Halloween Ends Is A Coming-Of-Age Film Similar To John Carpenter's Christine
So just how will things end when "Halloween Ends" next year? "Halloween KIlls," the most recent entry in this new trilogy, concluded on a shocking note, setting the stage for one final showdown between Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode and Michael "The Shape" Myers. However, according to director David Gordon Green, "Halloween Ends" is going to be considerably different from the previous two entries. Green has already said that the next film is going to jump forward about 4 years, and introduce the ongoing pandemic into the mix in the process. Now, in a recent interview, Green has offered more insight into the upcoming film, stating that "Halloween Ends" is going to be akin to a "coming-of-age film." On top of that, Green revealed a specific John Carpenter movie that influenced "Halloween Kills," and it's not what you might expect. Spoilers for "Halloween Kills" follow.
Halloween Ends With ... Christine?
Speaking with Empire, David Gordon Green revealed that the John Carpenter movie he drew inspiration from for "Halloween Ends" is "Christine," and honestly, that's a little surprising! Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, "Christine" is Carpenter's movie about a killer car with a mind of its own. I suppose you could argue that the current version of Michael Myers is like that – an unstoppable killing machine. But I'm also not entirely sure how Green connects "Christine" to "Halloween Kills."
"I sent Carpenter the new draft of Halloween Ends the other night, and I said, 'If it feels too Christine, let me know,'" Green said. Again: how? "Christine" focuses on a high school nerd who connects, mentally, with the killer car. So much so that the car goes out and runs down the nerd's enemies. Is Michael Myers going to hook up with some nerdy high school kid and start bumping off his bullies? I guess that would be a change of pace!
In any case, Green added that the film is a tribute to not just "Christine," but Carpenter's work in general. "For 'Halloween Ends,' it's just a love of Carpenter," Green said. "It's more than just, 'Hey, here's a character and a community that you've created.' It's, 'Here's an appreciation of your legendary body of work.'"
A Much More Intimate Movie
In the same interview, Green states that "Halloween Ends" will be "a much more intimate movie." Seeing as "Halloween Kills" had practically the entire town of Haddonfield getting in on the action (and dying in the process), bringing things down to a more intimate level makes sense. Laurie Strode has a whole new reason to want to kill Michael Myers: he murdered her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) at the end of "Halloween Kills." Still, how will the time-jump influence things? That's a big question that we don't have many answers for.
But Green did drop some hints as to what to expect from "Halloween Ends." Specifically, he called the movie a "coming-of-age" film:
"There's not a lot of games in it, there's not a lot of wittiness and retro joy. It's kind of a coming-of-age film, and it's a very different tone. And that's what excited me about it, is to have the three chapters that I've been involved in be very different from each other. They are all there to honor Carpenter, but aren't necessary just emulating him."
So if someone is "coming-of-age" here, who is it? The obvious choice might be Allyson (Andi Matichak), Laurie's granddaughter and Karen's daughter. Then again, Allyson doesn't seem all that young to begin with. But having her mother murdered by a slasher is no doubt going to affect her mental and emotional state in some way.
"Halloween Ends" arrives October 14, 2022.