"Halloween Ends" - Film Review
As the title would imply, Halloween Ends is being touted as the final entry in the long-running Michael Myers-led Halloween slasher franchise. Whether or not that proves to be true is something only time will tell. For now, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) finds himself back in Haddonfield to torment Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) once again. Only this time, Laurie has a newfound friend in Corey (Rohan Campbell), a babysitter who was wrongfully accused of killing a kid on Halloween night three years ago.
On the one hand, there’s still something exciting about seeing Curtis take on the role of Laurie. In this latest installment, she is 63 years old, and it’s been forty-four long years since her film debut in the 1978 Halloween. It’s an excitement that wears thin fairly quickly, but the fact is that there aren’t many roles that allow women of her age to lead a film in this genre. The recent X comes to mind, where instead of casting a woman in her eighties, they put twenty-eight year old Mia Goth in prosthetics. It’s clear that Curtis realizes the gift she’s been given and relishes the opportunity to return to her roots.
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Not as much kindness can be afforded to the rest of Halloween Ends. For the franchise finale, the filmmakers made the baffling choice to center the narrative on newer characters. Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), her infatuation with Corey, and a ridiculous group of marching band bullies take center stage for the supposed epic conclusion of the fight between Laurie and Michael. Sure, Corey and Allyson are compelling, but this was always the story of Laurie and Michael. To take that away from Laurie, especially in the final film, feels like a letdown of the highest degree. Why did Michael live this long, after he should have died on at least twenty different occasions, unless it was to give Laurie and Michael the well-deserved spotlight for their last showdown?
Halloween Ends operates under the assumption that if the audience is buried in enough jumpscares and musical stings, they’ll forgive the lack of plot. Which, to be fair, is what the original 1978 Halloween did, so in a way this is a return to its origins. However, the horror genre has changed significantly since 1978, and audiences are expecting something more than gnarly kills loosely held together by paperthin stitches.
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In the three most recent films of the Halloween franchise, the theme of nature versus nurture has been half-heartedly examined. Halloween Ends is no exception to this weak attempt at becoming something deeper than a shallow slasher movie. It’s an interesting question to try to parse out, but Halloween Ends doesn’t know which side it wishes to argue for. Instead, it exists in a gray area, unbothered by the burden of providing purpose to the film.
Halloween Ends will scratch the slasher itch for some. If you want gruesome kills, Halloween Ends has that. If you were hoping for a more meaningful end to a 40+ year franchise, you should probably look elsewhere.
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