deandraslater

A few years after the events of 2018, Laurie Strode has finally gone to therapy and is in the process of writing her memoirs to finally close the chapter on Michael Myers once and for all. Unfortunately, her granddaughter gets involved with a disturbed young man accused of killing a child he was babysitting and a series of murders start up. Is Michael back or is her granddaughter's new beau more unhinged than initially expected?

It might be a little too late in the game to reinvent the franchise in the final installment of a trilogy, but that's what Halloween Ends does. This makes it easily the most interesting and risky of the previous entries in the Blumhouse trilogy, but it doesn't fit in well with the previous two films. Not since Season of the Witch has the Halloween franchise attempted something this different, but the results are a mixed bag.

Performances and character work are better than the previous films, but there's precious little Michael Myers which will be a huge problem for many Halloween fans. It also brings up interesting themes and topics often, but never explores any of them long enough to say anything worthwhile about them. Scares and suspense sequences seem like afterthoughts, but Laurie and Michael's final showdown is good enough.

After the events of the previous scream, sisters Sam and Tara head off to New York with fellow survivors Chad and Mindy, but they won't be getting back to normal anytime soon when it becomes clear that another Ghostface-costumed murderer is coming after them.

While the last Scream felt like it was playing it safe, this new entry into one of the strongest and most consistent horror franchises does take a few risks, especially with an opening sequence that hints at a few things more interesting than it ends up completely delivering and with some viciously violent kills. The characters have more depth and life than the previous film and they form an easily to root for gang of survivors. Courtney Cox shows up from the original trio to show support and get one of the film's most intense moments with Ghostface.

Unstoppable killing machine, Michael Myers, breaks out of the trap Laurie Strode set for him in the previous film and goes on a bloody rampage through Haddonfield to find his way back home as the townspeople gather to try and stop him once and for all.

Halloween Kills has a bit more atmosphere and Halloween spirit than the previous film and the shots of Myers walking the streets to find his latest victims are effective out of context, but there's next to no story here which might leave many audience members wondering why this was even made. Jamie Lee Curtis is sidelined to a hospital bed for the entirety of the film and the town mob is comprised of a bunch of uninteresting cartoons whose chants of "Evil dies tonight" get exhausting after you hear them for the 150th time.