Why Halloween Ends Is Rated R

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in Halloween Ends
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

The horror genre has been on a roll for years now, to the delight of moviegoers. Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters thanks to new sequels, with that trend happening largely thanks to the wild success of 2018’s Halloween. Two more sequels were formed to create a new trilogy by director David Gordon Green, and it’s all coming to a head with Halloween Ends this October. And now we know exactly why the upcoming slasher is rated R.

The current trilogy of Halloween movies served as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 original, with Jamie Lee Curtis and other OGs reprising their role as Haddonfield residents. Halloween Ends will end the current story, and will also serve as Curtis’ final performance as final girl Laurie Strode. The upcoming slasher’s official Film Rating from the MPAA recently arrived, and it was unsurprisingly rated R. The reasoning is as follows:

Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout and some sexual references.

Someone play the Halloween theme music, because Michael Myers is headed back to the big screen. And it looks like there’s going to be plenty of violence and gore in the upcoming threequel Halloween Ends. Considering how many kills we saw in the last movie, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to moviegoing audiences out there.

It looks like Halloween Ends is going to have the basics of a R-rated horror movie: lots of violence and four letter words. But when you’re being chased by Michael Myers, who can blame characters like Laurie Strode and company for having potty mouths? I have to wonder what characters the sexual references will be about; are Laurie and Will Patton’s Deputy Frank Hawkins become a full-fledged couple? Only time will tell, but not many characters survived the events of Halloween Kills.

While the 2018 Halloween movie had some truly iconic kills (especially that scene where Oscar gets impaled by the fence), the violence was reached up to a 10 for Halloween Kills. Michael Myers raked up an insane body count throughout that slasher, with nearly the entire cast killed off in the process (including the iconic Judy Greer). As such, it should be interesting to see how powerful violence ultimately ends up being in David Gordon Green and Danny McBride’s threequel. 

Not much is known about the contents of Halloween Ends, although the first footage was recently revealed to the general public. The movie is expected to feature a time jump, allowing the timeline in-universe to match up to the real world. You can check out the first trailer below,

While this first glimpse at Halloween Ends is thrilling for the generation so fans out there, the footage was extremely limited. Kyle Richards was noticeably absent, and there were only a few moments featuring Andi Matichak’s Allyson. But with the slasher arriving in time for the titular holiday this fall, the marketing should start really picking up.

Halloween Ends will hit theaters on October 14th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.