Why 'Halloween Ends' is Worth the Revisit!

WARNING: In this article, I’ll be discussing “Halloween Ends” and there will be SPOILERS, not just for this movie but the two “Halloween” films that preceded it. If you still have not seen the movie, I recommend you do that first before reading the following article. If you don’t care or you’ve seen the movie, then please proceed and I hope you enjoy the read!

In 2018, director David Gordon Green and fellow co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley rebooted the “Halloween” franchise with a direct sequel to the original film that was also simply referred to as “Halloween” (I’ll admit, I sometimes like to unofficially call it “Halloween Returns”). The movie was a massive success for Blumhouse Productions and distributor Universal Pictures, having grossed $259.9 million at the box office on a mere budget of $10 million.

The 2018 film saw the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and is set 40 years after the original movie. None of the countless sequels or remakes were a part of the canon. Therefore, Michael was captured that night in ‘78 and has been in a mental hospital ever since.

He is also not Laurie’s brother, something that had actually been established in ‘81’s “Halloween II”. Laurie has been trying to get past that night, but she still exists in survival mode, having fortified her home and upping her survival skills. This has strained her relationships with her daughter Karen Nelson and granddaughter Allyson.

In 2018, Michael Myers returned with a vengeance in "Halloween"!

On Halloween night, Michael is being transferred to another institution and escapes. He manages to find his way back to Haddonfield and the chase is on to see if Laurie can find Michael before he kills too many people.

The first movie in what I call the “H40 Trilogy” is a blast almost from start to finish. I remember watching in theaters and the final fight between Laurie and Michael was satisfying and it was fun seeing Laurie finally standing up to her monster and seemingly taking him down.

When the movie was a success, though, Universal and Blumhouse proudly announced not just one, but two more sequels! They also surprised fans by announcing that Curtis would return for both films as Laurie Strode.

The first film was 2021’s “Halloween Kills” and I won’t talk about that one as much except to establish that it takes place on the same night as the previous movie and that there is a big message about vigilante justice and mob mentality that is a bit much, but the kills are great. The movie is darker and has a surprise ending when Michael kills Laurie’s daughter, Karen.

I do enjoy “Kills” but must admit that I understand why the fans are more critical towards this entry. It also doesn’t help that Laurie is pretty much out of most of the action due to the injuries she sustained in the previous movie.

Myers returned once again in 2022 in "Halloween Ends"!

In spite of any criticisms people may have had about “Kills”, though, it pales in comparison to how much fans were divided over the third and final film in the trilogy, “Halloween Ends”, which came out the following year. The movie is set four years after the events of the previous two films and Michael pretty much just disappeared after that fateful Halloween in 2018.

In the new movie, Corey Cunningham is babysitting a boy on Halloween in 2019. When the boy starts playing around with Corey, the boy locks Corey into a closet. Not knowing that the boy is on the other side, he kicks the door open and the kid accidentally falls over the railing on the second floor and dies. While it is confirmed that it was just a freak accident, Corey is shunned by the residents of Haddonfield and it doesn’t help that this accident happened not only while he was babysitting but also on Halloween night.

Three years later, Laurie is trying to truly move on with her life. She is writing her memoir and living with Allyson. Meanwhile, Corey is still being bullied by Haddonfield’s residents and it is starting to take a toll on him. Even so, Allyson takes a liking to Corey and they begin to go out.

Unfortunately, Corey is still being bullied and soon, he becomes the very monster that the town is afraid of. Taking refuge in the sewers after an encounter with said bullies, Corey discovers that Michael Myers is alive and has been surviving in the sewers for the past four years. For some reason, Michael doesn’t just kill Corey and the two start a new killing spree together.

Rohan Campbell plays Corey Campbell, the target of Haddonfield's fear in "Halloween Ends"!

Thinking he can strike out on his own, Corey tries to take out Michael and steals his mask. The movie then focuses on Corey for a good chunk of the remaining runtime. Eventually, he decides to take out Laurie, but she gets the upper hand before the real Michael returns and kills Corey. Then, Laurie and Michael have their final fight in a kitchen that is brutal, but surprisingly short as Laurie once again gains the upper hand on her attacker.

This is when Laurie realizes the truth about Michael Myers. He is not evil incarnate, he is simply a disturbed man that has terrorized Haddonfield for far too long. She finally manages to slay her monster and she takes the body, along with Allyson and other Haddonfield residents, and they put Michael’s body into an industrial shredder, thus ending his reign of terror and giving the town a chance to finally move on.

When the movie came out in 2022, the critics were mostly against the movie and the fanbase was divided over the new direction of the movie. The critics didn’t like that the movie mostly focuses on Corey instead of Michael and they didn’t like that Green subverted their expectations.

I was on the other half of that and completely loved the movie! The fact that Green completely subverted any expectations was refreshing to me and he found a new way to look at the mythos around Michael Myers and the fear he spread throughout a traumatized Haddonfield.

Corey is an indirect product of Michael Myers. The residents fear him because he is too similar, in their minds anyway, to the terrible monster that went on a killing spree four years prior on Halloween. Over time, this has caused Corey’s mind to break as he feels he is alone and that no one is really there for him.

Ultimately, Michael and Laurie Strode have one last battle in "Halloween Ends"!

Now, I will say that if they had stuck with Corey as the new copycat Michael Myers until the end, I would have been let down if this was Laurie’s final battle with the Shape. But the filmmakers were wise and by the end of it, Michael is definitely back and the one that gets to square off with Laurie one last time.

Some people have complained about the final fight in the kitchen by stating that it’s too quick and Laurie gets the upper hand too soon. However, I disagree and think this is appropriate due to Laurie’s speech to Michael at the end that includes, “I’ve run from you. I have chased you. I have tried to contain you. I have tried to forgive you. I thought maybe you were the Boogeyman. No, you’re just a man who’s about to stop breathing.”

This is Laurie finally facing what Michael truly is: a psychopath that randomly targeted her in ‘78 and came back in a brutal way in 2018 when he once again escaped the hospital. He is not evil, he is flesh and blood… and he can be killed.

I’ve also heard people complain about the ending where they throw his ass into an industrial shredder. However, I think this is a great ending and I like the fact that Green definitively ends his trilogy. There is no cheesy ending to suggest that, somehow, Michael Myers will return.

By having Laurie and Allyson and the residents of Haddonfield give Michael an impromptu procession, they are finally letting go of the fear that this man has produced. It is a cathartic and satisfying conclusion to a story spanning over 40 years.

At the end of the day, if I’m going to watch more than one “Halloween” film beyond the classic original, I now prefer to watch it with the H40 trilogy. I feel that these sequels not only successfully continued the series but gave it a proper conclusion.

I am aware that not everyone will be satisfied with these films. All three have their detractors that will never change their minds and that’s fine. I just feel that if enough people would revisit this trilogy, in particular “Halloween Ends”, then they may end up reassessing the trilogy and realize that Green and co. did a great job of finally giving us a decent “Halloween” series.