Halloween 4's Original Opening Showed How Loomis Survived The Second Movie - Screen Rant

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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers picks up where Halloween II (1981) left off, but originally, it went a step further by showing how Dr. Loomis survived the second movie's explosion finale. Halloween II's story continued on from the iconic ending of the original, which revealed serial killer Michael Myers had disappeared after being shot multiple times by Loomis. The sequel revealed survivor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was transported to the hospital following her initial run-in with the maniac who was later revealed to be her estranged brother.

Naturally, Michael learned of his target's location, and a wave of bloody violence ensued at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Loomis and Laurie ended up working together to fill a room with gas, followed by the psychiatrist's self-sacrificing lighter flick to take down his former patient for good. But, somehow, when the franchise returned to follow Michael as he tracks down his niece ten years later in Halloween 4 (the third film didn't follow Michael), Loomis is alive. Understandably, many viewers have wondered exactly how he managed to survive such a massive explosion, one that famously imparted viewers with the final image of Michael's mask burning while "Mr. Sandman" ironically played in the background.

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In the 2013 documentary Back to the Basics: Making of Halloween 4, screenwriter Alan McElroy explained how his original vision for the opening was going to feature a scene that showed how Dr. Loomis being thrown by the explosion in the hospital room, thus explaining his survival. This scene was ultimately replaced by - following the eerie opening credits - a shot of an ambulance parked outside of the comatose Michael's current sanitarium waiting to transport him to a new location. Though this does create what seems like a plot hole for Loomis, it was the right choice to not show exactly how he made it out of the hospital and the sequel doesn't hurt for this scene's absence.

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In the same Halloween 4 documentary, director Dwight Little explained his decision to scrap the original opening," We didn't want to get tied up with a lot of 'logic police' questions about Michael and exactly what happened to Dr. Loomis, exactly what happened at the end of the hospital [sequence]." Little also stated of his decision to not shoot this sequence, "I didn't want to be influenced, artistically, by anything other than Halloween 1." Little's aim was to go back to basics and recapture the tone of John Carpenter's 1978 original and in that goal he did a great job, as the movie's current opening lent itself more to the spooky, ethereal vibe the Halloween films capture so well.

Regarding Halloween 4 and Dr. Loomis' absence from the opening scene, McElroy said he wishes he and his team had used the original concept, noting that "visually, it would have been a stunning, stunning opening for the movie." Though that's probably true, the chosen route left a bit of mystery, which is so vital to the Halloween franchise. It also wouldn't be the first time in the franchise a sequel had opted to ignore or retcon the events of a previous movie - nor the most glaring.

Next: The Reporter Scene Cut From 1981's Halloween 2

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Lindsey DeRoche (55 Articles Published)

Lindsey DeRoche is a TV/movie features writer for Screen Rant. She has a B.A. in English (with a concentration in writing) from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. She's had a passion for reading, writing, and TV/movies since her early years.