Halloween Ends (2022)

 

 

I wasn't sure if I even wanted to see this one let alone write a blog post about it.  See last years countdown for my feelings about Halloween Kills.  Or my Halloween 3 post from a couple of days ago for that matter!  But I did watch it and while some of the reviews are right, some of them are a little too harsh I feel.  Danny McBride (who I love, or at least his acting) and David Gordon Green (who after this trilogy better not screw up the reboot of The Exorcist as badly but I have little hope there) are once again the co-writers with Green also directing again.  Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) famous "Final Girl" Laurie Strode.  Also back is Andi Matichak as Laurie's granddaughter Allyson and Will Patton as Frank Hawkins.  Warning: Spoilers Ahead!  The film concerns a young man Corey Cunningham (any relation to Arty from Christine?) who after beating a manslaughter charge is befriended by Allyson when he is treated in the ER for wounds he sustained from a run in with the town bullies.  Also back is Real Housewife Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace.  John Carpenter is still attached to this one as producer and he also composes the music with his son Cody

 

 

After Corey meets Allyson (she's an ER nurse) at the hospital, the two hit it off and Laurie even helps him get some revenge on the bullies that put him in the ER in the first place.  Laurie, fixated on having a normal life, is writing her memoir and actually celebrating Halloween this year.  After another attack by the bullies Corey is found by Michael Myers himself and dragged into the sewers where Michael has been hiding and living.  But does Michael kill Corey?  No, Michael lets him go!  Laurie starts to feel differently about Corey and attempts to warn him away from Allyson.  Corey tells her that if he can't have her no one will.  Creepy dude ain't he?  On Halloween, Corey returns to the sewers, confronts Michael, and takes his infamous mask for himself.  Corey goes on a rampage offing everybody who has done him wrong as well as his stepfather and mother!  I won't go on but all of this leads to Laurie having to face off with not one but two maniacal killers in a William Shatner mask.

 

 

  

 With this being the last film in the Blumhouse run we expected some sort of closure.  Did we get it?  Yes we did, but as John Carpenter hinted if there is money still to be made with this franchise it will continue in some form or another.  The property rights to the franchise reverts back to Malek Akkad who is the son of Moustapha Akkad, one of the original produced of the very first Halloween.  But as far as Halloween Ends is concerned it is better than Kills for me but not as good as the first film in the trilogy.  Also, as a comparison, I would like to say I enjoyed Rob Zombies two remakes better than I liked this trilogy.  But that's just me.  Either way, I suggest sticking to the originals.  At least we got scenes featuring Laurie and Michael facing off this time unlike Kills.  I also wanted to comment on the violence in this one.  I don't recall, and neither did any of the folks I watched this one with (that would include the Horror Honey and her two kids who were over for a visit) recall Halloween being THIS violent.  Perhaps I blocked it out from the first two and while it wasn't over the top (I've seen way worse) it seems like a step up in intensity of the violence.  Right before the final outcome there are some nice nods to the original as we get a montage of Laurie and Michael from nearly thirty five years ago.  Not as bad as Kills but still lacking.  We now wait and see if this franchise will improve from here (it can't get worse can it?) or just really end.  I'll toss this one into two and a half industrial shredders out of five.