What actually happens
Hawkins has had a worse night than you
The movie starts on Halloween night in 2018. Frank Hawkins has been stabbed and left for dead by Dr. Ranbir Sartain, and Cameron Elam finds him and calls an ambulance. Hawkins regrets letting Michael live and swears to kill him. A flashback goes back 40 years to the same night, when Hawkins was a rookie police officer. He accidentally shoots his own partner dead during an attempt to rescue him from Michael Myers, and he also stops Dr. Samuel Loomis from executing Michael, who has surrendered to police outside his home. That is the decision Hawkins now regrets.
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The firefighters respond to the wrong fire
In the present, Tommy Doyle, Marion Chambers, Lindsey Wallace and Lonnie Elam, all of whom survived Michael in 1978, meet at a bar to mark the 40th anniversary of his capture. Meanwhile Laurie Strode is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital with her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson, and Laurie goes into emergency surgery. Firefighters who respond to Laurie's burning house run into Michael, who kills them with their own equipment. He also kills Laurie's neighbor Phil and badly injures his wife Sondra, then walks back toward Haddonfield. After an emergency alert, Tommy gathers a mob of residents to hunt and kill Michael. Karen hides from Laurie that Michael is alive so she can recover, and Allyson makes up with her ex Cameron and joins the mob.
Everyone mistakes Lance Tivoli for Michael
Marion and two bar patrons, Vanessa and Marcus, are killed while warning residents to stay inside. Lindsey escapes and is found by Tommy, Lonnie, Allyson and Cameron. They map Michael's victims and conclude he is heading for the house he grew up in. Tommy takes Lindsey to the hospital and meets Leigh Brackett, the former sheriff, whose daughter Annie was killed in 1978. Michael kills Big John and Little John, the current owners of his old house. A fugitive named Lance Tivoli, who escaped with Michael when their bus crashed, shows up at the hospital and is taken for Michael. The mob chases him through the building until Karen realizes the mistake, but she cannot stop them, and Lance jumps out a window to his death. Laurie tells Karen to team up with Tommy and Brackett and go after Michael. Lonnie goes into the old house alone and is killed. Allyson and Cameron find his body, and Michael kills Cameron.
The mob has a bad plan and a pitchfork
Michael is about to kill Allyson when Karen arrives and puts a pitchfork in his back. She takes his mask and calls for him to follow her. She lures him into Tommy's mob, and the mob seems to kill him. When the crowd lowers its guard, believing it is over, Michael gets up and kills every one of them, Tommy and Brackett included. That is the scene people dread most, and it comes at the end of the movie. Karen then returns to the Myers house, where she imagines she sees young Michael in Judith Myers's old bedroom. She goes upstairs to look, and Michael appears and stabs her to death while Laurie looks out of her hospital room.
The ending, explained
Michael kills the whole mob, including Tommy and Brackett, after they let their guard down. Cameron, Lonnie and Karen are dead, and Karen's pitchfork is what saves Allyson from Michael. Karen follows a vision of young Michael to Judith Myers's old bedroom, where Michael stabs her to death while Laurie looks out of her hospital room. Michael is still alive at the end.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed either way whether there is a scene after the credits.
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Questions people ask at 1am
Is Halloween Kills scary?
Halloween Kills is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread. It has jump scares and a large body count, and the dread comes from watching Michael Myers get the better of a whole town.
How does Halloween Kills end?
Michael gets back up after the mob thinks he is dead and kills all of them, and then he stabs Karen to death in his old house. Laurie watches from the hospital, and Michael is still alive at the end.
Does the dog die in Halloween Kills?
Yes, a dog is dead in Halloween Kills. Two police officers find it in Michael's old home early in the movie, and the body is shown. Skipping the first minute or so after the officers enter the house gets you past it.
Is there a post-credits scene in Halloween Kills?
Nobody has confirmed either way whether Halloween Kills has a post-credits scene.
Who is Lance Tivoli in Halloween Kills?
Lance Tivoli is a fugitive who escaped with Michael when their bus crashed. In Halloween Kills the mob takes him for Michael and chases him through the hospital until he jumps out a window.
