Directed by David Gordon Green, Halloween Ends takes place four years after the events of Halloween Kills and follows Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) hasn’t been seen since his last brutal rampage. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.
Halloween Ends is the final chapter that is supposed to conclude the bloody story of Laurie and Michael in this reboot trilogy. As of writing this review, this film, like its predecessor, has received a largely divisive response with many people either absolutely hating it calling it the worst of the entire franchise, and others who liked it calling it bold and misunderstood. I had no clue what side I was going to be on going in, but having seen this franchise at its lowest of lows and liking the other films of this reboot trilogy over the crap sequels of the past, I was hoping that maybe I’d be on the side that likes it and get the great conclusion that they were building up to. Sadly that wasn’t the case for me.
Halloween Ends is a fumbled, disjointed, and falsely advertised conclusion to the Halloween Trilogy that squanders everything it built up over two films. Is this the worst Halloween film of all time as people have said? Absolutely not, but it is definitely the worst of this trilogy. This film never reaches the loathsome levels of the worst Halloween films in terms of quality but it’s not good because of the choices made by the director and FOUR writers.
Rather than make the epic conclusion to the Laurie vs Michael story they were literally leading to and talking about for several years we get a completely different film that tries to be something else by shoving in a new story as the main focus of the film, putting both Laurie and Michael on the back burner till the very end. The story we are given isn’t necessarily a bad one as it is a very interesting and somewhat investing idea that would have made for a great film of its own. In a way, it does remind me very much of Halloween 3 Season of the Witch, which also went in its own direction and had its own interesting ideas. But that’s not what I and other people were expecting. We were expecting the completion of a vision and this film completely screws up that vision, having little connection to the previous films aside from returning characters.
I don’t know why the filmmakers suddenly decided to completely change their current story in favor of a new one and have that as their conclusion. It also makes me question why Jamie Lee Curtis would choose this as her way of exiting the role of Laurie Strode. It’s nothing embarrassing or pathetic compared to her exit in Halloween Resurrection, and Jamie Lee Curtis gives a fantastic performance as always, but Laurie Strode is hardly the main focus of this whole film and her final confrontation with Michael felt very underwhelming as a result. Their confrontation in Halloween 2018 was honestly masterful and so well set up in comparison to how their final fight was in this film. There didn’t feel like an earned ending with her and Michael as there should have been considering how much torment he’s brought to her over the years and all that he took away from her.
Instead she is forced into a new story that doesn’t really focus on her or her granddaughter for a majority of the film and focuses on the newly introduced Corey Cunningham. Now, this character did end up being surprisingly interesting and investing to me, due to the way his story goes and the strong performance from Rohan Campbell. His story would honestly have made for a great film on its own or even a spin-off to this trilogy had certain things gone differently. Everything involving this character is bold and unique for the Halloween franchise as a whole but this was the completely wrong film for him to be in.
When it comes to Michael himself, like Laurie, he is set aside for most of the film and it is only his influence over the town and its people that plays a major part in the story. Again, an interesting idea and theme that could make for a great film on its own but has no place here.
There are also much fewer scares and less graphic kills in comparison to both Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills, making for a film that lacks very much in the horror department or even the entertainment department. Yes, there are some brutal kills that could give you a chuckle and are done really well from a practical effects standpoint, but anyone who was hoping for a crazy blood bath like in the last film is going to be majorly disappointed.
There’s also a lack of intense atmosphere that the preceding films had, and only a few scenes where I felt any sort of tension, and that really annoyed me. There was very little build-up of suspense or horror and instead some cheap scares in the form of bizarre transitions.
In terms of cinematography and visuals the film does look good, and there are some really great shots worth praising, but compared to previous films that looked gorgeous and visually stunning in many places this one didn’t have that.
One thing that didn’t disappoint at least was John Carpenter’s music. Just like in all the previous installments Carpenter’s score is fantastic here and is effective in enhancing some of the scenes even when the writing could not. Nobody can deny that Carpenter truly is a master of music to this day.
This was meant to be the last Halloween film (for the moment) and the final send-off for Jaimie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and yet this felt nothing like that. It feels like there was a major conflict of vision and direction with this film, which may be the result of the film’s four writers or perhaps some other behind-the-scenes issues that have not gone public yet. Whatever the case, it completely botched the point of this trilogy and delivered an ending that made me feel nothing. I felt no satisfaction or anger for this conclusion, just pure disappointing emptiness of what could and should have been. I’m going to give Halloween Ends a D = 66.
You can find more of my writing on instagram, and check out my channel on YouTube!