Editors Note: This article does contain spoilers for Halloween Ends
How do you conclude a legacy that extends through more than four decades? In David Gordon Green's reboot trilogy of John Carpenter's Halloween franchise, the writer and director offered his own answer to that question in his third feature Halloween Ends. Attempting to deliver on a promise he first rallied behind in his 2021 sequel Halloween Kills, whose war cry was a triumphant yet misguided, "Evil dies tonight," Green did something no Michael Myers film has ever done before. Though he may not have effectually ended evil, per se, Halloween Ends does feature a conclusion that brought Myers' killing spree to a grinding halt. In an interview with Collider's Perri Nemiroff, Green discusses how the trilogy's possibly-divisive final moments were chosen.
Armed with a team of writers that included Danny McBride, Paul Logan, Chris Bernier, and director Green, Halloween Ends ramped up fans' excitement for what was marketed as the ultimate face-off between the original final girl Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney). When Green's reboot first brought Curtis back to reprise her role, he introduced us to a Laurie that was having a difficult time coping with the trauma of being stalked by evil itself. 2018's Laurie was constantly looking over her shoulder, armed to the teeth in the event that Michael Myers would return to finish her off. When, 40 years later, her worst nightmares are realized, Laurie loses her own daughter Karen (Judy Greer) to Michael and attempts to move on and heal when he disappears. During this process, she has been writing her own memoir, reflecting on Evil and how it manifests and takes shape.
In their interview, Nemiroff mentions "the line about how the shape of evil changes." From the beginning of the movie, Laurie is contemplating the ways her hometown of Haddonfield has been affected by Michael's bloodlust, and we see through Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) how in Michael's absence the presence of evil must live on, even if through a scapegoat. Perhaps it's through this storyline that Green felt most comfortable bringing on an end to an era of horror because Halloween Ends leaves little of Myers to be resurrected in 40 years' time.
In light of Michael's demise, Nemiroff asked, "what was it like doing that and having some confidence that diehard Halloween fans out there are going to appreciate that and not necessarily go, ‘How dare you make it feel that definitive?'" Green's response is both thoughtful and respectful to the ending of a franchise for a, dare we say, beloved entity:
"When we’re filming that definitive moment, there are 200 people standing around a mechanism watching that. You could hear a pin drop. It’s this loud ass grinding mechanism and there’s not one person that’s making any noise at all. It’s just total silence, and that’s kind of when we were all hypnotized by what’s happening. Most of the production of this movie, in all these movies, are just explorations. We’re trying things. Do we want to show this? Let’s film it anyway! Let’s have it in the editing room. Let’s play with it. And so the whole movie is those types of playful considerations. In that scene in particular, we were just mesmerized and then when we looked at it, and it worked, and it’s beautiful and strange and quiet, again, you got to stick with some direction that you’re going, and that one just felt peaceful in a way."
As Green mentions in the sit-down with Nemiroff, having a team of writers provided this production with a number of ways any particular plot point could branch off. Though Green doesn't mention any other alternative ending to Halloween Ends, he did say all three entries were "explorations" that they worked with. It's possible Michael Myers met a myriad of deaths, but it was one that felt so final that left the cast and crew "mesmerized." Following their deeply intimate final encounter, Laurie, as well as the residents of Haddonfield, were able to witness the grisly closure to a nightmare that had plagued them all for decades. It's Corey's psychic connection to Michael and Laurie's memoir that open up a door of uncertainty, asking us whether it's the physical form of evil or the evil within that truly prevails.
Halloween Ends is in theaters and available to stream on Peacock now. Check out more from Green's interview below: