HALLOWEEN ENDS : Tuesday 8th November 2022.

I finally got around to seeing 'HALLOWEEN ENDS' - the MA15+ Rated American slasher horror film which is Directed and Co-Written once again by David Gordon Green and is a sequel to the 2021 film 'Halloween Kills'. It is the thirteenth instalment in the 'Halloween' film franchise, and the final film in the 'H40' trilogy that commenced with the 2018 film 'Halloween' and which serves as a continuation of the original 1978 film's storyline disregarding all the other screen offerings that came in between up to 2018. The 2018 and 2021 films generated a combined worldwide Box Office haul of US$387M off the back of a total US$30M production budget, making this final instalment a no brainer. This film saw its World Premier screening in Los Angeles on 11th October before its worldwide release on 13th October, cost US$33M to produce and has so far grossed US$103M and has garnered mixed critical reviews. 

The film opens up on Halloween night in 2019 with Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) arriving at the home of Theresa and Roger Allen (Candice Rose and Jack William Marshall respectively) to babysit their young son Jeremy (Jaxon Goldberg), whilst the parents go out to a Halloween party. While watching John Carpenter's 'The Thing' on TV, Corey goes through to the kitchen to get himself something to drink, and then Jeremy disappears. Corey searches the house and the gardens but there is no sign of the young boy, although strange sounds and shadows are evident in the background. Corey ventures upstairs and into the roof space, when suddenly the door is locked behind him. Panic stricken Corey thumps on the door repeatedly and eventually kicks the door down with Jeremy stood directly behind it. Jeremy is sent backwards by the force of the door and falls over the stairs to his death two storeys below just as his parents come home to see their young son come crashing down. Corey is accused of intentionally killing Jeremy but is cleared of manslaughter. 

Fast forward three years and in Haddonfield, Illinois Michael Myers has not been seen since his last killing rampage in 2018. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is in the midst of writing her memoir and has purchased a house and is now living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) who now works as a nurse at a local medical centre. Corey in the meantime, has started working at his stepfathers car salvage business. On his way home one day after work he stops off a petrol station to buy a drink. Outside he is confronted by four high school bullies who pester Corey to buy them alcohol because they are all underage. Corey refuses and gets into a scuffle resulting in him sustaining a deep glass cut to his hand. Laurie observes this having pulled up to fill up with petrol, and takes Corey to the doctors surgery where Allyson works. Allyson is immediately attracted to Corey when she tends to his wound, and the pair form a fast relationship. 

A few nights later they attend a Halloween party together and dance the night away until Corey is confronted by Jeremy's mother, at which he flees the party venue leaving Allyson, who later catches up with him. The pair have an argument outside, and Corey storms off. Walking home, the same four high school bullies pull up in their convertible car and begin to taunt Corey, resulting in him being thrown off a bridge and landing unconscious on the ground below. He is then dragged into a sewer where he comes round sometime later. He fumbles around in the dank and dark space and is then grabbed by the throat in a strangle hold by Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney), who after a short time releases him. As he crawls out of the sewer pipe into daylight he is threatened by an old homeless man living under the bridge, and in the ensuing struggle Corey stabs him to death, and the flees the scene, leaving the man where he fell. 

Corey finds Allyson later the next day to apologise for his actions the previous night, and the pair go on a dinner date to a local diner. During their dinner, they are interrupted by Allyson's ex-boyfriend, Police officer Doug Mulaney (Jesse C. Boyd) who obviously still has feelings for her, and who harasses them both. Corey stands his ground with Mulaney who afterwards follows Corey to the scene of the earlier stabbing of the old homeless man. Corey lures the cop into the sewer, where Michael emerges and stabs Mulaney multiple times in the chest while Corey holds him down. 

Meanwhile, Allyson is passed over for a promotion at work in favour of a fellow nurse Deb (Michele Dawson) who is having an affair with Dr. Mathis (Michael O'Leary). Later that evening at Dr. Mathis house Corey kills Dr. Mathis while Michael pins Deb to the wall with a kitchen knife. Unknowingly, Allyson prepares to leave Haddonfield with a persuasive Corey because of their past traumas, and to make a fresh start. Laurie though has become increasingly suspicious of Corey. After finding him sleeping in the spot where Jeremy died in the now abandoned Allen house, Laurie offers to help him if he agrees to separate himself from Allyson. Corey responds by blaming her for the events that have unfolded in Haddonfield over the years and concludes by saying that if he cannot have Allyson, then no one can.

On 31st October, Halloween night, Corey returns to the sewers and fights with Michael, successfully knocking him out and stealing his mask. Meanwhile, Laurie and Allyson argue as she plans to leave that night with Corey. She also blames Laurie for Michael's actions. That night, Corey embarks on a murderous rampage, killing the four bullies after luring them to his stepfathers salvage yard, one of whom accidentally shoots his stepfather right between the eyes. Corey then goes on to kill his overbearing mother, as well as DJ Willy the Kid (Keraun Harris) at the local radio station WURG FM, who had taunted him previously.

At the Strode house, Laurie calls the Police to report her suicide in an attempt to lure Corey to her. Wearing Michael's mask Corey confronts her whom she fires two shots into his chest sending him falling backwards down the staircase. Corey, still conscious, then stabs himself in the neck to frame Laurie for his death in front of Allyson just as she walks through the front door. Allyson storms out of the house distraught while Laurie sobs. Michael then appears and kills Corey by snapping his neck, before putting back on his mask and hunting down Laurie who has now regained her composure. 

A fight ensues in Laurie's kitchen, and Laurie manages to pin Michael to the wooden cooking island, by stabbing each hand with a long cooks knife and bringing down the fridge/freezer to trap his legs. Laurie takes out a kitchen knife from the drawer and stabs Michael through the side before drawing the blade across his throat. He begins to bleed out. In a last ditch attempt to dispose of Laurie, Michael rips his hand through the blade and grabs her by the throat. Allyson arrives back home and grabs his arm and snaps it on the bench top. Holding his arm out, Laurie slices open his wrist. Laurie and Allyson strap his lifeless body to the roof of their car and take his body to the salvage yard by Police escort, attracting the residents of Haddonfield, who follow behind in a long procession. The body of Michael is tipped into a commercial shredding machine where Laurie gives it a final kick to send it on its way when Allyson turns on the switch. In the ensuing days, Allyson and Laurie reconcile, and Allyson leaves Haddonfield while Laurie finalises her memoir and seeks to reignite her relationship with Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton).

In 'Halloween Ends' Michael Myers is finally put through the mincer (literally), make no mistake, and so after thirteen instalments and forty four years this surely has to be the 'end' of this overcooked franchise! Or is it? I guess if they can bring back James Bond after he carked it at the end of 'No Time To Die', then they can still resurrect Michael Myers . . . only time will tell! All that said, this final offering in this latest threequel sits below 2018's 'Halloween' and only just a nudge above 2021's 'Halloween Kills' and is less of a slasher horror movie and more of a psychological thriller film. Jamie Lee Curtis who, after seven appearances in these 'Halloween' films over the last four+ decades gives a stoic performance who finally overcomes the maniacal marauding masked mass murderer Michael Myers, but she is no beefed-up Sarah Connor, or Wonder Woman or Black Widow and so how she managed to muster up the strength, courage and fortitude when push comes to shove to dispense with The Shape is anyone's guess! Pure adrenalin one would assume, and who's to say there's anything wrong in that. All of that said 'Halloween Ends' is sure to divide audiences, but I'm guessing that in ten years from now this closing trilogy will enjoy a cult following of die hard fans and a new audience of emerging horror hounds keen to dine out on the Myers/Strode story.

'Halloween Ends' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th October 2022.

The 60th annual New York Film Festival kicked off on Friday 30th September and runs through until Sunday 16th October. Since its launch in 1963 the New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring top films from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent. Since its inaugural year the New York Film Festival has brought new and important cinematic works from around the world to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to the Main Slate official selections, the festival includes Currents, Spotlight, Revivals, and Talks.

Noah Baumbach's film 'White Noise' was selected to be the Opening Night Film of the festival, while Laura Poitras' documentary 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' was chosen to be NYFF's Centerpiece. Elegance Bratton's 'The Inspection', was selected to be the festival's Closing Film, while James Gray's 'Armageddon Time', was selected to be the festival's celebration movie to mark its 60th anniversary.

Among the Main Slate of films being showcased are the following titles :-

* 'Aftersun' - from the UK, Directed by Charlotte Wells and starring Paul Mescal and Francesca Corio as a divorced father and his daughter whose close bond is quietly shaken during a brooding weekend at a coastal resort in Turkey.

* 'Alcarras' - from Spain and Italy and Directed by Carla Simon about a rural family in present-day Catalonia whose way of life is rapidly changing. North American Premier.

* 'Corsage' - from Austria, Directed by Marie Kreutzer and starring Vicky Krieps as Empress Elizabeth of Austria, who begins to see her life of royal privilege as a prison as she reaches her fortieth birthday. US Premier.

* 'Decision to Leave' - from South Korea and Directed by Park Cahn-wook. A Busan detective is increasingly obsessed with a murder suspect in a puzzling new case - that of a middle-aged businessman who has mysteriously fallen to his death and his wife might be to blame.

* 'Enys Men' - from the UK and Directed by Mark Jenkin about an isolated middle-aged woman who spends her days conducting an environmental study on an uninhabited, windswept, rocky island off the coast of Cornwall in southwest England, yet she’s also increasingly haunted by her own nightmarish visitations. US Premier.

* 'EO' - from Poland and Italy and Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. The film floows the travels of a peripatetic donkey named EO who begins as a circus performer before escaping on a pastoral trek across the Polish and Italian countryside. US Premier.

* 'The Eternal Daughter' - from the UK and US and Directed by Joanna Hogg and starring Tilda Swinton as a middle-aged filmmaker, who together with her elderly mother take an eerie, emotional trip to the past when they stay at a fog-enshrouded hotel in the English countryside.

* 'Master Gardener' - from the US and Directed by Paul Schrader about dormant violence and the possibility of regeneration, surrounding on a horticulturist (Joel Edgerton) who works for the imperious owner (Sigourney Weaver) of a wealthy estate. North American Premier.

* 'No Bears' - from Iran and Directed by Jafar Panahi with the Director appearing as himself, relocated to a rural border town to remotely oversee the making of a new film in Turkey, the story of which comes to sharply parallel disturbing events that begin to occur around him. US Premier.

* 'One Fine Morning' - from France and Directed by Mia Hansen-Love and starring Lea Seydoux as a professional translator and single mother at a crossroads, torn between the romantic desire she feels for a married man and her obligation towards her sick father. 

* 'Pacifiction' - from France, Spain, Germany and Portugal and Directed by Albert Serra about a French bureaucrat drifting through a fateful trip to a French Polynesian island with increasing anxiety. US Premier.

* 'R.M.N.' - from Romania and France and Directed by Christian Mungiu in this portrait of a rural Transylvanian town riven by ethnic conflicts, economic resentment, and personal turmoil. US Premier.

* 'Return to Seoul' - from Cambodia, France, Germany, South Korea and Belgium and Directed by Davy Chou. A young French woman finds herself spontaneously tracking down the South Korean birth parents she has never met while on vacation in Seoul. US Premier.
* 'Saint Omer' - from France and Directed by Alice Diop. A successful journalist and author attends the trial of a young Senegalese woman, who has allegedly murdered her own baby daughter. US Premier.

* 'Showing Up' - from the US and Directed by Kelly Reichardt and starring Michelle Williams for this portrait of a sculptor’s daily work and frustrations in an artist’s enclave in Portland. North American Premier.

* 'Stars at Noon' - from France and Directed by Claire Denis about a dissolute young American journalist (Margaret Qualley) and an English businessman (Joe Alwyn) with ties to the oil industry, who meet by chance while on different, mysterious assignments in modern-day Nicaragua and tumble into a whirlwind romance. North American Premier.

* 'Stonewalling' - from Japan and Directed by Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka. A young flight-attendant-in-training’s plans to finish college are thrown into doubt when she discovers she’s pregnant. Not wanting an abortion, she hopes to give the child away after carrying it to term, while staying afloat amidst a series of dead-end jobs. US Premier.
* 'TAR' - from the US and Directed by Todd Field with Cate Blanchett as the fictional character Lydia Tar, and one of the greatest living composer/conductors, and first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra and her gradual unravelling.

* 'Triangle of Sadness' - from Sweden, France, UK, Turkey and Germany and Directed by Ruben Ostlund, this film follows two hot young models (Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean) who rub elbows with the super-rich on a luxury cruise gone very wrong, with Woody Harrelson as the Captain of the ship. 

* 'Unrest' - from Switzerland and Directed by Cyril Schaublin sees an anarchist and socialist philosopher who experiences a quiet revolution in the hushed environs of the Swiss watchmaking town of Saint-Imier in the 1870's. US Premier.

* 'Walk Up' - from South Korea and Directed by Hong Sang-soo. Here, a successful middle-aged filmmaker drops by to visit an old friend, the owner of a charming apartment building, only to find his life taking a series of unexpected turns. US Premier.

For the other strands being screened : Spotlight - NYFF’s showcase of the season’s most anticipated and significant films; Currents - complementing the Main Slate, tracing a more complete picture of contemporary cinema with an emphasis on new and innovative forms and voices; and Revivals - showcasing important works from renowned filmmakers that have been digitally remastered, restored, and preserved, you can go to the official website at : https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2022/

Turning back to this weeks new release movies, of which there are nine, which hail from Germany, the US, New Zealand, France, Denmark and South Korea, there is sure to be something for everyone amongst this weeks mammoth haul of latest offerings. Kicking off, we have a young German soldier's terrifying experiences and distress on the western front during World War I. Next up the saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode comes to a spine-chilling climax in this final instalment of the franchise . . . or is it? This is followed by a girl with unusual powers who escapes from a mental asylum and tries to make it on her own in New Orleans. Then we turn to a New Zealand offering of a Police Sergeant who is forced to choose between his job and his people when the government pulls off an armed raid in his community. Next we have a Danish film about a couple who sacrifice everything to get a coveted Michelin star for their popular restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following on is a French film about a Crime Squad investigating a murder victim's complex life and relations, but what starts as professional soon turns into an obsession for the Captain of Police. Then there is a South Korean movie that follows dangerous criminals on a cargo ship who are transported from the Philippines to South Korea, as they unleash a sinister force after an escape attempt leads to a riot; and the second of our French entries this week sees a hopeless romantic finds his life in danger when he falls in love with a beautiful mermaid. And closing out the week, we have a story of a young man's comfortable world that is turned upside down when his birthmother unexpectedly reaches out to him, longing to meet the 18-year-old son she's only held once.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the nine latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT' (Rated MA15+) - is a German anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name written by Erich Maria Remarque. This is the third screen adaptation of the acclaimed novel - the first being the 1930 film which won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director (Lewis Milestone), and the second a 1979 made for TV movie which won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Made for Television and also picked up one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Film Editing plus a further six nominations. This 2022 version saw its World Premier screening at last months Toronto International Film Festival, is set for its release on Netflix from the 28th of October and is Directed by Edward Berger whose prior big screen offerings include 'Jack' in 2014 and 'All My Loving' in 2019. 

It is 1917. Wartime in Germany. Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer) lies about his age so that he can enlist together with his friends, all of them very young men filled with romanticised patriotic notions of soldiers going off to win the war. The reality of war almost immediately dismantles their euphoria and very quickly Paul is thrown into a trench, with little equipment, minimal training, and the swiftly repaired uniform of another soldier on his back. Paul and his fellow comrades soon experience first hand how the initial exuberance of war transcends into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches of the Western Front. Also starring Daniel Bruhl, the film has so far garnered generally favourable Reviews. 

'HALLOWEEN ENDS' (Rated MA15+) - this American slasher horror film is Directed and Co-Written by David Gordon Green and is a sequel to the 2021 film 'Halloween Kills', is the thirteenth instalment in the 'Halloween' film franchise, and the final film in the 'H40' trilogy that commenced with the 2018 film 'Halloween' and which serves as a continuation of the original 1978 film's storyline disregarding all the other screen offerings that came in between up to 2018. The 2018 and 2021 films generated a combined worldwide Box Office haul of US$387M off the back of a total US$30M production budget, making this final instalment a no brainer. Four years after her last encounter with masked killer Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle), Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is living with her granddaughter Allyson Nelson (Andi Matichak) and trying to complete her memoir. Myers hasn't been seen since, and Laurie finally decides to liberate herself from rage and fear and embrace life. However, when a young man stands accused of murdering a boy that he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Laurie to confront the evil she can't control. 

'MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON' (Rated MA15+) - is an American fantasy thriller film Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour whose previous two feature film outings are 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' in 2014 and 'The Bad Batch' in 2016. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2021 and was released in the US at the end of September this year having garnered generally favourable Reviews. When a struggling single-mother Bonnie (Kate Hudson) befriends a mysterious mental institute escapee, Mona Lisa Lee (Jeon Jong-seo), with supernatural powers, she sees a lucrative opportunity to make some fast cash. But when they draw the attention of a detective Officer Harold (Craig Robinson), their luck starts to run out as the cops close in on their crime-spree. Also starring Ed Skrein. 

'MURU' (Rated MA15+) - this New Zealand action drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Tearapa Kahi in only his second feature film offering following his 2013 drama 'Mt. Zion'. The film was released as the Opening Night film of the New Zealand International Film Festival at the end of July this year, and now is released in Australia having received positive Reviews so far. Inspired by actual events, this film is the story of a local Police Sergeant 'Taffy' Tawharau (Cliff Curtis), who must choose between his badge and his people, when the Government launches an armed raid through his Ruatoki community, on a school day in 2007. Also starring Jay Ryan, Manu Bennett and Simone Kessell. 

'A TASTE OF HUNGER' (Rated M) - this Danish culinary drama romance film is Co-Written and Directed by Christoffer Boe whose previous feature film credits take in his 2003 debut with 'Reconstruction' then 'Allegro' in 2005, 'Offscreen' in 2006, 'Everything Will Be Fine' in 2010, 'Sex, Drugs & Taxation' in 2013 and 'Journal 64' in 2018. Here then, a power couple within the Danish gourmet scene, Carsten (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Maggie (Katrine Greis-Rosenthal) run the popular restaurant Malus in Copenhagen. The couple is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their dream - gaining a coveted Michelin star. The film has garnered generally positive Reviews.

'THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH' (Rated M) - is a French and Belgian Co-Production Co-Written and Directed by Dominik Moll whose prior feature films include the multi-award winning and nominated 'Harry, He's Here to Help' in 2000, 'Lemming' in 2005, 'The Monk' in 2011 and 'Only the Animals' in 2019. In the corridors of the criminal police, it is said that all the investigators have a crime that haunts them. It starts spinning in their heads to the point of obsession, but they don't always know why. Young and ambitious Captain Vivss (Bastien Bouillon) has just been appointed group leader at the Grenoble Criminal Squad when Clara’s murder case lands on his desk. Vives and his team investigate Clara’s (Lulu Cotton-Frapier) complex life and relations, but what starts as a professional and methodical immersion into the victim’s life soon turns into a haunting obsession. One interrogation follows another and the list of suspects continues to grow. Only one thing is certain, however … the crime occurred on the night of the 12th. The film saw its World Premier screening at this years Cannes Film Festival back in May and has generated positive press. 

'PROJECT WOLF HUNTING' (Rated R18+) - this South Korean Sci-Fi action thriller is Written and Directed by Kim Hong-sun whose prior big screen Directing offerings include his 2012 debut with 'Traffickers', then 'The Con Artists' in 2014, 'The Chase' in 2017 and 'Byeonshin' in 2019. During what would normally be described as a routine prisoner transport voyage by cargo ship covering the 1630 miles from Manilla in the Philippines to Busan in South Korea, a group of dangerous criminals unites to stage a coordinated escape attempt. As the jailbreak escalates into a bloody, all-out riot, the fugitives and their allies from the outside exact a brutal terror campaign against the special agents onboard the ship. The film cost US$8.5M to produce and has so far recouped about US$3M following its local South Korean release on 21st September and its US release last week and has generated largely positive Reviews.

'A MERMAID IN PARIS' (Rated M) - is a French fantasy romantic comedy film Co-Written and Directed by Mathias Malzieu in only his second Directorial outing following the animated feature 'Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart' in 2013. Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a man who has gone through many relationship breakups in the past, believes he has no more love to give. One day, he crosses paths with an injured mermaid, Lula (Marilyn Lima), by the Seine in Paris and takes her home to heal in his bathtub, but learns that any man who falls in love with her dies. Initially immune to her endearing charm, Gaspard slowly falls in love with Lula, who also truly falls for him. Also starring Tcheky Karyo and Rossy de Palma. The film was released in its native France way back in mid-March 2020 and only now does it get a limited release in Australia have taken so far just US$631K at the Box Office. The film has attracted generally positive Reviews.

'LIFEMARK' (Rated PG) - is an American Christian drama film Co-Written, Directed and Edited by Kevin Peeples in only his second feature film outing following 'Like Arrows' in 2018 although he has Directed three Documentaries between 2013 and 2016. As a pregnant teenager in 1993, Melissa (Marisa Hampton) is preparing for an abortion to end her unwanted pregnancy, when at the very last minute "She told the doctor, 'I can’t do this.'" Instead, she chooses to deliver her son and place him for adoption, where he is adopted by Jimmy and Susan Colton (Kirk Cameron and Rebecca Rogers Nelson respectively) of Louisiana. Eighteen years later, Melissa (Dawn Long) reaches out to David (Raphael Ruggero) through the adoption agency, leading to their connection on social media and ultimately meeting face-to-face. The film was released in the US in early September, has so far grossed US$5M and has received mixed Reviews. 

With nine new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-