Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD and Bluray from director David Gordon Green, Blumhouse and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the return of HALLOWEEN ENDS.

Corey (Rohan Campbell) is babysitting the obnoxious kid Jeremy. Trying to find ways to entertain the kid, it is Jeremy who decides to be the entertainment. It goes wrong and Corey’s life will never be the same in 2019.

Michael Myer’s hasn’t been seen and it is four years later. Haddonfield is still on high alert but trying to live their lives. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is one of those trying to forget the horrors her brother has inflicted on so many lives. She is in the process of writing a book about it all and living with granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).

Corey is keeping a low profile and working as a mechanic but it doesn’t stop people from harassing him. Laurie understands as they name call her as well yet she scoops up Corey and takes him to get his wounds tended to. There he meets Allyson and the two hang out together and she invites him to a Halloween party. He is having a good time until he runs into Jeremy’s mother.

Then a run in with the bully-pack and an accident has him waking up face to face in the sewer with Michael Meyers. Instead of running to the police, he runs to Allyson and makes it clear that he wants a relationship with her. Meanwhile, Laurie ends up at Lindsay’s (Kyle Richards) bar learning from Jeremy’s father that Corey was a good kid, but something is broken inside him.

Michael makes his way out of the sewer and Haddonfield is about to know chaos and fear once again but from who? Corey and Allyson decide they are done with Haddonfield and want to leave but, it is Halloween. Yet Laurie senses that something is very, very wrong letting Corey know that she wants to help but not at the cost of Allyson.

Corey turns to Michael Meyers with one goal, to get his hands on the mask that has put the fear into Haddonfield. Laurie and Allyson have it out and the town bullies are after Corey. As the new fear begins, there is the old fear to deal with and Laurie is going to do just that. It is time for brother and sister to fight to the very end – literally.

Curtis as Laurie Strode is iconic to this character and I swear to gawd if there is a remake five years down the line – someone is getting hurt! She is Laurie Strode from the young babysitting in 1978, to the older and wiser 2022 woman that I can relate to on several levels. I love that she came back to finish the series giving us an ending we all deserved. That being said there is also that bitter sweet that we won’t see Laurie Strode again – or will we? Okay, a girl can dream!

Thank you, Ms. Curtis, for showing us how to survive terror while we cheered for you every step of the way knowing that Laurie Strode may have had her moments of doubt but that spark to survive is real. You will always be our Scream Queen!

Campbell as Corey starts out a young man who just wants a babysitting job and it turns into a life changing event that follows him every moment of every day. It is not that he doesn’t want to forget, its just that no one will let him forget.

Matichak as Allyson also tries to live a life that doesn’t include fear and pain. Bucking against her grandmother at every turn, she is fighting for her sanity and to be free of the years trapped in being a part of the Strode family and legacy of horror.

Richards as Lindsay returns, still alive since 1978! Running the local watering hole, she is a tad jaded but keeps her eyes and ear open. Patton as Wallace has a thing for Laurie all these years later and keeps a close eye on her. He does not have much of a part but anytime he’s on screen I’m happy.

Shout out to James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle for being the masked Michael that has scared the crap out of most of us most of our lives on Halloween. In that fear, we all watched and waited to see where that face would show up in the window, at the end of a fog laden alley or in the shaking bushes? It has been an awesome ride and I’m personally thanking you for it!

Other cast include: Michele Dawson as Nurse Deb, Candice Rose as Mrs. Allen, Marteen as Billy, Joey Harris as Margo, Keraunt Harris as Willy the Kid, Destiny Mone as Stacy and Michael O’Leary as Doctor Mathis.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

Blumhouse Productions is known for producing horror films such as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, INSIDIOUS, SINISTER, THE PURGE, THE GIFT, GET OUT, HAPPY DEATH DAY and SPLIT. The films from Blumhouse have become instant classics and they continue to give us something to scream about! See more at www.blumhouse.com

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Bonus Features on 4K Ultra HD, Bluray, DVD and Digital include Deleted and Extended Scenes, Ending HALLOWEEN, Final Girl, No Place Like Haddonfield, Gag Reel, A Different Threat, The Visions of Terror Twisted Deaths, Feature Commentary with co-writer/director David Gordon Green, actors Audi Matichak and Rohan Campbell, co-producer/first assistant director Atilla Salih Yucer, and production assistant Hugo Garza.

Director Green stays within the boundaries of Haddonfield in a way that keeps us in the moment. It is interesting to see Corey’s story and how he came to be the way he is giving off Michael Meyer’s vibes, he has the same detachment to human life. Yet, Michael isn’t about to be outplayed!

Now, for my wish list. I wish this had been all about Laurie and Michael to the bitter end. It felt more of a Corey becoming Michael and Allyson sort of becoming Laurie kind of story. In the mix there are moments but nothing that shocked or made me jump. That was the thing about the relationship between the awkward siblings, they made emotions run rampant.

I wish there was more of Lindsay’s story of how she ended up with a bottle in her hands. I wish Laurie had gotten the guy (which she sort of did but not enough screen time for that). I wish we knew why Michael stayed in the sewer for four years, I’m nosey like that.

I think the ending is as it should have been giving Laurie a minute to stop looking over her shoulder. The nods here and there like THE THING are cool and the choice of nostalgic music always makes me smile.

Is this the end, truly? Well, I think the franchise will probably go in another direction. There are plenty of Michael Meyers’ out there waiting to have their story told. Let’s be honest though, it won’t be Laurie and Michael – the dynamic duo of horror, the Jekyll and Hyde of fear, and the sibling you don’t want to invite for dinner (especially around the cutlery).

Thank gawd for Blurays and streaming because the saga of Laurie and Michael can always be revisited during the Halloween season, or a rainy day, or a night when you can’t sleep. They will always be with us because of the generation of fans from 1978 knew a great thing when they saw it. Now we hold onto it and proudly wear our Meyers masks and put Laurie Strode up on a pedestal as a heroine we hope we all would be letting her carry the weight of our collective fears.

Man, I have bummed myself out. That’s our 70’s slang baby!

In the end – Michael’s time has come!

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