Horror The Halloween Film Series Thread... - Part 4

[Drizzle]

I really need to make time one of these days and watch/read a few essays of people who like Ends.
Because im super curious in detail what people like about it, because i just dont see it.

I like Ends. I don't consider it to be one of the best of the franchise but it's also far from the worst. I consider it a middle of the road Halloween movie but I'll give it credit for doing something different. I also prefer it to Kills because while I also consider Kills to be about the same level, that movie made a specific choice at the end that didn't sit right with me. Specifically killing off Laurie's daughter. That could have been saved for Ends to bring Judy Greer back for one more movie. She's underused as it is. I have some issues with the David Gordon Green trilogy but they're my preferred timeline since Halloween '18 is my second favorite after the original.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I really need to make time one of these days and watch/read a few essays of people who like Ends.
Because im super curious in detail what people like about it, because i just dont see it.

I don't like having my time wasted.

Kills ended with Michael killing a whole bunch of people, including Laurie's daughter, and was still on the lose. Why did they think I would be interested in the final movie in this trilogy "pivoting" to the Corey storyline, only to dispose of it once it was time for that final Laurie vs. Michael fight that I now no longer care about because the filmmakers did **** all to build to it.

The "pivot" was done because the filmmakers didn't have a plan. They bit off more than they could chew, after Halloween 2018 did way better then they were expecting it to, by trying to make two more movies in order to make their series into a trilogy, but they didn't have enough story to fill out a trilogy.

Honestly, its a good thing Blumhouse no longer has the rights to the Halloween series. They gave us one good movie with Halloween 2018, and couldn't follow up on it with the sequels.

 

[DyeLorean]

I really need to make time one of these days and watch/read a few essays of people who like Ends.
Because im super curious in detail what people like about it, because i just dont see it.

Personally, I like the way the film purposefully pushed away Michael Myers that's been done to death in favor of the idea of Evil/Shape that was the main drive of the original. And it did so with a well-achieved character study with Corey. The road to an emotionless killing being, like the extension or the evolution of the idea of Michael Myers.
I'd argue the film looses it's edge near the end when they decide to have a final confrontation between Michael and Laurie, but either way I think it works a lot better following the theme of the original Halloween. It's different, it dares to build upon. I don't see it as "the third part of the new trilogy". There's no such thing.
To be honest, I got tired of the same movie all over again in the span of 50 years, so the fact that Ends managed to let loose while hanging onto the history of the Halloween films it's a win for me.
I wish franchises took more risks, be less safe. At the very least it creates a different conversation.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

It wasn't a "risk". It was literal filler to pad the running time of the movie until they were ready to have Michael and Laurie end things.

 

[Kane52630]

I wanna say I haven't since H20 in years but...

1. H 78
2. HIII
3. H2 81
4. H18
5. HE
6. H6 PC
7. H4
8. HK
9. H20
10. HR
11. H5
12. RZH
13. RZH2

 

[DyeLorean]

It wasn't a "risk". It was literal filler to pad the running time of the movie until they were ready to have Michael and Laurie end things.

Whatever the case may be, it's still a much more interesting movie. What did you want? Another movie with Myers around town killing people? Again?!

 

[Drizzle]

I wanna say I haven't since H20 in years but...

1. H 78
2. HIII
3. H2 81
4. H18
5. HE
6. H6 PC
7. H4
8. HK
9. H20
10. HR
11. H5
12. RZH
13. RZH2

Be honest, Resurrection is only that high on your list because of Busta Rhymes.

 

[Kane52630]

Be honest, Resurrection is only that high on your list because of Busta Rhymes.

 

[Lily Adler]

LL Cool J gets killed and Busta Rhymes lives? This country.

Oh **** I just googled Rhymes and he's starting to look like Tracy Morgan.

 

[Drizzle]

LL Cool J gets killed and Busta Rhymes lives? This country.

Oh **** I just googled Rhymes and he's starting to look like Tracy Morgan.

LL Cool J survived. Michael Myers spared the rappers.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Whatever the case may be, it's still a much more interesting movie. What did you want? Another movie with Myers around town killing people? Again?!

Why is Corey doing basically the same thing more interesting?

 

[DyeLorean]

Why is Corey doing basically the same thing more interesting?

Because he's an actual character. With an arc. Instead of the mindless void of nothingness that is Michael Myers.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Because he's an actual character. With an arc. Instead of the mindless void of nothingness that is Michael Myers.

An arc that is pointless and goes nowhere.

So to answer your original question, yes I would've rather have had a Halloween movie where Michael is killing people, because that is why I am watching a Hallowen movie in the ****ing first place. If I didn't want to watch that, I would be watching something else.

I am certainly not going to give brownie points to the filmmakers for "trying something different" when its just a time filler because they ran out of ideas for their Halloween trilogy and didn't know how to make Michael vs. Laurie interesting. What is "interesting" about building something else, only to go NEVER MIND THAT at the end anyway? I don't reward having my time wasted.

 

[Mani-Man]

Im with @AndrewGilkison on this to be honest.
The idea of Corey isnt the worst, doing it in the first movie or at least second could have worked.
But for the big "final" and no real build up and no real pay off...it was a waste of time.
Kills already played with the idea of Michael infecting the people with his Evil, having a whole Town going crazy...why not do it there with Corey?

They made a big deal about Halloween ends, how its the final, how it is the last confrontation between Laurie and Michael...and then the movie spends more than half its time on Corey before just throwing it away without any real pay off.

 

[DyeLorean]

I agree that doing that particular story in the "third" film makes no sense. It should've been planted earlier in the previous movies. I can get behind that. I still enjoy the movie for what it's trying to do, regardless of where it stands in between installments.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Ends big issue is it clearly wants to have Corey kill Michael as a pathetic, maimed, burnt elderly man in the sewers but is obligated to have a dumb fan service-y final battle between him and Laurie. There's a lot I really, really like about it as a big fan of DGG's blackly comic sequels but it has to thread the needle between wanting to be subversive and being obligated to be about Laurie.

Kills is still my favourite of the trilogy because it is the most committed to being a comedy. But my relationship with the trilogy is a bit complicated because I have essentially zero interest in John Carpenter but am a gigantic DGG/Danny McBride fan and watching Halloween Kills through the lens of Vice Principals is very different from watching it through the lens of, well, Halloween. Although I do feel like its very engaged with what that movie is about as well.

 

[Pittman4Two]

I would’ve liked to see DGG’s initial idea of all three movies being set on the same night. Covid gave him and McBride too much time which led them to overthink it and for JLC to influence it even more.

 

[Sawyer]

I can’t imagine that all three movies being set on the same night would’ve been an improvement, especially since I find Kills to be the weakest of the three.

 

[WereCoyote]

I agree that doing that particular story in the "third" film makes no sense. It should've been planted earlier in the previous movies. I can get behind that. I still enjoy the movie for what it's trying to do, regardless of where it stands in between installments.

Or even set it up at the end of the 3rd movie after Michael's funeral to set Corey up to carry on Michael's legacy into the future of the franchise.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I can’t imagine that all three movies being set on the same night would’ve been an improvement, especially since I find Kills to be the weakest of the three.

This is because Blumhouse bit off way more than they could chew by trying to do a two part story as a followup to 2018.

This is why Kills is Michael killing a bunch of dumb towns folk while Laurie is stuck in the hospital. Because it was supposed to lead into a third movie where she goes after him for revenge. They didn't have enough story to split into two parts, so Kills comes off as padding, and relies on gore and Michael having a high body count to maintain interest.

 

[DyeLorean]

This is why Kills is Michael killing a bunch of dumb towns folk while Laurie is stuck in the hospital.

Kills is also very close to the original Halloween II, with Laurie in the hospital. You can totally see the difference in tone and atmosphere between both though.

 

[Kane52630]

Yeah both films have a town going crazy while Laurie is stuck in the hospital, I just think the original II did it much better.

 

[DyeLorean]

Yeah both films have a town going crazy while Laurie is stuck in the hospital, I just think the original II did it much better.

Oh for sure. It is closer to the original and as a halloween film (for the season, not the franchise) it works much, much better. Creepy atmosphere always wins for me.