David Gordon Green got off to a promising start to his Halloween trilogy but many say he botched the finale.
There was once a time when the most controversial installment in the Halloween franchise was 1982’s Season of the Witch. Now that that movie has an incredible cult following (of which I count myself a devout member), the most clear choice for many is Halloween Ends, David Gordon Green’s trilogy capper that found Michael Myers living in a sewer and nearly passing his torch to a neighborhood outcast…Yep.
Although far from being the worst-reviewed movie in the Halloween franchise – which David Gordon Green resurrected 40 years after John Carpenter’s original – and it does have its share of fans – so many of the decisions made by Green and his writing team were questionable to say the least. But Green is well aware of this and the disconnect he created from the bulk of fans. “As you see with the Halloween movies, the choices I make aren’t always the most popular ones. So it’s trying to make something that me, and my great friends at Blumhouse and Morgan Creek, want [for] that property to be fulfilled, as much as the audience is there and has the appetite for it. I don’t think they were on the journey I was excited about taking.”
To many, that journey found him betraying all that had been set in motion. Halloween Ends did give us that final showdown between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode but David Gordon Green wasted too much time with a character that didn’t need to be introduced, especially in what was always poised as the grand finale. That Michael Myers doesn’t even have a majority of the kills — that goes to his underground buddy Corey — is also a fatal sin for the franchise.
With David Gordon Green having concluded his promising Halloween run on a low note and getting his planned Exorcist trilogy yanked away, that doesn’t exactly leave in the best graces in the horror community. But there’s something admirable in his continued fight for his vision, even if it brings disappointing results.
Where do you think Halloween Ends ranks in the franchise? Do you think it will find its audience years down the line? Sharpen that knife and let us know below.
