The second film in the Halloween reboot trilogy – Halloween Kills – has just been released, but thoughts are already turning to the previously announced final bookend of the series – the ostensibly titled Halloween Ends.
That title really makes things final, doesn’t it?
The franchise’s figurehead and scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis, hasn’t revealed much about the third and final film of the trilogy, but she does think fans of the franchise will have a visceral reaction to it, if nothing else.
Speaking to NME, Jamie Lee said “there is one more film to make and I know what it’s about and it’s going to blow people’s minds open.
“It’s going to make people very angry and it’s going to be shocking because it asks a lot of questions.”
Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends were both announced in 2018, after the rebooted Halloween became the highest-grossing slasher film, topping Scream’s 1996 record. Originally meant to release in 2020 and 2021, the sequels were filmed back-to-back, as two halves of a complete whole.
In Kills, the narrative continues directly on-from where it was left in 2018; Laurie Strode (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Alyson (Andi Matichak) continuing to fend off serial killer Michael Myers, who has returned to Haddonfield on the 40 year anniversary of his original killing spree. In order to combat the seemingly unkillable Myers, Laurie and her family decide to join forces with the rest of Haddonfield to once and for all exorcise their community’s ghost.
As well as Jamie Lee, Kills also sees the return of Kyle Richards now a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stalwart but originally a child actress, playing one of the children Laurie was babysitting on the night Myers attacked.
Halloween Ends will release in October 2022, like the previous two films it will be directed by David Gordon Green.
Basically, now is a very good time to be a slasher fan. Bolstered by the great reception of the 2018 Halloween (as well as some intelligent modern-day takes like Happy Death Day and Freaky) the sub-genre is in the midst of a full-blown renaissance. Not only resurrecting the Halloween franchise, last week we got our first take of the much-hyped fifth Scream film, which will take a similar root as a quasi-sequel and soft-reboot.
Halloween Kills is in theatres and streaming on Peacock now.