Halloween Ends (2022)
HALLOWEEN ENDS is the 13th film in the Halloween series of films and the third of the Blumhouse trilogy, proceeded by 2018’s Halloween and 2021’s Halloween Kills. While the franchise’s infamously twisted timeline consisting of disconnected sequels and reboots is messier than a Michael Myers crime scene, the latest three movies serve as a direct continuation of 1978’s Halloween, ignoring everything that happened in films two through ten. As such, HALLOWEEN ENDS serves as both the conclusion of a trilogy and the culmination of the battle between babysitter Laurie Strode and boogeyman Michael Myers, a battle of good vs. evil that began more than 40 years ago.
Any momentum gained in the previous two films comes to a screeching halt at HALLOWEEN ENDS inexplicably opens with a flashback in which newly introduced character Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) accidentally causes the death of a young boy three years prior while babysitting. Shunned by the citizens of Haddonfield after the incident, we see Corey bumbling his way through life working at the local junkyard. Before long Corey crosses paths with Allyson Strode (Andi Matichak), Laurie’s granddaughter. The Strode family themselves are none too popular with the citizens of Haddonfield, many of whom blame the Strodes for the return of Michael Myers and subsequent trail of carnage he carved through town before disappearing. Before long the two dysfunctional twenty-somethings have crossed paths and become a couple.
Through a chance encounter we learn the seemingly immortal and eternally evil Michael Myers has been eking out an existence in a drainage ditch below an overpass. During the exchange, Myers appears to infect Corey with his evil essence. Before long Corey and Myers have teamed up, and who needs who more is unclear.
Also unclear is why Laurie Strode seems to have forgotten the events that took place in the last two movies, much less the previous 40 years. In 2018’s Halloween it was established Laurie had spent the past four decades preparing for the return of Myers, including (but not limited to) acquiring an arsenal of weapons and turning her home into a fiery death trap. In HALLOWEEN ENDS, Strode — after suffering the loss of her daughter to Myers in the previous film — has moved back into town, began work on her memoir, and bafflingly embraced Halloween to the point of carving jack-o-lanterns and baking pies.
Before arriving at the Myers/Strode showdown audiences came to see, the film must first deal with Corey who himself has arrived for Laurie. The final confrontation does happen — it has to happen — with an outcome as unambiguous as it could possible be. Thein again, this is Halloween, a franchise that likes to have its pumpkin pie and eat it, too. Michael Myers has been presented as a mortal man, the personification of evil, and everything in between. Never say never.