In recent years, it seems as though Hollywood has run out of ideas and is sticking with nostalgia-stirring franchises instead. Given how insistent filmmakers are with milking these classics dry, perhaps it’s a relief that some are actually calling it a night.
One four-decade-old horror franchise has finally decided to end its long tale – at least for now. It’s almost unbelievable that “Halloween” was released in 1978, starring a then young and inexperienced Jamie Lee Curtis.
The 63-year-old actress has returned for one last(?) outing as Laurie Strode, the gal who has escaped the murderous Michael Myers all those years ago. As “Halloween Ends”, the final showdown between the masked serial killer and the plucky survivor unfolds.
Directed by David Gordon Green, the film begins curiously with a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), who is tasked with babysitting a boy. When the child ends up dead, Cunningham is blamed for the incident and is consequently ostracised.
The movie then cuts away to Laurie, who seems to have moved on from having lost her daughter Karen at the end of “Halloween Kills” and is busy writing her memoir.
She also takes the time to help matchmake her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) to none other than Cunningham, and the pair hit it off.
The direction the film takes with Cunningham and Myers is probably one most viewers would not expect. In essence, the force behind Myers’ murderous inclinations might be supernatural in nature – an oddity in an otherwise grounded universe.
While this could be seen as novel, novel isn’t necessarily good. In fact, it potentially leads the film into “jump-the-shark” territory.
“Halloween Ends” has its characteristic gore, with folks being knifed or killed off in more fiery fashion. Still, it feels more restrained compared with how gruesome things got in the previous instalments, where people were killed left and right, sometimes for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you are a fan of Myers carving up people like jack-o-lanterns, then be prepared to be disappointed, as his screen time is surprisingly limited.
Curtis is a talented actress, no doubt, and here she is allowed to display her emotional range. You can truly feel her character is someone who has been through, well, a lot, and she just wants to move on from the horrors of the past.
And, despite her physical and mental-emotional trauma – and likely because of it – she’s a tough, tough cookie who can certainly pack a punch when she has to.
Suffice to say, when Myers finally shows up, the battle between monster and survivor is worth the wait.
The film ends with the rather heavy-handed message that evil is like an infectious disease that can turn innocent people into monsters – perhaps a hint that the series could still continue in the future.
Where could the franchise possibly go next? Who knows, as long as it doesn’t venture into space like how Jason from “Friday the 13th” did once!
‘Halloween Ends’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.
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