Rhiannon Elizabeth Irons
Anyone who knows me knows my love of John Carpenter’s Halloween. It’s my favourite film of all time. Michael Myers is the ultimate boogeyman, regardless of which timeline from the series you follow. He’s unrelenting, the epitome of pure evil, while Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is what every budding scream queen aspires to be.
This October, one of the horror genres biggest icons is set to return for one last hurrah. Boasting a trailer that pitted the ultimate final girl against her boogeyman, excitement mounted for Halloween Ends. Anticipating an explosive resolve, I’d be lying if I said my expectations weren’t high.
Unfortunately, the final entry to this long-running franchise was more of a fizzle than a big bang.
Taking place four years after the events of 2018’s massacre (2018’s Halloween and Halloween Kills), Laurie Strode is now living with her granddaughter, Allyson, who seems to be thriving as a nurse at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. With both of Allyson’s parents murdered by Michael Myers, Laurie has taken it upon herself be Allyson’s guardian, cleaning herself up and becoming sober. For the first time since 1978, we see Laurie actually enjoying the return of Halloween as she forges a ‘normal’ life for her and her granddaughter.
She’s exercising her demons by writing a book of her survival against the boogeyman. Using narration throughout the film, we can see just how far Laurie has come with the help of therapy and alcohol counseling. Her paranoia is gone and she genuinely seems happy.
It is sad to see the town’s reaction to her, blaming her directly for bringing the wrath of Michael Myers upon them. With deaths occurring each year on Halloween since the 2018 massacre, it seems each resident harbors a resentment for Laurie.
Also returning in this film are Haddonfield police officer and teased love interest for Laurie, Frank Hawkins, former babysitting charge, Lindsey Wallace, and of course, infamous serial killer, Michael Myers, who had simply vanished after murdering Karen at the end of Halloween Kills.
Naturally, like most new entries to a franchise, we have a slew of new characters to love and loathe. Enter Corey Cunningham and his family consisting of an overbearing mother and a nonchalant uncle, Nurse Deb, Doctor Mathis, Billy, Margot, Stacey, and Willy the Kid.
Let’s be real. Most of the new characters in a horror movie are fodder for the body count. Usually most are insufferable to the point of repulsiveness, and we quickly cheer as they are dispatched.
While that rings true to some of the newcomers to Halloween Ends, my distain for how they were dispatched remains. Like most horror fans, I do enjoy a well-deserved death and, don’t get me wrong, many on the body count deserved a gruesome kill. But we go to a Halloween movie to see these unsuspecting, boorish characters get killed off by Michael Myers.
Don’t get me wrong, there are moments of greatness intertwined in this film. Laurie is doing better and it’s fantastic to see glimpses of the old, unaffected Laurie. Even her outfit during the final showdown is a direct homage to the original movie. I, for one, love the nostalgia in reinvigorated franchises. Paying respects to what came before it so not to piss-off old audiences but giving it a fresh twist to excite a new generation.
Seeing Laurie get flirty with Frank was a highlight. It had been hinted at in 2018’s Halloween and again in Halloween Kills. I had hoped by now some romance had blossomed, but it seems that they were not meant to be.
The opening sequence taking place on Halloween night 2019, and where we’re introduced to Corey Cunningham, was a stroke of genius. Going against the grain of previous films in the franchise, it was great to see a male babysitter, even if he was a last-minute thought for the parents. The events that follow were every babysitter’s worst nightmare.
Plagued by the tragic turn of events, Corey is ostracized by the community, much in a similar fashion to what Laurie and Allyson are. One big difference is Allyson is seen as a victim, while Laurie and Corey are blamed for their circumstances.
It is these tragedies that sees Laurie reach out to Corey after witnessing him being tormented by band geeks (yes, you read that right – band geeks are the bullies in Haddonfield). Laurie steps in to help and showing how much of a badass she is, she offers Corey a chance to get even with his bullies by slashing the tires of their car. Corey does, which only enrages them further. So much so, another confrontation leads to the band geeks tossing Corey off a bridge. It is this pivotal moment that brings forth the boogeyman.
However, these moments of brilliance are few and far between. The story feels convoluted, an incoherent affair from what’s previously come before it. As much as “Evil dies tonight” was an exasperating chant vexing Halloween Kills, it wasn’t as bad as the glaring plot holes and slow burn run time that made this intolerable.
Michael Myers, who was once described as “purely and simply evil” is a shell of his former self. Succumbing to age and injuries from his previous outings, he struggles to deliver the same fear that he was able to inflict a mere four years ago.
Allyson’s character also took a huge step backwards as she sides with her new boyfriend, Corey Cunningham, over her grandmother. And Corey is one of these insufferable characters that make it hard to like anything about him. But the kicker is, he didn’t start out that way. During the aforementioned opening sequence, he was likeable. We were rooting for him. Sure, tragedies have a way of affecting us to the point that our personalities change. His personality took such a drastic turn that he could have been mistaken for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Narration from Laurie providing exposition was unnecessary. Yes, it was great to see Laurie putting her thoughts into words but having her narrate the events that plagued Haddonfield since 2018 was a bit much.
The final showdown between Michael and Laurie is teased heavily in the trailer with homages to their original showdown in 1978. And while I was pleased to see it finally come to a head, the results were lackluster. This is Michael freakin’ Myers we’re talking about here. He’s not a flash in the pan of horror movie serial killers. He IS the boogeyman. He IS the stuff of nightmares. He IS pure evil. And his ending, while bloody and somewhat predictable, was not befitting a villain of his stature.
I wish I could say that Halloween Ends was the perfect way to end the franchise. I wish I could say I enjoyed the experimental direction in which the story went. I wish I could say I liked this movie. But I can’t. I have never been more disappointed, or angry, over a movie entry in a franchise before. While I know it’s just a movie and there are certainly worst films out there, the dissatisfaction I have over Halloween Ends has marred the entire franchise. Which says a lot considering this is a franchise that gave us Halloween: Resurrection and Rob Zombie’s attempt at a sequel to his 2007 remake.
The legacy of Michael Myers is something to be respected and feared. Halloween Ends may have gotten the better of The Shape, but to quote Tommy Doyle, “You can’t kill the Boogeyman.”
Rating 1/10
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