After 44 years, 12 movies, three reboots, and a trail of blood so long it rivals the line at a Chick Fil A drive-thru, the saga of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers is coming to an end. Halloween Ends picks up with Strode and the town of Haddonfield attempting to move forward from the events of Halloween Kills as their boogeyman prepares for a terrorizing return.
With horror’s second-greatest heroine of all time (Alien’s Ripley will forever be first #NoDebates) and one of its coldest killers, a Halloween finale warrants something special that does its iconic characters’ legacies justice. Sadly, the farewell we received is the final and worst piece of a once-promising trilogy that quickly became the epitome of diminishing returns.
Halloween Ends follows the same formula as 2018’s Halloween and 2021’s Halloween Kills – it’s a slasher film with a strong dose of social commentary. Nothing wrong with that because that combination worked extraordinarily well in the 2018 film and to a lesser extent but still good in the 2021 film. This time, that mix goes ridiculously wrong and continues director and co-writer David Gordon Green’s downward trend with the series.
The newest entry follows up the series' previous takes on women’s empowerment and mob mentality with a story built on how evil permeates when given too much focus. While it’s an important and ironically timely theme with the current climate, Green completely shifts the film from a Halloween story to something that resembles a violent teen drama.
His decision to move Halloween Ends in this direction takes the movie away from Laurie and Michael and gives it to Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson, and the series newcomer, Corey. A movie exists for those two and their stories, but this one isn’t and should have never been it.
Jump scares are almost non-existent, continuing the reduction that plagued Halloween Kills. The kills are almost equally non-existent. There’s a body count, but except for maybe two kills, there’s zero creativity in them, and many don’t happen on screen. The effort that previously went into scares and kills is given to exploring Allyson’s and Corey’s plans.
Another misstep Green and Co. took with this film is how they wrote for Laurie and Allyson. The Halloween franchise's hallmark has been women's strength and empowerment, and the current trilogy did an excellent job of maintaining that until now. In a departure from the previous films, Halloween Ends has Laurie and Allyson awkwardly flirting with men and a few more instances of women in boy-crazy states. It’s the antithesis of everything the franchise created when it helped establish the final girl trope.
Instead of it being a film that effectively sets up an epic last stand, Halloween Ends moves more like a gory, glorified anti-bullying PSA fit for the FreeForm network. While it’s clear that more than Laurie and Michael are impacted by the events in the Halloween movies, we selfishly and rightfully crave as much Laurie and Michael as possible, considering this is our last time seeing them.
Who knows what the studio’s plans are, given their ability to resurrect characters and reboot/rework sequels to make an additional release happen if they want one. However, if this is the final chance to say goodbye to Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, it’s time to start a Change.org petition for a do-over.
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