Halloween Ends

Halloween Ends is the final part to David Gordon Green and Danny McBride's trilogy that began with the 2018 film, itself a direct sequel to the original Halloween. After the events of Halloween Kills, Michael Myers has disappeared while the residents of Haddonfield all feel a darkness and evil surround them. Corey Cunningham, a young man who was responsible for the accidental death of a kid he was babysitting, becomes obsessed with Laurie Strode and her granddaughter, Allyson, after an encounter with Michael. As the town keeps ostracizing Corey, the evil that made Myers the monster he was soon starts spreading to him. Unlike many of the films that have come before in this franchise, this entry has more emphasis on drama and character development than horror and slasher tropes, though it still has plenty of them. Green, McBride, and the other writers give something new that works well though not all of it lands and stick. Corey becoming the next Michael Myers works well and certainly gives good reasoning behind it, but would have helped more if he was set up in the earlier films. Rohan Campbell's performance does give it credence, especially with the chemistry between Allyson's actress Andi Matichak. One aspect to the writing that could have been better handled is the idea that Michael's evil is like a virus and can affect the townspeople. Much of it is interesting, but by skipping many of the other films that dealt with similar things, it feels like it's not earned. But still, Green's direction continues to be the best this franchise has ever done, although there are a few times when jump scares are a bit overdone. If this is Jamie Lee Curtis's final time as Laurie then it a great sendoff with a strong performance, even if some of her actions feel a bit off. As is typical with any Halloween movie, you get John Carpenter's original and iconic theme while having some new added material to it as well as new music that adds to the atmosphere thanks to him, his son Cody, and Daniel Davies. Even if a lot of the story isn't the best, one can't deny that the cinematography from Michael Simmonds is stupendous and knows when to add to the tension. While we know that there will be more films in the future, Halloween Ends at least gives us one possible end to Michael Myers's rampage even if not all of it lands. Over all: 87%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Black Phone

3. Nope

4. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

5. The Northman

6. The Batman

7. Pearl

8. Lightyear

9. Dog

10. Everything Everywhere All at Once

11. X 2022

12. Scream 2022

13. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

14. Bullet Train

15. Halloween Ends

16. Thor: Love and Thunder

17. Jurassic World: Dominion

18. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

19. Uncharted