Directed by: David Gordon Green
Written by: Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, Kyle Richards
Rating: [1.5/5]
Claiming to usher in the definitive end of a very famous horror icon feels like the equivalent of telling me my wife is bad at baking, you’re most definitely wrong. There is far too much money to be made to stop the conveyer belt of films rake in more cash. Halloween Ends promises to deliver on that promise and while it can be said that it somewhat delivers on it, the rest of the film just does not work.
Following the tragedy that occurred the previous Halloween when Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) lost her daughter to Michael Myers (Nick Castle), there has been mourning and waiting for what will come next from the Shape. That comes from Corey (Rohan Campbell), following the events of a tragic night as he connects with Michael Myers in a way that’s unexpected.
This sequel trilogy following the aftermath of the brilliant original Halloween with Laurie Strode dealing with the trauma of that initial horrific night has been quite the roller coaster. The 2018 sequel of the same name came out, and it very much impressed in the way it connected everything back and showed the terrible consequences it left on Laurie Strode. However, then it came to Halloween Kills, which was in all honesty, a complete disaster so there was some hope that they could rectify the mistakes of that feature and conclude everything with a nice bow and ignoring the messy middle. While this feature is a slight improvement on the preceding film, it’s the equivalent of upgrading a bad cheeseburger with some ketchup.
One thing that this film deserves credit for is not taking the obvious route in where it takes the story, at least at first. In a way, it follows through the theme of the previous film of evil being impossible to kill with Michael Myers representing this in his very essence. Shifting that to Corey certainly puts the franchise in some interesting territory but what it does with it makes the whole process a complete waste of time. Corey represents what evil can turn into when someone gets pushed to a specific point in life where they are mistreated and unfairly maligned. Sure, that’s a good palace to start but then you add in his dynamic with Allyson (Andi Matichak), Laurie Strode’s granddaughter and it just becomes an irreconcilable mess. Her motivation, in particular, is completely asinine and almost makes a mockery of everything Laurie Strode withstood throughout these films. That begins the precipitous fall of this film into chaos and not in a good way.
For all of the surprises this feature wants to hang its hat on, it just does not find a way to piece it all together resolutely. It takes the idea of Michael being a representation of evil that cannot be killed and then just does away with this idea. It continues to take valuable screentime away from Laurie to focus on Corey, which if it had a better landing would have made sense. For goodness sake, this could be potentially the last time we see the famous Laurie Strode and this is the effort to send her off with? Just an absolute shame.
As with all films bearing this title, this feature offers plenty of brutal kills with one of the most gruesome of them coming at the very beginning, which happened to be unintentional but really sets things going in a good way. The kills from then just got worse and worse, which then reached its height at the much-hyped final showdown between Laurie and Michael that theoretically should end it all. It ended up being a mixed bag in that regard but the ones that do work can definitely be lauded for being effective in their brutality. It definitely would not be a Halloween film without it.
Halloween Ends finally puts an end to this unfortunate sequel trilogy to one of the greatest horror films ever made. Starting overall with much promise, this trilogy mostly feels quite deflating. So many ideas are thrown out there to be utilized that land like a pigeon flying into a window. The seeds were certainly there but none of it really lands or has the desired impact. Plus, they killed off Judy Greer in the last film, which is a sacrilegious act in itself. Not the ending Laurie Strode deserved but perhaps now she can finally rest until they inevitably recast her.
Films with Josh 
