Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
I have taken exception with the "Halloween" sequels for years, if for no other reason other than their underimagined need not to exploit the supernatural possibilities. Lord, they have tried. Blumhouse's "Halloween" trilogy that began in 2018, 40 years after the John Carpenter classic, has taken on a new approach. With the exception of a glorified cameo by Jamie Lee Curtis as the PTSD-stricken Laurie Strode in "Halloween Kills," the approach was to expand Laurie's character and to show her as an aged Ripley in action. She can't get past the trauma of that dreaded Halloween night in 1978 and had turned her house into a death trap (the one inspired touch in the 2018 reboot). Comparing the first two chapters in this newfangled trilogy is like comparing a ripe banana with an over-rippened black banana. Yet "Halloween Ends" (clever title) is far superior to either sequel and has many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. This time, Michael Myers has the glorified cameo.
The opening sequence is a stunner. A young teenager named Corey (Canadian actor Rohan Campbell) is babysitting a rambunctious kid who loves watching John Carpenter's "The Thing" (nice touch echoing the original with its 1951 counterpart) and loves to scare everyone on Halloween. We are all entitled to a good scare, and Corey gets locked in the attic by the kid. Finally Corey kicks the door open only to accidentally kill the kid who falls to his death. We cut to opening titles and it is startling how this movie begins - they had me at male babysitter with no Michael Myers. Where is this movie going? What is happening? These are good, rare questions to ask when it comes to the umpteenth Michael Myers slasher flick.
Laurie Strode does return in more than just a glorified cameo. She is writing a memoir of her trauma-laden days surviving Michael Myers' endless attacks and she is just as winning a personality as she ever was - in fact, this Laurie flips the bird and curses like a sailor. She's living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, maximizing her potential in a terrific performance) who works at the hospital with a mean boss (yeah, you can guess what might happen to her boss). Corey, meanwhile, works at his father's auto salvage yard and is trying to come to grips with his own past trauma (the town's residents hate him), only he doesn't handle it well AT ALL. Let's just say that Corey has a run-in with Michael Myers who has been hiding for three years and hasn't killed a single soul (not even the homeless man who lives near the dank sewers beneath the bridge). Michael Myers did not kill anyone in three years? Say it ain't so, Mikey. He also looks like a phantom of his murderous self who has problems walking around (this does happen when you are an immobile 60-plus-year old) and keeps a dirty, blood-stained knife in a brick wall.
So Corey has trauma issues, doesn't get along with his parents, yet is falling for Allyson! Laurie Strode is single, still facing neighbors who hate her for somehow resurrecting Mikey Myers and his body count, albeit in a figurative sense, and may have a thing for the sheriff's deputy (Will Patton, in an even more abbreviated role than the previous installments). Laurie also understands what Corey is going through, initially tries to counsel him yet senses imminent danger ahead with this troubled kid. Allyson is drawn to Corey and wants to escape Haddonfield - everyone is afflicted by the the town's past murders and can't seem to move forward. Cue the Haddonfield DJ who has no qualms waxing on about those gruesome murders.
I will not reveal what occurs in this highly entertaining and sublimely paced sequel and that is not something I ever expected to say or write about this endless franchise. Suffice to say, director and co-writer David Gordon Green has taken the reins and unleashed a lean, mean and, dare I say, psychological thriller with slasher tendencies. Those slasheroos are hardly as gory as the previous entries and I was still in shock and awe as to how it ends. The Laurie Strode Saga is over and I am actually sorry to see it end. It is signed, sealed and delivered with visual echoes of the original 1978 shocker final montage, another splendid touch. The formerly grief-stricken, sardonic Haddonfield heroine, Laurie, has been through enough.
