Oh dear! This 13th instalment of the Halloween franchise, the final (hopefully) in the ret-conned trilogy that started with Halloween (2018) is quite dreadful. Halloween Ends has a cool retro vibe, that Nietzsche quote about looking into the abyss and the abyss looking back, as well as a killing which brought back memories of Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. But that is it. The rest of Halloween Ends slays you with boredom.
Halloween Ends
A sequel to Halloween Kills (2021), David Gordon Green returns to director duties with Halloween Ends as do Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie, the Last Girl of Michael Myers’ 1978 killing spree), James Jude Courtney (Myers), Andi Matichak (Allyson, Laurie’s granddaughter) and Will Patton (Deputy Frank Hawkins).
The film begins in 2019 when a teenager, Corey (Rohan Campbell) is babysitting the rather bratty Jeremy. A horrible accident later, Corey is ostracised by the beleaguered town of Haddonfield. Laurie is living with her granddaughter, Allyson, who works as a nurse. Laurie is trying hard to move beyond the horrific events of 1978, and 40 years later in 2018 when Myers returned for another round of slicing and dicing. She is writing her memoir, meeting Hawkins, who is learning Japanese, which he hopes to try out in Japan during cherry blossom season, in the supermarket, knitting and baking pies. That they are burnt to a crisp is another matter...
On the countdown to Halloween, bad things start to happen, even as Corey and Allyson grow closer. Though Laurie initially introduced the two, she begins to have doubts about Corey. Halloween Ends is neither thrilling nor fun, and those jump scares are frankly rather irritating. It is fun to see Curtis do her feisty grandmother act flinging refrigerators about with vim and vigour. Otherwise the Shape’s latest killing spree is deader than their victims.
Halloween Ends is currently running in theatres
