Halloween Ends is the final instalment in David Gordon Green’s requel trilogy of the original Halloween movies. After the rather disappointing and infuriating Halloween Kills, this final film takes a daring turn which ultimately works, even if it takes a long time to get there.
Unlike Halloween and Halloween Kills which were set over the same night, Ends is set four years after the events of that night. Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) has not been seen since, but the town of Haddonfield is struggling to move on. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), however, is determined to move on with her life and has bought a new house where she lives with granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is also writing a memoir.
Allyson works as a nurse and after watching Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) being taunted and injured by local bullies, Laurie takes him to the doctor’s office where Allyson works. Back in 2019 on Halloween night, Corey was babysitting a young boy who pranked him by locking him in the attic. Terrified, Corey kicked down the door and accidentally knocked the boy over the staircase railing to his death. Corey was cleared of manslaughter but has suffered in the town ever since, working in a local salvage yard run by his uncle.
Laurie bumps into Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) while out shopping, where she is confronted by the daughter of her ex-neighbour Sondra (Diva Tyler), who blames Laurie for Michael’s actions. Meanwhile, Corey and Allyson bond over their experiences and attend a Halloween party together. After Corey is confronted by the mother of the child he accidentally killed, he argues with Allyson and flees the party. He’s attacked by the bullies again who throw him off a bridge, where he’s dragged into the sewers by Michael, who has been living there for the past 4 years, unbeknown to the townsfolk.
After the initially strong Halloween, Kills was a disappointment, mostly due to its infuriating and ridiculous ending. Because of this, I was a little hesitant to watch Ends in case it was more of the same. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the film picked up four years later rather than carrying on the same night as the previous two films, and this was a really smart move. The opening scenes featuring the events of Corey’s traumatising Halloween night are incredibly tense and set the film up well, even if you do wonder where it’s going. It’s also good to see Laurie actually living and to see a different side to her character than the victim and survivor we’ve seen so far.
The idea behind the plot is great and when it eventually gets to the final act, it is very well executed and really quite brutal and gruesome. I adored the ending to this too, it makes a refreshing change to the usual sequel-baiting horror film endings and provides some much-needed finality to the series. The problem is that it really drags in the middle, and while the romance between Allyson and Corey is fun to begin with, it does get a little tedious after a while and there’s just not enough blood and gore to keep it interesting. It certainly looks and sounds good and feels very unsettling, but it’s definitely missing the horror aspect we’ve come to know so well from the Halloween films.
Ultimately Halloween Kills suffers from the slow pace in the middle act. Had it not been for this, the daring change in the storyline would have been a brilliant way to reinvigorate the franchise in its final instalment. While the plot certainly works and the ending is certainly refreshing, this could have been so much better.
5
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A contract manager moonlighting as a rather discerning film and book critic, with an almost fangirl appreciation for anything made by Christopher Nolan. When I’m not catching up on my latest read or watch, you can usually find me trying out my amateur baking skills – Bake Off here I come!
