Rating of
2.5/4
Halloween Ends - Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 12/21/22
“I've run from you. I have chased you. I have tried to contain you. I have tried to forgive you. I thought maybe you were the Boogeyman. No, you're just a man who's about to stop breathing.”
Yes, I am writing this during the Christmas season. Sue me! Anyways…
Here it is, the end of this 50-year later Halloween saga. A rocky journey over the four years, with the body count being higher, blood everywhere, and a compelling take on the Michael Myers lore. The Halloween movies have so many reboots you have different versions of the serial killer himself. Even then, the Halloween sequels are often dull and constantly get worse. There is the brother and sister angle, the cult angle, etc. None of it matters.
So, Halloween Ends; is it the end? Of course not, don’t be silly. If Michael cannot die, what makes you think the franchise will unless it bombs at the box office; then it is the end. But is it a solid finale? Not quite.
I appreciate the filmmakers, or whoever, for trying something different and some unexpected choices for the franchise rather than the usual stabby-stabby. But why are you doing this now, with this being your final movie of this timeline? They should have been wrapping things up, not introducing something enormous that could have been its movie. The shape himself is barely in the film, despite what the trailers lied to you. I remember seeing this movie in an almost-packed cinema with some people wearing Michael Myers masks. However, mid-way through, I could sense the audience was losing patience.
I guess people want to see two old people beating the shit out of each other.
There are some things that I did like about it. The cinematography and the score are easily the best parts. The opening Halloween theme had me bobbing along to the catchy beat, especially with the cinema speakers. The opening sequence was a mixture of shock and unintentional comedy. There was some solid acting throughout. I also want to mention James Jude Courtney, who has played The Shape in these new movies, and he has done a fantastic job of making Michael scary and brutal again. While not as gory as the last movie, there were still some solid deaths, especially one death scene involving a blowtorch. At least this timeline has a proper ending, unlike the other films, which got abandoned due to messy circumstances.
As I said before, I respect them for taking risks, but sadly the writing lets it down. I mean, the theme for this new timeline is “evil” and how evil is like a virus, etc. It is mentioned repeatedly throughout these new movies that it quickly becomes irritating.
How about the final brawl between Michael and Laurie Strode? Well, I found it to be unsatisfying.
Overall rating: I have mixed feelings about this one. Although, I can see this having a cult following in the future, like Halloween III: Season of the Witch & Rob Zombie’s Halloween II. Who knows - this movie can be someone's favourite entry in the series. Then again, the whole finale angle is pointless since we all know the franchise is not dead forever. Give it 5 or 10 years, and we will get a new timeline, story-line, and brand-new kills for horror fans to gush over.
By that time, a new Michael will terrorize Halloween night again, and a new franchise will take shape.
