‘Halloween Ends’ Delivers Jamie Lee Curtis A Worthy Send-Off, 44 Years In The Making

Jamie Lee Curtis is taking her final bow as Laurie Strode in the new Universal Pictures film Halloween Ends, after playing the horror franchise’s beloved heroine who has been defying death against the murderous Michael Myers ever since the original Halloween in 1978. Even though this cinematic storytelling is coming to a close, moviegoers can take a sigh of relief, knowing that both Curtis and Strode are not leaving without a memorable fight for the ages.

Tuesday night marked the world premiere of Halloween Ends in Hollywood, concluding this modern trilogy of films, including its two predecessors, Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021). The excitement in the air at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre comes with a bittersweet feeling as well, knowing this is goodbye (for now, at least).

With the finale that is Halloween Ends, Curtis has gone from frightened babysitter-turned-bonafide badass playing Laurie Strode in a total of seven films (although a few of the in-between films have been omitted from this latest trilogy’s timeline). Now 44 years since the original Halloween arrived in movie theaters, I first commented to Curtis at her Halloween Ends premiere about this being a legacy that she has built over nearly half a century.

“You know, I don’t think that way,” Curtis continues. “I haven’t sort of metabolized it into time. I feel very much the same as I did when I was 19. I feel young and full of ideas and I’m happy.”

As Curtis, 63, prepares to say farewell to this franchise and to her loyal horror fans, her Halloween Ends cast & crew also expressed to me the quality experience they have had working alongside the longtime Halloween star & executive producer.

Actress Andi Matichak, who has played Strode’s granddaughter Allyson Nelson in these past three films, says of Curtis, “I didn’t even realize in 2018 what I stepped into because she has been nothing but welcoming and kind. She’s a movie star, she’s Jamie Lee Curtis! It could’ve easily been like The Jamie Lee Curtis Show, especially given its Halloween because it is her. She never made anybody feel that way and she did nothing but make everybody feel like this was such a collaborative experience.”

Actress and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reality star Kyle Richards, who has played fellow survivor Lindsey Wallace beside Curtis since 1978 as a young child, shares her thoughts about Curtis and what will be the hardest part for her in letting go of these characters.

“The hardest thing to let go of? Not the plaid and not the bangs,” Richards jokes, referencing her character’s on-screen style. “I think just working with Jamie as these characters. I’m sure one day we’ll work together again on something else, but as these characters, it makes me sad to think that Laurie and Lindsey won’t be together again. We’ll do something else. I’m putting it out there! I’m manifesting.”

Halloween Ends writer/director David Gordon Green believes horror fans have remained captivated by this Laurie Strode versus Michael Myers cinematic duel over the years because “It’s Jamie Lee. Honestly, I credit her. The charisma she has, the relatability, the resourcefulness of that character, Laurie Strode – something that everybody sees a little bit of themselves in or their next-door neighbor. That’s what keeps it alive.”

Green, who has directed all three of the final Halloween films, went on to share his feelings about closing this elaborate chapter on Strode and Myers with Halloween Ends, saying, “It’s nice. I feel really satisfied. We found a perfect conclusion to turn this town of Haddonfield upside down and then resolve it. I’m just excited to put it to bed for a little while, find some new boogymen and figure out what’s next.”

Living in a world today where loyal fans of franchises can easily express their opinions to large audiences by way of social media, I asked Halloween Ends writer Chris Bernier how his team honored fans with this final installment, while also not shying around from their own creative ideas in crafting a cinematic resolution worth telling.

“There’s an enormous commitment and obligation to the fans,” Bernier continues. “In some ways, Halloween fandoms are as intense and devoted as any fans of any franchise, so you have to have them in mind. You have to have the legacy of the films, particularly the originals, what [John] Carpenter established in the ‘78 film. Then it becomes ‘How do you reinvigorate in the way that is rewarding and full of fun and scares and all the cool things we go to movies for, but really approaching it with an integrity and a humanity?’”

Being such a guiding force throughout this Halloween franchise, both on-screen and off, I asked Curtis what will be the hardest part for her to walk away from what has become a life-long filmmaking experience as Laurie Strode.

“The fans – the people that love her,” says Curtis. “The people that have literally given me everything in my life – my career, just everything and that will be hard. I mean, I have other things I want to be able to go do. I’m going to go do them, but I will always love Laurie Strode and I will always be grateful to her fans.”

With fans able to experience this epic conclusion starting Friday up on the big screen in movie theaters and streaming on Peacock, I asked the Halloween Ends cast & crew what they hope audiences will take away most from watching this final send-off.

Malek Akkad, who has produced all of the Halloween films since 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, says of moviegoers, “It’s always that they take away the fun and the thrill & the chills. Go get some friends and see it in the theater with some popcorn because that’s really how these things should be seen.”

Richards responds next with the loyal Halloween fans in mind, “That even though they didn’t want it to end, this is the best possible way it could because David Gordon Green did an incredible job with the movie and everybody in it was fantastic. Jamie was phenomenal. Even though I know there’s a little bit of that disappointment going in because [fans] don’t want it to end, I think they’re going to really love it and be very satisfied.”

Actor James Jude Courtney, who is credited as “The Shape” but is better known as playing the murderous man behind the Michael Myers mask throughout this modern Halloween trilogy, shared his own insightful hopes for audiences when experiencing this storytelling from start to finish.

“I hope they process the journey that Jamie went through,” expresses Courtney. “It’s really one film – [Halloween] 2018, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends. So, when you look at the issues we dealt with in 2018 – alcoholism, loneliness, mental illness. In Kills, mob mentality. I hope they look at this one and look at the issues, the social issues that David Gordon Green, [writer] Danny McBride have addressed and how they brought this into the social fabric of the world we’re living in right now. I hope from this, we all become more accepting and loving toward each other.”

My final question went appropriately to Curtis, Hollywood’s ultimate “Final Girl,” as I asked her what message she might have for the many fans that have enthusiastically followed her entire Halloween journey over these incomparable 44 years.

Curtis concludes with, “Thank you for my life. Thank you for my entire life. I wouldn’t have anything without them. Nothing.”