The final installment in slasher horror classic series that started back in the 1970s and was created by one of the masters of horror John Carpenter. Disregarding Rob Zombie's films, Halloween Ends is the 11th movie in the franchise. This film has been met with an angry feedback by some movie goers because its plot hasn't got the iconic antagonist Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) as its central villain. Protagonist Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a different story: her observations, reasoning, experiences and actions are what provide this final installment with much of the meaning.
Unlike the two previous films, where there wasn't a time gap between the storylines, Halloween Ends takes place 4 years after the events in Halloween Kills.
WHAT I LIKED
The idea that the whole series ends with a warning. This is about a creation of the antagonist Corey (Rohan Campbell), who, after being a part of a tragic accident, is becoming more and more of an outsider in the town, and is being subjected to a certain level of harassment, and bullying from some of the fellow teens. As the movie progresses, Corey becomes a character, which is telling a story told by Laurie; the young man's choices and reasoning throughout his part of the film are points that are eventually explained by Laurie as a survivor. This happens in a number of different situations: when talking to Corey, when talking to her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), and is essentially communicated to the spectator through her words, situations and people she meets, and her actions.
Although the screen time "The Shape" (MM) gets is indeed unexpectedly short, when it comes to the old fight between him and Laurie, it is very effective. The end of Michael Myers is epic in every sense; I was stupefied watching how Laurie manages to win that final fight.
The cinematography in all the last three Halloween films is something that, in my humble opinion, is a film school material. First of all, I liked the color grading, and I was surprised to hear the director of photography Michael Simmonds didn't like going through the process of that. Halloween Ends is also another great example of how to shoot scenes in darkness, for a wide screen and, apparently, in these films there had also been a particular focus on zoom techniques. The interview with the cinematographer can be watched and listened to here:
All the particularly interesting stuff starts at 13:00 mins. There is also an interesting note made by Mr. Simmonds during the conversation, where he says that movie making is an opposite of movie watching. This, same as few other things, gets explained in length.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
I've never been a fan of any of the films (I have seen most of them though). Halloween Ends is about a legacy, which has meaning to long time fans and, I think, because of this reason the role of "The Shape" to me personally comes across as one that's mostly hollow, devoid of any real meaning; it might have as well been a ghost or hallucination seen by Corey. I'm one of those who thinks Corey's character would have done better being in a separate movie; in a Halloween spin-off rather than a sequel.
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Halloween Ends movie still with (from left) Billy (Marteen), Corey (Rohan Campbell) and Terry (Michael Barbieri). Source Halloween Ends was co-written, produced and directed by David Gordon Green.
