A completely accurate ‘Halloween Ends’ review

This review contains spoilers for the movie “Halloween Ends.”

Fun fact: my first-ever publication on 42Fifty was a movie review on “Halloween Kills.” So here I am, a year later, making another movie review, but this time for the sequel to the sequel “Halloween Ends.” If you are reading this review, you have read my previous one already—if not, what are you doing? In my first review, I described my hatred for the movie; in this review, I will express my complete and utter loathing of “Halloween Ends,” as it managed to be 10 times worse than “Halloween Kills.” 

Just like the last one, this movie’s opening was pretty good, although I am not particularly fond of Corey Cunningham (Rohlan Campbell), the new character introduced. Jeremy, the little boy (Jaxon Goldenberg) Corey was babysitting was a tool, but seeing the incident pan out was disturbing. 

I enjoyed this scene because of the subtle suspense it caused. Seeing the parent’s reaction to their son’s death just added to the shock. The scene piqued my interest but left me wondering how this scene would tie into the story. 

Not many horror franchises kill off kids in general, let alone on screen. The last movie that did that (to my knowledge) was “Hereditary” (2018). However, this isn’t the first “Halloween” movie that has killed off a kid. It first happened in “Halloween III: Season of The Witch,” which didn’t even have Michael Myers in it, and the plot was strange but had a cult-hit reputation. Spoiler alert: almost like this movie should have been named “Halloween XX: Season of Corey Cunningham.” (Get it… because Michael has like three minutes of screen time)

We’ll get back to that, but I liked the directional change they made to Laurie’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) character, making her let go of the past and try to move on. I did not mind this because we all knew it wouldn’t last. (Aka, her paranoia returns due to Corey). She has begun to write about her experience and her process of letting go. The monologue of her writing seemed cheesy and cliche at first, but given her character experience, it made sense. 

You see, I do have good things to say about the beginning. Not anymore, because yet again, my hopes for this movie quickly died. David Gordon Green, I have no words. Actually, yes, I do, so let’s say them.

The forced vulgar language was very… weird. I understand horror films feel the need to oversexualize situations and use profanity for “entertainment,” but some things we’re just not necessary. This choice of direction felt like an attempt to make the characters seem “normal,” and “careless” to address their newfound freedom. But they had already shown that through the monologue and direct actions the characters were taking. Such as Laurie just relaxing and trying to bake a pie and Allyson (Andi Matichak) getting ready to leave for her nursing job. Watching it unfold made the movie’s appeal worsen in my eyes. 

The action didn’t start for another century because I soon realized that the first half of this movie is not even a slasher film but a rom-com! Allyson meets Corey while tending to a cut he gained from being bullied by high schoolers. Afterward, they get straight to the point and start seeing each other. I say straight to the point, but I don’t mean that. Their “love story” was so awkward and prolonged that it took half the movie (not to mention Laurie’s romance with Officer Hawkins).

The directors tried hard to make Allyson and Corey connect easily due to their trauma and how “dark and broken they are.” The whole act was giving Tate and Violet from “American Horror Story,” but worse.

We are a quarter into the movie when the pair goes out to a Halloween party and awkwardly dances in the crowd with some interesting camera shots (Still, no action has occurred). After Corey finally gets thirsty enough to stop his dreadful dance routine and get a drink, he runs into the little boy’s mother from the babysitting incident. The mother criticizes Corey for going out and having fun after what he did. The incident leads Corey to run outside. And wow, we finally see the character everyone came to watch, Michael Myers! 

Michael has his first appearance when he drags Corey into the sewer in an attempt to kill him. When Michael starts choking Corey, they share a weird moment, and flashes of the people Michael has murdered are displayed on the screen to portray what Corey is seeing. After that, he lets Corey go. 

This scene had me sitting there, my mouth agape, in the worst possible context. Some thoughts running through my mind were, “where is this movie going,” “why does this suck so badly,” and “should I just turn it off now to save myself?” I should have listened to my intuition and turned it off. 

Skipping past many parts, I guess Michael starts training him to be a serial killer with immortality. Aww, Michael has a sidekick now (sarcasm). They both tag team to kill people that have wronged Allyson in a kind of serial killer duo. 

Corey gets tired of his new friend and later in the movie proceeds to jump Michael freaking Myers and win the fight. Michael has somehow transferred his powers to Corey leaving their strengths matched. But as later scenes show, Corey is not as “agile” or “smart” as Michael when it comes to killing. I hate to use the words “agile” and “smart” to describe Michael, given his abrupt killing methods, but Corey makes him look like a secret assassin.

Allyson is oblivious to Corey’s actions, and she is willing to run away with him. My advice to her would be to get a better taste in men and not run away with them after two weeks of knowing them. 

They plan to run away with one another but not until Corey tries to kill Laurie using the infamous Michael Myers mask he stole. (This is the scene I was referring to when I mentioned Corey not being so bright). Laurie bodies this guy, and he is already helpless in two minutes. But after he stabs himself and says, “if I can’t have her, no one can,” I almost got up and left. How corny can you be?  

To sum it up, Michael gets his donkey (if you know, you know) handed to him by Laurie after he comes in and supposedly kills Corey off for good. And then Michael gets turned into ground beef. If anyone wanted a scene-by-scene breakdown of this movie, I would do it. There is still so much to unpack. 

“Halloween Ends” was the final Michael Myers movie of his trilogy, and the ending left me entirely unsatisfied. The addition of Corey Cunnigham was a lazy excuse to drive a ridge between Allyson and Laurie, and his character remained useless. I fear that Corey will return as the new Michael Myers, and they will keep up with this franchise. I say this only because I do not think snapping his neck is enough to kill him now that he shares the same power as Michael. They also did not show his body after that. 

No one expected the infamous Michael Myers to have a sidekick, and the execution of that idea was neither entertaining nor successful. I give David Gordon Green the accomplishment of making an even worse “Halloween” movie than the last; that takes a lot of effort. I wish the final two films of the trilogy were as good as the first.