HALLOWEEN ENDS

The movie builds up to a climax that deprives the audience of what the trailers have promised: a rewarding final confrontation with Michael Myers.

After last year's horrendous Halloween Kills you would have thought that the only way was up for Halloween Ends, which is supposed to be the final chapter in the decades-old grudge match between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode.

The opening scene definitely shows a lot of promise, with one of the most unexpected and gruesome deaths in the entire franchise, one that feels very much in the spirit of John Carpenter's original. Alas, after that prologue things go pear-shaped very quickly indeed.

Firstly by focusing the plot almost exclusively on an entirely new character that initially has no relation with Myers or Strode at all. Secondly by altering the essence of the main franchise villain to such an extent that you wonder why he would be striking fear into hearts for over forty years at all.

And thirdly by building up to a climax that makes no sense at all and deprives the audience of what the trailers have promised: a rewarding final confrontation between Jamie Lee Curtis and her nemesis. Halloween Ends? Let’s pray to God it does after this dud!

release: 2022

director: David Gordon Green

starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton