Why 'Halloween Ends' is a Secretly Brilliant - and Misunderstood Film
Movie Analysis by Alain Loubeau
Misunderstood Future Classic...or Abysmal Failure?
From the very beginning I asked myself "why do people genuinely hate this movie?" It's special kind of hate akin to being offended. Is it because the lack of Michael's screen time? The kills are just not that memorable? Laurie has no arc?
Before I get into why I think it's actually pretty thoughtful and secretly brilliant, the fundamental flaw of this chapter is that it is too short of a running time. It's missing ten to fifteen minutes of character development between Cory and Laurie. We needed a scene or two with them just bonding before Laurie suspects the evil within Cory, as it is now it's too abrupt which undercuts the theme that DGG is trying to get at. Again the ending is waaaay too short, it should have been more elaborate and even more emotional. I believe there is a lot of footage on the cutting room floor based on the trailer we got that for whatever reason didn't make it into the final cut of the movie. I want to see that footage eventually. It played it too safe with the climax.
Here’s why I think it's secretly brilliant...
1. Why does Michael let Cory go? Michael doesn't let anyone off the hook who is of proper age and build, humans are prey to him, he's got rules, he won't kill small little children, but if you're of age and a certain build, you're done, your body becomes his personal art project. It's obvious Michael sees himself in Cory. The trilogy gives you small little clues as to why Michael is the way he is, not a lot, but enough for you to draw your own conclusions. Cory has a weird incestuous relationship with his mother that makes him feel deeply uncomfortable. Why does Michael have an obsession of staring out the window of his sister's bedroom? What is it about that particular spot that drives those feelings within him. In Halloween Kills its revealed that one of the cops as a boy was forced to play with Michael by his mother because she felt sorry for him, but Michael had no interest, he just wanted to stay and look out the window in his sister's bedroom. Why? What's the dynamic between their relationship? Was his sister abusive to him in any way? There's something about Judith that triggers Michael, and it's not because she was his first kill, something drove that six year old boy to stab her to death. Again the movie is giving you breadcrumbs to follow.
2. Allison and Cory's relationship -- there's a line in the movie that says it all by the annoying slutty nurse as she needles Allison for going out with Cory -- "it's like Michael and Lori if they were dating" -- THAT'S IT RIGHT THERE -- if you see it through that prism it plays like a "what if" fan film if Laurie hooked up with the shape, both outsiders in their own community bonding through their trauma -- the common complaint is that we don't get enough Michael and Laurie, but we do, only through these new characters which to me makes the movie endlessly rewatchable in that respect. They're doing a lot, but for me it all seems to work in a fucked up twisted way. Both actors do a great job imho in conveying their roles. They think they're individuals but they really are the products of the avatars they represent...Laurie Strode and Michael Myers.
3. Jaime Lee Curtis and James Jude Courtney -- brilliant performances -- two opposing forces bounded by destiny by the very two people they actually care about -- Allison and Cory . The key scene for each character -- Michael when he stabs the Mulaney Cop in the tunnel and gets this orgasmic rush throughout his body -- can anyone say that they have seen that done better in a slasher movie before? My mind was blown when I saw that in the theater -- Laurie at the supermarket when she's accosted by the woman who had a run-in with Michael blaming her for all the violence she's unleashed in Haddonfield. The sense of guilt and shame blanketing Laurie's body serves as a counterpoint for what we saw with Michael in the sewer tunnel regaining his mojo. That scene makes us realize why Laurie had to make that change for positivity because her quest for vengeance was only going to cause more damage to the people she loved, i.e. Allison. As hard as she tries to escape the rage and bloodlust she feels for Michael, it's always going to be a part of her, it's not a light switch that she can just turn off. The scene at the climax where it comes together for the both of them -- Laurie slits Michael's wrist and for a brief moment we see a shot of them holding hands with their shared blood dripping on the floor -- it is the culmination of a toxic 40 year relationship coming to an inevitable end. I think this why Carpenter really likes this movie because it is uniquely different than the others but also serves as true legacy bookend to the first one.
4. What say you folks...?
Author Bio:
I was an 80's kid who grew up in the movie theater and watched everything from E.T. to Robocop. No genre was off limits. I want to be the kind of content generator who crafts material with a hard edge that everyone can enjoy.
