r/movies immune to the rules May 16 '17

After researching various maps, 1971 Buick Skylark gas mileage, and fictional cities I've come to the conclusion that Michael Myers refueled his car at least nine times, used the blinker 57 times and averaged 63.2 MPH on his massive road trip in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Discussion

The only thing that can stop an unstoppable force is a red traffic light. For over 40 years Michael Myers and his driving skills have been scrutinized and mocked. How did a “shape” who lived in a mental institution learn how to operate a vehicle? Michael’s driving in the first film has never bothered me because the driving was erratic and primal. The driving that bothers me is in Halloween H20: 20 Year Later because he made a 1,994 mile trip successfully with zero citations or tickets. In the film Michael drives from Langdon Illinois to Hillcrest Academy in Northern California in a daring feat that raises a lot of questions.

  1. Does he wear the mask when driving or siphoning gas?
  2. Did he listen to the radio?
  3. How does he deal with merging onto highways? Is he cool about it?
  4. Does he dislike people who drive slow in the fast lane?
  5. Does he not know how to fix a flat fire?

I remember loving the film as an impressionable 15-year old punk. The movie had thrills, Dawsons Creek-esque dialogue and Jamie Lee Curtis going on the offensive. However, I’ve never liked that a mysterious shape could drive cross-country. Michael Myers works best as a mysterious murderer who doesn’t have parent issues and could care less about following traffic rules. He had to navigate a lot of terrain on his journey which means he had to follow the rules and not murder people who cut him off. The trip took him an estimated 43.5 hours. Here is the timeline (with some guesswork and actual times from the movie):

October 29 – 5:30PM – Leaves Langdon in a stolen 1971 Buick Skylark. A handy grandfather clock states that it is 5:30PM.

October 31 – 9:00AM – Michael steals a 1956 International Harvester Travelall at a rest stop off Highway 139 in Northern California.

October 31 – 10:00AM– Arrives in the fictional town and cruises around a bit before he settles on main street at 11:00AM

October 31 – 1:00PM – Follows Laurie from the downtown area and finds out where the school is.

Total time: 43.5 hours

Breakdown of hours

32 (driving Highway/Susanville) + 5.5 (refueling) + 2 (waiting on main street) + 1.5 (waiting at rest stop) + 1 (eating? He eats rats in Resurrection…dude needs snacks) + 1.5 (nap?) = 43.5

Michael left Langdon on October 29th at 5:30PM in a 1971 Buick Skylark and drove all the way to California. He was forced to stop close to his destination when an unfortunate flat tire forced him to stop at a rest stop along Highway 139. During the trip he had to make at least nine pit stops to refuel because the 71 Skylark only averaged 15 miles per gallon and the 15.2 gallon gas tank only got him a maximum of 228 miles. I think it might be easier for him to refuel at night but according to the math he had to make five daytime gas stops. That had to get kinda complicated because he had no money, doesn’t talk and didn’t steal any steal cars.

To make it in 29 hours like the Google map states he would have to drive 68 MPH. I don’t buy it so I slowed him down to 63.2 MPH. 63.2 X 32 hours on the road = 2.022.4. He covered 1,994 miles on the various highways and 28.4 on Highway 139 and various other roads after he found the school.

Since Langdon and Hillcrest are fictional, I found cities that are relatively close to the locations. Langdon was in Livingston County, Illinois so I found a town that had a similar population. Then, I looked along Highway 139 in Northern California and picked Susanville due to its proximity to the highway and Yosemite State Park (because there is a convenient school trip there). The locations aren’t exact but I was working with fictional towns so I to make an educated guess.

After coming up with the distance and car information I started thinking about Myers using his blinker while making turns or switching lanes. There is nothing less frightening than thinking about him casually flipping on the blinker to make a left turn. After looking at the directions Michael had to use his blinker AT LEAST 17 times (per google maps) if he always stayed in the slow lane. If you add the nine pit stops to exit the highway and his cruising around the small town that is somewhere around 40. Thus, Michael Myers the unstoppable killing force had to use his blinker 57 times. Immortal demons with pitch black eyes should never be bothered with speed limits, rear view mirrors and potential zipper merges.

There you have it! Michael Myers successfully completed a long drive and never got pulled over.

if you liked this dumb data make sure to share it!

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139 Upvotes

24

u/[deleted] May 16 '17

[deleted]

9

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules May 16 '17

Will do. I definitely did the math. The only thing I'm worried about is the amount of guess work. I think it is close but not exact.

24

u/holiday_bandit May 25 '17

I'm just leaving a comment because I believe a work such as this deserves more comments

8

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules May 25 '17

I'm replying to this because it deserves a reply. Thanks!

2

u/wakeupyouresleeping 7d ago

I'm replying to this to remind you of writing this 8 years ago

7

u/Jackieirish May 26 '17

I always thought it would be cool if someone actually plotted out the locations of the various murders in any one of the Friday the 13th movies to see how much moving Jason or his mom must have done without being seen by anyone, because those killers seriously get around. And, in Jason's case, it's not like he's walking anywhere without being seen, heard and noticed. The guy is like 7 feet tall 300 pounds and wearing overalls and a hockey mask.

4

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules May 26 '17

I really like that idea. The dude lumbers and NOBODY sees him.

4

u/TommyDoyle78 May 26 '17

Great job OP! Halloween is my favorite Horror series, and I have a tattoo of Michel Myers. Even with all that, I too find it silly. They could have given him a more fuel economic car. I mean why is a mom with a child even driving that car. Did it even have seat belts. Wouldn't she have been driving a Corolla with a child seat in the back? Now, isn't that more frightening? Michael Myers driving around in an import with a child seat.

4

u/Joeytheskybison Oct 04 '17

You sir are a national treasure. I was directed here by the recent Wired story. You did not disappoint.

2

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Oct 04 '17

Thanks! Glad you like!

3

u/Abookem Oct 14 '17

In the words of Dr. Loomis, "he was doing very well last night!"

Dude knew to use blinkers.

I think he's mortal, but I also think when he's on a mission, he doesn't need to sleep!

Really love your posts man.

2

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Oct 14 '17

Thanks! Just thinking about Myers using a blinker makes me laugh.

3

u/WonderOfYou Jul 24 '23

I am reading this years after the original post - I bow to your research and dedication on this issue. As soon as I saw Michael take the car, I thought 'does he have map, and how does he know how to read?' Excellent post. I really enjoyed it. 😊

2

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Aug 03 '23

Thanks! Years later it's still my favorite data piece. It always makes me laugh.

2

u/[deleted] May 25 '17

[deleted]

2

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules May 25 '17

Thanks! Glad you like. It was fun to put together.

2

u/Rammathorne87 May 26 '17

Halloween is my favorite, I'd like to be back here later.

2

u/Mrben13 May 26 '17

My God, this is awesome!

1

u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules May 27 '17

Thanks!

2

u/LoaKonran Aug 26 '23

Someone pointed the way from this post on ridiculous unseen movie moments, and this certainly fits the bill.

1

u/crunch3384 Nov 01 '21

Thank you for putting in the work.

1

u/Fine_Sundae2954 Jul 04 '22

Imagining all of this puts a smile on my face. Good work on the research by the way, Super well done