#halloweenends

Note: I've been having these recently, and I decided to write about how Slashers of my choosing reacting to the reader eating a Pb & P sandwich

Jason Voorhees, Michael myers (Og, RZ, and Peepaw), Thomas Hewitt, Brahms Heelshire, The Sinclair Twins, Lester Sinclair, and Corey Cunningham

Sewer treasure 🔪🔺✨

Michael Myers, over the course of many movies and three separate timelines (the ones stemming from the ‘78 Halloween, disregarding the RZ timeline), has never shown any sort of interest or investment into any one person—unless it was with intent to murder them. He has always been this way, and it has always been a part of his mystique. Jason still loves his mother, and she is his sole motivation in… much of anything he does. Despite Jason’s inhumane acts, there’s still a kinship with someone keeping him human. Michael does not have that, and never has. It’s been thought to ruin his character, some friends of mine have even used the term “Jasonize” when referring to RZ Michael’s initial love for his sister. Michael Myers is NOT supposed to have any human connection, and this is something I firmly believed. Up until Ends.

In Ends, we see Michael at his lowest point. After sustaining heavy injury at the end of Kills, and being deprived of victims that could feed him, Michael has been battered by age, wear, and tear. He is able to feed off of the rats, kill whoever finds themselves in his sewer, and look into the carving of his own face that he cut into the stone surrounding him. But, it’s not the same as being able to look into his own reflection from Judith’s window, not the same as slamming dogs against walls and eating them, not the same as cleaving through Haddonfield’s cattle at his own discretion. He is far past his prime, a mere five years after his peak in Halloween Kills. His only company is an old hermit outside his sewer, who he’d likely kill—if not for the old man bringing him victims, at least, in the novelization. It seems to be Michael will meet his end in this sewer, starved of the infamy and blood that kept him pumping.

Until Corey comes around. Initially, when Corey fell in front of his sewer drain, you can tell Michael intended to kill him, to add him to his meter of carnage. In his typical pragmatic and patient ways, Michael even allows this young, injured man to wake up, waiting for HOURS within a crack in the sewer tunnel. Michael loves to play with his food, and let the kill marinate before he digs in, it’s simply part of his nature. Then, Corey wakes up. He’s panicking, wondering where the hell he is, before he gets up and scurries tiredly to the vast source of light in front of him, the exit to the tunnel. Michael hears him, and is about to pounce on the kill he’s been waiting hours to enjoy. Corey strays to close to the crack in the sewer, and Michael grabs him by the neck, holding the panicking young boy and making him look into the eyes of death as it claims him. But, it was in this eye contact that the viewer can visibly see something churn, something within the both of them. As the two make eye contact, you can see kinship growing between them both, as incidents from Corey’s life flash across his eyes, and images of Michael writhe in his head. We don’t see what images flash in Michael’s mind, as we are not meant to know him or what he’s thinking in any capacity, but whatever was on his mind was enough to make him… let go. Michael had a kill, one he had been waiting until daybreak to collect, and he simply let it go. There couldn’t have been any pragmatic reason for this, it’s not as if Michael would know of Jeremy Allen’s murder, and he had no real reason to believe that Corey wouldn’t go to the police, and ruin his sewer-based retirement home. Michael let Corey go, because he felt a likeness with the boy. That same empty pit in the forefront of Michael’s eyes, Michael could see that darkness swelling in the back of Corey’s, and he finally felt as if he could bond with another being, another absence of character, just as he was. Two animals of the same breed.

It wasn’t one-sided either. Though they didn’t speak a word to each other in that sewer, that eye contact was enough to establish a mutual trust at the very least. After all, Corey felt very comfortable leading Doug Mulaney to Michael’s sewer, despite knowing of the serial killer’s senseless crimes. Why did he believe, wholeheartedly, that Michael would not kill him if he returned? Why did he instead make himself at home, smiling upon Doug while he watched Michael lunge at him from the darkness? The two’s bond only grew in this scene, with Corey aiding Michael once Doug had knocked Myers down. Corey expected something from Michael, expected more. He yelled at Michael to get up, knowing he could do better than he had been—hell, he even held Doug back so Michael could claim the kill, asking the Bogeyman to just show him how to do it. And Michael obliged, slitting Doug’s throat with medical precision, using a rusty, aged kitchen knife, and continuing to stab him to death, trembling with power as blood soaked the blade. What was Corey doing? Watching, in complete awe, of Michael’s slaughter. And guess what? Again, even after getting another taste of the carnage he was so addicted to, AND having Corey dead to rights, Michael let Corey go once more. It’s not as if he NEEDED Corey to bring him more victims. Michael was feeling invigorated already, killing Corey would’ve only added to his frenzy, allowing him to leave the sewers and kick up a new murder spree with his newfound energy. But, he didn’t. For reasons only Michael could know, he allowed Corey to leave his sewer once again.

This is MAJOR. Michael is very possessive about things he holds close to him, such as his mask and his old childhood home. Nobody who has taken EITHER would survive this timeline, from the journalists who snagged his mask, to the couple who inhabited the Myers house. Surely, Michael’s new sewer would be under the same defense, he has made it his new home. Yet, Corey has been able to enter twice, once completely uninvited, and leave twice as well, without a single scratch on him. As inconceivable as it was to me in the theatre, it’s evident that Michael is considerate of Corey. He might not full-on CARE for Corey, but he considers him enough to want him alive, due to the connection they formed upon their first meeting.

Their third meeting is especially thought-provoking. Corey and Michael traveled together through unknown means (likely having stolen a car, as I can not envision Michael riding on the back of Corey’s bike) from the outskirts of Haddonfield to Tanner Mathis’ mansion. Michael Myers, willingly TRAVELING with another human being, again, without laying a hand on him? I can only imagine the coordination here, what kind of talk Corey gave Michael. After all, the killing of Dr. Mathis and Deb Jennings couldn’t have been more flawless, with Corey silently killing Mathis and Michael sneaking up on Deb as she tried to call for help. The two planned this, or at least, Corey did. These two worked EXTENSIVELY to make this murder work the way it did, and Michael was entirely receptive and participative in it. Once again, Michael enjoys the taste of murder, this time sharing it with Corey. As he slams Deb against a painting, Michael even looks at Corey, checking to see if the Young Shape is still watching. He is, once again in awe. After confirming that Corey was still watching, Michael recreated his legendary kill from over 40 years prior, pinning Jennings against the wall with a kitchen knife. It’s almost like a father, trying to invoke pride in his son, or perhaps a mentor displaying his skills to his pupil. Either way, Michael shows an obvious, twisted fondness for Corey, in even participating in this conjoined murder. Michael and Corey presumably return to the sewer, and Corey leaves. That’s three times now. At this point, it can’t even be assumed that Michael needs Corey. He’s getting the bloodshed he needs, noticeably regaining his old strength, there’s no PRAGMATIC reason to keep Corey around…

…except, Michael likes him.

Their next meeting is NOT as pleasant as the last three.

Corey storms into Michael’s sewer, proclaiming he has something he needs. Michael does not react at first, probably assuming Corey means his knife, which he keeps tucked away in some stone. No. Corey reaches towards Michael himself, and Michael realizes he means the mask. Using his beastly strength, Michael shoves Corey to the ground, and then walks towards Corey. What he meant to do at this point is unclear, though the rest of the scene serves to prove that Michael did not intend to kill Corey, even at this point. Michael continues to wrestle around with Corey, staving off Corey’s assault with his clearly superior strength. At no point did Michael even ATTEMPT to commit any of this strength to killing Corey, making no earnest effort to genuinely harm him; because if he wanted to, he could and very much WOULD. Instead, Michael loses his footing and falls, prompting Corey to take Michael’s mask from him and leave him in the sewers. Ouch.

At this point, I can not even begin to think of what Michael is feeling. I do not think a sense betrayal is too feasible, as Michael likely has no grasp of such a concept. He’s fairly new to the idea of alliance to begin with, so the complicated factors such as betrayal may be lost to him. Primarily, it seems that, without any real malice to Corey, Michael just wishes to get his mask back.

And he does. After finding Corey’s shot and stabbed body in Laurie’s house, Michael finally reunited with his mask, putting it on before reaching towards the knife. Michael likely assumed Corey was dead, just as the audience has so far. But then, Corey somehow jolted awake, grabbing at Michael’s hand as he tried to grasp the knife. And here, HERE is the part that really got me thinking.

For a few moments, Michael continued to reach for the knife, attempting to push through Corey’s grip, failing to acknowledge Corey with any malice. It was only after the struggle persisted, that Michael grabbed onto Corey, and even then it seemed as if Michael was only trying to quiet him down. The two made eye contact as Michael grabbed unto Corey’s jaw, with Michael holding him this way for many moments. Again, what was going through his mind is unclear, but I’m fully convinced that if Corey had simply ceased to make noise and struggle, Michael would have let him go. But, no. Corey continued to endanger the kill, with Michael knowing full-well that someone else was in the house to be culled. Corey seemed to be preventing the kill, giving the victim time to escape, and generally disturbing the hunt that Michael thought they both enjoyed. Michael looked into Corey’s eyes, but likely failed to see the friend he had made in the sewers that day. And with that, Michael snapped Corey’s neck. After the kill, despite Michael knowing someone else was in the house (possibly even knowing it was Laurie specifically), he dwelt on the corpse, looking down at Corey’s body. And this wasn’t admiration for his work, which you can clearly see in Michael’s body language for other kills. No—this was something else. Regret? Maybe. Sadness? Unlikely, but possible. Whatever it was, Michael was visibly NOT happy or fulfilled by having to kill Corey.