BY ALEXIS HOSTETTER

On October 15, 2021, the 12th installment of the Halloween movie series hit theaters. Despite the movie only getting 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, I thought it was quite good. The iconic Halloween movie series began in 1978 with the original Halloween, followed by Halloween II in 1981. The series takes place in Haddonfield, Illinois, the birthplace of Michael Myers. 

The first movie entails the origin of Michael and how he came to be. In 1963, on Halloween night, 6-year-old Michael brutally attacked his sister. Those unfamiliar with the movie may ask why, and it is simply because instead of taking him trick or treating, she stayed home to make-out with her boyfriend.

The predecessor to Halloween Kills became the first movie of the franchise to hit over 50% on Rotten Tomatoes in 20 years. Once we had our tickets and were headed to our seats my mom muttered, “Maybe this dude will finally die.” Once she said that I kept hoping throughout the movie that they would finally kill him. Every time the characters got close to it, I was on the edge of my seat. Only to fall back as we were let down everytime. 

Characters from the original movie came back and formed a hero squad, which gave hope that maybe Michael would die. Though, within the first 5-10 minutes of the hero squad existing, half of them are killed! It wasn’t until Karen Nelson attacked Michael and pulled off his mask that they truly got close to ending Michael. This made it interesting as none of them had ever seen Michael’s true face before. I thought it was a good idea how she took off the mask as it drew him to follow her into their trap. 

Not long after, Laurie Strode, main heroine of the series, is having a conversation with officer Tommy Doyle about the true curse of Michael, while the hero squad believes they are killing him. This was quite possibly the most infuriating part of the movie to me. It further framed the continuation of a 40 year movie series. Growing up my cousins and I all loved the horror slasher films, especially Halloween. But even then, we all knew at some point the series would need to end. With a 13 film coming out, to all of us it felt excessively stretched out. Especially when they revealed that the true curse of Michael is the more he kills, the stronger he gets. Foreshadowing that he could possibly never die.

While I thought the idea director David Gordon Green had in mind was interesting in itself, the execution left many fans, including myself and my family, semi-disappointed, as well as some of the actors. Amidst the ending of the movie, Judy Greer and Andi Matichak admitted the end left them both emotionally distraught. Greer even commented saying she was bummed for her character’s fate. Many fans believe the death of Karen will be the thing that causes Allyson and Laurie to go over the edge and finally end the curse. Jamie Lee Curtis has said she loves the idea Gordon Green had, but she does believe Halloween Ends will be Laurie Strode’s swan song.