if David Gordon Green and Danny McBride’s HALLOWEEN was an unexpectedly refreshing continuation of the original film— and HALLOWEEN KILLS was a total dumpster fire of pointlessness— then HALLOWEEN ENDS is their wildest ride of a finale that’s all at once the most unique of their trilogy but also the one I find the most flawed but ultimately came out of it appreciating the most

I can’t even talk about a lotta what I wanna say about this movie without spoiling it— so I guess take that in before going further— but just know that in spite of its flaws— I really fuckin’ like and— even more so— respect the hell outta this movie for not necessarily being a good finale to this trilogy— which it’s not: but instead for just being a great HALLOWEEN movie

and the reason for that’s ‘cause it feels closer to the original premise of this series than anything has in years— that being using Halloween as a springboard to tell original stories, ‘cause yeah, that’s right: the closest thing to this third HALLOWEEN movie is HALLOWEEN III

Green and McBride talked about how they originally only pitched two new HALLOWEEN movies— but ended up making a third ‘cause they “just had so many ideas”— it was a sentiment that reeked of either them or the studios dragging out the story to make a trilogy since people (and studios) love those for some reason— especially more so after watching the absolute waste of time that was HALLOWEEN KILLS— but if anything— it led me to believe that at least HALLOWEEN ENDS would be more of an actual sequel to their first HALLOWEEN that followed up on more of what I genuinely loved about that movie

and… frankly… it’s not— and in other case I’d probably be mad about that— but what this movie does put forth instead of being a stronger finale for Laurie’s story is instead being an incredibly engrossing character study of both our existing characters and especially an entirely new one

Corey Cunningham is the new talk of Haddonfield— a new character that’s so love him or hate him that— if you love the movie then you’ll find him to be an incredibly tragic figure that reinvigorates the HALLOWEEN franchise with fresh blood— or if you hate him then he single-handedly ruins the entire movie for you by taking away the spotlight from the characters that we’ve been building up a story for

as for me? I’d say I’m right down the middle

Corey is exactly all those things I mentioned and so much more— he’s by far the most interestingly fleshed out character in this entire trilogy— and in a lotta ways more so than any established characters either— the opening with him alone being one of my new favorite sequences in the whole franchise— one that so immediately establishes this character— only for it not to just be a one off thing— we keep following him throughout the film— he’s arguably the main character— as it’s his arc— not Laurie’s— that’s the most narratively satisfying and in ways that are so tantalizingly unique that my jaw dropped multiple times at what I was experiencing that I couldn’t even begin to believe was the finale of this trilogy

but… that’s exactly the thing— this is still the finale to this HALLOWEEN trilogy and— as a finale to Laurie and Michael’s stories— the supposed last time we’re gonna see this characters (at least in this way)… it’s a pretty fuckin’ bad finale

the joke’s been made a million times already but— yeah— for a movie about Michael Myers: the guy’s barely in this fuckin’ thing

and for the sake of the story they’re trying to tell— in context— it makes total fuckin’ sense— and the ways that they do use Michael here are— again— legitimately unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in this franchise— but— it’s at the same time at consequence to the narrative of the past few movies— used sparingly at best and shoehorned into the finale at worst

same goes for Laurie— this character that’s been built up so much from the first HALLOWEEN to the 2018 version— has mostly been reduced to a side character in her own story— again— at least up until the finale— but again— in ways that usually work to the benefit of the specific kinda story it’s trying to tell

and just what is that story? well… call me crazy… but it’s weirdly close to David Gordon Green’s early indie work?

yeah— like— I never thought I’d be saying this about HALLOWEEN ENDS— but it’s basically an indie romantic drama about fucked up people trying to move on from personal trauma and the differing ways they cope with that and— yeah— as a horror movie— it kinda falls flat on its face— but as all that aforementioned stuff? it’s shockingly incredible

like I never thought I’d care for Allyson after two movies of being the most “what the fuck ever” character ever— but this time around I legit felt for her (in all of her arrested development amazingness)— Laurie’s a lot more cozy this time around (again until she starts popping off) and it’s really fun to see her just be a grandma— but like I said most of all Cory just fuckin’ kills it— like I won’t get too specific— but he has such a genuinely fascinating character arc that it no joke made the whole movie worth it for me

there are still stupid jumpscares, even stupider scenes of “we’re trying to be serious” with the stupidest melodrama possible, and just all around stupid shit everywhere… but there’s also moments of heartbreaking tragedy, shockingly subversive plot developments, and powerful themes of how we face, process, repurpose, and move on from tragedy that are what this trilogy has been trying to say from the start

and look— again— it’s not a perfect movie— I really wish it was— but for every phenomenally acted piece of character development, incredible shot that surprisingly recontextualizes iconic moments from the series, or amazing slice of score— there’s something stupid, a mishandled plot thread, or a “ok wow we’re really going with this ending like really after everything we set up like it feels like we’ve been watching like three different movies and right at the end you’re choosing to be the one people paid for ok”

but like I said— in spite of all of that— this is a movie I genuinely respect for completely subverting my expectations but in a way I actually loved— it’s like a reverse RISE OF SKYWALKER for basically completely ignoring the last movie but instead using that to tell something that— yeah, probably just could’ve been its own thing— but imagine what that could mean for the future of HALLOWEEN as a franchise: this is gonna divide the fuck outta audiences in ways that I completely understand anything people have to say, both positive and negative, but for me in spite of it all this is just too big of a swing for me to not appreciate it

HALLOWEEN ENDS isn’t the movie we were expecting— or maybe even wanted— but it’s a movie that deserves to be watched far into the future of Halloween