Movie: Halloween Ends
Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, Rough House Productions
Director: David Gordon Green
Producers: Malek Akkad, Jason Blum, Bill Block
Scriptwriters: Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
Main Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, Kyle Richards, James Jude Courtney
Release Date: October 14th 2022 (US)
Running Time: 111 minutes
Certificate: 18
Introduction
Please no more I beg. Those were close to my exact thoughts when I heard about Halloween Ends. And boy oh boy did it somehow turn out worse than my low expectations for it in the first place. So hopefully this can finally be the film which kills both the franchise and Michael Myers for good as 13 films is quite frankly insane. Also SPOILERS ahead. So without further ado let’s get into my review of the film before it drives me more insane.
Synopsis
Halloween Ends is yet another film in the endless struggle between the Strode Family and the immortal serial killer: Michael Myers. This time it sees Laurie Strode happily living with her granddaughter, Allyson, while she is writing her memoirs. That is until the case of Corey Cunningham comes barging into her life when it becomes clear his past trauma draws him into the serial killer’s path. Here, Laurie must make a choice about whether to intervene to save Allyson from Corey or risk dragging out her old foe, Michael Myers for one last showdown.
Anyway, one thing is for sure the town of Haddonfield is in for another brutal Halloween with no less than two severely traumatised men on the loose and ready to kill. So yeah will this be the last Halloween film? Hopefully time will tell about that. So without further ado let’s get into the analysis portion of the review.
Analysis
Jamie Lee Curtis’s Performance in Halloween Ends
To begin my analysis of Halloween Ends, what better place to begin than with the franchise’s most enduring star: Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. Now I love Jamie Lee Curtis but this performance in Halloween Ends was just alright. Now while there are some scenes particularly towards the end where she is acting her heart out often it just sort of feels like she’s there as a form of nostalgic fan service to older Halloween fans.
This unfortunately feels very true when she’s just sort of in the background most of the time and only brought forward to fight Michael at the end. Now that’s funny because she has almost the exact same arc in Halloween Kills….. This wouldn’t be so much of an issue if the rest of the cast could hold down the fort in terms of the narrative but often they struggle due to a lacklustre script at times. So overall, while Jamie Lee Curtis certainly doesn’t sign off from the legendary franchise with a world bearing performance it’s good enough that both nostalgic and new fans will appreciate it for what it is.
Story in Halloween Ends
Speaking of the story in Halloween Ends, that nicely segues into my next portion of analysis about the story and it often feels lacklustre. So what are some examples of this? Well, take the scene where Corey runs into Michael Myers in the sewers beneath Haddonfield. Now while I understand Michael does have some slim chance of mercy within his code, it does feel weird that Michael lets Corey leave with the sewers completely unscathed considering how many people Michael randomly kills throughout the franchise.
Anyway, it does seem to hint at the fact the narrative hinges on Michael randomly deciding to show mercy to Corey in the sewers rather than killing him. Anyway, also it just emphasises a larger problem for the Halloween Ends narrative: that it really relies on a hell of a lot of mercy from Michael Myers. Feels weird but maybe that’s just me….
The ‘End’ in Halloween Ends
Now to conclude my analysis of Halloween Ends, I’m going to discuss the film’s ending and whether or not Halloween has finally ended. So, basically the ending involves Michael killing Corey for taking his mark and then Laurie and Allyson killing Michael before throwing him in a woodchipper. Now, if this was any other franchise that would probably be the end. Alas, with Halloween Ends I’m holding my breath because this is a 13 film franchise with at least 5 different spin offs so there’s every chance Michael somehow magically returns in another alternate universe Haddonfield and starts up again.
But really this is more indicative of a larger problem with Hollywood franchises where the studios just don’t know when to leave a franchise on a satisfactory ending. And while I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that Halloween Ends is a film, it does at least have an ending which provides clarity and some closure to the franchise. Now please leave the dead horse alone…..
Summary
To summarise Halloween Ends, this is a perfect example of how to finally kill a franchise and to mercifully kill it. This is in spite of Jamie Lee Curtis trying to drag something positive out of whatever the narrative can provide. So yeah, hopefully this is finally the last ride of the very dead horse.
Overall Rating: 4.5/10 – Below Average
Target Audience: 18+
Content Warning: Severe Violence and Gore, Severe Profanity, Mild Alcohol Drugs and Smoking, Severe Frightening and Intense Scenes
Recommendation: No
