Halloween Ends is the final installment of the legacy sequel trilogy helmed by David Gordon Green, and his main writing collaborator, Danny McBride. This latest one also credits Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier as co-writers. Taking place four years after the events of the prior film, we find Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) living a relatively normal and quiet life with her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak). She writes her memoirs while Allyson develops a connection with a local outcast, Corey (Rohan Campbell). But things don’t stay peaceful for long as Michael Myers makes an unexpected return to the town of Haddonfield.
I haven’t loved any of the films in the trilogy up to this point, my relationship with them has definitely been at odds with a lot of the general consensus surrounding them. The 2018 film is the most cohesive and solid from a structural standpoint, but it otherwise felt uninspired and a mishmash of various tropes and trends that were popular in many legacy sequels at the time. Halloween Kills is a simpler and sillier movie, but it was an enjoyably mean-spirited kill fest, and on that level, I had a good time with it. Though I can see why others did not vibe with it.
Which brings us to this finale to the trilogy. I haven’t looked it up, but I’m assuming the word on it is fairly mixed, and that is understandable as well. The film, on a thematic level, is probably the most muddled of the three, trying to expand upon the nature of evil, how much it can be born within you versus how much it can be brought out by your environment, how much Myers is portrayed as a mythic boogeyman as opposed to just a guy in a mask, and how a town can be affected by collective trauma. The latter of which I think is better handled here than it was in the previous film. Though, I’m not sure many of these ideas ultimately add up to much, especially in relation to the Corey character, who becomes a big part in Michael Myers return.
That said, on a purely story level, I think Halloween Ends is by far the most interesting of the three. While individual elements could be drawn from other entries in the franchise, there’s a lot here in the execution that feels genuinely different and fresh, and dare I say, challenging. It doesn’t feel the need to do overt tributes to previous films, or even follow the structure of many of those films as well. For a good chunk of the film, it was almost exclusively devoting its time to exploring character relationships. And it also provides some finality to the story, which is a pretty rare thing to see in slashers.
When it comes to the slasher part, I can see why some might be underwhelmed. There isn’t much slashing for a majority of the film, and many of those moments within the first half where a character is killed, the film will cut away before the blow. A much different vibe from the proudly gratuitous violence of Halloween Kills, which I did enjoy. One additional aspect that I actually missed was the humor. The previous entries would often have these extended scenes of introducing some characters talking about something goofy before getting brutally murdered. That is no longer present. In fact, most of the humor is stripped away here.
I honestly enjoyed Halloween Ends far more than I anticipated. Having been largely unimpressed with the 2018 film, these films have only become better and better, even if for reasons that would only ever apply to me. However, this film in particular is genuinely fascinating in what it’s doing and what it’s trying to explore, and the ways it goes about it. It borders on unconventional, for a Halloween film at the very least, and will likely prove to be divisive because of it. I was quite compelled by the film, I think it’s the best in terms of Green’s direction, the score from John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies is still great, and the cast is pretty great all around. You don’t often get slasher films that are ambitious and weird (speaking of – Terrifier 2 is still in theaters, and worth your time), and I admire that within this trilogy, each film was very distinctive and unique from one another. Some elements are definitely messy, but it offers a satisfying conclusion and it has swirling around in my mind ever since leaving the theater, and I feel like I might continue to think about it for a long time.
Halloween Ends is now out in theaters and streaming on Peacock.