Halloween Ends Is Proving To Be Divisive Among Fans Of The Franchise
"Halloween Ends," the third and final installment in director David Gordon Green's Michael Myers' slasher trilogy, has been met with increasingly mixed reviews by fans of the longstanding franchise. The epic showdown between Laurie Strode and the "Boogeyman" slaughterer bleeds onto both the big screen and Peacock, so viewers can also stream the bloody affair at home. This film especially pushes the boundaries of the horror genre by weaving relevant social commentary into Haddonfield, which audiences have been quite vocal about online.
"Halloween Ends" even features far less screen time, with the towering butcherer ending the trilogy on an unexpected and experimental note. The variety of fan response, along with the same-day release model, has so far led to a smaller-than-projected box-office return (according to Deadline).
The film's predecessor, "Halloween Kills," was also met with similar divided reactions as Green took the Myers story into uncharted territory: that film dug into the past of John Carpenter's original "Halloween" films by depicting the trauma inflicted on Haddonfield the night of Michael's infamous attacks. The film even recruited past original characters, which added even more depth and familiarity to Green's iteration.
Now, he continues this in "Halloween Ends" by exploring how evil infects and spreads, which fans have passionate feelings about that they're eager to share.
Fans are passionately divided over Halloween Ends
One of the biggest things fans seem to be disappointed with is the sharp subversion of our expectations for the self-proclaimed conclusion. The final trailer of "Halloween Ends'" sells the film as the long-awaited deadly confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. While the film eventually does fulfill that promise, it took an unprecedented approach to get there. This worked well for some fans, while others were left unfulfilled by the seemingly last "Halloween" (for now).
A lot of the division is centered on the new character Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), who becomes a vessel for Michael's evil after a traumatizing and jaw-dropping accident on Halloween night. One user in particular (@gvymvndo) thought Michael's influence on Corey took away from the highly anticipated finale by "introducing a new character, whom adds NOTHING to the plot in any way, into the final chapter of an iconic film series is just absurd. he took up the time which could've gone to more iconic characters. even his demise had zero impact???? #HalloweenEnds."
Critical fans were upset that Michael Myers did not appear in the film as much as they'd hoped, with @trigga_nick tweeting that Myers had become a minor figure in a movie that was supposed to be all about him. Others agreed: "Just saw 'Halloween Ends'. Very nice of the writers to give Michael Myers a cameo in his own movie lol," @EyeOfEntropy wrote. "I've never been a huge Halloween franchise fan, but how do you do a Halloween movie and have Michael Myers as basically a side character?" @BeckiFett pondered while streaming the flick.
Even the "official" @RealMMyers78 Twitter account, a parody of the character, tweeted, "I can't lie, I was disrespected..."
Some fans are intense defenders of the film
One thing that everyone seems to be aligned on, though, is that Laurie Strode is just as great as ever. Even those who didn't enjoy the newest film were just happy to see the legendary Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis back on the big screen again, such as @AnnaCampbellYT. Meanwhile, @lat_err, a vocal critic of "Halloween Ends," also gave Curtis's Laurie Strode proper credit: "I can say one thing. Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode still stands as THE horror protag. Nobody comes close to her at all," they tweeted.
There were some who were staunch fans of the final installment in the slasher trilogy. "One day society will admit how good this is. that day might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, it might take a decade. but that day will come," @swiftieshorror, who has "proud halloween ends defender" in their bio, tweeted. Twitter user @lovethygoalies concurred, tweeting, "I'm about to say something so controversial and yet so brave: halloween ends was actually good."
Others were much more receptive of the new themes, like @_HalloweenFan, who tweeted, "#HalloweenKills was your ultimate slasher film. From the get go #HalloweenEnds was never that type of movie. It's about evil transcending, how people are monsters about EVERYTHING. This is the realest Halloween movie showing the real effect people have on each other."
This particular fan underlines Green's critical point and thematic through-line, which appears to have fans split right down the middle. It doesn't look like the debate over "Halloween Ends" is going to end any time soon.