The Mosley Review: Halloween Ends
I think I've said it before and I'm definitely gonna say it again. I believe that out of all the classic slasher franchises, the Halloween franchise is the definition of longevity. It has had so many sequels, reboots, remakes and now a new requel trilogy that ignores all of its canon after the original 1978 film. I have enjoyed alot of them, my top 3 being the original, Halloween: H20 and Rob Zombie's first film, but the franchise has had its pitfalls as well. What I've loved about it is that of course we get some brutal, funny and inventive moments of carnage, but also the amount of genre bending the franchise consistently done over the past 40 years. In this new trilogy we have dealt once again with PTSD, townsfolk being effected and mortality. In this as announced final film in the franchise, it all comes together in a fun and sometimes wacky psychological finale that is reminiscent of the past films in the franchise and with a few sprinkles of Natural Born Killers. There are some truly great moments of viscera and a great deal of dumb decisions made by one of the lead characters that sort of destroyed them.
Jamie Lee Curtis returns one last time as the iconic final girl Laurie Strode and I loved that she had tried to move on with her life as a survivor. It has been a long time since Laurie truly had a smile on her face, but it doesn't take long for that smile to drop off. Laurie has been on a epic journey over the past 40 years and this was definitively the best her character has ever been. Andi Matichak returns as Laurie's granddaughter Allyson Nelson and I liked her character up to a point. She tried to live a normal life and possibly start a new relationship, but man did she ignore ALL the red flags. It was almost like the writers didn't know what to do with her and it shows as she made some seriously dumb decisions as if she hadn't seen evil before in a person's eyes. Will Patton returns as Deputy Frank Hawkins and I liked that he was more happy and jovial. The chemistry between him and Laurie was electric and cute as the grocery store scene between them was one of my favorite scenes. Rohan Campbell did an amazing job as Corey Cunningham. He was a good kid turned bad by the constant reminder of the accident that opens the film and how nobody showed him compassion. He was a great younger parallel to Laurie as a what if scenario of a babysitter that became evil. His dark decent was a fun one to watch and Rohan delivered the emotional turmoil in spades. Nick Castle returns as The Shape/Michael Myers and I loved that we see his mortality. He is still the brutal boogeyman of the night, but the film quickly reminds you that he is flesh and blood and I loved that he was not at 100%. The bond between him and Laurie was much stronger this time around and their 40 year battle comes to a blood and satisfying end.
The score by the master composer John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davis has always been the highlight of this current trilogy and it is once again in this blood soaked finale. "Evil Eyes" is one of my favorite tracks in the film along with that iconic them that will always be a jam. Halloween Kills featured a less than stellar story, but this film makes up for it as it focuses on what made the first installment great. Aside from the really dumb love story for Allyson, this was actually a fun finale for the iconic slasher series. I found myself smiling from ear to ear as the last 45 minutes of the film began to climb to the last and brutal fight between Laurie and Michael and it didn't disappoint. I always thought Halloween: H20 was the perfect ending to the franchise, but this one offers up an even more undeniably definitive end to an amazing saga. I truly enjoyed this film and I wouldn't mind adding this new trilogy to the rotation of horror films I watch every year. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
