‘Halloween Ends’: the despised movie that fans petitioned for a reshoot
There’s no feeling worse than when you’re watching a great movie, only for the ending to totally ruin the whole thing. Even the greatest filmmakers of all time are capable of such mistakes, with Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Christopher Nolan slipping on banana skins in regard to the climax of their respective films Shutter Island, The Game and The Dark Knight Rises.
Still, such aforementioned movies still have a lot of fans, and few films are considered so disappointing that viewers have actually made a petition to try and force through a reshoot. More often than not, such unusual situations occur among loyal fanbases who were let down by a particular addition to their beloved franchise. Such was true for the petition to change Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and the same can be said for the 2022 horror film Halloween Ends by director David Gordon Green.
The third movie in the modern Halloween trilogy, Green’s movie continued the legacy of the iconic horror villain Michael Myers as well as hero Laurie Strode. Supposed to end the celebrated trilogy with a satisfying climax, the movie was instead something of a disappointment for fans, paling in comparison to the impressive 2018 version and 2021’s Halloween Kills.
DJ Jones was the person who set out to create a petition in the hopes of a potential recut, taking to the website Change to voice his opinion.
“Halloween Ends was not a film that the fans wanted,” Jones wrote on the website to explain his petition, “This was an origins story! The Corey story! We deserve a movie worthy of Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise…This movie gave us a weak pathetic Michael who needed his mask to survive! This isn’t our Michael Myers! Our killer is strong, relentless, and unstoppable! Please right this wrong! We beg of you!”.
Starting his career as a burgeoning indie filmmaker, Green was an odd choice to take on the reimagined Halloween trilogy, with many seeing his appointment as a reason why the films failed to strike a chord. Enjoying a remarkable rise to fame, first finding success with the drama George Washington in 2000, Green later went on to helm the beloved comedy Pineapple Express in 2008, before making the turn to the horror genre in 2018, most recently helming the 2023 Exorcist reboot.
Sadly for DJ Jones and the 16,000 others who signed the petition, the world of cinema never saw a recut version of Halloween Ends, and it’s likely that we never will.
