A new Halloween trilogy was always going to get horror fans talking... and talking some more. Whether audiences loved Halloween (2018) or Halloween Kills (2021) or think that the movies veer off into some surprising directions, one thing is for sure: it was a brilliant idea to bring Jamie Lee Curtis back to play her iconic character.
While waiting for Halloween Ends to be released in theaters in October 2022, it's the perfect time to look back on Halloween Kills and some of the flaws that should be fixed in the third film.
Halloween Kills is one of the highest-grossing Blumhouse horror sequels, grossing $92,002,155 at the box office. There are a few main problems with Halloween Kills: the movie wastes Laurie Strode by putting her in the hospital for the entire film and it's also not a truly scary movie. Halloween Ends has an opportunity to fix both of these issues.
Jamie Lee Curtis is the heart of Halloween and it's strange to see her as the opposite of the tough person that audiences have known her to be. Based on the Halloween Ends trailer, there will be an ultimate showdown between Laurie and Michael Myers, which suggests that Laurie will kick butt and be the strong character that fans expect. This should solve the problem of Halloween Kills. After all, fans like watching these movies because they love Laurie.
Laurie is an iconic final girl for so many different reasons, but particularly because she has endured so much pain and keeps going anyway. Fans will expect nothing less than Laurie beating Michael once and for all and so hopefully this is exactly what happens. If Laurie has stuck close to home for all of these years, she needs to be able to kill Michael, otherwise it seems like she should have moved away long ago and forgotten all about this time in her life.
In an interview with People, Jamie Lee Curtis shared that "endings are a b*tch" and hard to do well. She said that she was happy with how the trilogy wrapped up, explaining, "The last shot [filmed] was [part of] a night shoot and I was in a car — it was a close-up of me in the car. And when we got out of the car, it was 4:30 in the morning and there was the picture of my face on the screen. And I realized that was the last image of Laurie Strode after 44 years of portraying her. Isn't that amazing? And it felt very satisfying. I think people are going to lose their minds."
Halloween Kills could also be a lot scarier. The third film is one of 2022's most anticipated movies because the 1978 original is so popular and fans hope that the next movie captures that movie magic. Since Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) will be facing Michael, they should both be in some real, legitimate danger. That's the only way to make the movie feel as horrifying and chilling as it should be.
Based on what Curtis said, fans can hope that the movie will live up to expectations, and it does sound like Laurie is victorious over Michael. Halloween Ends also needs to lean into Michael Myers as a classic horror villain. This will help ensure that the movie is scary enough. Laurie has to be more committed than ever before to defeating Michael. It's also fair to say that Laurie needs to win against Michael once and for all. If it's a "satisfying ending," then there can't be any hints that Michael is still alive or a post-credits scene suggesting that he can come back for one more kill.
Most of all, Halloween Ends needs to focus on what makes the franchise so special, which is the game that Michael and Laurie play. Another problem with Halloween Kills is the odd commentary on mob mentality. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and when the characters are all beating Michael and he gets up and murders them, it feels silly instead of shocking. It also doesn't feel realistic, as the characters could have shot him. The third movie shouldn't veer into a political direction because Halloween is ultimately supposed to be a fun slasher franchise.
Hopefully, Laurie and Allyson will emerge out of Halloween Ends still alive, as it was a mistake to kill Karen Nelson in Halloween Kills. If the movie is all about Laurie and Allyson as a team, then they need to win and move on with their lives. That's the only way for the trilogy to come to a close and fans will be pleased with how everything wraps up.