Notable Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan
Campbell, Will Patton, James Jude Courtney, Kyle Richards
When it comes to John Carpenter projects that are being
revitalized in the modern cinema landscape, Christine was one that I was
skeptical could be pulled off. With the success of Halloween (2018) and Halloween
Kills (box office-wise) though, perhaps it made sense that director David
Gordon Green would want to tackle the project. He had an eye for that kind of
character trauma as presented within a horror landscape. It’s a good
match.
Oh, I’m sorry. This film is actually Halloween Ends
and not a Christine remake. My bad. Someone should let Green know that
too.
Yet, that’s what Halloween Ends ends up being - the
story of a maligned young man who is influenced by an evil presence and becomes
more and more obsessed with the strength and power it gives him to stand up
against all the awful people and circumstances around him. On paper, the idea
is not only bold for a Halloween film but dare I say impressive. The problem
that burdens the film is that it's jammed into trying to balance this new
character arc with finalizing the other themes, characters, and stories of the Halloween
series they started. It’s a balance that collapses in on itself,
unfortunately.
Perhaps it should have been an indicator when the Halloween
Ends title card was presented in the same font and color as Halloween
III: Season of the Witch that this film was going to do something that
would piss off the fans, but alas, even I didn’t expect that it would take some
of the wilder stabs that it does. I love Halloween III and, similar to what
that film was aiming to accomplish, this one seemingly wants to abandon most of
the characters or story of its predecessors.
As a standalone film, Halloween Ends manages to
entertain and contain enough interesting ideas and material in its DNA. It’s
essentially split into two plot lines - the first focusing on a new character,
Cory Cunningham, and the second being Laurie Strode, once again portrayed by
Jamie Lee Curtis. Although fans and audiences have already turned against the
former character, it’s in the Cory Cunningham plot that Halloween Ends
finds its successes.
Mainly that’s because his story, the picked-on kid who is
turned on by the people and situations around him, is essentially a damn near
beat for beat remake of Christine. My joking attitude in the opening of
this review remains, but truly that character arc and its themes around the
evil in the treatment of others and circumstances holds a lot of water still.
It’s well performed and the cold opening that introduces his character ends up
being the best sequence of the film. The script problematically doesn’t pull
off his final act in a way that punches its themes as hard as it might have,
but the journey there is fairly effective. Most of its missed opportunities
with Corey comes from the film remember that it has to tell Laurie’s story too.
Looking at the poster though, or perhaps the picture that
adorns the Peacock digital version of the film, it’s hard not to be
disappointed. This is, in fact, a Halloween film and it’s one that has
claimed to be the final confrontation between our iconic masked killer, Michael
Myers, and the OG final girl, Laurie Strode. Yet, it’s very obvious that
despite some of the threading about the evil that has infected the small-town
of Haddonfield and its effects on Laurie and her granddaughter, that piece
feels like a last-minute addition to the film. The final act with Michael and
Laurie inherently feels tacked on, her running commentary via her memoirs feels
rather superfluous to give her a reason to be a lead, and the relationship she
has with her granddaughter in the wake of the events of Halloween Kills
is thinly explored to give more focus to Corey. Sure, does Michael get to do
some retro style kills once he’s introduced? I’m game when someone gets stabbed
and pinned to a wall, but it’s far too little to cut as deep as it wants. The
payoff of the story set up in Halloween (2018) is hardly paid off
in any kind of fulfilling manner.
Halloween Ends is simply a mixed bag. In an era where
generational trauma is the key ingredient for horror, it might be a little on
the nose with its focus on Corey, but it works much better than the film does
as a finale to a trilogy about Laurie’s character. It’s, once again, gorgeously
shot at times with some intriguingly layered performances at its center that
allow for a couple of punchy slasher kill sequences, but it's patched together
script and director focus undermines so many of the better things about the
film.
Is it the worst Halloween film as so many fans and
critics claim? Hardly. This is a franchise of ill executed ideas and knee-jerk
reactions to trends and fan reaction. So, seeing Green and his team take a wild
swing is something to be respected. The execution of those ideas and the
expectations laid upon Halloween Ends from the previous films is what
never finds its footing and it results in a disappointing and scattershot finale.
Halloween Ends takes a wild stab at some great ideas,
but never manages to finish the kill.
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