The Halloween franchise has been going for so long, that there are far more questionable or bad entries than there are good ones. Sure, the original is an all-time masterpiece, and there is plenty to love about some of the sequels, but like many slasher franchises, its track record is marked with half-baked ideas, convoluted plots, and a rotating cast of forgettable characters. The franchise was semi-rebooted in 2018 with a high-quality direct sequel to John Carpenter’s original, and it boded well for future entries in the franchise. Now, with Halloween Ends bringing the current trilogy of films to a close, the the spotty track record for the series has taken yet another hit.
The latest Halloween arrives in theaters and streaming on Peacock on October 14, wrapping up this current film series. And if the current press tour has anything to say about it, Jamie Lee Curtis’ time as Laurie Strode has come to an end (though this isn’t the first time she’s bowed out of the series). However, instead of going out on top, the Halloween franchise once again finds itself with a sloppy chapter that provides little satisfaction in its ending.
Halloween Ends is set four years after the events of Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021), finding Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) living together, attempting to reassemble their lives after the path of destruction Michael Myers carved on Halloween night in 2018, which left a number of Haddonfield residents murdered–including Laurie’s own daughter (Judy Greer). Michael has since disappeared, and we are told through news clips and sound bites that things in Haddonfield are worse than ever as the curse of Michael Myers has led to deaths (via both murder and suicide) that cast a large shadow over the small town.