The Halloween horror film franchise is loaded with different continuities, backstories, and bizarre twists that make even the most diehard of fans shake their heads at times. One of the most interesting elements that seems to be almost constantly changed around per film is Michael Myers’ immortality, and more specifically, his apparently immunity to pain.
As you will notice upon watching even John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween film, Michael Myers is seemingly immune to pain which would otherwise incapacitate or even kill normal individuals. This has prompted several different explanations throughout the franchise, and even more fan theories outside of the films. One such fan theory that’s been recently circulating is that Michael Myers actually possesses a rare medical condition known as congenital insensitivity to pain.
This is certainly one of the more grounded theories, considering Michael Myers was at one point being controlled by an ancient cult of druids that forced him to spawn a child with his niece. But when looking at some of the films in the franchise with a more grounded Michael Myers, like the original 1978 entry or even its 2018 direct sequel – the theory does make a little more sense.
Much like ScreenRant has explained, however, while this would be a good reason as to why Michael Myers doesn’t react to pain – it doesn’t indicate why he can’t die from his injuries. After all, an immunity to pain doesn’t make you immortal – so it only solves one part of the equation.
If we can assume that Michael Myers’ immunity to pain does stem from congenital insensitivity to pain, then it makes sense that it’s a side effect of whatever grants him supposed immortality. But then that begs the question – what does grant him that immortality?
It’s kind of like the question of what came first – the chicken or the egg. And to that extent, it’s perhaps best left unanswered. After all, it’s that area of mystery that makes Michael Myers such a successful horror icon. He’s such a human villain and yet just as supernaturally powered as the likes of some lovecraftian entity. He doesn’t stand by normal human standards and thus shouldn’t be classified by them, no matter how badly we wish to understand him.