5 Little Known Deleted Scenes From The HALLOWEEN Franchise
Padraig Cotter
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Halloween and errr, Halloween, are right around the corner. The eleventh entry in the iconic horror franchise will give fans plenty to chew over and dissect in the months and years ahead, just like they’ve done with all the previous movies. There isn’t much hardcore devotees of the series don’t know at this point, including the deleted scenes, from the newly shot sequences included to pad out Halloween’s TV cut to the infamous Producer’s Cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
With a franchise as storied as Halloween, however, there’s always a few more nuggets to dig out, and gathered below are some of the lesser-known deleted/alternate sequences left on the editing bay floor.
Halloween II – Loomis Accidentally Kills The Marshall
Spare a thought for Halloween II‘s Marshal Gummell. The guy is given the simple task of driving Loomis out of Haddonfield, only to be forced at gunpoint to take the good doctor to the hospital to save Laurie Strode; he gets his throat slit by Michael for his troubles.
His fate is less graphic in Halloween II‘s TV cut, where he’s grabbed by The Shape and stabbed in the back. This moment actually hides an alternative scene in plain sight, however. The eagle-eyed viewer will note the Marshal has a bullet hole off to the side, meaning the original context of this moment is that Loomis tried to shoot Michael, but accidentally killed the Marshal instead.
An enterprising fan on YouTube has cut the scene together as intended. It’s an interesting alternate take, but in the end, it’s stronger to have Loomis frozen in fear from finally seeing Michael murder someone right before his eyes.
Halloween II – Deleted Reporter Death
John Carpenter wasn’t a fan of Halloween II’s original edit – or the overall end product. He took over editing in post-production and shot additional sequences to give it more pep. He also took out a number of scenes he felt dragged the pace, which mostly involved scene between the hospital staff. His additional footage also revealed The Shape hearing about Laurie being taken to hospital from a radio, which is how he knows where to find her.
The original cut reveals he stowed away in the car of news producer Debra, who is seen listening to Loomis’ rant about his former patient outside the Wallace house. The character vanishes from the movie after this, but in Rosenthal’s initial edit she drove towards the hospital, only to suffer a flat tire on the way. A guy in a pick-up truck (played by Rosenthal) stops to help and hits on her, but he takes off when she dismisses his advances. Once he leaves The Shape emerges from hiding in her trunk and slits her throat, and then takes off in the car.
Carpenter’s aforementioned additional scene removed the need for this death, which apparently wasn’t gruesome enough for the movie.
Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers – Graphic Mechanic’s Death
Perhaps the eeriest moment of Halloween IV is when Dr. Loomis confronts Michael in the diner shortly after his escape, with The Shape’s face being bandaged from his time in the hospital. He’s also wearing a jumpsuit he borrowed from a mechanic with a little help from a crowbar. To the movie’s credit, Return only sprinkles a few moments of gore throughout the film in an attempt to lean closer to Carpenter’s original style.
This is likely the reason a more graphic version of the mechanic’s death was snipped, with the scene originally involving Michael stabbing the unlucky fellow in the throat. There also remains an urban legend the original cut showed Michael’s gory rampage through the Haddonfield police department – which happens off-camera in the movie – but given the lack of stills or mention of it from various people involved with the production over the years, it’s likely just a myth.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers – Sheriff Meeker’s Death
Sheriff Meeker is a fan-favorite from parts 4 & 5, who had the unenviable task of policing Haddonfield following Brackett’s retirement, and just like his predecessor, he lost a daughter to The Shape. Meeker’s ultimate fate is left somewhat ambiguous; he’s in the police station at the end of Halloween 5 when the Man in Black goes full Terminator to break Michael out, but neither his death nor his body is shown onscreen.
It seems the filmmakers were in two minds on his fate too since they filmed Meeker being riddled with bullets but didn’t use the shot in the final edit. It only survives now as a still.
Halloween: Resurrection – Tyra Bank’s Onscreen Demise
While fans often debate the merits of the lesser loved entries, from Halloween 6‘s trashy charms to Rob Zombie’s relentlessly bleak Halloween II, pretty much everybody agrees Resurrection flat out sucks. From undoing Halloween: H20‘s final scene to having Busta Rhymes kick the crap of Michael Myers – twice – it’s a depressing chore of a movie.
Tyra Banks has the small honor of being Michael’s final victim in the original run of movies, though her character Nora isn’t shown dying onscreen. Nora’s demise was cut before the movie was released, with the belief that every slasher flick needs one off-screen death. The scene didn’t make it to DVD or Blu-ray releases of Halloween: Resurrection but it can be found on the workprint; judging from the scene, perhaps another reason it was taken out is that it isn’t very good?
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