Halloween Ends: 'Finale' Boasts Some of the Franchise's Best Kills

By Thom Ernst

Rating: A-

Know from the start: Halloween Ends has some of the best kills in the franchise.

But before deep-diving into the film, consider for a moment what it would mean if Halloween did, in fact, end. Not the institution, but the franchise—although you are not wrong, were you to think the franchise is the institution. 

After four decades of Michael Myers, a.k.a The Shape, slashing through babysitters and umpteen first responders, what else are we to believe? Myers is not a nice guy, but he’s our not-so-nice guy, an embodiment of anxiety running rampant on our behalf.

Part of Michael’s success—owed greatly to original director John Carpenter and producer/screenwriter Debra Hill—is that his nemesis, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis as our better selves), is never too far away. Yes, I know... Laurie appears in only seven of the 12 films (not counting Halloween III: Season of the Witch). Still, even without Laurie, there is always someone Laurie-like to battle the demons. 

If Halloween were to truly end, then what?

Freddy Krueger talks too much.

Jason Voorhees comes close, but he’s just not Michael.

Then again, the Michael Myers that director David Gordon Green gives us isn’t precisely the Myers Carpenter and Hill introduced in 1978. Green isn’t specific about the inner torment of Michael Myers. But its (an alternate pronoun courtesy of Strode herself) murderous instincts brew the moment Green introduces it in his, to my thinking, brilliantly realized 2018 reboot, standing on the chessboard layout of a courtyard in a prison for the criminally insane.  

Green effectively knits the events of Carpenter’s 1978 film—throughout Halloween Kills, there are copious tributes to Carpenter—into his own stand-alone trilogy.

The first installment was a revelation into the ways a slasher film can inspire empathy for the victims, the second was a disappointment, and this final installment is…well…it’s as good as it is bad. And the contradiction might just mean that Green has made a horror classic into a next-level horror classic.

The movie starts with a prelude styled down to resemble an episode of a television horror series. From there, the film kicks in with an energy that is as nostalgic as it is contemporary. Contrast or contradiction? It’s hard to say at this point, but the sense is that wherever Green takes us, it’ll be interesting.

Then comes the high-arched performances from Rohan Campbell as Corey Cunningham and Andi Matichak, reprising her role as Allyson, Laurie’s granddaughter.

At first, Campbell and Matichak seemed miscast as the two outcasts embarking on a dangerous relationship. Rebel Without a Cause meets Natural Born Killers. Campbell and Matichak look out of place as dispossessed outsiders maneuvering through a grim Rob Zombie-ish world, laughable if unintended, remarkable if fully aware of its impact.

I’ve thought long on this, and I’m going with remarkable.

Jamie Lee Curtis is solid, and her commitment to embracing her age is more than just defying Hollywood norm, it’s a commitment to her performance. It’s a commitment to Laurie Strode.

(Good Lord, even the possibility that Halloween Ends could mean Halloween ends has me wistful.)

Green takes a considerable risk in steering attention away from the main attraction. Myers has a significant place in Halloween Ends, but he’s not the one we need to worry about.

Myers is older. Even his mask seems aged and worse for wear. A tired Myers is still an indestructible force, but he can be shoved to the ground, pushed about, and thwarted by blades and bullets. A monster on the verge of retirement. And his most notable victim, the equally indestructible but traumatized Laurie Strode, is also in need of a change.

And for both, the change has got to be significant.

The task facing Halloween Ends isn’t just to successfully stand on its own but to wrap up the trilogy properly while respecting the originators. To the latter, Halloween Ends tips its blade to Carpenter’s films, Halloween, and beyond. How weird is it when a character being skewed to the wall so that their feet dangle off the ground can bring back such a feeling of nostalgia?

And yes, I said it at the top, and I’ll repeat it, the kills in Halloween Ends are top-notch.  

Halloween Ends, the third in the trilogy, is not likely to be the end of the franchise. But certainly, it’s the end of the ride for Green. Green’s too busy with the upcoming Exorcist remake to worry about resurrecting a story he ostensibly kills.

But the real question Halloween Ends presents is…is this the end of Michael Myers?

No. Of course not. Icons live forever. Besides, producer, Malek Akkad, son of the 1978 Halloween executive producer, Moustapha Akkad, has a clause that Michael Myers cannot be killed.

And neither should he be. After all, they wouldn’t kill off James Bond, would they?

Halloween Ends. Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Rohan Campbell and Andi Matichak. In theatres October 14.