As a whole, we horror fans are a fickle bunch of f*@kers, aren’t we?
Watching all the comments, reviews, takes, and opinions on this supposed final chapter in the Michael Myers/Laurie Strode drama has led me to believe that for the most part – none of us really know what the hell we want, we just want it to be what we want it to be – when we want it.
I’ve been against this whole reboot thing from the start – my typed ramblings and video commentaries will prove this fact – as far as this Halloween fan is concerned, this fight ended back in the 80’s when Doctor Loomis blew Michael’s ass up at the hospital, everything since then has been money grab bullshit – with the notable exception of Halloween III where an attempt was actually made to do something completely different and out of the box – the rest of this so-called franchise has been – well, you know.
So, 2018 rolled around and we got this new vision of the Halloween world – everything after Carpenter’s iconic first film never happened – after that fateful Halloween night in 1978 Michael was caught – Laurie became a PTSD poster child and life went on.
So – we buy into this new timeline – heading into uncharted territories, seeing Laurie in a light that we had never experienced her in – watching her struggle, break down, and get strong. Watching her lose her family, her reputation, and perhaps a bit of her sanity – only to be proven right and to once again have to face an unstoppable evil that she struggles to understand. So, I present to you that this new trilogy of films – that ends with this film HALLOWEEN ENDS is actually just a reconstruction of that original trilogy of films – I’m not sure if that makes director David Gordon Green a visionary – or a copy cat but regardless – if you really take the time to look at what he’s created (and stop bitching for 5 seconds) you’ll see what I’m talking about. Like Carpenter’s original – DGG’s 2018 first film sets up the iconography – it lays the base paint for all that is to follow – using Carpenter’s original he envisions how those characters may have evolved having lived 40 years after those horrific experiences – if you agree with the vision he sees or not is not the point – this is what he thinks they would have evolved into – they gave him the money to make the film, he gets to make that choice – your validation is not required.
So – iconography is set – we move into the second chapter – HALLOWEEN KILLS, more violent – moves the story forward and gives DGG a wider canvas to carve his vision of these characters and their fates – in the original HALLOWEEN II it was decided that Laurie and Micheal would become brother and sister – DGG goes a different route and explores a trail left untouched in the franchise – he took the left turn at the fork in the road, as opposed to the right turn – again, shining lights into corners of these characters that we never knew existed – a smart move? Like all of this – that is open to debate.
Now we find ourselves at the third film – in theaters and on Peacock now – HALLOWEEN ENDS. I’m here to tell you that HALLOWEEN ENDS is so much like HALLOWEEN III: Season of the Witch that it’s scary. Obviously not in content – HALLOWEEN III took heat for years ( and still does in some circles) for not being a Michael Myers film – What JC was looking to do was to create a film series based around the holiday – not the character – HALLOWEEN III was to be the first film in that new direction – it ended up being the first and last as us fans at the time deemed it not worthy of our time and pissed all over it.
Guess what’s happening with HALLOWEEN ENDS – yep, same damn thing. HALLOWEEN ENDS is different – it brings in a new character, and the bulk of the film revolves around that character – where at one point Michael begins to play a part in this new character’s storyline – unlike HALLOWEEN III, Michael is in this film but – honestly, this film isn’t about him – although the events that transpire do lead to Michael and Laurie having the much-publicized showdown and one of them does indeed not live to see the next sunrise.
A bold creative gamble or – just bad, lazy writing? I’m inclined to go with door number one – I think DGG and his fellow creatives went into this knowing that they were going to bring something completely unique and unexpected with HALLOWEEN ENDS – they were looking to give Jamie Lee Curtis’s iconic final girl closure – while at the same time bringing actual new life into what I think we all can agree has become a very stale, very overused storyline.
Much like HALLOWEEN III – I think when fans get their heads out of their asses and actually try to look beyond their own short-sightedness – they’ll see HALLOWEEN ENDS for what it truly is – a bold creative stroke that while certainly flawed at least attempts to try and do something different. Horror fans are always bitching that they are so tired of the same old shit – until someone actually goes out on a limb and tries – and then just like good ole Michael, they stalk around in the darkness and throw knives. HALLOWEEN ENDS is not great – but, it does have moments of greatness and those moments deserve to be celebrated. Stop worrying about the thing YOU wanted to see and just enjoy this vision of how things might have ended up.
