Halloween Ends
directed by David Gordon Green
directed by David Gordon Green
This movie, the conclusion of the original Halloween storyline, was disappointing. Seriously Freaking Disappointing. The serial killer Michael Myers has been terrorizing an Illinois town for over half a century.
Michael seemed to be obsessed with town resident Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) one of the few people to survive his remorseless attacks. Now the thing about Michael, which has launched him from run of the mill murderer to force of nature, is that his strength, ability to endure pain, and ability to avoid detection have always been beyond that of any man.
The films always played coy about this but the previous installment Halloween Kills made it obvious that Michael had consistently survived wounds that would have killed anything that was human.
In the second film as Laurie gave a voiceover detailing her hypothesis that Michael was something supernatural we watch Michael, who was attacked by a mob, get shot at least seven times, be beaten in the head with baseball bats, two by fours, wrenches, and pipes, get stabbed several times with butcher knives and various other sharp implements, stand up and nonchalantly dispatch the entire mob. This must set up this movie's big reveal about Michael's powers and origin and the FINAL SHOWDOWN between Michael and Laurie, right?
Halloween Ends opens four years after the events of the first two movies. Surely Laurie has been doing some research into phenomenon like Michael Myers.
Will Laurie will hook up with some secret Vatican task force that can exorcise Michael or turn him human. Maybe there's some government agency doing experiments with LSD and nanobytes that accidentally created or worsened Michael. Maybe there's...
Nah. Instead, there's Laurie Strode writing her memoirs, doing some painful flirting with deputy sheriff Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) and fretting as her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) makes googly eyes with town creep and loser Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) a charisma free teen who accidentally caused the death of his babysitting charge three years prior.
And THAT's the film. People bully Corey. Allyson wants his babies. Corey's Mom is mean to him. Allyson wants his babies. Corey starts developing into a serial killer. Allyson wants his babies.
Laurie and Michael Myers are secondary figures. The writers are more interested in Corey's lack of arc. Get bullied. Pout and whine. Make out with Allyson. Have Laurie make concerned face. Repeat.
There might have been a story about how a combination of supernatural and social evils created monsters or even a theme showing how evil is metaphorically (or literally) transferred from one generation to the next but there wasn't. This movie was a like a car that shuts off and won't start just as you reach home. At least you're home.
