Horror movie fans always delight in the month of October, checking out what new frights the genre has to offer on the big screen while still pulling out the old classics. Halloween is, without a doubt, one of the best horror movie franchises, making this fall particularly exciting given the impending release of Halloween Ends. Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode for a final battle with Michael Myers to close out the trilogy, and the reviews are in to let us know whether or not we can expect satisfactory closure on the Halloween franchise.
Amongst the things we know about Halloween Ends is that it takes place four years after the events of Halloween Kills, in 2022’s post-pandemic Haddonfield, Illinois. Laurie is forced to confront her past yet again, after Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is accused of killing a boy he was baby-sitting. Along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak also returns as Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson Nelson. Are critics excited about the trilogy’s conclusion? Let’s see what they have to say, starting with CinemaBlend’s review of Halloween Ends. Mike Reyes rates the movie 4 stars out of 5, saying it's a "bold and satisfying" conclusion that will have fans talking:
Going into Halloween Ends, I was expecting Jamie Lee Curtis’ ass kicking skills to be at full throttle throughout. If I had gotten the movie I’d expected walking into this screening, I don’t think I would have liked it as much as I did. Rather than making the endgame for Laurie Strode all about killing Michael Myers, this final chapter combines that old chestnut with a more powerful drive: to overcome the darkness that has sat with her ever since that fateful Halloween in 1978.
Aaron Neuwirth of We Live Entertainment agrees that fans will be satisfied, giving it a User Rating of a 7. He posits that for a good chunk of the first half, you might forget you’re watching a Halloween film, but the second half brings the brutality audiences want to see in a number of different ways:
No, this is not an art film disguised as Halloween; it simply marches to a different beat that focuses on the sorrow and downtrodden individuals who get extra jumpy toward the end of October. Still, this movie is not without a sense of fun. There’s plenty of humor and moments bound to allow plenty of viewers to react accordingly. Even a major showdown between Michael and Laurie hits in ways that recall the past and provide some new, satisfying beats. In fact, all of the violent horror on display is depicted in brutal and varied ways, which is what one generally wants on some level with this kind of thing. It only helps to see a certain level of control on display.
Matt Oakes of Silver Screen Riot gives the movie a grade of C+, calling it a mixed bag that isn’t likely to win over any new fans but might be enough of a satisfying conclusion for longtime followers of the franchise. The critic says,
Halloween Ends lives up to its name in unexpected ways, taking a largely unexpected route to the conclusion of the franchise before ultimately caving and offering up exactly what fans expect and want. The kills are strong and there’s some flashy new ideas here though the writing leaves much to be desired.
Peter Gray of The AU Review also calls Halloween Ends “unexpected,” but gives it the middling rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. This review says Jamie Lee Curtis is better-utilized in this offering than its predecessor, and you have to respect director David Gordon Green for making “a ballsy, uncharacteristic move” to end this trilogy. According to the critic:
Whilst Ends, at times, doesn’t always feel like a film that belongs in the Halloween canon, it does feel like it has something of a tighter grip on certain motivational actions behind its bloodshed. Kills, for all its faults, enjoyed itself immensely from a gore point of view, amping itself up and displaying no mercy as it offed as many people as possible, and whether or not they were connected to Laurie didn’t seem to matter. Ends has a more specific mentality in its killings.
William Bibbiani of The Wrap says so much of Halloween Ends focuses on Corey's character that it feels more like a backdoor pilot than a continuation of the original film. He says:
Instead of providing any fresh perspectives on Myers and his impact on the long-suffering town of Haddonfield — or its most famous residents, the Strode family — Halloween Ends merely offers an extended, one might say extremely padded, coda to the tale that Green has been telling. The film eventually provides some memorable gore but the ultimate conclusion is unconvincing and perfunctory. Halloween Anecdotally Concludes would have been much more accurate, although the studio’s marketing department would no doubt have hated it.
Tom Jorgensen of IGN wonders if David Gordon Green's exploration of the long-ranging effects of evil gets in the way of bringing Laurie's story to a satisfying end. This critics rates the film an "Okay" 6 out of 10, saying:
Halloween Ends concludes the Myers/Strode rematch trilogy with an ambitious, if somewhat confused, final chapter. Despite dialed-in performances from Jamie Lee Curtis and franchise newcomer Rohan Campbell, David Gordon Green’s larger exploration of evil and trauma expands on the conversation he started in Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills at a rate that Ends doesn’t quite have time to keep up with. There are some memorable kills and reverence for the franchise at large, but it stumbles as it brings it to a close.
If you can’t wait any longer to see Halloween Ends, no worries! The movie will be released both in theaters and to those with a Peacock subscription on Friday, October 14.
Be sure to also check out what other upcoming horror movies are headed our way, and if you want more Michael Myers, check out all of the Halloween movies in order, and see how you can watch them.
