Summary
- Danielle Harris, a long-time star of the Halloween franchise, expressed disappointment with Halloween Ends, stating that she didn’t think it felt like a Halloween movie.
- Harris acknowledged the importance of Jamie Lee Curtis’ presence in the film and believed that without her, it may not have performed well.
- The decision to focus less on Michael Myers and the lack of a final epic showdown between Laurie and Michael in Halloween Ends disappointed fans and led to criticism of the film.
When David Gordon Green’s reboot/sequel to John Carpenter’s Halloween arrived in 2018, there was a lot of buzz about where its sequels would take the story of Michael Myers. However, Halloween Ends completed his trilogy in 2022, and it was met with a lot of criticism and disappointment. The failure of the movie is something that long-time franchise star Danielle Harris has recently addressed in an interview with Screen Rant.
Harris made her film debut in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Playing the character of Jamie Lloyd, a new protagonist for the franchise after Jamie Lee Curtis decided not to return for the sequel, Harris went on to appear in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and Rob Zombie’s Halloween movies as Annie Brackett. Despite not being involved in Green’s trilogy, she revealed that she had watched the new movies and liked some aspects of Halloween Ends, but just “didn’t like it has a Halloween movie.” She said:
“I liked a lot of it. I liked the last one, I just didn’t like it as a Halloween movie. I think if it hadn’t been called Halloween Ends, it would have received great reviews. The fans are really particular about Michael Myers, and I get it, I totally get it. Without Jamie Lee Curtis in it, I don’t know how well it necessarily would have done, obviously, but you have her and everyone’s gonna go see it.”
Why Halloween Should Have Been a Stand Alone Movie
As beloved and controversial as the Halloween franchise is, the original 1978 film should have been a stand-alone movie.
Halloween Ends Was Not The Ending Fans Wanted for Laurie Strode and Michael Myers
Halloween Ends aimed to conclude the legacy horror trilogy with a story that brought something new to the franchise. The film explored the character of Corey, a Haddonfield outcast who falls under the malevolent influence of Michael Myers, setting both on a collision course with Laurie Strode and her granddaughter Allyson. Despite the star power of Curtis, the movie gained a lot of criticism for the sidelining of Michael, and ended its run as the lowest grossing movie of the trilogy.
The decision to focus less on Myers was likened by some as the complete abandonment of the character in Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Once again, the change in format was in direct conflict with the expectation of audiences, who have come to expect Michael Myers to be front and center of any Halloween movie. Following the events of Halloween Kills, expectation of a final epic cat and mouse game between Laurie and Michael was high, and unfortunately, Halloween Ends just didn’t deliver.
Of course, the movie was not the end of the Halloween franchise, and last year Miramax managed to secure the television rights to the franchise, and are now expected to embark on building a cross-media universe around the iconic killer. The real question is, how many more times can the legend of Michael Myers be rebooted?
Halloween Ends
The saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode comes to a spine-chilling climax in this final installment of the franchise. Jamie Lee Curtis and Andi Matichak return for the long-awaited conclusion.
- Release Date
- October 14, 2022
- Runtime
- 1hr 51min
- Format
- Theatrical
- Studio
- Universal, Blumhouse
- Franchise
- Halloween
