As of writing this, I have seen “Halloween Ends” twice. Upon both viewings, my opinion has not changed. I walked away satisfied with the conclusion of David Gordon Green’s trilogy. It’s far from a perfect movie and I definitely have a plethora of issues with it but, I overall enjoyed it. Before I dive in on the issues I have, I would like to warn you that this article will be filled with heavy spoilers for the film. If you’d like to hear my thoughts on the film, Check out my Spoiler Free review. From here on out, I will be disclosing my thoughts on “Halloween Ends” and discussing key elements of the film.
A New Beginning
Right out of the gate, we are introduced to a 21-year-old babysitter named Corey Cunningham. He is being assigned to watch Jeremy, a bratty kid who still has nightmares after Michael Meyers returned in the events of both “Halloween (2018)” and “Halloween Kills”. After Corey and Jeremy watch “The Thing” (A really neat easter egg), Jeremy stages a prank that goes awry: staging a home invasion that leaves a frustrated Corey locked in a room. As Corey kicks the door open, the door hits Jeremy, sending him a few stories down to his shocking demise. This strong start to the film sets in motion both Corey’s arc and the theme of “Halloween Ends”.
Aside from how shocking the first death in this film is, It made me feel awful for Corey. Not only was this an accident but, it resulted in the entire town viewing Corey as guilty in the court of public opinion despite the court of law saying otherwise. A theme that is very relevant in today’s world. Throughout most of the film, I really liked Corey and understood where he came from. While I welcome him to the franchise, Corey ends up taking over a majority of the movie, for better or worse.
We Need To Talk About Corey
One of the biggest risks that “Halloween Ends” takes is making Corey Cunningham a pseudo-main character. I really liked Rohan Campbell in this film as Corey and hope to see more from him. Campbell took on a pretty controversial role and turned in a pretty rock-solid performance despite the script not knowing what to do with him by the time act 3 rolled around. Upon my initial viewing of the film, I wasn’t a big fan of his arc. To me, it felt very much like a CW pilot was shoehorned into a Halloween movie. He ends up in a relationship with Allyson (which is something I’ll touch up on later) that honestly feels weirdly conventional and just odd overall.
The thing is, while Corey taking over the movie is a major departure from the previous two installments, I actually welcome it. Throughout the entire film, Corey is already viewed as a monster by the town of Haddonfield. Within the first half, I felt pretty awful for his character considering that the death of Jeremy was an accident. He is also living in a toxic household with an obnoxiously abusive mom and a stepdad who is deathly afraid of her. He had the potential to be a truly strong addition to the franchise but, that was botched by the time we arrive to act 3.
His first encounter with Michael sees him locking eyes with The Shape in a sewer under a bridge. After that encounter, Corey’s personality shifts. I just wish that his descent to darkness was executed better. They could’ve gone in a more subtle or ambiguous route as opposed to him being Michael Meyers’ disciple and robbing Michael of a majority of the carnage being caused on-screen. If anything, I would’ve preferred this to lead to a redemption or vindication arc for Corey. Sadly, once we reach the third act, Corey goes out with an unceremonious whimper, rendering his character pointless.
It’s an absolute shame because I really liked how his arc was a reflection of Laurie’s: both survive a traumatic event whilst babysitting, both are forced to live with said trauma with little to no support from anybody, and both are ostracized from the people of Haddonfield. I even like the small moment of trauma bonding between Corey and Laurie, leading to one of the funniest scenes in the entire movie. When Corey is being berated and bullied by a group of high school band geeks, Laurie calls them out and ends up getting sneered at by the band geeks. After Laurie helps up Corey, she then whips out a butterfly knife, asking “So, are you gonna do it, or am I?”, popping their tires. However, once Laurie starts to find Corey suspicious, things tend to take a darker turn. I enjoyed watching Laurie confront Corey and let him know that she was onto him but, I wish the film would’ve shown Laurie trying to help Corey through his internal conflict instead.
Allyson in Wonderland
Another welcome addition to Blumhouse’s Halloween trilogy is Allyson Nelson, played by Andi Matichak. Throughout the entire trilogy, not only is Matichak great in the role but, Ally herself was set up to go in an interesting direction. So, with “Ends” taking place 4 years after the previous films, where do we see Allyson now? When we meet her again in “Ends”, She is now working at Haddonfield Memorial (The Hospital from “Kills”) as a Nurse. She is constantly mistreated by her boss, a Doctor with a severe deficiency in bedside manner. Her work colleague, Deb, is a loudmouth who is fake-nice. Ally is going for a promotion but, is ultimately screwed over due to the fact that Deb is having an affair with the Doctor.
Kicking off the CW-ish plot, Allyson instantly falls for Corey the moment Laurie brings him to the waiting room. As for the romantic subplot, I am very conflicted. While it is par the course for Hollywood romance, I just couldn’t take the “I love you even though we just met 30 seconds ago”. I’m not even talking about being attracted to someone: I totally get that. I’m talking about the fact that when we reach act 3, Allyson goes from “I need to make sure Grandma is okay” to “No, Grandma! I can fix him! You don’t get it!”. Keep in mind, she is circling 25 in this movie as opposed to being in High School in both “Halloween (2018)” and “Kills”. To me, it feels illogical.
Also, while I’m glad that both characters received the tools necessary to heal throughout the time jump, I found Allyson suddenly turning on Laurie to be out of character for her. In “Halloween (2018)”, she was the only person that believed her grandmother. She was willing to listen to Laurie whereas her parents actively dismissed her claims that Michael was coming back. In “Ends”, she literally dismisses her Grandmother’s concerns about Corey, citing her as selfish and possessive. The “I can fix him” storyline with Ally feels cheap and contrived. The “Good Girl meets Bad Boy” storyline has been done to death before with examples being “Rebel Without a Cause”, “Grease”, and “Cry Baby”. This feels not only derivative but, in execution, forced. We know that Allyson’s dating track record has been trash: Cameron in both 2018 and “Kills” and her creepy ex Officer Mulaney in this film both deserved their on-screen fates. I just felt that her character could’ve used another storyline other than “meet my new douchebag boyfriend”.
We Built This City On Hate and Grief
One thing that I have come to admire about David Gordon Green’s trilogy is how the town of Haddonfield feels like a character as well. Even in the latest “Scream” movie, Woodsboro pretended that the events of “Scre4m” didn’t happen. It was a highlight in last year’s “Halloween Kills” where we take time to see how the town talks about Michael Meyers terrorizing people 40 years prior. However, the biggest drawback of that film was, despite its exploration of the mob mentality, that the town is full of idiots. Yes, people having no common sense is typical for slasher movies but, when a film tries to pass itself off as more than what it really is, my criticism remains valid.
With “Ends”, The town of Haddonfield is not only reeling from the events of “Kills” but, is mostly populated with some of the shittiest people on screen. When Laurie leaves the grocery store, a woman publicly berates her, blaming her for Michael coming back. The same thing happens to Corey: aside from the band geeks that feel at home in a Stephen King movie, Jeremy’s mother runs into him at a Halloween party and berates him in front of everyone, which leads to a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it easter egg for both fans of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and internet memes involving Lindsey Wallace herself, Kyle Richards. In a matter of fact, the only people (outside of Laurie and Allyson) that aren’t a bunch of self-righteous assholes on-screen were Lindsey, Deputy Hawkins, Corey’s stepfather, and Jeremy’s Dad. Everyone else is cartoonishly shitty.
On one side, I get why the people of Haddonfield are portrayed this way. It’s an accurate portrayal of how people handle tragedies: you’ll have a few people that are nice to each other but, overall, the hate and evil that exists in the world are like a plague. In a matter of fact, that is the main point of “Halloween Ends”: Evil is a virus and the town of Haddonfield is ground zero for a pandemic of hatred, paranoia, and absolute cruelty. Michael and Laurie are basically both patient zero of a nearly 45-year-old infection of something that is internal yet extremely powerful and contagious.
I really like how the side characters contribute to the overall narrative in this film. When Laurie discusses her concerns about Corey with Lindsey, Jeremy’s father talks about how he saw Corey after his son’s untimely demise. He talks about how frustrated he’s grown with his wife and how the townspeople used the loss of his son and turned it into their own, a terrible thing that a lot of people do today. He goes on to tell Laurie about how he made an effort to forgive him until he noticed something suspicious about Corey. I also like how Frank Hawkins was in this movie: he and Laurie are seen in good spirits, flirting in a grocery store as if they were in a Nancy Meyers rom-com. I also liked how Frank remained supportive of Laurie throughout the years. I just wish that he, Lindsey, and Jeremy’s dad had more to do in the Corey Show.
As far as everyone else, I felt no sympathy for anyone who died in this movie. If anything, I was rooting for both Michale and Corey to slay the victims that were killed on-screen. The band geeks were Stephen King bullies, Deb and the doctor are garbage people, and Corey’s mom is cartoonishly abusive. There’s also, Willie, Haddonfield’s radio DJ, who threatens to fuck up Allyson for no reason whatsoever. While the body count is a big step down from the last film, some of the kills are pretty savage. The best kill is definitely Willie who, not only gets his face smashed into the turntable but, gets his tongue cut off. It’s brutal, nasty, and darkly comedic considering that his severed tongue is left on one of the spinning records, skipping the music. It also shows off some strong use of practical effects. The rest of the kills, save for the lead band bro, are either conventional (stabby stabby) or disappointingly off-screen. If you’re a gorehound and “Terrifier 2” is not playing in your area, then I guess you’re SOL. Circling back, as is the case with most of the body count in “Kills”, everyone who got it “Halloween Ends” deserved it.
It’s The Final Showdown
When we get to act 3, the film scrambles to find a way to get Corey out of the way in time for the one reason everyone came to see “Halloween Ends”. That, of course, is the main event: a 1 v 1 match between Laurie Strode and Michael Meyers. Before we get to the final battle, Laurie is left with no one as Allyson storms out to her edgy boyfriend. Laurie, defeated, tired and free-falling into despair, decides to dial 911 and call in suicide in her own home. She pulls out a gun that looks very similar to the one Dr. Loomis had in the 1978 original, lights a pumpkin, and gets ready to finish the job. At the same time, Corey approaches the door of Laurie’s room. As a shot is fired, Corey pushes the door open just to find out that it was all a set-up (“Gotcha”), kicking off the first round.
After Laurie shoots Corey a couple of times, Corey notices Allyson’s car pulling in, and decides to take a knife to himself. Not only is this an incredibly anti-climactic way for Corey to go out, but it also leads to Laurie making one of the stupidest choices in this film: she takes the knife out of Corey as Allyson walks in. In this trilogy, Laurie has been established as always being a step ahead. It was a mildly frustrating thing because of how the situation was perceived by Allyson. After she cries and storms out (again), Michael actually does come back. First, to take Corey out of the picture, and second, to get his mask back.
Now, the main event. While I was satisfied with the outcome of the final battle, I had a few issues with it. For starters, it's too damn short: the face-off that the entire film’s marketing has been building up to occurs for about 8 minutes. I felt like this should’ve been long considering that this is the final chapter of a trilogy. I also have to ask, whatever happened to lighting? This fight had some of the worst lighting I’ve seen in a while, despite the fact that I was engaged and entertained. Also, too many quick cuts: if you know me, you know that I hate excessive quick cuts in fight scenes. Despite those issues, I was left clinging to the armrest like I was when I saw “Halloween (2018)”.
However, both 2018 and “H20” did it better. In the 2018 reboot/sequel, Laurie goes toe to toe with Mcihael like a bad-ass. We have a really cool callback to the 1978 original and Karen’s epic “Gotcha” moment. If there weren’t any sequels succeeding it, 2018 would’ve been a satisfying conclusion. With “H20”, Laurie spent most of the film running away from her trauma until Michael comes for her son on campus, forcing her to confront him once and for all. The finale leads to Laurie taking an axe to Michael, chopping his head off. Another conclusion that would’ve been a great finish if “Resurrection” didn’t ruin it.
However, in this timeline, Laurie emerges victorious over Michael after pinning him with a fridge and crucifying him onto her kitchen table. After Deputy Hawkins and Allyson return to the home and discover Laurie over Michael’s corpse, They decide to dispose of the body in the most ludicrous way possible. A couple of Haddonfield’s police officers question Laurie and Hawkins after they strap Michael’s corpse down to the roof of Allyson’s car. However, The Sheriff from “Kills” reappears and tells the cops to let them pass. The sheriff then proceeds to wake up the entire town of Haddonfield so that they can watch Micheal die once and for all. Once we get to the local Junkyard, Micheal’s corpse goes crowd surfing (“Carefully he is evil”) into a grinder, closing the door shut on both the Laurie vs Michael Saga and the terror that has plagued Haddonfield.
In Conclusion
“Halloween Ends” is far from perfect. Hell, I’d go out on a limb and say this is not going to be a movie for anyone. The Corey Cunningham storyline was a welcome but rushed addition to the film. I liked how character driven the movie was: Laurie has had to live with losing her friends, one of the kids she babysat, and her daughter to Michael. Initially, I was worried that the creative team was going to do with her what they did with “Ressurection”: unceremoniously kill her off. Thankfully, not only does she vanquish the evil boogeyman once and for all but, she gets much-deserved closure and the one thing she has been robbed of since her years in high school: a shot at a normal life. Could it have been done better? sure! However, after seeing dismal finales such as “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Halloween: Ressurection”, I walked away from “Ends” satisfied with the conclusion of Laurie Strode’s story.