Laurie Strode's Relationship To Michael Myers In Halloween Explained
John Carpenter's "Halloween" is one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, largely because of Michael Myers (Nick Castle) and his incredibly creepy blank mask that he wears as he stalks the residents of Haddonfield. But not only did the film deliver one of the most iconic slasher villains of all time, but it also gave us an incredible final girl in Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh, an iconic scream queen herself as she's best known for her role as the ill-fated Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror classic, "Psycho."
Clearly, horror runs in the family. Although thankfully Laurie has a little more luck than Marion in the "Halloween" franchise. Well, she does up until 2002's "Halloween: Resurrection" anyway. The long-running series has always played fast-and-loose with sequels, reboots, and remakes. Do we even need to mention how the sixth film in the series, "The Curse of Michael Myers," reveals that Michael is supposedly immortal? It's safe to say that the Shape works best as an ambiguous killer rather than explicitly being a supernatural entity.
But why is Michael Myers always chasing Laurie or members of the Strode family? He's completely obsessed.
Halloween, Halloween II, and well, Halloween
Michael first crosses paths with Laurie when he spots her dropping a key off to her father, Morgan Strode (Peter Griffith), at the empty Myers house. Morgan's the realtor selling the home, and something about Laurie catches Michael's attention, which is why he keeps stalking her throughout the day. He starts targeting her friends before eventually hunting Laurie herself. It's her ability to keep Michael on his toes that likely makes the killer even more determined to keep chasing her. Everyone else falls prey to his sheer brutality, but Laurie always manages to slip out of his grasp in the nick of time.
However, "Halloween II" reveals an even more sinister reason behind the eternal connection between Laurie and Michael, as they're actually siblings. The Strode family adopted Laurie after her parents died in a car crash in 1965, just five years after Michael killed his sister Judith Myers (Sandy Johnson). The sequel even reveals that Laurie visited her brother in the sanatorium when she was younger, but after repressing those memories for years afterward, she'd forgotten. Awkward.
However, if you're wondering about their connection in the 2018 "Halloween" and its 2021 sequel "Halloween Kills," these films are direct sequels from the original 1978 movie. When the 2018 movie picks up, Michael has been incarcerated in Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital since the 1978 killing spree. So it isn't surprising that he wants revenge on Laurie and her family for essentially being the reason that he's been locked up for 40 years.
"Halloween Kills" is out now in theaters and available to stream on Peacock.