Listen, I know the David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy is divisive. That may be putting things mildly. The general consensus seems to be that Halloween 2018 was a decent legacy sequel, while the two that followed were less than stellar.
There is a particular divide between those who stand by Halloween Kills and those who feel like Halloween Ends brought something fresh to the table. In the end, maybe they should have stopped with Halloween 2018. However, everyone is missing something important about the trilogy.
Why Were “Kills” and “Ends” Controversial?
The 2018 film stayed true to the tone and style of the original (with the exception of some oddly-placed humor) but the films that would follow were much more, let’s say, ambitious.
Halloween Kills was essentially a love letter to Michael Myers. It was lacking in story, but heavy in violence. Its flawed ending also promised a supernatural turn that “kills” failed to deliver on.
While Halloween Kills had its haters, Halloween Ends took things to another level. Marketing the film as a “Final confrontation” between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode only to sideline both, was sure to piss a lot of people off.
What People Miss About the Modern Halloween Trilogy
Again, Nobody is pretending that the David Gordon Green Halloween films were anywhere close to perfect. However, there is something pretty smart in how they structured their trilogy. All you have to do is look at the bigger picture.
If you look at the three films together, you see three distinct movies that stand on their own. Did it make for a great trilogy? No. Was it as disjointed as the modern Star Wars trilogy? Yep. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily.
You won’t please everyone whenever you resurrect a beloved property like Halloween. What the producers of the new era films did was find a way to come close (while seemingly pissing everyone off simultaneously.)
Halloween Ends Made a Trilogy for Everyone
Was Halloween Ends a good movie? Meh. Was it the half-baked horror equivalent to Rise of Skywalker? Pretty much. However, there are basically three different kinds of people when it comes to new Halloween movies.
- OG fans – They want something that captures the spirit of the original 1978 film. Make it new, but don’t change much.
- Michael Myers Fans – They’re here for the man in the mask. The story comes second to big kills.
- Modern Fans – Halloween has never been elevated horror, but these fans want something new and different from the standard slasher.
Look back at the three films and it’s clear that they made a movie for each of these groups. 2018 gave us a tribute to the original. Kills was basically Terminator Michael Myers. Ends was an experiment with taking the franchise in a new direction.
In the end, we have three movies that play to three audiences. While they don’t work amazingly as a trilogy, they stand on their own as distinct films. Even though Halloween Ends was far from perfect, it managed to cap off a trilogy that has something for everyone.
What do you think? Was Halloween Ends a genius move or a raging dumpster fire?
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