“Ends” is a very finite claim isn’t it?
After the return of the franchise in 2018’s Halloween, we see this new trilogy close out with Halloween Ends after 2021’s Halloween Kills.
Now I have to state, I was big confused by this film at first. I leant over to the friend I was seeing it with and said “are Laurie and Michael not siblings?”. This means I’m disclosing I haven’t seen the previous features, and I really thought they would keep this banger twist from Halloween II (1981) going. Turns out they thought it was nonsense and it’s better to go with the continued unwarranted delivery of mental health issues and disability.
IT’S HALLOWEEN 2019.
We know this because the film is obsessed with being presented through a nostalgic lens. While I appreciated some of the out-of-date flourish, it came at a cost. This being the clunky script and clunkier acting. Reference-laden scenery jumps out as much as the jump scares, fitted between flat acting and dolly zooms. The intro to the film is a wild ride, setting a great precedence that swiftly unravels as the story develops.
Best final girl, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), returns with survivor’s guilt and PTSD. Her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) is about the same, as they get busy living while trying to avoid dying. New babysitter fodder, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), joins the fray as the vehicle for Myers to terrorize. Will Patton‘s Deputy Frank Hawkins also returns, but the whole time I was thinking “God, Armageddon (1998) is a helluva film“.
Anyway, Michael (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) returns bringing some objectively bad writing around how their mental disability is to blame due to Laurie’s antagonization. This flirting with the films underlying tone of what happens mentally to survivors of traumatic events and how it links our main cast members together. While the idea is worthy, its execution is not as there’s no tangible sense of learning to take from it, with it simply being the vehicle for the slaughter which occurs.
Notably the slaughter is great, inserting itself beautifully into the slasher genre. And Curtis stills rules as the final girl gone rogue, hoping to take down the boogeyman which has hunted them their whole lives. While the film spends its time trying to make the payoff more bold than it is, when it comes to a head, it still delivers to the prestige lain before it.
It’s an okay end.
While not as genre-defining as the original, it certainly does so with a respect that no doubt saw the 2018 film reach the heights of success it did. But if Michael Myers wants a cheeky little rest, he can do so. Let’s see if some new boogeyman can take their place and haunt our dreams.
INSERT HALLOWEEN THEME SONG HERE!
Purely subjective reviews means I'm still not reaching the depths of horror I'm hoping to see on-screen. Whether it's trying to be intentionally schlocky can be left to how you feel about it, Halloween Ends ultimately slashes laboriously during it's 111 minute runtime. Jamie Lee Curtis still rules as Strode though, while Myers is as commanding as ever when they show up.
Now stay down this time Myers, you've earned it.
