Next October marks the release of David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends, the final chapter in his Halloween reboot trilogy which began back in 2018. The first chapter, simply titled, Halloween, picks up forty years after the events of John Carpenter’s original film released in 1978. Carpenter’s slasher tells the story of “purely evil” Michael Myers, a crazed killer who, as a young boy, murdered his sister; and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), a resident of Myer’s hometown, Haddonfield, of which he returns to after escaping the mental institution he has been locked in for 15 years.
Michael encounters a babysitting Laurie on the night of his Halloween killing spree and, after killing her close friends, endeavors to make her his next victim. This plan fails, however, as Laurie manages to escape from Michael’s clutches after he is shot multiple times by his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). The impact throws Michael off a balcony, but when Loomis looks down the killer is nowhere to be found. Cue some heavy breathing from Michael, and a montage of locations where he could be hiding, and viewers are officially spooked.
Green’s Halloween, set forty years on, sees Curtis reprise her role as Laurie Strode — perhaps horror’s most iconic final girl. Now approaching her 60’s, Laurie has a daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and a granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak). Viewers learn that because of the trauma she endured at the hands of Michael, Laurie has a strained relationship with Karen who was taken into care at the age of 12. It’s also clear that this wasn’t the only thing she lost.
Rife with paranoia, Laurie’s mental health has also slipped, as she lives her life waiting and preparing for Michael’s return. Ironically, it is just that which brings the mother and daughter back together again. When the killer shows up at Laurie’s house as predicted, she, Karen, and Allyson band together to take him down once and for all by trapping him in the basement and setting fire to the house. And when it looks like viewers have seen the last of Michael… they have. But only in the sense that he has vanished (again), ready to return soon.
Green’s latest, Halloween Kills, immediately picks up where Halloween left off. The movie opens with an army of firefighters racing to the burning building, unable to hear Laurie’s “let it burn!” screams and unaware that the person they’re about to save is a dangerous murderer who will kill them. Elsewhere, survivors of Michael Myers celebrate his 40th year in prison, blissfully unaware that he is about to return. These survivors include the two children that Laurie saved those 40 years ago: Tommy Doyle (played here by Anthony Michael Hall) and Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards). Doyle, who takes the stage to share their stories, is met with an outpouring of love from the crowd of fancy-dress pub-goers, and it is this community spirit that will carry the residents of Haddonfield through the terror that awaits them. At least for a while.
When news breaks out that Michael has returned, the people of Haddonfield unite with one purpose — to take down the evil force that has plagued their neighborhood. And they give it a pretty good go. The final sequence of Kills has those that survived Michael’s massacre (not many) take a shot at the killer. Laurie, who is hospitalized for the entire film, is not part of this angry mob. Though Michael is hurt in just about every way possible, he survives the beating. And because he survives, Karen doesn’t.
Halloween Ends, the final chapter in Green’s trilogy, takes place four years after the above events, on Halloween 2022 — around the same time Ends will be released. Because of this time jump viewers can expect to see more of Laurie who will have (hopefully) recovered from her injuries in Kills. Viewers can also expect Ends to touch on events that happened in the years between. Referring to the people of Haddonfield, Green told Uproxx, “Not only do they have their immediate world affected by that trauma [brought on by Michael] … But then they also had a worldwide pandemic and peculiar politics and another million things that turned their world upside down.”
As well as more masks, viewers can expect to see more of Allyson too, as Laurie’s granddaughter will purportedly be at the center of the next movie. Having lost her father and friends to Michael in Halloween, and now her mother and boyfriend in Kills, Allyson has more than enough ammunition to take Myers down. Whether she will, is anyone’s guess. Fans would surely like to see Laurie given the honor, but unfortunately, this seems unlikely. Speaking to Cinema Blend, Curtis teases “[Ends is] going to make people very angry and it’s going to be shocking.” Many take this as confirmation that Laurie won’t survive the film. After all, what would anger fans more than to see the final girl die at the hands of the man who ruined her life? Elsewhere Curtis has shared Ends will likely be her last time playing Laurie Strode, but that fans shouldn’t take this as confirmation that her character will die.
Along with Laurie and Allyson, Ends will also see Wallace return as the young girl that survived ’78 Halloween. Whereas Tommy succumbs to Michael in Kills, Lindsey manages to survive and Green isn’t done with her character yet. Noting the parallels between teen-Laurie and adult-Lindsey protecting children from Michael, Green recently told Fandom, “That was a fun thing to explore … There is more of that story to come, yes.” It’s also likely Ends will see the return of Kills survivors, Deputy Hawkins (Thomas Mann/Will Patton) and Sheriff Barker (Omar Dorsey).
In Kills viewers learn that Hawkins is responsible for letting Myers escape back in ’78, and theories have been floating around that, after decades of guilt, he will be the one to kill Michael. That is if Michael can be killed at all. Another theory is that Dr. Loomis will make an appearance in Ends in some way or another. In Green’s trilogy — which ignores all other Halloween sequels — Loomis has appeared only through tapes and flashbacks. In Halloween (2018) it was mentioned that the doctor had died; of what exactly is not addressed, and so his death remains inconspicuous. Loomis is a key figure in the Halloween franchise, and since he appeared in Kills (albeit briefly) it’s possible Ends will resurrect him too.
Halloween Ends will be directed by Green, and he and Danny McBride will co-write the movie with the help of newcomers Paul Logan and Chris Bernier. The legendary John Carpenter will serve as executive producer and provide the haunting score. Ends begins production in January and will be released on October 14. And for those who are sad to see Halloween’s completion, there is good news yet as Green has confirmed he will be rebooting The Exorcist next. Fingers crossed Curtis will make a cameo.