To say I am a fan of slasher movies would be an understatement. The 80s style horror movies, the likes of “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” are some of my favorites of the genre largely because of the iconic main villains and the unique kills. Along with those two series, I also love the “Halloween” series and its legendary villain, Michael Myers.

In 2018, the series had a reboot with a movie just called “Halloween,” the third in the series to have the name. I thought it was really good, up there as one of the best modern reboots of an older horror franchise. Myers felt truly intimidating, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode was amazing in the role 16 years since she last played the character, and Andi Matichak had a great performance as Strode’s granddaughter Allyson. The kills were also very interesting, both because of the thrill they deliver on screen and to think of how they performed the effects, such as the impaling on the fence or the head stomp.

The same can be said of the roles in its 2021 sequel, “Halloween Kills,” although the plot itself felt a bit shakier, and my positive opinion on the movie decreased a little after watching it a second time. However, I feel the movie is still enjoyable, and the kills were even better, such as the firefighter opening and the ending with the rapid fire murder by Michael Myers when you think he’s down for the count.

On the other side of the compliments I have for the first two movies in this reboot series, “Halloween Ends” is a complete fumble of the trilogy. To get into what I didn’t like about the movie, we have to get into spoilers. This movie was promoted as the final battle between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode in what will likely be Curtis’ last performance as the former. However, it truly felt like you could have written out both of them and had a similar movie.

The opening of the movie felt incredibly slow, after a new character named Corey accidentally kills a child he is babysitting, and later begins to date Allyson. Corey is my biggest problem with the movie. He is inspired by a weakened Myers to kill the people harassing him, even donning the iconic mask. This premise of a killer inspired by Myers I feel could work for another reboot series, but using it as the ending of an established reboot feels like it came out of nowhere for no good reason.

I feel that Curtis still gave a great performance as Laurie, but the writing seems really out of character for me, especially early in the movie. Going from someone who obsesses over Michael and would do anything to stop him, to someone who’s happy writing her autobiography after Michael has just disappeared and killed her daughter feels really weird to me. However, her character feels spot on as I would expect towards the end of the movie.

Also, the fact that Michael and Laurie’s final confrontation comes only in the last 20 minutes of an almost two-hour movie feels ridiculous to me, especially considering how much this was built up in advertising. I also feel like the deaths in the movie, from a story and effects perspective, felt far less impactful than in the past two movies, with the exception of Michael.

Ultimately, “Halloween Ends” feels like a letdown of what could have been a far better ending to a trilogy that could have been a highlight of the reboot and remake part of this modern era of horror movies.