The “Halloween” movies have been iconic horror films for decades and finally, after 43 years, five timelines, two reboots and thirteen movies, evil dies.

“Halloween Ends” takes a dramatic shift from its predecessors in the franchise’s sequel trilogy. After a 4-year time jump from “Halloween Kills,” we see Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) trying to move on from the trauma inflicted by Michael Myers. In the film, Correy Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is introduced as a lost young adult who is Haddonfield, Illinois’ punching bag after the disappearance of Michael Myers. Once Michael returns, Laurie is forced to confront the boogeyman once and for all.

Where “Halloween Ends” differs from the other films in its trilogy by being a character-centric story rather than a plot-focused narrative. This allowed the film to have much more depth than most other movies in the franchise. It does sacrifice some of the mindless slaughtering that occurs with the plot-driven stories, but I am unbothered by this since “Halloween Kills” was pretty much entirely dedicated to Michael Myers killing people in cool ways. Seeing him kill people over and over without any depth would have been redundant.

While Michael Myers is gone for a lot of the movie, his presence remains over Laurie and the town. The fear that controls the town is one of the most interesting aspects of the movie. The film analyzes the effects that trauma has, and the ways it manifests evil. Despite Michael’s absence, Haddonfield still deals with murders, but they are caused by fear, rather than the serial killer. 

The film suffers from inaccurate marketing which sets the movie up to be a battle between Laurie and Michael. I was not overly upset by the focus on characters though because “Halloween” (2018) felt like their final fight. Having another extended battle would have been redundant and added to the already high screen time. 

My main gripe with “Halloween Kills” was that it wasn’t scary. “Halloween Ends” is not that scary either, but I have accepted that Michael Myers lost his eeriness after the first few movies. He is no longer the unknown, masked stalker, but rather Haddonfield’s well-known Halloween murderer. I got too comfortable with him for him to instill any fear in me.

Michael Myers has had magical powers, been related to Laurie Strode, tried killing his niece and lived in a sewer for years, but now we can finally put him to rest. “Halloween Ends” beautifully concluded the sequel trilogy and the franchise as a whole while also telling a story that was fresh and original. After over 40 years, the “Halloween” franchise is over… until they reboot the series again.