most terrifying kills in the entire franchise. The sequel further helped to establish Michael as a deranged killer who would stop at nothing to achieve the fulfillment of killing his younger sister. During the sequel, Michael comes across many obstacles in his way — and many people suffer at his hands.
When one of the nurses goes looking for Dr. Mixter, the audience discovers that he was killed off-screen by Michael, where the nurse notices a syringe in his eye. When the nurse backs away slowly, Michael appears from the shadows and covers her mouth so she cannot scream. He proceeds to slowly inject a syringe into her temple as it slowly kills her. It’s one the most graphic kills in Michael’s repertoire and truly showcased how purely evil he is.
Barn death – Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Jamie Lloyd is arguably one of the most popular characters in the slasher franchise. As the daughter of Laurie Strode, Jamie suffers through trauma and turmoil at the hands of her uncle after the death of her mother. Jamie serves as the main character for the three later Halloween sequels, and ultimately receives a gruesome demise by Michael in the franchise’s sixth installment.
While attempting to escape from Michael for good, Jamie becomes trapped in a barn with Michael on the prowl. When Jamie comes face-to-face with Michael in the barn, he lifts her up and places her on a corn thresher, which he then uses to kill her. It’s one of the more sadistic kills that Michael has done, but it was significant to the story in killing off a character that had the power to stop him.
Dr. Sartain stomp – Halloween (2018)
Michael’s return to the silver screen in 2018 was well worth the wait and gave viewers a healthy dose of brutal murders. There are an abundance of memorable kills in the 2018 reboot of the franchise, but Dr. Sartain’s brutal head stomp is certainly at the top of the list. Dr. Sartain had been studying Michael since he was in the sanatorium, and along the way, developed an obsession for Michael and desperately wanted to hear him speak.
After Michael kills a police officer, he sets his sights on Dr. Sartain and rips him from a police car. While on the ground, instead of begging for his life, Sartain begs one last time for Michael to speak by shouting: “Say something!” Instead, Michael stomps on his head, causing his entire head to explode. After all this time, it should be common knowledge that Michael marches to the beat of his own drum.
Hot tub drowning – Halloween II (1981)
If any movie was to compare to the masterful cinematography of John Carpenter’s Halloween, then it’s Halloween II. The events in the film take place on the same night as the original, with Laurie Strode now in a local hospital in Haddonfield where doctors are tending to her wounds. Unbeknownst to her — and several hospital employees — Michael has found the hospital and is on a path of destruction.
During her break, nurse Karen decides to meet up with her beau Budd for a session in the hospital’s hot tub. Unfortunately, Karen didn’t realize that Michael was already in the hospital and had his sights set on her. When Karen hears a figure enter behind her, she believes it to be Budd, but she eventually finds out that it’s Michael. Michael then grabs her head and dunks her several times in the scorching hot water until she burns to death. It’s one of Michael’s most gruesome kills and certainly rings in as one of his best.
Nurse stabbing – Halloween II (2009)
If it wasn’t apparent already, Michael Myers is not a fan of nurses in the slightest, but Octavia Spencer’s Nurse Daniels arguably suffers the worst fate of them all. Rob Zombie’s controversial Halloween remakes often split fans right down the middle, with some applauding its action-packed origin story and others shying away from its over-the-top violence and nauseating brutality. Nevertheless, the two films presented some unforgettable kill scenes that still resonate today.
When Laurie encounters Nurse Daniels in the hospital, she discovers that the nurse has had her face sliced open. Michael appears from behind a door, grabs Nurse Daniels, and slams her to the floor. In a gruesome scene, Michael repeatedly stabs her as the audience hears each strike clashing against her bloodied body. Folks can even hear Michael himself grunting over and over, signifying that he indeed enjoys inflicting this torture on others. Not only is it one of his best kills, it’s also one of his most violent.
Knife impalement – Halloween (1978)
You truly can never beat the classics. John Carpenter’s Halloween single-handedly revolutionized the slasher franchise — especially with iconic kills like this one. It’s hard to imagine Michael Myers’ reign of terror without remembering his impalement of Robert “Bob” Simms in the kitchen. Bob and his girlfriend Lynda were friends of Laurie Strode and were both savagely murdered by Michael during his path to finding and killing Laurie.
While Bob was downstairs searching for beer in the refrigerator, Michael pops out of the kitchen pantry and surprises him. Michael then stabs Bob in the chest and pins him up against a nearby door before lifting him into the air. It’s extremely subtle compared to the rest of the kills in this list, but it was the first kill that demonstrated just how strong Michael Myers is. It also echoes a certain degree of realism, because hey, anybody can pop out of a kitchen closet with a butcher’s knife.