A Reel Review: HALLOWEEN ENDS

The HALLOWEEN franchise, which started way back in 1978, has a long and convoluted history, with several reboots, remakes, and broken lines of continuity. In 2018, director David Gordon Green’s HALLOWEEN ignored all sequels and only followed-up the initial 1978 film, with a promised final showdown between horror icons Laurie Strode and the hulking, kitchen-knife wielding Michael Myers. That final showdown was punted down the road for the shitty HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021), and now it’s off into 2022 for HALLOWEEN ENDS. 

Four years have passed since the events of HALLOWEEN KILLS, and the masked Michael Myers has vanished. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), has settled in normal domestic living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). Allyson falls for Corey (Rohan Campbell), a tortured young man once accused of murder who stumbles upon Michael’s hiding place and becomes his virtual pupil…

Directed by David Gordon Green and penned by four writers (including Danny McBride), ENDS is a film that is less concerned with Michael Myers or Laurie and more with the environment. Over the years, the once quiet town of Haddonfield has become a haven for mean jerks, bullies, crooked doctors, shock jocks, and drunk assholes who stalk women at every turn. All of this pushes Corey to his breaking point, and when he finds Michael, he becomes his avatar and starts doing his own revenge killing. It’s odd and bold, and gives ENDS such an identity that it barely feels like a HALLOWEEN film. Aside from the ending, the story in ENDS feels like it may have been better off as the middle chapter. 

Credit to the director and his writers for breaking the old HALLOWEEN mold, but it results in is an unfun and unscary movie. Michael and his knife and mask don’t appear until after an hour has passed, and the time prior to that is just dull. The film has very little scares for a horror movie (a serious problem), and characters just do things for the sake of moving the overcomplicated plot forward. Characters as a whole are all over the place. When we see Laurie in the first film of this trilogy, she is living in a fortress while Michael is locked away. Here, she is living in a picture-perfect gingerbread house while Michael is on the loose. No sense. Allyson’s romance with Corey comes out of nowhere, and Michael can’t decide if he's a wounded old man or invincible. It’s a complete mess. 

ENDS looks great, has a small amount of gore, and the score is excellent. Tension just isn’t there aside from a very good opening sequence, and the film has just the right amount of nostalgic throwbacks. 

The best part of the film is the acting, as the entire cast is excellent.  Jamie Lee Curtis is tough while grieving, and Andi Matichak matches her well. The real star here is Rohan Campbell, who really stretches his acting muscles. 

After two and half movies, we finally get that big final showdown between Laurie and Michael, and although the location for the big last fight is proper (a kitchen. Ha. Ha.) the battle is too quick, shot in the dark, and sloppily edited…and is not worth the long wait of 40-plus years. When it does end, there is no doubt that this is indeed the wrap for this particular line of continuity, and there isn’t a sense of satisfaction as much as a relief. 

BOTTOM LINE: Fuck it