If you were to ask the average cinephile what their favorite horror movie is, odds are a lot of then will say the original Halloween from 1978 made by John Carpenter, and who could blame them? The original Halloween is not only a staple for the horror genre, it truly is one of the most remarkable and special movies ever produced in Hollywood. It was a movie that was ultimately made for nothing (especially by today’s standards) and despite all that, it became one of the most profitable independent films of all time. It then spawned an entire franchise but what’s so special about that first Halloween is that it was very much a small independently made film that has now become a big high profiled series. Maybe considered as the grand daddy of the slasher flicks, there’s a reason why the first Halloween movie has been able to stand the test of time for over 40 years. It brought so much to the table and it set the stage for slasher movies that followed after it. The directing from John Carpenter keeps you tensed, the movie is full of claustrophobia and a great sense of exposure and makes things even more special, the music created by John Carpenter, himself, has occupied itself as classic horror music. Halloween works for all those reasons because it’s simple.
Whether or not you like the direct sequels or the two Rob Zombie movies, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse worked on retconning every Halloween movie that followed that first movie and a true sequel, but also a reboot at the same time, set 40 years after the events of the first film with Halloween (2018). As far as this new trilogy of Halloween movies are concerned, it’s universally accepted as the best one. It had the great blend of the old school filmmaking and the modern tactics of a modern slasher film. Halloween Kills, while a step down in quality, is a fast paced slasher film that pits Michael Myers right in the center of it with some of the best kills in the entire franchise. Halloween Ends is being proposed as the final confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers by building up the their 40+ year legacy and it could not have been more unsatisfying.
Halloween Ends is maybe the most disappointing way to cap off a powerful legacy of a horror franchise. The movie goes for some bold decisions, which are aspects that feel odd and jarring to see in a movie called Halloween. The only saving grace the movie offers is Carpenter’s music and when Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers are on screen (or lack there of). Beyond that, everything else is short sided by the hollowness and how empty this final installment feels.
Set four years after the events of Halloween in 2018, Laurie has decided to live a life in solidarity with her grandson, Allison. Michael Myers has suddenly disappeared during this time and his whereabouts are unknown to anyone. But when a young man is wrongfully accused of killing a kid he was babysitting, it sparks a flood of violence that pushes Laurie to come face to face with evil for one last time.
Without getting into spoiler territory, the biggest problems of Halloween Ends revolve around some narrative choices and decisions it makes that seem to be very polarizing and baffling. Instead of that, we’ll simply looked at what worked and what really didn’t work. Ultimately, Halloween Ends is quite possibly the most underwhelming final chapter in any big franchise, horror or not. The focus of Jamie Lee Curtis’ character and especially the most infamous and most brutal horror characters of all time in Michael Myers has zero attention and no build up to it at all. What started off with such promise with the 2018 of Halloween led this new trilogy down a path that is beyond my level of comprehension. When we actually get to the final showdown between the two, it is exciting and thrilling and really serves as the best scene in the whole movie. But the entire build up to it had no purpose because the rest of the movie goes for some odd and perplexing aspects that feel odd and jarring to see in a movie called Halloween.
It’s totally reasonable for a franchise to take chances and for a little more risks, but the new things and swings Ends attempts don’t have an organic purpose because it feels rushed or tonally all over the place. The ideas and themes it’s exploring seem great in principle, but unfortunately it wrecks the entire narrative and maybe for the characters of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, specifically with a new character introduced in the film. Again, without spoilers, there’s a certain character in Halloween Ends that is set to be maybe the worst character in the history of the horror genre. The film even starts off with a startling sequence, but it almost as if director David Gordon Green forgot that he was making a Halloween movie. After the opening scene, everything goes off the rails and with Green being the director of the new Exorcist movie for 2023, we shouldn’t be as optimistic.
It’s shocking that the final installment of this new trilogy of Halloween movies has Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers have less than 10 minuets of screen time, which is the final time we’ll ever see these two again in the same movie. This might be heresy to some and it’s really something that might be even more controversial, but John Carpenter’s music might be the best score for any Halloween movie ever created. It captures the style and quality of a 70s or 80s slasher movie, coupled with modern sensibilities. However, Halloween Ends wraps up an esteemed horror franchise in the most underwhelming way possible. Jamie Lee Curtis is fantastic and seeing Michael Myers will always be enjoyable, no matter what. There just should have been more of them.
Final grade for Halloween Ends: D
Zane's take at the Cinema's 