Anyone who has bothered to read my reviews knows I’m a fan of the current Halloween trilogy. I’ve seen every single one in the franchise, and I own up to the Rob Zombie ones in a Blu-ray box set I got from Wal-Mart. So I wasn’t too surprised that I enjoyed Halloween Ends. What I didn’t expect is that I would like it the most out of the Gordon Green entries in the series. This is literally if Halloween III had Michael Myers after all, and to me it works despite people complaining that Michael Myers takes a backseat.
Well honestly he kind of has in all of the ones Laurie Strode appears in, save for Halloween Resurrection of course. These movies are as much about Mikey’s victims and the haunted survivors as they are about his murderous rampages. This one gets that aspect especially well, as one Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell in an excellent and creepy performance) is not only shaped by one bad night, but also transformed into something worse. Strode (the always great Jamie Lee Curtis) slowly realizes what is happening, even as she is responsible for Corey meeting her daughter, Allyson.
Andi Matichak by the way doesn’t get enough credit for being excellent in all of these movies, and one can argue she is as much the focus of these ones as her grandmother Laurie. I also am glad that Will Patton pops up again although lucky for his character he doesn’t go after Myers for a change. There is a nice grocery store scene between him and Laurie that ends with Laurie being confronted by one of Myers’s victims in what is a chilling reminder that the boogeyman didn’t kill everyone he crossed paths with. Some were unlucky enough to survive and live with pain and scars.
The film does drag in certain parts, and there’s a lot of flash and style to account for certain scenes that lack substance. However the movie has a fantastic mix of original score and movie soundtrack picks, and I’m greatly amused at how one group of people literally exist as victims you don’t mind seeing die horribly. If anything that’s the issue folks have with slasher movies, that we end up rooting for the killer as much as we do for their potential victims trying to survive. Yet that’s maybe an element we could focus on more, how so many of us eagerly go see movies like Halloween Ends.
Shoutout also to Diana Prince aka Darcy the Mail-Girl for her awesome cameo as a radio station secretary who ends up not having a good weekend. I imagine they’ll keep making these movies, and I’ll keep showing up to watch them. However Gordon Green’s trilogy has a very satisfying conclusion, and I’m glad I saw it in theaters. Also one particular thing happens that was not only long overdue, yet very fitting for this series. Don’t Fear The Reaper, indeed.
Down The Rabbit Hole 
Leave a Reply