Halloween Ends

Mismarketed Michael Myers movie serves as a surprising capper to David Gordon Green's "Halloween" trilogy.

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Hoo-boy, is “Halloween Ends” (available in theaters and on Peacock beginning Friday, Oct. 14) gonna piss some people off. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) ain’t the main character. Michael Myers/The Shape (Nick Castle/James Jude Courtney) ain’t the main character. Hell, Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson Nelson (Andi Matichak) ain’t even the main character. Our main character is the newly-introduced Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell, “The Hardy Boys”). This is some “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning”-type shit, but I for one dig “A New Beginning” … I also dig “Halloween Ends.”

We pick up one year after the events of “Halloween Kills.” Tragedy strikes to such a degree that Corey’s marked as the pariah of Haddonfield, Ill. Michael Myers has disappeared and Corey has replaced him as Haddonfield’s most-reviled boogeyman.

We flash forward another three years to the present day. Corey’s aspirations of studying engineering are long gone. He bicycles to work as a mechanic on his stepfather’s auto lot. Corey’s the kinda cat who’s so on the outs he gets bullied by high school band nerds (Marteen, Joey Harris, Destiny Mone) despite being at least half a decade older than them.

Who should intervene on Corey’s behalf? None other than Laurie Strode. She provides the pariah a switchblade with which to puncture the punks’ car tires. She also gives Corey a lift to the hospital after he accidentally breaks a Yoo-hoo bottle in his hand, cutting him badly.

None-too-coincidentally, Corey’s nurse winds up being Allyson. She takes a shine to the young man and they begin dating.

Allyson and Laurie are renting a house together. The granddaughter is trying to advance her career at Haddonfield Hospital in spite of the harassing Dr. Mathis (Michael O’Leary) and ladder-climbing Nurse Deb (Michele Dawson). The grandmother is writing her memoir and tip-toeing around a romance with the returning Officer Hawkins (Will Patton).

On first watch I’d say “Halloween Ends” is the second best of co-writer/executive producer/director David Gordon Green’s three “Halloween” movies. (“Halloween” (2018) is my fave, but I must admit “Halloween Kills” has gotten better on subsequent views.) Where “Kills” was easily one of the most violent “Halloween” movies (The Shape slayed 31 people!) and dealt with mob mentality to a great degree, “Ends” takes its time getting to the gore and grue and grapples with the trauma this mob mentality inflicts upon both the individual and the town of Haddonfield itself.

“Halloween Ends” is the most serious of Green’s trilogy. It lacks a lot of the characters and quips that always felt like they came from co-writer Danny McBride. “Ends” invests in character more than plot and affords Campbell and Curtis the opportunity to do some really interesting work as Corey and Laurie respectively. Matichak’s Allyson is kind of a dummy, but she’s still plenty cute.

(One touch I really took to is Haddonfield’s radio station WURG essentially serving as a character in the film. It’s a fun bit of business.)

“Halloween Ends” has been mismarketed to all hell and will likely serve as a curious conclusion to this trilogy for many, but it’s a “Halloween” movie unlike any other “Halloween” movie before it. I’d suggest going into it with an open mind. You might just be surprised.