Despite Halloween being my favourite horror franchise, I managed to end up missing seeing the latest entry Halloween Ends when it was in the cinemas last year. Due to this I eagerly pre-ordered the Blu-ray of the movie, having absolutely loved 2021's (Halloween Kills). Where that film was everything I loved about this franchise, with this one, I appreciate what director David Gordon Green (Halloween Kills, Halloween,) was going for, but it made for a film that kind of sucked.
It is four years since Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) went on a rampage through the town of Haddonfield, a rampage that culminated in the death of Laurie Strode's (Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween series) daughter. The masked killer hasn't been seen since and the townsfolk are trying to do their best to move on. In the meantime, Corey (Rohan Campbell) had become ostracised due to the accidental death of a young boy he caused while babysitting, and Laurie noticing this decides to introduce him to her niece, Allyson (Andi Matichak - Halloween Kills, Halloween), someone who is also treated differently due to her having survived her encounter with Myers. Laurie quickly comes to regret her decision, as she comes to see the similar signs in Corey that she once saw in Michael, and that may be down to the fact that the young man has accidentally discovered the hiding place of Myers and has become something of a student of his.
I'm glad that I didn't really hear many spoilers before heading in to Halloween Ends, but that also meant I went in unprepared for what type of movie this would be. Despite the iconic killer being in the movie, this very much felt like a post-Myers world. It's a look at how a community and its people can recover from such dark events, and how their anger can be misplaced onto others not deserving of it. I came to this expecting a typical unstoppable killer storyline, to be honest that is exactly what I wanted to get. Instead, while there is a bodycount that falls into double figures, barely any of these are down to Myers. It's a very slight twist that Corey is the one who is going around murdering people, but this happens relatively early into the film, and it isn't designed to be a mystery, the camera clearly shows that he is the one doing the crimes. Sadly, Myers barely even features here (he doesn't even make an appearance until nearly forty minutes in), and when he does he has becoming a shadow of his former self. Whether due to old age or down to the injuries he sustained in the previous two films I don't know, but he is someone who can easily be overpowered now, something that the annoying Corey takes advantage of.
Some of the writing here was terrible, but at least there were no comedy characters to be found. Corey started off as a compelling character, but his heel turn felt so swift and out of place that it felt like scenes were missing. One moment he was a sympathetic outcast, the next he's acting like he thinks he is the coolest and most edgiest person to ever live. I totally didn't understand what his character arc was meant to be.
It's not a secret that I have never liked Laurie Strode as a character, that's one of the things I enjoyed so much about Halloween Kills. She spends the majority of the film in hospital, convinced she's the main character of the Myers saga when she isn't. Here the roles are reversed, she has moved on from Myers and whether indirectly or not he is now the one seeking her out. While the film trailers were all about the final epic battle between the two, this doesn't come until way late into the film, but least it was entertaining while it lasted.
The kills also at least look fun, with some inventive deaths among all the stabbings. I think the highlight was a character getting a blow torch to their face, and a head stamp effect that looked suitably gory. The most gory is saved to the end, something I won't go into details about. The film's score was also a good part of this. I liked the modern take on the classic sounds of Halloween. There are of course many call-backs to previous Halloween films, including fun use of a knitting needle, and characters being in the same positions as iconic shots from earlier movies.
I would have been more than happy with more of the same with Halloween Ends. I do appreciate there was an effort here to really close up this latest trilogy of films in the franchise, but I didn't find the character of Corey to be that interesting, and to be honest, I just wanted Myers on yet another rampage. I can't see myself returning to this one for a while, perhaps with the distance of time its message and novel approach will be appreciated more.
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