It’s Michael vs. Laurie, One More Time, in First Trailer for Halloween Ends

Buckle up, folks, because we’re about to see the titanic end to a battle we’ve only seen … roughly six times before! That’s right, it’s slasher icon Michael Myers vs. foundational final girl Laurie Strode, in the first teaser for director David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends. Blumhouse is promising to finally put to bed the conflict that began in 1978’s Halloween, and has subsequently popped up in the likes of Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Halloween: Resurrection and Green’s own Halloween sequels, which ignored all previous continuity. Or as the official synopsis puts it:

Four years after the events of last year’s Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.

There’s actually a lot of odd material to take in from this synopsis. The time jump is unexpected, given that last year’s disappointing Kills took place on the same night as Green’s first, confusingly named Halloween. But the “Laurie has embraced life” premise rings especially false, given this version of Laurie Strode’s utter obsession with Michael Myers and lifelong quest for vengeance. In fact, Laurie’s grudge makes more sense now than it ever did before, following the death of her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) in the conclusion of Kills. This is the first time Michael has ever taken something personal from Laurie, and she responds to that by letting go of her mania? I doubt it.

Regardless, this trailer really feels like it’s meant to be a direct follow-up to the 2018 Halloween film, promising nothing more than a final confrontation between the two icons (which is what the 2018 also promised, of course). This will likely make Halloween Kills feel only that much more inessential, but this has clearly been a badly overstuffed “trilogy” from the beginning. Halloween Ends hits theaters on Oct. 14, 2022. Until then, check out the trailer below.