After the disappointing Halloween Kills, my expectations for Halloween Ends were very low, Halloween: Resurrection low, so I was surprised with how much I enjoyed Halloween Ends.
Halloween Ends is the finale of the David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy, taking place four years after the events of Halloween Kills. Michael hasn’t returned and Laurie is finally able to begin to put that trauma behind her. Despite the boogyman being gone, evil still festers in Haddonfield. When murders or suicides occur, the residents want to push the blame onto Michael, even if he isn’t there.
The main character of Ends isn’t Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) but Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), a young college student whose life is changed after a horrible accident on Halloween night where his promising future is destroyed, leaving him to be the towns newest villain.
This story arc is what makes Halloween Ends more unique. Campbell’s performance will make you feel so much for sympathy for Corey. His isolation from the residents in Haddonfield because of the accident that we know he had no malice or fault in, is heartbreaking. Once a sweet kid that seemed to be well liked, transforming into the person that others gossip about as he walks past.
This is more Corey’s movie than it is Laurie’s, and I wasn’t mad about this. Through the numerous Halloween movies, Laurie has defeated Michael, only for another reboot to put her through the same ordeal over again. It was really nice to see that Laurie live her life without fear, no longer living in a bunker filled with guns, enjoying life with her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), living in a regular house and writing her memoir.
So now that we get to see a Halloween movie telling another character’s story, I must admit that Corey is really refreshing for a horror movie. His isn’t about trying to outsmart the killer or survive the night, he’s being tested to not be the man Haddonfield thinks he is. Corey’s relationship with Laurie and Allyson is a huge driving force for the narrative. Both can relate to his isolation and the treatment as a “freak” or “psycho” in Haddonfield.
The special effects and makeup team have created kills so brutal, that for anyone feeling frustrated by the amount of time a slasher movie gets to slashing, I think this will give you that bloody violence you came to a Halloween movie to see. I know this movie will divide people, some will really enjoy the more character driven story with less Michael Myers and be fine with having limited gore.
The biggest issue I have is the ending, it felt like a change made by the studio last minute, it felt so disjointed from the rest of the film, almost making me feel like everything leading up to the finale was a waste. Thankfully, I enjoyed the rest of the film enough to forgive its ending.
For those that are expecting the usual Halloween movie, you may not get the same level of enjoyment. But don’t write it off! The Halloween franchise has never had the greatest sequels, offering more of the same to varying degrees of success with some turning Michael into a joke, sometimes so much that he loses the fear he created in the first instalment. However, if you’ve been asking for a change to the Halloween franchise, Halloween Ends is exactly what you’ve been waiting for.