“HALLOWEEN” is one of the most successful slasher franchise flicks, with a total of 13 movies plus books, video games and merchandise items.
It started in 1978, directed by James Carpenter, and its iconic killer is Michael Myers, who is committed to a mental hospital as a kid for killing his own sister.
15 years later, he escapes and starts his killing spree in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween while kids are playing Trick or Treat.
It inspired other horror/slasher films like “Friday the 13th” in 1980, “Nightmare on Elm St.” in 1984, “Scream” in 1996 and “Saw” in 2004.
Critics call these films trash but they have a big market and made lots of money worldwide.
We now have “Halloween Ends”, the 13th film in the series.
It’s the finale to a trilogy of sequels that began in 2018 with “Halloween” and “Halloween Kills” in 2021, all directed by David Gordon Green.
“Halloween Ends” is narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis as the nemesis of Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, who is writing her memoir about herbloody encounters with him.
It starts on Halloween night of 2019 with a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell of the TV series “Hardy Boys”), who is hired to babysit for a boy, Jeremy, who is so mischievous he locks up Corey in the attic.
Corey kicks the door to open it, not knowing Jeremy is right behind it.
When the door suddenly opens, Jeremy is knocked down over the railings and falls to his death.
Corey is accused of murder but he is cleared. He becomes an outcast in the town and when some nasty bullies gang up on him, he gets hurt and Laurie takes him to the hospital.
He meets Allyson (Andi Matichak from “Halloween” 2018 and 2021), a nurse who happens to be the granddaughter of Laurie whose parents were killed by Michael Myers.
Allyson is sweet to the introverted Corey and they start a relationship.
But the bullies won’t leave Corey alone and when he tries to defend himself, he is thrown off a bridge.
He is taken by Michael Myers into the sewers where he lives and something mysterious happens to Corey as Myers looks into his eyes, giving him an instinct for murder.
Eventually, Corey goes on his own murderous rampage on Halloween night.
But since the main antagonist here is Michael Myers, the film’s climax is the showdown between him and the ass-kicking Laurie.
And since this is supposed to be the final film in the series, he is shown being subdued by Laurie and is then taken to a garbage shredder to be shred into small pieces.
And that’s the end of him. For now.
Because believe it or not, we won’t be surprised if he’d be resurrected again some years from now for additional income for the franchise.
But honestly, the movie is neither scary nor fun to watch, making it such an unsatisfactory conclusion for the hit franchise.
Introducing a new murderer like Corey to be a clone of Michael Myers feels so bogus, what with Corey’s performance as the tormented babysitter so anemic.
Cannot they think of any other more effective twist in the narrative?
We don’t know if loyal fans of the franchise liked it but truth to tell, it’s quite a disappointment.
It’s still fascinating, though, to watch Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie.
The daughter of Anthony Curtis and Janet Leigh (star of “Psycho” that is obviously an inspiration for “Halloween”), she was just 21 years old when she did the first “Halloween” movie (also her debut on the big screen) in 1978.
And now, at 64, she still looks so hale and healthy with ample star wattage as the original Scream Queen.
Jamie has appeared in many memorable films like “A Fish Called Wanda”, “Freaky Friday, “True Lies”, but she will always be remembered as Laurie in the “Halloween” series.