Halloween Ends (2022)

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Halloween Reviews

Here we have what I consider among the most disappointing movies of the entire franchise. Not to take away from anyone who may have enjoyed it, but I sincerely can't fathom why they went in the direction they did with this. Michael Myers is barely a part of things here. Instead, the screen is taken over by a character who has never existed before, and we end up having little thought toward it since this should have been as simple as the final showdown between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney).

It all begins on Halloween Night in 2019, one year after the events of the previous two films. A young man named Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is hired to babysit a little ass goblin named Jeremy Allen (Jaxon Goldenberg) on Halloween night. He fakes out his parents by being a sweet kid in front of them, but he gets away with things as long as the babysitter is irresponsible enough. Jeremy pulls a prank on Corey by locking him in a closet, thus making him panic due to probable claustrophobia. In his panic, he breaks through the locked door, only to send little Jeremy to his unfortunate death at the moment his parents come home.

This, in turn, brands him a killer by the entire neighbourhood. He's arrested but eventually cleared by the judge on a technicality, taking on a sort of Freddy Krueger origin story. The difference is that Corey didn't mean to kill this kid. As the years pass, he lives as an outcast to the whole neighbourhood and is essentially bullied for what people assume he did without knowing the facts. I will give the movie that detail of the kill being a complete accident, as it's an interesting way to see how things might go. But we have a problem; this is a 'Halloween' movie, so what about Laurie and Michael and their quarrel: the reason we're here?

Three years have passed since the incident with Corey and Jeremy, but Haddonfield is still focused on the events of Halloween 2018. So, while probably being focused on the right thing, it does take away from the Cunningham family's mourning. Kinda like how Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died on the same day, but the world was laser-focused on Jackson. Meanwhile, Laurie and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), are living together, trying to return to normal as Laurie writes her memoir. Allyson mingles with people her age, one of whom ends up being Corey, and I'll give you two guesses where that leads.

One day, Corey is picked on and bullied, leading him to stumble onto where Michael Myers has been hiding. He escapes but is immediately accosted by a homeless man, who he, in turn, kills, getting his first real taste for killing. He has now been infected by Michael's evil (pretty much the 'Jason Goes to Hell' concept), looks up to Michael a bit, and forms what I like to call a tag team with him. Of course, the only one wise to Corey being taken over by dark forces is Laurie, and it ends up being her trying to ultimately protect Allyson from something Laurie has been all too familiar with these past few decades.

So basically, what we have here is what is meant to be the final chapter in the 'Halloween' franchise, which ultimately keeps its focus on Corey, pushing Michael to the background so badly that there's even a scene where Corey struggles with Michael and beats him. Meanwhile, Michael took on about ten firefighters in a frenzy in the last film (which I'd argue was the highlight). If you're a Michael Myers fan, this film is a disappointment. It's like watching "Shark Week," but all the sharks have gone into hiding for some reason, so the scuba divers are the big focus.

Even the final showdown between Michael and Laurie, which we came here for in the first place, is disappointing. There's a struggle back and forth, and it looks like it will get pretty badass, but in the end, it's really sort of anti-climactic. I won't spoil what happens here, but one can likely guess how things end. This is the last of the 'Halloween' titles I give my lowest ranking to, and I feel it's with good reason. I suppose I get what they were going for, but it draws from too many other sources. I would have had a better time with a more simplified final showdown that reflected the atmosphere of the original film. This was a bit more like "Michael Myers and Friends." Nothing in the franchise - nothing! - can ever top the original.

1/5

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