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Evil dies tonight! Michael Myers and Laurie Strode are back in the final installment of David Gordon Green's Halloween reboot trilogy – and Halloween Ends has all the scares, shocks, and surprises you could ask for in the final word on the Shape vs. Strode.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Andi Matichak return as Laurie and Allyson Strode, while Kyle Richards is back as Lindsey Wallace, and Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney are once again playing Michael. Newcomer Rohan Campbell joins the line-up as Corey Cunningham, a young man with a dark and tragic past.
We've got the full breakdown on that huge ending right here, with all your most burning questions answered. Of course, it goes without saying, but major Halloween Ends spoilers ahead. Don't go any further if you haven't seen the movie yet!
Halloween Ends ending explained
The final showdown between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers interestingly enough isn't entirely focused on them. Instead, new character Corey Cunningham takes a lot of the focus of the movie.
The film begins on Halloween night in 2019. Corey is babysitting young Jeremy for the Allen family, but Jeremy soon traps him in the attic as a prank. Taunting him with the spectre of Michael Myers turns out to be a mistake, though, because Corey ends up absolutely terrified. He kicks the door down, which knocks Jeremy over the bannister and down a multiple story drop. He hits the ground and dies just as his parents return.
Back in the present day, following a four year time skip from Halloween Kills, we catch up with Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson. Laurie is penning her memoirs and seems to be in a much healthier place after the trauma inflicted on her in the previous movies, but we soon discover that Haddonfield blames her for Michael's rampages. She lives with Allyson, who works in the local hospital.
Laurie runs into Corey at a convenience store, where he's being taunted by high schoolers. He's injured in the process, and Laurie takes him to Allyson at the hospital. The two eventually strike up a relationship and go to a Halloween party together, but Corey bumps into Jeremy's mother and flees after she confronts him. He argues with Allyson and leaves, then is found again by the high school bullies. This time, the ringleader throws him over a bridge and he hits the ground hard – the kids think he's dead, but he's just unconscious. An unseen presence drags him through a large concrete pipe into the sewers.
Corey wakes up and tries to leave the sewers, but Michael Myers grabs him by the neck and almost kills him. The Shape has been living in the tunnels since Halloween Kills, with a homeless person who lives under the bridge bringing him people to kill. Michael locks eyes with Corey and has a vision of Jeremy's death, which spurs him into releasing his prey. Corey runs, but is confronted by the homeless person, who is wielding Corey's own, dropped knife. In the struggle, Corey kills the other man.
After this experience, Corey reconciles with Allyson, taking her to the Allens' home to tell her what happened that Halloween night. They go on a date at a diner, where Allyson's ex-boyfriend, a police officer, approaches them. Allyson tries to politely shoo him away, but Corey loses his temper, which means the other man recognizes him as Jeremy's killer. The police officer later follows Corey back to the sewers and Corey lures him inside, then offers him up to Michael, who murders him.
Allyson has been hoping for a promotion at the hospital, which is the only reason she puts up with her boss' vile behavior. But, she's passed over for the promotion for another nurse, Deb, who it turns out is dating the boss, Doctor Mathis. The duo are having a romantic night at Mathis' house, when Deb stumbles upon a horrific sight: Corey, in the Scarecrow mask he wore to the Halloween party, is savagely murdering Mathis. Deb runs, but Michael catches her and stabs her to death while Corey watches.
Corey wants to leave Haddonfield, but Allyson isn't so sure. They climb up to the radio tower, but when they leave, the DJ Willy the Kid sees them. He insults them both – his radio shows frequently mention Michael Myers. In the aftermath of the confrontation, Allyson agrees to leave Haddonfield with Corey. Laurie has been wise to Corey's strange behavior for a while, though, and goes to the Allens' home, where Corey spends the night, to talk to him. Corey warns her that if he can't have Allyson, no one will, and says she's hoping Michael will return. Laurie vanishes while Corey is speaking.
Halloween finally arrives. Corey goes to the sewers and steals Michael's mask, declaring him just a man, and sets out on a rampage of his own. He viciously murders the high school bullies, which in the process gets his own dad accidentally killed. Corey then goes home and kills his overbearing mother, along with the DJ in a particularly bloodthirsty kill.
Meanwhile, Laurie and Allyson have a terrible argument over Allyson's decision to leave with Corey. Allyson blames Laurie for the death of her friends and her parents and leaves. Laurie gets a gun from a safe and dials 911, saying she'd like to report a suicide. We hear a gunshot, but Laurie only shot a pumpkin: "Did you really think I'd kill myself?" she asks Corey, who is outside the doorway. They fight, but Corey ends up stabbing himself in the neck after once again telling Laurie that, if he can't have Allyson, no one can. Laurie pulls the knife free, and Allyson walks in to see her grandmother standing over Corey's dead body, holding the knife. She blames Laurie and leaves again.
Laurie is understandably very upset, but her troubles have only just begun: the Shape is inside her house. Corey seems to come back to life, but Michael kills him by breaking his neck. He walks through the house, looking for Laurie, who is hiding from him. A battle between them ensues, with Laurie almost killed multiple times. She eventually gets the upper hand, though, pinning Michael to the kitchen table with knives through his hands. She then knocks the fridge over on top of his legs. It's still not enough: Michael pulls a hand free and starts choking Laurie. "Do it," she tells him, but Allyson appears right on time and saves her grandmother – the police contacted her and told her that Laurie had reported a suicide, so she returned to their home.
Together, the Strode women kill Michael by inflicting wounds that make him bleed to death. They then strap his unmasked body to a car and, with the police joining them, parade him through Haddonfield. Everyone in Haddonfield ends up part of the procession, which ends at the salvage yard. Laurie puts Michael's body into a huge shredder and Allyson presses the button, and Laurie watches as the Shape is completely crushed by the metal.
Laurie then continues working on her memoir. "Evil doesn't die, it changes shape," she writes. She also meets up with Frank again; it certainly seems they're going to strike up a relationship. We're then shown Laurie's empty home – and Michael's mask lays on a table.
Is Michael Myers dead? What happens to him?
Throughout the entire Halloween franchise, the Shape has seemed unkillable. He's survived everything ever thrown at him, but it looks like bleeding to death then being crushed to a pulp might be too much, this time. There's no indication that Michael Myers survived this ordeal, but there is his mask in Laurie's house at the end. Is that a sign the boogeyman is back, or could return in the future? Or did Laurie keep it as a trophy, or a mark of everything she's been through? It's left up to us to decide.
Is Corey dead? Did he come back to life?
Corey stabs himself in the neck to frame Laurie for his death, which Allyson initially falls for. But, when Michael enters the Strode house, Corey appears to revive. It's short-lived, though, because the Shape swiftly snaps Corey's neck. After that, we don't see him again, so we can safely assume he's dead for good. As for that sudden resurrection, that might have something to do with the strange connection between Corey and Michael – more on that below.
How are Michael and Corey connected?
Michael is all set to kill Corey, then they meet eyes, and the Shape has a vision of all that Corey has been through. The boogeyman lets Corey go, but the experience leaves an impression on Corey, because he brings a fresh victim to Michael later and asks to be taught how to kill. Corey then becomes something of a Shape copycat, donning that iconic mask to terrorise those who've done him wrong in Haddonfield. Perhaps this experience has given Corey some of the same immortality apparently enjoyed by Michael, because it certainly seems he recovers from a fatal injury – only to be killed again by the Shape. Whether that's because evil lives in both of them or for some other reason is unexplained.
There's also a thematic element tying them together. Corey's mother believes that her son became the town's boogeyman because Michael disappeared: Haddonfield still needed a villain, so they treated Corey like a monster. This treatment ended up turning Corey into this very monster. Although, another question is raised: was Corey made evil by his experiences, or did evil live within him all along? That's a similar question to the ones constantly asked about Michael Myers. Is the Shape pure evil incarnate or just a man? Was the evil within him made or born? With Corey, it's hard to say either way, but it's clear that Michael is a malign influence on Haddonfield, destroying lives and turning people cruel: and that includes Corey.
What happens to Laurie and Allyson?
Final girls Laurie and Allyson both survive the movie. Laurie has a close call when Michael gets hold of her neck, but, luckily, Allyson arrives just in time to save her. Together, they finish the Shape off (seemingly) for good. Laurie is then seen living a peaceful, happy life in the aftermath of all the chaos.
What was Michael doing between Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends?
Four years pass between Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, so what was Michael up to in all that time? As it turns out, not much. He stayed in the sewers, with the homeless man delivering him victims and food. He's finally coaxed back out to go up against Laurie once again when Corey steals his mask.
What happens when Corey is babysitting?
A terrible accident occurs at the Allens' house on the Halloween of 2019. Jeremy stages a prank to creep out his babysitter Corey, luring him into the attic and locking him in. Corey, though, begins to get terrified at the thought of Michael Myers – especially considering Michael kills babysitters – and starts kicking at the door as Jeremy taunts him. He breaks the door open, hitting Jeremy in the nose, and the child falls over the bannister and down to the ground floor. He dies from the fall, and his parents come home just in time to see it happen.
What film are Corey and Jeremy watching?
Before it all goes wrong, Corey and Jeremy watch a scary movie together. It's none other than John Carpenter's The Thing, in a nod to the original movie's director.
Why do Michael and Corey team-up?
Michael hiding out in the sewers suggests he's particularly weak and needs to recover; don't forget, he took the beating of his life in Halloween Kills. When Michael kills the police officer Corey brings him, he seems to almost recharge, shaking from the experience. It looks like Michael genuinely needs the extra help, at least until he snaps Corey's neck.
Who are the survivors in the procession?
When Michael's body is paraded through Haddonfield, the movie focuses on two people in particular: a woman who survived a slashed throat and a young boy. The woman is Laurie's neighbour, who was attacked by Michael in Halloween Kills but managed to survive her horrific injuries, though she now blames Laurie for what happened. The young boy returns from the 2018 Halloween – he had a run-in with Michael when the Shape murdered his babysitter, a friend of Allyson's.
Is Halloween Ends the last Halloween movie?
This is the last of David Gordon Green's Halloween movies, and it's also the last time Jamie Lee Curtis will play Laurie Strode. Of course, that doesn't mean there can't be another reboot in the future, but for now, the story of Halloween has come to an end. It helps that Michael is absolutely, categorically killed in this one… unless he returns, of course, because you can't seem to keep the Shape down.
If you're all caught up on Halloween Ends, check out our roundup of the best horror movies ever to plan your next spooky movie marathon.
