For a long time, “Halloween” has been a lot about the inexplicable evil that arose in Haddonfield. But what Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green attempt to do is explain that Michael Myers is only symptomatic of what resides at Haddonfield. Like everywhere in humanity, there always has to be a scapegoat for to pit hatred and fear on to something, and Michael Myers was for a long time the epicenter of it in Haddonfield. “Halloween Ends” explores more the idea of evil as an amorphous entity rather than a maniac in a mask. While Michael Myers was every bit as evil and a force of darkness as we saw in “Halloween,” the final film in the new trilogy takes a step back to look deeper in to the darkness.
Four years after her last encounter with masked killer Michael Myers, Laurie Strode is living with her granddaughter and trying to finish her memoir. Myers hasn’t been seen since, and Laurie finally decides to liberate herself from rage and fear and embrace life. However, when a young man stands accused of murdering a boy that he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Laurie to confront the evil she can’t control.
Haddonfield collectively latched on to the series of events that unfolded on that fateful Halloween night. And for decades they used that as a means of controlling others, paralyzing themselves, and as a means of dismissing everything else. Once Michael Myers fades in the background in “Halloween Ends,” we witness the rise of a new “evil” that becomes the new scapegoat. What main character Corey Cunningham does is unfortunate and a horrible mistake, but it takes only a small pivot for him to be considered the new menace of Haddonfield. Once his reputation is destroyed, it becomes a matter of whether Corey was always a ticking time bomb, or if Haddonfield helped to nurture this victim in to an utter psychopath.
Taking Michael and making him in to more of a plot point rather than the center of the violence is a jarring but bold twist on the sequel formula. After the chaotic events of “Halloween Kills,” David Gordon Green opts for something so much different than an immediate follow up. “Halloween Ends” instead chooses for a time jump and to view, once again, the fall out from Michael Myers reign of terror. It also takes a fascinating leap in to viewing Haddonfield as something of an incubator for evil. Haddonfield had always been depicted as ground zero for Michael, and McBride and David Gordon Green lend reasoning to that idea very well.
“Halloween Ends” defiantly opts for a different, more radical approach and I love how we witness the birth of a new evil through Corey Cunningham. What begins as a misunderstood young man who is a victim of terrible circumstances turns in to someone who uses violence and Michael’s evil. Michael, who has now weakened from the town’s decision to move on from the hysteria surrounding his presence, continues the symbioses that only he seems to really understand. David Gordon Green’s final film in this new timeline is beautifully done and so sadly misunderstood. It aims more for a psychological angle within a slasher, rather than another hack and slash, and I appreciate it for that. It’s a memorable and fascinating end to a unique, anarchic take on Michael Myers.