Halloween Ends (Collector’s Edition) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell

Release Date: December 27, 2022

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

The most acclaimed and revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying finale as Laurie Strode (Curtis) faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney). Michael hasn’t been seen for four years after the events of Halloween Kills. Laurie lives with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and has chosen to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. When a young man is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, a cascade of violence and terror is ignited with a final confrontation between Laurie and Michael unlike any ever captured on screen. Only one of them will survive.

Please Note: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Halloween Ends’ brings the iconic tale of Laurie Strode and her lifelong obsession with Michael Myers and his wrath of evil to an end (again, at least for now). Picking up years after the events of ‘Halloween’ (2018) and ‘Halloween Kills’ the new film finds the residents of Haddonfield struggling following the deadly return of Michael that left countless individuals dead or brutally harmed and maimed. Now living a peaceful life with her granddaughter Allyson, Laurie has started to try and live the life she knows she should have all along while Allyson has started to embrace her own life, even finding potential love with a misunderstood young man who has become the town’s new boogeyman after a brutal accident that left a young child dead. But this young man has far more going on behind the exterior and after being attacked and encountering a wounded Michael who mysteriously lets him live, he begins to veer onto a dark path, while a final confrontation between Laurie and Michael looms.

Directed once again by David Gordon Green (Joe, Halloween Kills) from a screenplay that he additionally co-wrote with Paul Brad Logan (Manglehorn), Chris Bernier (TV’s The House: A Hulu Halloween Anthology) and Danny McBride (TV’s The Righteous Gemstones), David Gordon Green does an altogether solid job at the helm of ‘Halloween Ends’ guiding along a somewhat unexpected and flawed final chapter with style and care that still has its share of noteworthy kills and a satisfying conclusion in many respects. The film’s cast this time around includes Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Andi Matichak (Halloween Kills), Rohan Campbell (TV’s The Hardy Boys), Will Patton (TV’s Outer Range), Kyle Richards (The Watcher in the Woods), James Jude Courtney (Halloween 2018) and more, with the majority each offering generally solid and fitting performances for the most part.

‘Halloween Ends’ provides a fairly rewarding conclusion to the saga and delivers a fitting final confrontation between these two iconic characters, but it does struggle a bit while getting there in its attempt to do something different this time around. Just as with the previous two films in this sequel trilogy, the latest film offers some nice nods to previous ‘Halloween’ films (even if they’re not canon in this storyline) such as utilizing the same text style and coloring as ‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ to open the film with, not to mention a clever nod to the original Halloween which finds Corey and the child he’s watching in the opening  scene viewing John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ on television which is a nice throwback to Carpenter’s original film which saw Laurie and young Tommy watching the original ‘The Thing from Another World’ film which Carpenter would later remake into ‘The Thing’.

David Gordon Green and the rest of the team behind this latest trilogy are commended for trying to do something different this time around, but unfortunately some of the logic and manner in which these choices play out don’t always click or match up from a logical point of view, with Michael Myers taking a backseat to much of the film’s action this time around, instead offering more of a background presence and idea that helps the new threat and tale to unfold. Even while some of it just doesn’t work like it should and new characters are both introduced and seen evolving into drastically different places which may have worked better had they been introduced in one of the previous films without everything feeling so rushed here, it does offer a true conclusion as promised and the performances and style of the new film don’t disappoint. It’s not a bad film, or certainly not nearly as terrible as some fans would lead you to believe, but it would be best to go in with your expectations in check as it’s certainly a much different final chapter than most are likely expecting.

Overall, ‘Halloween Ends’ serves up some brutal kill sequences and an interesting concept that changes things up a bit from what you would expect in a final installment of this series, but even while it does have its problems and some of the actions and logic behind them don’t quite work as well as they should, it does manage to at least offer a fitting conclusion to the saga that shouldn’t disappoint. It may not be the finest installment in the franchise by any means, but ‘Halloween Ends’ still offers some rewarding closure and intriguing concepts and is recommended for dedicated fans of the franchise, especially those who enjoyed the last two installments helmed by David Gordon Green. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to check this one out but are interested in doing so, it couldn’t hurt to seek out a rental option or at the very least check it out on Peacock where it’s streaming for paid subscribers at no additional charge.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Halloween Ends’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks largely fantastic and provides a clean, sharp and richly detailed presentation from start to finish. It holds up without any trouble even during the numerous darkly lit and fast-moving moments throughout and never allows anything occurring onscreen to become unexpectedly troubled or problematic. Contributing some notable detail and clarity across the board from the specifics of Michael’s mask to the dank surroundings of the sewer, along with character and various background details each looking sharp and quite immaculate for the most part. The Dolby Vision addition only helps everything to look that much better throughout, and it contributes a nice, realistically accurate color palette that’s only wonderfully complemented by deep, rich blacks that never disappoint. Overall, this is a very nice Ultra High Definition video presentation that shouldn’t have any problem pleasing fans and first time viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a clean, crisp and often hard-hitting audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to send action effects, along with music, water dripping in the sewer, nature effects and bits of dialogue, plus plenty more throughout the various speakers quite regularly, while never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously becoming distorted or rendered problematic in the process. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that does its job well and contributes some additional fun and tension to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Halloween Ends’ includes several enjoyable extras that fans of the film and the franchise itself should enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with co-writer/director David Gordon Green, actors Andi Matichak and Rohan Campbell, co-producer/first assistant director Atilla Salih Yücer, and production assistant Hugo Garza’, in addition to some ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie including one extended kill scene and a deleted one, plus more (running approximately 7 minutes in length altogether), along with a ‘Gag Reel’ (running approximately 3 minutes). We are also treated to various Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Final Girl’ which for some strange reason was the one extra that freezes and wouldn’t play whatsoever on my copy of the 4K disc with multiple attempts but played fine on the Blu-ray disc (running approximately 5 minutes in length), along with ‘No Place Like Haddonfield’ (approximately 8 minutes), ‘Ending Halloween’ (8 minutes), ‘A Different Threat’ (6 minutes), ‘The Visions of Terror’ (6 minutes) and ‘Twisted Deaths’ (5 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Halloween Ends’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Miramax, Blumhouse & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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