There’s a scene in Halloween (2018) that people keep commenting on. I’ve seen it in a few different message boards now and peoples’ comments are bothering me. It’s the scene where we hear a baby cry, and Michael “chooses” not to go after it. “He does have morals!” One person cried out. “This proves he isn’t true evil” said another. But does true evil only mean not stopping until everything around you is dead? Because in that case, mass murder would be more effective to an end goal. Michael’s killings are much more intimate than that. Here’s director, David Gordon Green’s actual statement on this scene:
“I didn’t give it too much thought, but there’s no way I’m going to watch a movie or support a movie where he kills a baby. The unfun answer is, I don’t think I was doing it from the authentic perspective of a serial killer. I think I was doing it from the perspective of a father. There’s not any humanity to it.”
Right. So in other words, you failed to commit to making this movie. When you’re making a slasher film, I would hope you don’t ethically approve of the choices your killer makes, but apparently you do, and this was too far. When you take on a character who is so immortalized in the eyes of the entire horror community, and known as evil in human form, and then you decide that something is “too far” and give him the choice not to do it, you’re letting down all of the fans who have accepted a character who is unconditionally evil, by creating conditions. I think this is a weakness on Green’s part, and one that has created questions on something that shouldn’t be questioned, especially by making his statement.
Michael has always shown an interest and almost fascination in his victims while killing them. The pause on his part when seeing the baby, was his general curiosity, and by choosing not to kill it, I felt was out of lack of further interest. What fun could killing this thing, too young to fight back fully, or have any real history or character, be for him? What purpose could it serve Michael? What could he learn from it? Where would the challenge be? That’s what I feel is the real truth, and one that is much more interesting than giving him a selective moral compass.
Here’s some more interesting information on this scene. There was supposed to be a man, sleeping on the couch, but the actor didn’t show up to set, (I’m sorry, he what? The actor in me just screamed.) and so they threw a baby in his place. A careless, not well thought out decision was just that. Green goes on to say that, for the record, Michael was also going to move past the sleeping guy without stabbing him. So there you have it.
And to all the fans who wrote things like “I was so worried he was going to kill the baby.” Relax. Why do you get to have a selective moral compass as well? It’s a horror film. We’re all here to see carnage. Don’t turn back now.
Til next time,
🔪Madame of Horror
All baby killer themed hate mail can be sent to Paige@thepaigetaylor.com
Madame of Horror 
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