David Gordon Green embarked on a remarkable journey when he announced his Halloween restart trilogy. Halloween 2018 had great success, with critics and audiences praising Jamie Lee Curtis for her role as the traumatized survivor Laurie Strode, Andi Matichak’s sympathy as the franchise’s newest Final Girl, Allyson, and the nostalgic and innovative script. The sequel, halloween kills, received a mixed reception, with criticism ranging from enjoyable to unnecessarily violent. Halloween ends takes a different direction than almost everyone else Halloween continued by introducing a new villain to take Michael’s place, Corey Cunningham. But aside from a deranged man who decides to don the mask of Haddonfield’s infamous serial killer, who is Corey Cunningham?
Lack of relationships
Corey Cunningham has been known for being unsociable from the start Halloween ends. The twenty-one-year-old’s only known hobbies are mowing the Allen’s lawn and trying to babysit their son Jeremy. Unfortunately for Corey, this ends in tragedy when Jeremy proves Corey can handle more and pulls a prank that leads to his untimely demise. Corey becomes a social pariah as a result, with everyone viewing him as a bloodthirsty killer who evaded the justice system despite his crime. Fast-forward three years to 2022; isolation has turned Corey into an insecure, introverted person who spends all his time working at the Haddonfield junkyard until he meets Allyson.
Both instantly fall in love with each other and start dating, but Corey’s infatuation soon turns into a dangerous obsession. Corey becomes dependent on Allyson and most of his kills are motivated by his distorted view of protection; Corey kills Allyson’s pushy ex-boyfriend, Doug Mulaney, her boss, the unethical Dr. Mathis, and tries to kill her grandmother, Laurie, all because of the negative impact they have on Allyson’s life. This all-consuming desire to protect Allyson and have her all to herself is a reflection of Corey’s missing relationships; Corey has no understanding of boundaries in a healthy romantic relationship, or any relationship for that matter.
neglected needs
Corey’s needs are never met across the board. After Jeremy’s death and the psychological abuse he has been subjected to by the citizens of Haddonfield, Corey internalizes all of his pain, remorse and needs. Corey is denied psychiatric help for the trauma he suffered from the tragedy; he does not vent to any friend, relative, or lover; and he is subject to his mother’s obsessive love and need for control; he has no outlet for emotional expression. Corey’s mother refuses to allow him any semblance of privacy or normal life that a grown adult needs – her influence fuels his repressed rage even more, eventually leading to him killing her on his Halloween killing spree.
The ruthless Haddonfield
The events of Halloween kills direct influence Haddonfield’s treatment of Corey Cunningham. The once-peaceful Haddonfield turns into a paranoid, judgmental town that constantly tries to blame someone for Michael’s earlier murder spree, most notably Laurie Strode. The movie opens with a juxtaposition of dead bodies found on Halloween night 2019, somehow inspired by Michael Myers. When Corey accidentally causes Jeremy’s death just a year after Michael’s earlier killing spree, the citizens of Haddonfield project their repressed aggression by calling Corey a psychopath on par with Michael. Corey is never given a chance to prove he is something other than the killer he eventually becomes.
Accidental Murder
Although Jeremy’s death is an accident, the idea of murder is ingrained in Corey’s life afterward. Corey is teased by the citizens of Haddonfield who gossip about him; he is banished pretty much everywhere he goes, and he deals with his murderous impulses. His breaking point occurs when he kills the hobo stalking Haddonfield’s sewers. The mentally ill man attacks Corey, claiming to be Michael Myers, leading Corey to kill him in self-defense. His second kill and some kind of accident; Corey no longer fights his rage and murderous tendencies – he succumbs to them.
The seed of evil
Halloween ends introduces the idea that “evil doesn’t die, it changes shape”. While Corey Cunningham is a by-product of Haddonfield’s trauma, he is also another indirect victim of Michael Myers. Michael perpetuates Haddonfield’s shift from a peaceful suburban town to a paranoid and ruthless community, leading to violence, hatred and, in Laurie’s case, victim blaming. Michael plants the seed of evil in Haddonfield, and Corey in turn slowly becomes infected by it as well. There’s also the open interpretation of Corey’s transformation; was it Michael’s influence on Corey that ignited Corey’s madness, or was the seed of evil present all along waiting for a catalyzing event to unleash it?
During a short monologue from Roger Allen to Laurie and Lindsey, Roger expresses that while he believes that Corey did not intentionally kill his son, evil has nevertheless found its way to Corey. Michael Myers himself connects with Corey in a way never seen before, not killing Corey, but instead welcoming him into his world of carnage. in the end, Michael Myers and Corey Cunningham mirror each other through their shared evil, an evil that can take any form.