As I went back and read my reviews for the previous two Halloween sequels, I'm beginning to pick up on a pattern of these "legacy" horror sequels. Throw this year's overrated Scream in there and I'm finding:
These just aren't for me.
For starters, I'm unfamiliar with much of the source material as I wasn't watching horror films back then nor have I caught up with them. Secondly, as a cultivated fan of horror over the last several years, I've leaned more toward things like Barbarian, Malignant, and A Quiet Place just to name a few.
Specifically for the Halloween legacy trilogy, it has felt dragged out and repetitive now that we've had 3 whole films. I detested the previous one, Halloween Kills, surprised to see my much-too-generous 5.5/10 review score (probably should have been a 4/10). "Evil Dies Tonight" stuck with me as one of the dumbest movie moments in the last several years and aside from some gruesome kills, it was a movie that didn't need to exist.
Suffice it to say that my excitement for Halloween Ends was bordering on none outside of a general curiosity if they'd finally kill the big brooding lug. I won't spoil that here, but what I will tell you is that Halloween Ends is a much better film than it's immediate predecessor, closer in quality to the start of this trilogy.
My issues with it track along with many of the issues I've had all along throughout this trilogy. The writing can be cheesy as hell, with character development in Ends moving along awkwardly fast at times, then appropriately slower in others. I appreciated the extra time the film spent before the killing focusing on a core set of characters, but - without going into spoilers - it felt like some of it was for nothing and there were just some decisions/evolutions that confused me.
There's also the continued focus that Myers legacy has on the town and the strain that all these people endure. It was the absolute dumbest thing about Kills where a stampede accidentally kills the not-Mike-Myers in a hospital and it's never that bad here. But it's still present and it still screams: "I don't care!" I think other shows have handled all of this better which is probably the point: they're TV shows so they have more time to breathe. Initially in Ends, I found certain aspects of this to be interesting, but a finale of sorts that features the entire town was eye-roll-inducing, and reminiscent of the last film which is not a good thing.
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| "Grandma! You're so damn messy with the ketchup!" |
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| "I told you to only eat the ORGANIC ketchup!" |
The kills aren't as numerous as Kills, nor are they as brutal (which was the highlight of that film...MM went off!), but they're still filled with tension and certain ones are quite gruesome. Perhaps it was because I experienced peak gut-twisted-in-knots-fear at Barbarian, but Ends was never all that scary to me, though it's likely because I was less invested overall.
Either way, Halloween Ends remains just as forgettable as the other parts of this trilogy, without being as outright terrible as the middle "ugly" child. If anything, the quieter, slower approach at the beginning led me to like it more, but it also doesn't break any new ground in its story, or the slasher genre as a whole. Keep in mind, horror legacy sequels aren't my scene, so I'm sure those that have been invested in Halloween through the decades will probably find plenty to enjoy.
CONS
- Character development feels equally rushed (bad) and slow (good) which can sometimes give the film whiplash
- Kills are less creative/brutal. Only area the middle sequel did better
- Feels forgettable overall
- Jamie Lee Curtis continues to rock, and the rest of the cast does fine
- Iconic original score still, with some added soundtrack that's worth while
- Solid tension when needed, kills, while lesser, were still good. DJ one was laughably gruesome moment
- Wraps up the trilogy (and series) in a satisfying way, at least for this Halloween n00b
Rath's Review Score | 6/10
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