Halloween 2018 proved to be a critical and commercial success, but a nonsensical twist involving Michael’s new doctor threatened to derail the script. In 2018, after nearly a decade off the radar, the Halloween franchise and its iconic slasher Michael Myers returned to theaters for a franchise resurrection. Directed by David Gordon Green, the simply titled Halloween retconned all prior sequels, and served only as a follow-up to John Carpenter’s original 1978 classic. It also became the third film in the franchise to be called Halloween, adding to an already confusing lineage.
For Halloween 2018, fans were expected to forget or ignore all the Halloween movies made since 1978, some of which actually have quite a few fans. This includes forgetting that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) eventually became Michael Myers’ sister, and that Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) spent nearly two decades serving as Michael’s nemesis. Instead, this Michael was caught and returned to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium after his 1978 rampage through Haddonfield, with Loomis remaining Michael’s doctor until his death in the 1990s.
Killing off Loomis for Halloween 2018 was clearly meant as both a tribute to Donald Pleasance - who himself died in the 1990s - and a way to avoid recasting such a beloved figure in the Halloween mythos. Michael still needed a doctor following Loomis’ death though, and that’s where psychiatrist Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) comes in. Giving Michael a new doctor was a fine idea in theory, but he ended up being the vehicle for a terrible bit of screenwriting.
Halloween 2018’s Doctor Twist Is The Reboot’s One Big Flaw
Halloween 2018 introduces Dr. Sartain as the man who facilitates Michael’s visit with the two podcasters who Mr. Myers ends up killing after he escapes. Later, Sartain insists he accompany Michael as he’s transferred by bus to another mental health facility. After the bus crashes and Michel is in the wind, Sartain is shot, and taken to the hospital. That’s all well and good, but it’s later when Sartain is “helping” Sheriff Hawkins (Will Patton) locate Michael that the story and his characterization go sideways.
Hawkins and Sartain manage to locate Laurie Strode’s granddaughter Allyson, but after Hawkins sees Michael and runs him over with a car, Hawkins’ attempt to kill Michael for good is thwarted by a surprise heel turn by Sartain. It seems the good doctor has become obsessed with understanding what makes Michael tick, leading him to murder Hawkins, put on Michael’s mask, and drive him toward Laurie’s home. He’s later killed by Michael with a giant foot stomp that squashes his head into bits, and then is completely forgotten by the story.
While he does seem a bit odd, Sartain gives off no indication of being evil or insane before he stabs Hawkins, and his perplexing turn to the dark side adds nothing to the film. He’s then killed by Michael only minutes later, and in hindsight there’s no real reason he even needed to be in the film at all, outside of trying to shock Halloween’s audience with an unexpected plot development. It’s a twist for twist’s sake, and it’s also a cheap, overly convenient way to transport Michael to Laurie, now that Michael’s old motivation for relentlessly hunting her has been retconned. The Dr. Sartain twist is an abjectly lazy piece of writing in what’s otherwise a pretty well-structured story, and such narrative pitfalls can hopefully be avoided in Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.
More: Every Character Confirmed To Return In Halloween Kills (So Far)
- Halloween 2 Release Date: 2021-10-15 Halloween 3: Season of the Witch Release Date: 1982-10-22
