Halloween Ends (2022)

0/10. A sad ending to one of the most popular horror movie franchises ever made. I would call this the third worst entry in the franchise behind Halloween Kills which is behind Halloween Resurrection. Just a sad last entry into this storied franchise.

Rob245

Halloween Ends is a movie that almost seems destined to piss off casual horror fans, and even many longtime franchise fans. Its choices are bold and often counter-intuitive. Far more time is devoted to character arcs and interpersonal relationships than scares and murder. Interesting themes are introduced about the nature of evil and how misplaced frustration can create monsters out of perfectly normal people. And even the lead boogeyman of the series is more of a nebulous background figure than overt threat for much of the runtime.

But you know what? That's exactly why I loved this movie. It felt like it was really trying to tell an honest, interesting story set to the backdrop of the Halloween universe. This is not a Halloween film for people who want gore and carnage. It's almost a Halloween film for people who have spent decades with the series, and want to see a more realistic rendition of the anguish a tragedy like the Myers murders can cause. It's dark. Oppressive. At times even utterly nihilistic. But there's also a little glimmer of hope there... hidden somewhere under the surface.

The film picks up four years after the events of the previous film. A young man named Corey Cunningham has become a pariah of Haddonfield, ostracized after accidentally causing the death of a child he was babysitting. Made into a new "boogeyman" by the misplaced hatred of the townspeople to replace the missing Michael Myers. But what will happen when he is pushed to his limits by the hostility of others? At the same time Laurie Strode is attempting to move on with her life, but the demons of her past are about to come calling, and will place her on a collision course with the madman who has been haunting her for over forty years...

I can absolutely understand this movie upsetting people who want a more traditional conclusion. But I gotta give it major props for being risky and taking a massive swing at the fence. Others may hate it but I really enjoyed it.

The story of Corey seems to be one of the biggest pieces of contention for fans, since it does technically take focus off of Myers himself. But I honestly think it's to the film's benefit in a strange way. Just because Myers isn't onscreen does not mean his presence is unfelt. The whole reason Corey is such a tragic figure is that the scars Myers has left on Haddonfield have caused everyone to "see" him in any and every potential act of evil. It's almost like the town is taking out their fear of Michael on him. And it's a really interesting way to explore the way Michael has changed everyone and keep him in the narrative without retreading familiar ground. That's not to say Michael has no presence though. He's there throughout the film... but he's almost like a nefarious puppet-master hiding behind the curtain. And when he does strike? Hoo, boy, is it wild!

For me, this was a really solid conclusion to the Halloween (2018) trilogy. I'd really recommend waiting a little while and giving it a second watch once that initial "high" (or that initial anger) of seeing it for the first time has calmed down. You might just notice more nuance and interesting handling of theme than you did the first time.

4 out of 5.

TedStixon