Halloween Ends

Halloween Ends is intended to be the final chapter in one of the most famous horrific film sagas begun in 1978 with the timeless masterpiece co-written and directed by John Carpenter. Many directors before the new trilogy directed by David Gordon Green allowed this cinematographic saga to know a very long longevity with more or less success that it is Rick Rosenthal (two films), Tommy Lee Wallace, Dwight H. Little, Dominique Othenin-Girard, Joe Chappelle, Steve Miner and Rob Zombie (two films). So after Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021), director David Gordon Green not only ends his trilogy following the first two films but also simply ends this cinematographic saga by putting an end to the wave of bloody murders perpetrated by Michael Myers in the town of Haddonfield. 

Four years separate the events of Halloween Kills (2021) from those of Halloween Ends. During these four years, Michael Myers simply disappeared while Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), since the death of her daughter, has taken in her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is taking advantage of her retirement to write her memoirs and try to find a way to regain a normal life in the shadow of Michael Myers, who has become a true urban legend in Haddonfield. This new film has for main merit to be not only a succession of murders more or less effective but rather a reflection on evil and on the influence of Michael Myers on his city in which at some Halloween he perpetuates his murders. 

Michael Myers is not a simple bogeyman, a killer devoid of compassion, he is the symbol of a rage that nothing can catalyze, a deep mutism that only violence can evacuate his feelings. He represents a way of punishing all those who have sinned in one way or another and his list of people to kill seems limitless. This new chapter thus prefers to rely on what he represents rather than constantly showing it and following his crusade. 

The director and co-writer is a true John Carpenter fan and his film is a fairly realistic vision of a Michael Myers who has lost his strength but whose hatred remains intact. This hatred feeds many stories and people forever marked by the disappearance of loved ones. In this new opus, one of the strong elements is to look for someone who would have lost his innocence and would be ready to follow in his footsteps by recovering his mask and taking revenge on several people. The introduction scene changes the game and shows that the film does not focus on Michael Myers but on how the inhabitants of Haddonfield have learned to live with his existence. In this film we discover a young adult, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) who, under his false airs of a teenager, must learn to live with the accidental death of a child he was in charge of as a babysitter and the fact that the whole town seems to reject him except for Allison who sees him as a victim of a deep evil like her.

Except for a brief appearance, we will have to wait for almost half of the film for Michael Myers to become the killing machine we know. We will follow the descent into hell and the transformation of Corey Cunningham, who is well on his way to becoming the next Michael Myers by taking back his mask and his crusade of killing in all kinds. The strength and the weakness of Halloween Ends is to be something else than the killing of one of the most famous serial killers in the history of cinema (with Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Jason Voorhees) and a simple slasher movie which will not only displease the numerous fans of the saga but also bring a disappointing conclusion because it lacks a lot of scope. Having become a true pop culture icon, Michael Myers deserved a better ending. But the film is a pleasure to watch as Jamie Lee Curtis is perfect in each of her scenes and is the most appreciated scream girl in the history of horror cinema. Her last confrontation with Michael Myers, even if too short, deserves to have waited for the end of the movie despite some useless lengths and a cruel lack of memorable scenes of extreme violence to which Michael Myers had accustomed us.

Halloween ends
Directed by David Gordon Green
Written by Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
Based on the characters of John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Produced by Malek Akkad, Jason Blum, Bill Block
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Will Patton, Rohan Campbell, Kyle Richards
Cinematography: Michael Simmonds
Editing: Tim Alverson
Music: John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies
Production companies: Universal Pictures, Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, Rough House Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates: October 11, 2022 (Beyond Fest), October 12, 2022 (France), October 14, 2022 (United States)
Running time: 111 minutes

Seen on October 12, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Imax Room

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