Halloween Ends is most definitely the most divisive entry in the whole franchise. I thought that Kills was a disliked entry but Ends appears to have a more polarizing effect on everyone. I had to watch it twice before I felt like I could properly review the movie. I like it but it hasn’t griped me like the previous two movies have. It took massive swings, that mostly made sense in the story for the trilogy, but some of them didn’t land for me.
Both David Gordon Green and Danny McBride returned to write Ends with Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier. The fact that there are four writers rather than three like there have been in the previous two movies might help factor in why Ends feels so different. David Gordon Green was able to make three very different movies, and this is the most different. Each movie in DGG’s trilogy shows different aspects of grief and trauma. The way Ends deals with it takes more of a Macro view and how grief and trauma shapes communities, which carries on from Kills.
Jamie Lee Curtis plays a different Laurie than the previous two movies. She’s more haunted by her past than dwelling on it. Andi Matichak plays Allyson closer to how Laurie was. She has unprocessed trauma and seems to not care. I really want to mention how fantastic James Jude Courtney is as Michael Myers. Courtney gets to do more with his physicality than just be a killing machine. Will Patton and Rohan Campbell are great in their roles. Campbell’s performance varies wildly as Corey changes throughout the film. There are also fun cameos and role reprisals from the previous two movies. Nick Castle got a proper cameo rather than just being the breathing we hear from Michael Myers. One other cameo that I really liked was Darcy The Mail Girl/Diana Prince, even if it was cut down.
Christopher Nelson continued his amazing work as practical effects supervisor. His work from the previous two movies were amazing and it is just as good in Ends. There’s some pretty shocking stuff that was done and there’s one kill that I really wish we could have seen more clearly. I don’t know how much were VFX but since there’s nothing that stands out it looks great. The set and costume design are fantastic. The returning John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies made another amazing score.
Halloween Ends is a well-made movie that took massive swings and is an incredibly divisive movie. Jamie Lee Curtis said that the movie would make people mad, and I don’t think she could have been more right. I thought people hated Kills, and they did, but its nothing compared to what I’ve seen when it comes to Ends. I know that this is the last Halloween movie that will be produced by Blumhouse. You can watch Halloween Ends either in theaters or on Peacock, whichever you prefer. I give Halloween Ends 6 butcher knives out of 10.