Review of Halloween Ends (2022) by Cass007 — 14 Oct 2022

This is something else. ‘It’ is something else.

Wow. That was unbelievable. Such a ride from beginning to end. "Halloween Ends" is not what I expected. It is far better. David Gordon Green has crafted such a beautiful conclusion in a way that doesn’t follow any of the previous movies. There’s a mystery transcending Mystic. He found a way to craft not suspense, but supernatural evil. Evil and violence as diseases or sicknesses to which any of us may be vulnerable. Maybe that's what made this unsettling. I felt vulnerable.

“Halloween Night 2019” appears on the screen. Now, this had me doing mental math for about ten minutes before I inevitably gave up the ghost. "Halloween 2018" and "Halloween Kills" take place on the same night 40 years after John Carpenter's original masterpiece Halloween. Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is our babysitter the following Halloween. When you see Laurie Strode that is this year, 2022, four years after Michael returned.

Welcome "Halloween Ends" with an open mind. It’s slow and steady suspense. As the scent of a candle slowly diffuses throughout a room Halloween Ends transforms into the Halloween, we all know and love.

The music will have you wondering if you’re in the right theater. I assure you that is indeed the case. The background music is like something from a cartoon. “What am I watching?” I thought. I don’t recall any Halloween movie starting this way. The movie opens with Corey babysitting for a married couple. Unimaginable tragedy strikes and the aftermath leaves him traumatized to the present day.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) narrates her memoir in progress at home with her granddaughter. Unlike the previous two installments, Laurie is living a normal life. My first thought is, “She is not prepared for Michael.” She has gone from living as a hermit in the woods awaiting Michael’s return to living in a town where she’s ostracized. From the townspeople lies a real sense that Michael is not a force of nature but either a run-of-the-mill serial killer suffering from mental impairment.

It is exactly the opposite which makes the shape so disturbing. There is no provocation. And where are these folks getting the idea Michael is impaired and a victim of abuse from Laurie? Absurd.

Michael is just evil seemingly transcendent at moments. Four years later, I witnessed Corey struggle with verbal abuse, self-blame, guilt, loss of a promising life & assault. But almost immediately you can tell something isn’t right with him. Something is missing, an emptiness has infiltrated not from the outside but from within. How is that possible? When you watch notice how Corey shifts in demeanor.

Allyson (Andi Matichak) has repaired the relationship with Laurie following the death of her mother. Outside of that Allyson is very lonely. Laurie is all she has yet it becomes clear she seeks a romantic partner. LAURIECOREY, PSYCHOPATH OR FREAKSHOW.

Laurie is Corey’s savior, and dare I say friend when they first cross paths. Only she could empathize with his predicament. Both carry the “babysitter scar” of Michael in unique ways. It is asked, “which one are you freakshow or psychopath?”.

A game of cat and mouse emerges between the two. In the absence of Michael, Corey fills in as a substitute teacher. He begins to exhibit “symptoms”. Rohan's character grows fascinated by Michael. He is present where the shape would’ve been during Carpenter’s original Halloween. The question becomes not who is Corey but what is he?

Notice how he moves from here on out. Let me ask you this: Is the shape Michael Myers as an individual or is it infectious like an idea or sickness?

Of course, Michael has to make an appearance otherwise it wouldn’t be Halloween. It is fitting where he’s been chilling all this time. Via a comment made by a homeless man, it’s revealed that Michael has been surviving not in hibernation mode.

Michael is aged and rusted in a sense. As he kills there’s a physical revival. Halloween Kills concluded with Laurie stating “The more he kills. The more he transcends.” Well, what does he transcend into? Gordon explores this and allows Michael to strike Laurie closer to home than ever before.

Michael has another enemy this go-round. Someone who seeks to take his power. Three epic battles are progressing and concluding at the same time.

Overall, Halloween Ends scares in all the right places. It’s unsettling to the core and edges you forward with intrigue. You won’t feel quite right when exiting the theater. G#d help you if you leave into the night.

Funny enough as I left the cinema someone yelled out “Is that Michael??!!” The response was, “No, that’s Jarred.