Halloween Ends is now playing in theatres and streaming on Peacock, and while the final chapter in David Gordon Green's sequel trilogy does have its share of defenders, it also came in for quite a bit of backlash from long-time fans of the iconic horror franchise.
Several aspects drew criticism, but the introduction of new protagonist/antagonist Corey Cunningham arguably proved to be most divisive.
Corey inadvertently kills a child he's babysitting in the opening scene, and becomes Haddonfield's new "Boogeyman" of sorts (though he is initially more ridiculed than feared). Later on, he meets the actual personification of evil, Michael Myers, and seemingly becomes possessed (for lack of a better word) by The Shape before adopting his murderous nature.
Now, actor Rohan Campbell has revealed that Green warned him in advance that his character could incur the wrath of fans.
“You want to do it so bad as an actor, but it’s really scary to step into this. You can’t doubt yourself for a second,” Campbell tells Variety. “When David offered me the role he was like, ‘I need you to know that a lot of people are going to really, really, really not be happy with what we’re choosing to do here. You’ll probably hear a lot of that.’ Jamie [Lee Curtis] reached out and said the same thing.”
Two of the people that were far from happy with Ends were franchise vets Scout Taylor-Compton & Danielle Harris!
The idea of introducing a Myers disciple could have worked if the execution was better, but many of the film's detractors feel the script simply failed to capitalize on the premise. It's a shame, too, because Campbell gives a compelling performance.
What did you guys make of Halloween Ends and the Corey Cunningham character? Drop us a comment down below.