I still haven't had anyone give me a good reason how Michael can drive a car. - Halloween (1978) Discussion

[–] Kowalski (63764) 2 years ago

HOW DO YOU OPERATE A COMPUTER?...HOW DO YOU KEEP FINDING YOUR WAY BACK HERE?...CRAZY PEOPLE HAVE WEIRD ABILITIES.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Does your comment come in English?

reply

[–] Kowalski (63764) 2 years ago

IT DOES NOW.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Can you believe this Vanishing Point post?
https://moviechat.org/tt0067927/Vanishing-Point/6344acba2113c916f261ff32/WORST-MOVIE-EVER

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Loomis explained it in the movie. Somebody at the hospital probably gave him driving lessons. There really is no other explanation for it. Whatever explanations were given in later movies don't really count because they changed him from a human being to some kind of demonic entity. Halloween I and Halloween II are the only genuine canon movies in my world.

And I'll add to that, maybe the car that he took had a map in the glove compartment, or he stole or bought a map from a gas station or a store somewhere along the way. He probably stole some money too from someone at the institute as well. Also the sanitarium and Haddonfield are both located in the same state not all that far apart from each other. All these things easily make enough sense to fill in the blanks.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I find it strange that someone would give Michael driving lessons. He's a killer. Why would someone show him how to drive a car where he won't benefit from it and why give him a car so he could drive into a school or something?

reply

[–] millsey72 (9757) 2 years ago

When they do the next reboot, they will probably include some scenes while Michael is still locked up as a child, and there would be some sympathetic person working at the mental ward giving him driving instructions

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Exactly. It doesn't take that much mental gymnastics to come to that conclusion.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

You don't think employees at a mental hospital are bribable, like prison guards?

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

What would Michael have had with him at 6 years old that he kept with him after all those years that a guard would have wanted? Michael doesn't even speak.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

It doesn't have to be money or anything material. Maybe an employee was selling off prescription drugs from the hospital or banging the patients and gave Michael lessons so he wouldn't rat him out. Maybe he did it simply because he found it entertaining. I don't think it's far-fetched a hospital employee would do something so inappropriate.

reply

[–] hurricane (1944) 2 years ago

Might've been some maverick Doctor, or young idealistic one, who thought that teaching him skills, any skills, would rehabilitate him in some way.

Loomis was screaming at anybody who would listen that Michael was evil and beyond a cure. The movie suggested that he was alone in this opinion though. He spent half the time trying to convince people of his opinion.

reply

[–] pjl69 (2539) 2 years ago

"Whatever explanations were given in later movies don't really count because they changed him from a human being to some kind of demonic entity. Halloween I and Halloween II are the only genuine canon movies in my world."

He is the embodiment of evil already in the first movie. He lifts the kid up to the wall with his straight hand and stabs at the wall. Lifts the tombstone directly from the ground judging by the tracks. He gets a knitting needle in his neck and eye with a hanger. Finally, six bullets in the chest and falls from the balcony. And walks away after everything. Yep, sounds pretty supernatural to me. I personally don't even count Halloween II as canon. I don't care for the sequels.

Like the kid said in the movie, you can't kill the boogeyman.

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Still just a human child. Nothing supernatural mentioned. Just extra strong and extra lucky. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

reply

[–] Mortificator (20) 2 years ago

It's amazing to me that anyone could hear Loomis' voice, dripping with sarcasm and mockery, and think he's offering a serious explanation. I expect that when someone says "when pigs fly!" y'all start looking at the sky for aerial swine.

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

It's amazing to me how when something so simple is explained in such a straightforward way that y'all gotta look for some ridiculous, farfetched, cosmic explanation. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

reply

[–] bobbydallas (8211) 2 years ago

everything nonsensical in this franchise is explained with:
Michael is the manifestation of "pure evil" so whatever he/it needs to do, like driving, is propelled by the devil or something along those lines.

it's naturally BS, not unlike most horror film plots

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I'm blaming pure evil for the multiple timelines in this franchise.

reply

[–] bobbydallas (8211) 2 years ago

lol but let's face it the timeline where only Halloween 3 exists is king.

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

You ain't lyin' 👍👍

reply

[–] BensGirl (590) 2 years ago

It’s a film. You’re welcome.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

How does anyone learn how to operate a car? It's not a state of the art fighter jet. It's just a thing with a steering wheel and pedals. Michael probably had a toy car or had played in one before he was locked up.

Michael hasn't been free for 15 years. But he's not been locked in a room or had a bag over his head the whole time. He will have been driven around. Maybe a sympathetic state employee showed him how.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

How does anyone learn how to operate a car? It's not a state of the art fighter jet. It's just a thing with a steering wheel and pedals.

How many people do you know that knew how to drive a car at 6 years old?

reply

[–] millsey72 (9757) 2 years ago

I once sat on a couple of telephone books and drove a car in an empty parking lot at 5 years old

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Did you drive it well and to your exact location?

reply

[–] millsey72 (9757) 2 years ago

Yea I was a natural

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

We don't know, don't need to know, and don't frankly care if Michael drove "well" from Smith's Grove to Haddonfield. And he was 21 when doing this. Not 6.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

You mentioned that he probably played with a toy car before he was locked up, that's why I'm mentioning him being 6 here.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61294584.amp

I think in the old days it was more common for people to let their kids sit behind the steering wheel sometimes, even if only on their lap.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

That's because you Dutch are crazy.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

True, but so are you guys:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/local/ottawa/2021/12/14/1_5707309.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nationalpost.com/news/11-year-old-driver-had-actually-been-driving-since-he-was-nine-police-say/wcm/bf4e3188-5c09-4cd1-bf4f-4acc38ffbccf/amp/

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

No, we're just stupid.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Well, Michael is from the US, where they're stupid AND crazy.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

I knew six year olds who knew who to start and steer their dad's car. If only they could have reached the pedals they would have been able to operate it.

Michael is 21 in Halloween. Not 6 years old. He's spent 15 years pondering his escape.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I know about him being 21, but when he was regularly in a car is when he was 6.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

How do you know he wasn't regularly, if not frequently, in a car between ages 6 and 21?

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

He was in a mental institution. They don't have daily or weekly visits outside with a regular car. They'd maybe have to leave every few months where he'd be sitting in the back seat behind a cage with handcuffs on.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

Regular doesn't mean weekly. If it's every few months, for fifteen years, that's regular enough for a determined person to gain sufficient understanding to add to their existing experience in order to make a car go, stop and turn when they need to.

It's way more believable than Michael knowing how to cut the phone lines and the power to a house. Which nobody ever questions.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

But why would anyone give Michael driving lesson? He's a serial killer. Did someone tell him to sit in the front seat and hope he doesn't get killed. If Michael stayed in the back seat, I don't believe he would have had a great view of what the driver would be doing.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

Between the ages of 6 and 21 Michael is not a serial killer.

reply

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Nice catch. 👍👍

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Once a killer, always a killer.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

While he was in Smith's Grove he was just an unassuming, mute little boy who inexplicably stabbed his sister. Described as a "model patient" who made no trouble.

Yes, he had killed once. But you're talking about him like he should have been treated like he was Hannibal Lecter.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

He killed 3 people at 6 years old and was obviously still capable of it proven by his murder spree post-21 years old. Loomis himself believed he was sti a stone cold killer.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

He killed one person at 6 years old.

Loomis said he spent the first 7 years trying to reach him. Then another 7 years ensuring he wouldn't be released because he realised that Michael was something else.

So you're either fucking idiot or just wasting everyone's time now.

Good luck trying to think, your own thoughts.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Serious question: if you had a teenage daughter who was dating a guy who was in a mental institution for doing the same thing Michael did, would you be okay for her to be in the car during these driving lessons?

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

That's not exactly the attitude psychiatrists had back in the 70s. And Loomis points out that nobody listened to his warnings.

Sam, I love you, buddy, but are you really planning on dying on this hill? I think people have given some plausible reasons why Michael would be able to drive. Perhaps not 100% realistic, but enough to fit within the logic of the movie's universe.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Love you too, Stratego.
https://media.tenor.com/46yCpCF9ak4AAAAM/beating-heart-excited-to-see-you.gif

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

https://media.tenor.com/cy-2Hwy0XdMAAAAC/jessica-rabbit-roger-rabbit.gif

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Listen, my sister had never learned how to drive or even touched a gear stick when my aunt needed help backing her car out of a parking spot.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

A lot of kids know how to do that, but we're talking about a psychotic killer who went down many streets and went to an exact location after being locked up for 15 years and didn't even get pulled over.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

My sister had no clue before how to do that, my aunt just gave a few instructions.

We're also talking about a movie where a guy can be pinned up to a wall with a kitchen knife and the psychotic killer survives being shot several times and falling from a balcony.

The point is that Michael could've had the knowledge to drive a car and get to Haddonfield. He had probably planned his escape for years. Add to that some evil determination and I think it's a good enough explanation for this particular movie.

reply

[–] Narwhale37 (826) 2 years ago

One of the hospital aids (secretly a part of the Thorne cult) helped him learn in order to assist him in breaking out.

"B-But I only count 1 and 2 as canon!!!!!!"
Then you're coping. I don't know what to tell you.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Was this mentioned? I don't see the reason for a hospital aid to assist his escape.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

In the sequels it turns out the administrator of the hospital is the leader of the Thorn cult.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I'm beginning to think you like this movie more than "Scream".

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Definitely not, but it's a movie I still enjoy whenever it's on. One of my favourite slashers. And hey, it's October, I'm getting in the mood for it.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I started watching horror movies two weeks ago.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

I don't do Halloween, so I don't usually watch horror movies around this time of year. But I was thinking of doing a Scream 3 rewatch which I haven't seen in years. Should I? I'm kinda scared of how bad that movie was.😬

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I saw it 2 tears ago for the first time since I saw it when it first came out. It was worse than I remembered.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Then a Scream 3 rewatch it is!

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I just finished watching "Halloween Ends" and honestly, I'd rather watch "Scream 3" again.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

I can actually believe that.

reply

[–] hurricane (1944) 2 years ago

Is a good reason needed?

It's sort of covered in the plot as it is. The Doctor at the hospital queried whether Michael Myers could drive, and Loomis quipped; "He was doing very well last night! Maybe someone around here gave him lessons!" That wasn't confirmed, so obviously is just Loomis' theory, but it stands as well as any guess. It's not like Michael Myers driving is some kind of plot hole. Like he just got behind a wheel, and everybody acted like him driving was just some normal thing.

Sometimes in horror movies, the less you know, the scarier it is. We don't need a breakdown of what Michael Myers was doing for 15 years in the asylum. It'd make him less mysterious, and thus less scary.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

Why would anyone give Michael access to a car to practice driving? A lot of the explanations on this thread imply people working at the hospital were some good samaritans helping some killer kid trying to succeed at driving even though he wouldn't use anyway because he was locked up.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

"even though he wouldn't use anyway because he was locked up."

Well, exactly, so what's the harm if the kid really wants to learn?

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

It's dangerous for the person teaching him.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

He killed his sister when he was 6 years old, so some naive orderly 15 years later might believe he didn't pose much danger thinking he may have been rehabilitated. At that point he wasn't yet the violent homicidal maniac he later became. I mean, there are prison guards who have affairs with psychotic murderers and even help them escape.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I just find it strange why someone would give him driving lessons. Baking lessons would make more sense and even that is stupid.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Michael was an adolescent, why wouldn't it make sense? He was indefinitely locked up in a sanitorium, it would appear to be one of the few things that could make him feel like a normal young man.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

He didn't speak. He doesn't really react to anyone. Imagine if they actually showed a young Michael getting driving lessons in the movie from an orderly. It would look hysterical.

reply

[–] Stratego (29537) 2 years ago

Michael chooses not to react to anyone. But I'm sure he can write a small note indicating he wants driving lessons if he really wants to or maybe even through simple gestures. It could be done in a creepy way, like Michael just standing there and staring and staring at a car for weeks until an orderly offers to let him inside.

Michael may have been evil, but he seems to have been mostly well-behaved. I can see the hospital employees ignoring Loomis' warnings and letting Michael get away with a lot of stuff.

reply

[–] hurricane (1944) 2 years ago

The unknown if often scarier in horror movies. You're not supposed to know anything about how he learned to drive.

It's one small bit in a film made in 1978. Probably not worth obsessing over.

reply

[–] samoanjoes (53061) 2 years ago

I don't understand why he couldn't just walk and say it was only 20 minutes away.

reply

[–] Seperatrix (1103) 2 years ago

Doesn't the plot also outright say, or hint, that Myers has been in a comatose state since the day he murdered his sister?

If so, how would anyone interact with such a person and give them instructions -- on anything?

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

Why would Michael being comatose mean that the doctors at Smith's Grove should make no attempt to reach him?

Loomis even says he spent years trying to do this. Maybe they thought talking to him about what they were doing while driving him around, among other things, might bring him out of his shell.

You all keep assuming that 6 year old Michael was treated like a dangerous prisoner all those years. Instead of a sick boy they were trying to understand and perhaps treat.

reply

[–] Seperatrix (1103) 2 years ago

I thought Loomis was suggesting that Michael remained in a comatose state the entire time. It has nothing to do with their attempt to reach him, the point is that he remained in a hapless state and couldn't be reached.

Let alone taught to drive a car.

reply

[–] Martoto (4467) 2 years ago

Loomis said he tried to reach him for seven years. It is reasonable to assume that the other staff viewed him as treatable for a while too. But then Loomis decided it was hopeless. And also that Michael might be putting it on.

reply

[–] davodikum (6007) 2 years ago

Right, we don't need to be spoon-fed every detail. He knows how to drive, who cares how he knows. It doesn't matter. There are plenty of plausible ways he could have figured out how to drive, pick one and move on I reckon.

reply

[–] millsey72 (9757) 2 years ago

People like myself like to be spoon fed every detail when it comes to movies, especially horror ones

reply

[–] davodikum (6007) 2 years ago

He could of learnt as a kid or read a book. Driving a car isn't really that hard, morons do it everyday.

reply