John Carpenter loves the fact that Halloween Kills will have a massive body count. Carpenter returned to the franchise he helped create by providing the score to 2018’s Halloween, which was directed by David Gordon Green. The movie served as a reboot to the long-running franchise, reintroducing Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) forty years after surviving Michael’s initial murderous spree. Since the movie proved to be a massive success, both critically and commercially, plans for a trilogy were quickly accelerated. The saga will conclude with Halloween Ends in 2021. Before then, Halloween Kills is set to serve as a terrifying middle chapter.

Halloween Kills is set to follow the survivors of the 2018 reboot as they are once again terrorized by Michael Myers. While plot details are being kept under wraps, it is known that some familiar faces will make an appearance. Kyle Richards will reprise her role as Lindsay Wallace, one of the kids Laurie babysat in the original Halloween. Charles Cyphers and Nancy Stephens are slated to return, portraying Leigh Brackett and Marion Chambers respectively. Tommy Doyle is back as well, played by Anthony Michael Hall. Judging from new comments by Carpenter though, they may not make it all the way to the end of Halloween Kills.

Speaking with IndieWire, and remembering legendary composer Ennio Morricone, Carpenter also gave an update on Halloween Kills. He promised that that the sequel would be something different, specifically teasing the size of the movie’s kill count. You can read Carpenter’s comments below.

“The cut is done. They’ll mix it in New York in the next week or so. Then it will be in the can. My work is all done. The movie is something else. It’s fun, intense and brutal, a slasher movie times one hundred, big time. It’s huge. I’ve never seen anything like this: the kill count!”

Given the fact that Michael Myers murdered 16 people in 2018’s Halloween, it should be interesting to see how the followup intends to increase the body count. For certain aficionados of slasher films, part of the fun is keeping track of how many characters get swept up in the villain’s madness. On one level, it’s a way of comparing the marquee monsters from each respective franchise by listing their despicable deeds. In a deeper sense though, looking to narrative requirements, a huge number of dead bodies is a way of signaling the villain’s ruthlessness to an audience. It builds anticipation, and ultimately a feeling of catharsis once the hero slays their seemingly insurmountable foe. Considering how Halloween Kills is intended as the second installment in a trilogy, it’s possible that the high kill count teased by Carpenter is a way to illustrate how difficult it will be for Laurie and her family to defeat Michael.

As a franchise, Halloween hasn’t always been concerned with high death counts. The original was praised for taking the opposite approach, presented as an atmospheric horror film where characters are watched by Michael for stretches of time before the worst actually occurs. Halloween featured only five deaths, a number which nearly doubled to 9 for Halloween II in 1981. The counts have remained since then, with the exception of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. The debate over which approach is better comes down to arguments over whether to prioritize quantity or quality, in addition to disagreements over how Michael should be depicted. Still, for fans who are looking ahead to Halloween Kills, it’s a good sign that the film has Carpenter’s stamp of approval. After all, he was a huge part of the franchise’s initial success.

Halloween Kills (2020)
Release Date: Oct 16, 2020

Halloween Ends (2021)
Release Date: Oct 15, 2021