The final addition to the cinematic multiverse that is the Halloween franchise was recently released. On its opening weekend, it made over $61 million at the box office, which doesn’t include the views via Peacock. The release of Halloween Ends creates many questions for its viewers such as: Is this really the end? Will evil finally die? Should I stream it or watch it in theaters? Or my personal favorite, what did I just watch? If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end. You have been warned.

The movie opens with a new set of characters, the main being a man named Corey. Corey has taken the job of babysitting for the wealthy family he does yard work for. The parents leave and you find out the kid is a little jerk, who ends up locking Corey in the attic. When he finally frees himself by busting down the door, you find out that the kid was right outside the door, and paired with his yells of “I’m gonna murder you” it doesn’t look great when the parents walk in on the boy falling from the top floor after the impact of the door. From there, we get a time jump of three years. At this point, Corey was acquitted as the death was an accident, but for some reason, the entire town sees him as just a child killer and having lost his scholarship he is 24 and works at his Dad’s junkyard. 

The movie then switches over to Laurie who is now apparently a writer and has fully rejoined society, and now lives with her granddaughter. After some family fun time we see Corey again, who is being bullied by a couple of band kids he refused to buy beer for at a gas station. While he is being cornered by a couple of sixteen-year-olds, Laurie just happens to pulls up and scare off the kids. Laurie then takes him to the hospital where meets her granddaughter and their weird wanna-be JD and Veronica from Heathers relationship begins.

From there, the movie stays slow and rather disjointed, especially when figuring out what genre it wanted to be. The movie wanted to play on multiple aspects, which I can respect. However, the writer didn’t display these aspects in a fluid way. One moment it wanted to be a romantic drama, the next family drama, and in rare parts a slasher. One of the most important parts of a Halloween movie is the kills. The series’ main antagonist is a serial killer named Micheal Myers, who we barely see and when we do he loses a fight with Corey and just kinda gives up.

Corey was treated as the little girl in the fourth installment, she was supposed to be Laurie’s daughter who got possessed by the spirit of Micheal or evil? (They never really explained either “possession”) The thing is though, they kill him off before the end of the movie, so the whole point of including the “love story” was moot.

I asked students who had seen the movie, how they felt about it. The majority only had two words to say about it “ It sucked”. I was, however, able to find two people who would elaborate on their dislike.

Cheyenne Dodson explained, “Was more about romance and not enough Michael. It was boring and not enough action to it.” This was a very common sentiment held for this movie.

Another student, Lynn Garland stated, “Did not feel like a Halloween movie at all. Did not at all focus on Micheal enough. 0/10 would not recommend.”

As an enjoyer of the Halloween franchise, this final installment was highly disappointing. The flashbacks were nice touches, but that is all the movie really had going for it. While the movie tries, you are more likely to find an actual kill by Micheal in the movie, then know what is going on or find it enjoyable. All in all, if you truly want to see this movie, just watch it on Peacock. Even as an adamant believer in the importance of the proper cinematic experience, I have to suggest that you save your money and stream.