Halloween Ends, But It Ended Everyone’s Hopes [SPOILERS AHEAD]

It’s a wrap! David Gordon Green’s trilogy, brings down the curtains with Halloween Ends and places a cessation to Michael Myer’s carnage. Sadly, after 44 years of the agathokakological chronicle, this would be the end of an era as Jamie Lee Curtis has declared this would be her last Halloween film. Assuredly, we absolutely salute her and John Carpenter for the powerful and fearless woman they brought to the big screen. Regrettably, Green’s final chapter pulled off a cinematic fiasco and dashed the hopes of a pleasurable denouement.

Halloween End’s marketing was persuasive, and the curiosity of the die-fans on the tail end of the saga culminated. However, as far as ingeniousness and creativity extend, and after 44 years of failed attempts of killing Michael, he eventually gets eradicated by Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis). To twist the knife in the wound, the film employs characters that while initially they seemed a good addition to the film, they ended up getting too much screen time (Allyson’s boyfriend Corey who follows the footsteps of Michael Myers). As a matter of fact, encouraging bullying towards the ‘quiet kid’ who then finds solace in violence as an excuse of bullying is a provocative and senseless move from the creators. Eventually, it results in a killing spree that gives Corey (Rohan Campbell) tremendous confidence. This narrative is absolutely futile, and Corey’s appearance is needless that only sparks a short-term interest (unless I’m missing something here). Although the producers ruined the potential of a propitious character, there was still some hope of restoring the snafu by dropping the ball at Laurie’s court.

The showdown between Laurie and Michael has been highly awaited though for a worshipped franchise, the ending was enervated, rushed, and not rigorously written. The way in which Michael attacked Laurie, gave me a headache from the insanely hard blows she survived. What is that head made of? It turns out that Laurie is far more immortal than Michael and that leaves me with a huge question mark. Although we absolutely idolize Laurie, a finale where she does not eventually survive Michael’s mania, would have been more cogent. Think about it: Michael survived a pin on his carotid, infinite blows from literally the whole city to eventually fall unconscious with a stab wound. Unfortunately, there’s no imagination when it comes to the epilogue. Not to mention the odd camerawork and the needless move of revealing Michael’s face. Nevertheless, the only reason I can disregard this connotation is Laurie Strode.

The final instalment of Halloween pays homage to Laurie Strode and women’s empowerment. Fighting and surviving your own battles, picking yourself up and dusting yourself off. And there is a particular scene that I am referencing where at first it almost made me turn the TV off out of disappointment. When Laurie picks up the gun and calls 911 to report suicide, I was something more than discontented. That woman who has been combatting evil all her life, after all she’s been through, is she now abandoning her efforts? But then, Michael (Corey) opens the door only to reveal Laurie’s fortitude stance with a gun pointing at him saying in her iron-willed tone: Did you really think I’d kill myself? That scene had me saying ‘slay girl’. For 44 years we see a fearless, decisive and strong-willed woman enduring the pain with great resilience for her family and the common good. That’s how the Halloween story should have progressed, inspirational while reaching a resolution rather than recycling repetitively the same story. Sadly, throughout the years Laurie seemed to have been placed in the background and Halloween Ends has left us with an annoyingly dumb granddaughter putting herself into deep water to then get a scolding on Laurie for her choices that took a wrong turn.

Halloween Ends seemed like a rushed effort to bring a closure to the franchise and unfortunately it did not accomplish a forceful conclusion. There are some references to the original film but there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. And although I see the link between Corey and Michael concerning mental illness, their connection with regards to the narrative was scarcely credible. There are still questions that for 44 years are still up in the air, and I hope that producers will realize they got an F on their test and do penance for the disappointment they gave us. Although the film is under par, the only reason I can set aside technicalities for a second is to interpret the film as a soul-stirring farewell to Laurie Strode. And I hope this is not the end…

Farewell Laurie…