‘Halloween’ Director Addresses Controversial Michael Myers Moment

Michael Myers is meant to be the embodiment of evil in the new Halloween, yet one scene shows the character somewhat restraining from his murderous ways. With the scene in question causing a divisive reaction among fans, director David Gordon Green weighed in on his decisions for the sequence.

WARNING: Minor spoilers below for Halloween

At one point in the film, Michael Myers enters someone’s home and kills them before seeking his next victim. The silence is broken by the cries of a baby, leading the audience to wonder if Myers would kill the infant. Instead, Myers merely exits the home in search of more targets.

“Our rule in the writing process was to give him nothing,” Green shared with the L.A. Times of writing the character. “In production, we added one thing that may come back to haunt me, but I stand by it at the moment. We gave him an ethical decision in which he doesn’t kill the baby. That was something that came up while we were shooting.”

Frustratingly, Green admitted that the main reason that sequence existed was to just fill time.

“We were looking for an interesting 15-second gap in a long sequence. And there were 15 seconds, no tension, no new information,” the director detailed. “And the goal was, ‘How do we put something that’s 15 seconds’ worth of intrigue in the sequence?’ And the production designer and the DP came up with the idea of putting a baby crib in the living room and then a baby. It was one of the things that was just exciting, and it fixed the problem; it filled the gap.”

On the one hand, some fans were relieved that the baby survived the encounter. The film serves as a direct sequel to the original film, in which Myers had focused solely on adults, having also killed a dog. Killing an infant might have been too intense for some viewers.

On the other hand, this film erases the previously established concept that Myers stalked his sister Laurie, allowing anyone to become a potential victim. By walking past the infant, some audiences felt this humanized the character too much.

“And now we’re looking at a character who I proclaim is the essence of evil and has no motivation, no emotion, no real stimulation other than being a predator,” the director added. “And yet we’ve given him this one consideration in which he does the right thing. So I’m not exactly sure how to stand by that and justify that, although I think it’s fascinating to think of someone that is nothing but a cold-blooded, faceless, motivation-less killer. He made one decision that we are happy that he made.”

Unfortunately, there’s no clear way to find an answer regarding the scene that will appease all fans. After all, the original film saw Myers bump into a young child, who he let escape without harm. To some, this would confirm he isn’t a mindless killing machine and that, for some reason, Myers wasn’t interested in killing an infant.

Regardless of how you fall on the debate, what’s likely the most disappointing element regarding the situation is that even Green himself doesn’t have a clear answer for the issue.

The new Halloween is in theaters now.

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[H/T L.A. Times]