In 2018, forty years after John Carpenter’s original, came David Gordon Green’s Halloween. A continuation of the original story started by Carpenter, Green’s film discarded all other films in the series, setting off its own timeline. The film joined Laurie Strode, filling in the details of the missing years. It proved successful and plans for two further films began. The release of these sequels was put on hold by the pandemic with the first, Halloween Kills, arriving last year. Halloween Kills picked up minutes after the end of 2018’s Halloween and was met with mixed receptions. There were indeed plenty of kills, but not much story progression. Now, forty years after the release of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, comes the concluding entry of Green’s trilogy, Halloween Ends.
Those familiar with the Halloween franchise will know that Halloween III: Season of the Witch is an oddity within the series. The story is completely unconnected to either killer Michael Myers or Haddonfield. It exists alone and aloof from the other films and though originally panned upon release, it has become to be beloved by fans of the series. David Gordon Green’s final film is likely to divide audiences in a similar fashion, it too not strictly being a ‘Halloween’ film. It is set in Haddonfield and does feature Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, but it also strides out on its own, venturing into some strange territory.
Opening on Halloween 2019, a year after the events of Halloween and Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends introduces a young man called Corey (Rohan Campbell). He is called in at the last minute to babysit for the family he mows the lawn for, to watch their son Jeremy. Clearly uncomfortable in the role of carer, and Jeremy not being the easiest of charges, the night is an awkward one. Being only one year on from the rampage of Michael Myers who mysteriously disappeared, conversation turns to him. Aware that discussing a mass murderer probably isn’t the best babysitter etiquette, Corey removes himself from the conversation. Shortly after, the night ends in tragedy. It’s a bold move to introduce a new character during the final chapter of a trilogy, but Corey is to play an integral part of this story.
The opening number also moves the series back to its more eerie beginnings. Halloween Kills was so rampant with its violence that there was little tension. With this prologue, Green calms the tone down again allowing that sense of foreboding dread to creep back in. He does this in simple ways – a knife once on the worktop is suddenly vanished; a loud bang highlights potential calamity elsewhere; the uncanny silence as characters wander through the vastness of the house; a building rife with hiding places for the boogeyman.
After the first bloodshed, Halloween Ends jumps forward a few years. Here the story links back up with Laurie Strode (being played one last time by Jamie Lee Curtis). In the midst of writing a manuscript detailing her journey, this is a very different Laurie Strode to what this particular timeline has given us before. Gone is the Sarah Connor clone and instead is a more traditional grandma. Now living within Haddonfield instead of in isolation, Laurie and Allyson (Andi Matichak) share a house. As well as writing, Laurie now bakes and wears flowing dresses and skirts. She has even had a haircut. Her new outlook on life is to help others, and so after seeing Corey, now a town pariah, being bullied by vicious teenagers, she takes him under her wing. From here the narrative shifts focus back to Corey as he and Allyson begin a courtship. The shadow of Halloween looms though and it just wouldn’t be Halloween without a return of Michael Myers.
Interestingly, and likely frustratingly for many, it takes well over an hour to arrive at Halloween. It’s not usual for films in this series to begin before Halloween, but here it is perhaps the longest that it takes to arrive at the titular day. This allows Green the opportunity to set out all the players in a deeper way than some other entries. Corey is especially fleshed out, his character a conduit for concepts begun in Halloween Kills. He is hated by the townsfolk and Halloween Ends explores how this hatred can impact a person. There’s a look of Hannibal era Hugh Dancy to Rohan Campbell’s Corey, mixed with a smidgen of Jason Patric circa The Lost Boys. It’s a weird blend and the look pushes the film back in time, most notably sharing a kinship with the eighties. There are several night set bike rides between Allyson and Corey set to synth scores that somehow conjure up some of the greats from the decade. Near Dark would be one example, another would be Manhunter. The time spent building the relationship between Allyson and Corey is a massive swerve for the series, but the dark intensity of the romance adds a welcome new layer to the franchise.
Though featured more than in Halloween Kills, Laurie is once more something of a background character. For a trilogy that has sold itself on the return of Jamie Lee Curtis, Green hasn’t utilised her quite how audiences would have expected. In Halloween she stalked around until the final showdown with Michael. Halloween Kills played out with Laurie confined to a hospital bed. For Halloween Ends she’s once more lurking in the background, only becoming properly relevant during the final act. It’s great to see Curtis get to do more than just sit, but as she once more takes a backseat, it becomes clear that the character isn’t necessary to the bulk of this particular story. It seems a strange thing to say about the ultimate and original final girl, but her presence almost overcrowds the story. Having spent so much time off screen, the climax doesn’t land with the intended impact.
The sweet exchanges between Laurie and Sheriff Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) from Halloween Kills are revisited. What previously felt like a touching addition, quickly ventures into bad rom com territory. There’s a supermarket exchange that is excruciatingly drawn out and does for the words ‘cherry blossom’ what Halloween Kills did for ‘evil dies tonight’. This romance is excessively cringey and presents a stark contrast to the moth and flame dynamic of Allyson and Corey.
Allyson herself is once more second fiddle to everything happening around her. Having previously been billed as the new Laurie Strode, Allyson has never achieved the same status. The character has always seemed to just wander through the Halloween films collecting traumatic moments. Having lost her father and watched both her ex-boyfriend and mother get murdered in front of her, she’s no longer the innocent from Halloween. This Allyson is jaded, tied to the town by her loyalty to her grandmother, but isn’t granted satisfying development.
In a welcome respite from Halloween Kills, it takes a long time for the carnage to begin. Once it does, it isn’t pushed quite as hard as its predecessor. The butcherings here are not as mean-spirited and there’s an element of just desserts for some of the victims this time around. A stand-out kill sequence is set at Haddonfield junk yard and features a succession of kills that inject a fraction of fun into the film, a component thin on the ground this outing.
Whereas many horror franchises have had at least one film titled ‘The Final Chapter’ the Halloween series hasn’t. This is the first film to feature such a finality in its name and so gives a bit more credibility to the title. There’s also no post credits tease a la Saw: The Final Chapter, so it seems that, for the moment at least, Michael Myers reign of terror is over. If nothing else, Halloween Ends is definitely a conclusion to the David Gordon Green chapter. Any future story would have to follow the reboot or an entirely new story formula to work.
A concluding chapter that shares more DNA with the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Candyman than the franchise that it’s ending, Halloween Kills is going to divide audiences. It’s not the first time that this series has taken some risks, but many may feel betrayed that Green has waited till his third film to go off on a tangent. An odd, but somehow seductive (potential) end to a long-standing franchise, Halloween Ends might not be the film for audiences right now, but will be regarded more fondly once time and distance has taken root.
Halloween Ends
Summary
Not entirely the expected ending, David Gordon Green takes some big swings. Halloween Ends does at least end the franchise in a more definitive manner than has been seen before. Due to its deviations, this is a film certain to divide audiences and one has to commend Green for being brave enough to stir the pot.
Halloween Ends is in UK cinemas now.
