Halloween Ends (2022) Review: Michael Myers, Laurie & the Franchise Finale

I watched the newest Michael Myers-infused horror movie, Halloween Ends, as soon as I could. This franchise, for me, is like a hot cup of tea. Most of the time, it totally hits the spot. Sometimes it’s just good, but not great. Somewhere between the iconic masked serial killer and a catatonic fixation on Laurie Strode, a recipe was created that simply worked.

Halloween Kills Review

Halloween as a film series franchise has always baited its audience in that perhaps the next film will be the last.

Perhaps the next title is the one where the antagonist loses the fight to wipe out his entire family, and the boogeyman is gone forever.

It comes as no surprise that when the Halloween Kills 2021 film was teased out to eager fans that most were waiting to see what kind of trick Myers would play out this time. Will Halloween really end? Surely not, I thought.

Can you really kill a boogeyman? The last installment sets up early what it wants you to think about. A voiceover from Laurie Strode tells us that even though Myers hasn’t been seen for four years, he left his mark on the town, on the people, and in the minds of everyone he encountered directly or even indirectly. There is a real sense of his presence although he is nowhere to be seen.

Is Michael Myers Dead?

Laurie Strode has flipped her life around, too. Gone is the warrior whose only purpose was to defend herself from her brother. She’s writing a memoir, baking, and getting on with life. Sometimes you just need to keep on plugging on despite the odds that a masked killer will pop into your life and kill you and everything you love on Halloween. Watching Strode bake and look happy is like viewing an alternate universe of the Halloween movie kind.

Familiarity washes over the entire Halloween Ends movie, and Corey arrives to babysit a young boy named Jeremy. If anything is going to set your arm hairs on edge, it’s a self-aware iconic scene featuring a babysitter and a kid watching horror movies on Halloween. After the first quarter plays out, it becomes apparent that something strange is happening. Michael is still nowhere to be seen, but we sure do learn a lot about Corey and what life has been like for Laurie’s daughter Allyson.

The storyline again homes in on the effects of being a survivor and being a victim. How the roles are very different but often lead down the same sort of pathway.

Corey becomes more and more like Michael Myers as the movie screams forward. The signposts between the two are waved around as it becomes recognizable that Myers may not die after all. Perhaps he will live on inside Corey. As they began to make their mark around town, I felt secure in my prediction of whether Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise would die. I was sure it would not. I felt like it would lead to a new generation of Michael. But I was wrong.

Movies With Michael Myers

The Michael Myers story and narrative have been heavily debated over the years. The films constantly point a weary finger that what he is, which is evil in its purest form. No more, no less. Ignoring the Druid curse, if you go back to its roots and Dr. Loomis’s psychology of the man behind the mask, nothing else explains why a 6-year-old boy would kill his sister in the first place. By that premise alone, I found a relatable villain. Sometimes things that happen to you can’t be explained. Sometimes bad stuff just happens. Nevertheless, the story rumbles along just nicely.

Myers requires his family dead, and Laurie is his favorite muse. Even with some of the less enjoyable films in the series (I’m looking at you, Halloween 2018 and Halloween III,) the violent horror series cannot be regarded as anywhere near a failure.

Halloween Ends 2022 Verdict and Rating

Halloween Ends was released on the 14th of October 2022 in most countries around the world. So far, the haters are voicing their dismay towards the title the loudest. However, lots of horror fans liked the movie too.

Filmmakers took everything I loved from all the best parts of the story overall. Then a finale was delivered in a neat and tidy package. Michael Myers is really dead. Laurie Strode seems to be able to look to the future for the first time in her life. But for those who think the grand finale was all about providing a happy ending, I just want to add this: The whole purpose of Halloween Ends seems to point to the fact that Michael Myers can live on regardless of his physical body. He has a memoir, people have memories, and the legend will always live on.

Halloween Ends is rated

4.5 Is Michael Myers dead? Yes, out of 5

How and Where to Watch the Halloween Movies

Keep an eye on the link below for more options to finally see the movie every die-hard fan has been waiting for. For the best ways to watch in your region, check our JustWatch widget right here.

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Halloween Rewatch Order: What to Watch Before Halloween Ends

The good news is you don’t need to sit through the whole franchise. Halloween Ends is the third film in David Gordon Green’s trilogy, and that trilogy is a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 original that ignores every other sequel.

The Quick Marathon (4 films)

1. Halloween (1978): John Carpenter’s original, where Michael Myers and Laurie Strode begin. Watch the trailer on Youtube.
2. Halloween (2018): A direct sequel set 40 years later, with Laurie waiting for the night she’s been preparing for.
3. Halloween Kills (2021): Picks up almost immediately after the 2018 film, with all of Haddonfield in the fight.
4. Halloween Ends (2022): Jumps ahead four years for the finale.

That’s roughly seven hours, so it’s a good Friday-night-into-Saturday plan.

Want the Whole Franchise? Every Halloween Movie in Release Order

• Halloween (1978)
• Halloween II (1981)
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Michael Myers isn’t in this one, it’s a standalone story.
• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
• Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
• Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). It ignores films 4 to 6.
• Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
• Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). Rob Zombie’s remakes, a separate continuity.
• Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022). The trilogy, which skips everything between 1978 and 2018.

Is It Worth Watching Halloween II (1981) First?

It’s optional. The 2018 trilogy ignores it, but Halloween Kills reuses a little archive footage from it, so it’s a nice bonus for completists.

My Verdict on the Trilogy Finale (Spoiler-Free)

Halloween Ends is the most divisive film in the trilogy, and it’s easy to see why. It doesn’t give you the movie Halloween Kills had you expecting. It swings in a different direction and trusts the survivors of Haddonfield to carry the story. I loved that choice, and as a finale it brings Laurie’s story to a close that felt right to me. I gave it 4.5 out of 5. Watch the trilogy in order and make up your own mind.