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

After 12 previous entries, fans deserve a better--more satisfying--conclusion than what's on offer here. John Carpenter's Halloween is a model of narrative economy, succeeding largely on expert pacing and atmospheric dread. From the beginning, the focus is on Laurie and the Shape. The latter assumes a prominent role even when he's off-screen as the other characters either talk about him or allude to stand-ins (the oft-cited 'boogeyman').

The team behind this sadly hodge-podge affair take the opposite tack. They try to juggle multiple concurrent plotlines, none of which are especially cohesive or interesting. Contrary to the film's marketing, Laurie isn't even the main character; instead, the focal point (insomuch as there is one) is her granddaughter, Allyson and Allyson's misunderstood love interest, Corey. Their supposed romance is not only dimwitted but stultifyingly dull. Moreover, the Shape barely appears and when he does, his behavior is inexplicable set against longstanding canon. This mystifying choice is compounded by ham-fisted attempts to turn him into a literalized metaphor for the dissemination of evil. Let's just say David Gordon Green is no Luis Bunuel.

Unfortunately, these attempts to give the film 'layers' it can't support contribute to the film's overarching aimlessness. For a film that bears the weight of capping off a cult favorite series, it's surprisingly meandering. Characters make decisions without any evident rationale or simply against all reason. The result is a chopped-up mess--and not the kind you'd expect given the genre. Don't get me wrong. I'm sympathetic to the notion of doing something unexpected. But that's about all I can admire about this effort. Its formlessness renders any attempts at real scares or tension moot. Only in the climactic 15 minutes or so does the film find its footing, however shaky. The ultimate showdown between Laurie and the Shape is all-too-simple and brief--hardly the cathartic event fans hoped for. The post-violence coda, which has the feel of an 80s-style Afterschool Special, only adds insult to injury.