Warning! This Article contains Major Spoilers for Halloween Ends!
This article also contains discussions of suicide that may be distressing for readers.
Halloween Ends continues and improves on the themes of mass paranoia and anger in its preceding movie, Halloween Kills, secretly fixing the previous entry’s “evil dies tonight” message. These themes were explored and identified in the second movie in David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy through the Haddonfield notorious mob’s chant. In Halloween Kills, a gang of ordinary civilians, led by original Michael Myers survivor Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), attempt to hunt down and kill The Shape as a reaction to finding out about his return to Haddonfield and subsequent killing spree, as depicted in Halloween (2018). Halloween Kills’ is highly critical of mob violence, as shown through the group’s killing of an innocent man. Although the mob seems to be initially victorious in murdering Michael Myers, thanks to Karen Nelson (Judy Greer) leading him into a trap, The Shape is ultimately able to turn the tables on them. Michael Myers single-handedly murders Tommy, Karen, and every other member of the mob one by one in a spectacularly horrifying display of violence, adding to the confusion about the film’s stance on mob rule.
The Haddonfield mob’s “evil dies tonight” chant was criticized as repetitious and awkwardly written in Halloween Kills, but its sequel, Halloween Ends, cleverly continues the themes it represents through its depiction of Haddonfield as a broken community. Halloween Ends shows Haddonfield to be utterly shattered through the combination of Michael Myers’ mass slaughter and subsequent disappearance. In the absence of the community being able to hold the boogeyman accountable, they treat newcomer to the series Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) as a pariah and “psycho babysitter”, due to his part in the accidental death of a child he was babysitting on Halloween night in 2019. The Haddonfield community also irrationally treats Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as responsible for Michael Myers’ return four years previously, while unrest and suicides plague the town. All this continues the themes of paranoia epitomized by the “evil dies tonight” chant first heard in Halloween Kills while also fixing the previous movie’s more heavy-handed approach to the subject of vigilante justice.
What Happened To Haddonfield After Michael Myers Vanished In 2018
In the four years following Michael Myers’ disappearance in Halloween Kills, Haddonfield descends into a wave of paranoia, anger, and distress. Halloween Ends depicts several members of the Haddonfield community as haven died by suicide as a result of the fear that has infected the town after Michael’s killing spree in 2018, including the mother of Oscar (Drew Scheid), who was murdered by The Shape in Halloween (2018). On top of this, Halloween Ends also depicts Haddonfield as angry and hostile towards both Corey Cunningham and Laurie Strode.
Due to his part in the death of a child, Corey is seen by many people as a killer, and much of the community’s anger toward Michael is instead directed toward him. In the absence of Michael Myers, Corey is depicted as a scapegoat for Haddonfield. Members of the Haddonfield community, specifically Myers-survivor Sondra Dickerson (Diva Tyler), see Laurie Strode as responsible for Michael’s return to the town through her supposed provocations of the serial killer. As such, Halloween Ends continues the depiction of Haddonfield as a paranoid and scared community in the wake of Michael Myers that Halloween Kills began with the mob and their “evil dies tonight” chant.
How Haddonfield Can Finally Heal After Michael Myers’ Death
With Michael Myers’ definitive death at the end of Halloween Kills, Haddonfield can finally move on as a community. Halloween Ends depicts the survivors of Michael Myers’ slaughters all coming together in a makeshift procession to ensure that Michael Myers stays dead through the public destruction of his body in an industrial shredder. It is an important, symbolic scene that shows that the atmosphere of fear that had plagued Haddonfield has finally dissipated. Thus, Haddonfield finally has the catharsis of Michael Myers’ death in Halloween Ends that evaded them in Halloween Kills.