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Spoilers ahead for Halloween Ends.
The horror genre has been thriving for years, and many of the best horror movies have recently returned to theaters in new sequels. This trend became popular after 2018’s Halloween broke franchise records, with filmmaker David Gordon Green tasked with creating his own trilogy via two sequels. That story was concluded with Halloween Ends, which recently arrived in theaters and streaming on Peacock. The movie put a ton of focus on the new character Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell. And it turns out that he was warned about potential backlash when taking his role in the slasher threequel.
Halloween Ends is set four years after the previous two movies, and further shows how Michael Myers’ evil infected the town of Haddonfield. The movie has been somewhat controversial for the lack of screentime for the masked villain, and focus on newcomer Corey. And actor Rohan Campbell recently revealed to Variety that both David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis herself warned him about the hate that might come his way. As he put it,
When David offered me the role he was like, ‘I need you to know that a lot of people are going to really, really, really not be happy with what we’re choosing to do here. You’ll probably hear a lot of that.’ Jamie [Lee Curtis] reached out and said the same thing.
Clearly those involved in the last Halloween trilogy know the franchise and the fandom well. And as such, they knew putting so much focus on a new character in Halloween Ends was going to get a big reaction from moviegoers. And they were right, as the Corey-centric story definitely surprised audiences, who were primarily there to see the final battle between Michael Myers and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode. Some fans have even signed a petition to get the movie reshot.
It sounds like Rohan Campbell went into filming Halloween Ends unsure how the public would respond to his performance as Corey Cunningham. The focus on this newcomer is clear immediately, as the cold open is from his perspective and we follow his relationship with both Laurie and especially Allyson. Although through the movie he’s got another fascinating scene partner: Michael Myers himself.
Halloween Ends was obviously a departure for the franchise, and every one of David Gordon Green’s three movies did bring something unique to the table. Michael Myers didn’t actually show up until 40 minutes in, and when he did he was far weaker than the previous two installments. Indeed, some of the movie’s best kills actually ended up coming from his collaboration with Corey.
While Corey’s story in Halloween Ends was a controversial one, the movie ultimately did end on an epic note. The Laurie/Michael standoff happened as promised, and there was a final victor in their longtime battle. The movie performed well on its opening weekend, but has some big competition this week with Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam.
Halloween Ends is in theaters and streaming now. Be sure to check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.