The official trailer for the upcoming slasher movie Halloween Ends has been released, giving fans a look at the violent rematch between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers.
The Halloween franchise has a storied history that will culminate in Blumhouse’s third franchise installment, Halloween Ends. The franchise was created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill in the late 1970s, beginning with the legendary work of cinema, 1978’s Halloween. The iconic horror movie is often credited with beginning the American slasher film movement, spawning dozens of imitators, sequels, and outright ripoffs. John Carpenter and Debra Hill would stay with the franchise for the first three installments, before selling their rights to the property.
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After the original Halloween, a direct sequel, Halloween II was released. Two timelines would branch off from these points. Both Halloween 4, 5, and 6, often referred to as the “Thorn Trilogy”, as well as Halloween: H20: Twenty Years Later and its sequel, Halloween: Resurrection would pick up where Halloween 2 left off. Rob Zombie would reboot the franchise in 2007, directing Halloween and the 2009 sequel, Halloween II. Additionally, Halloween III: Season Of The Witch is an anthology spinoff about witchcraft, featuring no connections to Michael Myers and the other films.
HALLOWEEN: THE BEGINNING, THE KILLING, AND NOW THE END
Blumhouse’s story began in 2018, with their reboot-sequel, or “requel”, Halloween (2018). The film served as a direct sequel to the original Halloween, picking up the story of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers 40 years later. Jamie Lee Curtis would reprise her role as Laurie Strode for the first time since Halloween Resurrection, and the film would garner great commercial and critical success. In 2021, a direct sequel to Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills was released.
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Halloween Kills picked up immediately after the conclusion of the previous film, as Michael Myers continued to rack up bodies in Haddonfield. This critically disappointing installment resulted in the death of Laurie’s daughter, but it failed to reunite Laurie and Michael for even a single scene. As a result, practically the entire trailer for Halloween Ends, the next chapter, rides on the promise of Laurie and Michael’s rematch. Check out the official trailer now.
HALLOWEEN KILLS‘ OFFICIAL TRAILER
The trailer begins with a taste of John Carpenter’s classic Halloween Theme, as a Michael Myers POV shot takes us inside a Haddonfield residence. Before long, Laurie tells Myers to come for her, and brief shots of their battle ensue. Laurie gets The Shape in the hand with a knife, and he attempts to cram hers down a running garbage disposal. The trailer boldly promises that “This Halloween, Their Saga Ends”. The official release date of October 14, 2022 flashes, and the trailer comes to a close.
In terms of visual and auditory quality, the Halloween Ends trailer is about everything a slasher fan could ask for. It’s tense, and violent, taking the quiet town of Haddonfield into the wonderfully terrifying realm of the super-slasher. (Michael Myers racked up over 30 kills in Halloween Kills.) A few familiar faces aside from Laurie and Michael return, such as Andi Matichak’s Allyson, the orphaned granddaughter of Ms. Strode. But in terms of the story, I for one was left feeling a bit burned.
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Halloween 2018 is not only one of my favorite slasher films, but I consider it to be one of the better films in the entire horror genre. Unfortunately, Halloween Kills did not live up to that same standard of quality, despite featuring the same cast and creative team. That this trailer gives us next to nothing outside of the rematch most fans expected to see in the last film does not inspire hope for this concluding chapter. There is no doubt that Jamie Lee Curtis and James Jude Courtney will light up the screen with their masterful performances, but without a great script to complement these powerhouse actors, it may all be for naught.
The official trailer description actually reveals a good deal more about the story for Halloween Ends than the trailer itself does. Check it out below.
HALLOWEEN KILLS‘ OFFICIAL PLOT DESCRIPTION
This is Laurie Strode’s last stand.
After 45 years, the most acclaimed, revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before. Only one of them will survive.
Four years after the events of last year’s Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell; The Hardy Boys, Virgin River), is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.
Leading with “This is Laurie Strode’s last stand”, and then promising fans the death of either Michael Myers or Laurie Strode, especially with a viable final girl successor in her granddaughter Allyson, does not bode well for those who want to see Laurie make it out of this alive. Furthermore, this reveals that Halloween Ends picks up four years after Kills and that the blood and suffering aren’t kickstarted by Michael Myers this time.
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Just how Corey Cunningham will factor into the plot, and whether or not he actually killed that poor boy, remains to be seen. Hopefully, this subplot is more connected to the epic saga of Mr. Myers than it first appears because this installment needs to focus on bringing everything that stands together, instead of setting up new plot threads. One possibility is that the origin story of Michael Myers and the reason for his power will be revealed in this film. Could Cunningham have something to do with the Curse of Michael Myers?
Only time will tell. Hopefully, Halloween Ends will match the quality of Halloween (2018), by learning from the mistakes of Halloween Kills and previous franchise sequels that have gone awry. The creative team and cast have the ability to deliver another epic slasher to the world if this film has a compelling (and ideally airtight) script. Fingers crossed.
Halloween Ends co-stars returning cast Will Patton as Officer Frank Hawkins, Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace and James Jude Courtney as The Shape. Halloween Ends is produced by Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block. The executive producers are John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Ryan Freimann, Ryan Turek, Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra and Christopher H. Warner. What did you think of the trailer for Halloween Ends? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media! Remember, we’re always watching.
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