“Halloween Ends” (2022) is the last Blumhouse film and the thirteenth entry in the overall “Halloween” franchise. Four years after the events in “Halloween” (2018) and “Halloween Kills” (2021), Michael disappeared, but Haddonfield struggles to move on. Some, like Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her granddaughter Alison (Andi Matichak) try to embrace life and move on, but most of the town is still acrimonious and at each other’s throats. One person who may be a victim of this atmosphere is Corey (Rohan Campbell), amateur landscaper and babysitter in a pinch, whom the film introduces in the cold open.
For anyone new to my tastes, I am not a fan of this particular trilogy. I love the original film and the branch that reveals Laurie and Michael Myers are siblings. This trilogy frames Mike as a glorified incel whom Laurie rejected. The first movie was tolerable, but terrible. The second was dreckitude. Out of the three movies, I hated this one the least though it is a stretch to call it a “Halloween” movie. At least the film tried to do something different. In isolation, the film has intriguing moments, but it never coalesces into a coherent story and is just a mess, I’m going to spoil “Halloween Ends” hard.
Our pal Mike is just inexplicably evil, and “Halloween Ends” is a movie guide on how to make a boogeyman manual. Instead of exploring Michael Myers’ past, we have Corey. Though I do think there is something wrong with Corey, I will grant his first two kills as an accident and self-defense. Corey seemed to know that he should not drink alcohol and avoids it. He also has a bit of an anger problem, but considering the context, he remains sympathetic, which made it a potentially interesting concept. The film seemed to toy with exploring the source of Mike’s power by watching Corey transform into someone who could not be killed. I appreciated that the filmmakers were going for something different, and if they had stuck to a single concept, it could have worked, but they could not. Campbell nails the Myers’ physicality
Unfortunately Corey fits into other tropes too well for the concept to work. He is the bullied kid who seeks revenge, but instead of through a mass shooting, he becomes the next boogeyman. That trope is not inexplicable evil, but twisted logic and vengeance, which is not the spirit of Michael Myers. Corey also gets a bad boy makeover that makes him irresistible to the women in this film. This part had me baffled. Laurie is going to hook her only living descendant up with a known manslaughterer? You can empathize with someone in other ways. The filmmakers really wanted to explore whether Mike would be a great lay and always wondered how that would work so Corey will have to do. While I think that the filmmakers revealed more about their sexual fantasies than I ever wanted to know, I am not mad at them nor will I shame them. I’ll bite. Let’s go.
If this “Halloween” trilogy has been consistent, Alison has always had bad taste in men—choosing the worst guy in the room so I can buy it. Also while Campbell is not my cup of tea, I can see how he could be a meatier Hugh Dancy from “Hannibal” (2013). He managed to have some sort of swagger, and I think that he worked with what he was given. Matichak and Campbell had chemistry. If I had a problem with the relationship, they were acting like teenagers, not adults. She is a nurse with shifts and office beef. This forbidden, dramatic dynamic seemed dissonant with their stations in life, but I will sign a waiver since their dating lives were arrested because of their respective traumatic events. It is still a better love story than Anakin and Padme in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy.
“Halloween Ends” falls apart because of the arc of this relationship. Laurie senses Corey’s transformation and disapproves of the relationship. Then a series of contrived misunderstandings dominate the narrative arc from beginning to end. If the film does have a consistent theme, it is, “I know that this does not look good, but let me explain.” It is the horror equivalent of a 70s sitcom relying on misunderstandings to move the plot back to Laurie and Mike instead of sticking to the film that they wanted to make: Corey, the Son of Michael Myers. They should have stuck to making it a possession film. The filmmakers are really weird to me because this trilogy screams, “I never wanted Laurie to be the protagonist, and I will do anything to get a break from her, including introducing a new character in the final chapter.” They relate more to a guy who suddenly decides to become Mike Myers’ understudy. Any unexplained murders near the filmmakers’ location? At least in this installment, Laurie gets more cool and badass moments than the first two films.
“Halloween Ends” briefly explores how Laurie would act if she tried to move on. While I am not a fan of the eternal monologue (she is a writer now), I enjoyed the depictions of Laurie trying to have a normal life. The air felt lighter, and that has been missing in all the other sequels, which makes sense because murder. We forget that Laurie used to like Halloween, carving pumpkins, etc. so I appreciated the brief depiction of her trying to move on. I love that even a chill, happy Laurie is chucking canned vegetables at people’s heads.
The filmmakers of “Halloween Ends” make odd choices. While I applaud the stab at diversity in this trilogy, it has felt off. To be fair, the people of Haddonfield, regardless of race, are awful, but one black woman rains on Laurie’s parade, and the most brutal depicted murder happens to a black man—a close second happens on an almost off-screen barbeque. On a non-race level, the filmmakers see band members as teen bullies-two girls and two boys. So not a group of boys? Not jocks? I need the filmmakers to explain why they’re mad at band camp. Even though the film is set around 2022, aesthetically it feels retro, 70s and 80s. Is that the look now? The hand holding theme-whatever. Felt awkward. I hate clip shows.
I did like the opening. It had a “The Shining” vibe, including with the fisheye mirror. Also shout out to Ron (Rick Moose), who deserved better. Who is going to take care of his office cat? What is the cat’s name?!? Unpopular opinion: I liked Nurse Deb (Michele Dawson). When Allyson snapped at her boss, fair or not, she just owned it and kept it pushing instead of flexing her new powers. If a nurse wants to get a promotion by sleeping with someone, in this day and age, I think that she would not aim for a doctor, but a hospital administrator/manager. This film needs to update its hospital organization chart. Did COVID teach outsiders nothing about health care now?!?
I still think that Michael Myers needs to sue for defamation. “Halloween Ends” was disrespectful to him! Let’s say that he gets his powers from fear and murder. He has been fasting for four years then after he hires an assistant, his assistant jumps and mugs him! No. Michael Myers would not tolerate such disrespect. If David Spade could use adrenalin to stop someone twice his size, Michael Myers can too. Then he dies from exsanguination! And post-mortem crowd surfing! While I don’t mind crushing him, burn his parts, burn them and scatter the ashes! The best scene that he got: when Laurie brandishes knitting needles, and Mike is like, “Not today, Satan!”
This trilogy failed, but at least “Halloween Ends” failed by trying something new. Now excuse me while I rewatch the original and “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998).
