As the name implies, Halloween Ends is bringing the series to an end. That's not over-exaggeration – the movie will be Jamie Lee Curtis' last outing as Laurie Strode, and director David Gordon Green is keen for everyone to know that his Halloween trilogy is over.
"It’s really exciting [to be ending things]. Fuck yeah!" he tells Total Film in the new issue of the magazine, headlined by Halloween Ends. "And it’s nerve-racking. I’ve moved around the last few scenes of the movie in various orders, and I’ve been playing with music. How do I want to feel [when] I walk out of the theatre, thinking that there’s not going to be another one next year? So that’s the sculpture."
If you walked out of Halloween Kills, the controversial sequel to 2018's remarkable Halloween, feeling brutalized and dejected that was by design, but the intention isn’t the same for Halloween Ends. "This one is a good time at the movies," Green says. "Let’s have a blast, ride the roller coaster with a few unexpected turns, and walk away feeling complete. That’s what I want."
That sense of finality is felt by no one more keenly than Curtis. When she first played Laurie Strode in 1978 Curtis wasn’t even 20 years old. Now 63, and leaving Strode behind for the last time, Curtis is in a more reflective mood than ever.
"I recently saw a photograph of Laurie from 1978 that Kim Gottlieb, who was our stills photographer, shot. And it moves me to see me then, to be honest,” Curtis says. "In the same way that Laurie doesn’t understand why all this is happening, I don’t understand why all this is happening to me. Why did I get that moment back in 1978? What made John and Debra [Hill] think I should be Laurie?
"They saw something that I don’t think I even saw. That was John and Debra’s great skill – creating that character in a town that is like every other town in the United States who then comes into contact with the epitome of evil. And 44 years later, we’re still interested in that confluence of those two things. That’s why, at the end of the day, Halloween stands above all others."
That's just a taster of the Halloween feature in the new issue of Total Film, which is on newsstands this Thursday – while subscribers have their copies now! Order your copy of Total Film here or subscribe to Total Film here and never miss another issue. You can currently grab three issues for just £3!
Also in the new issue: Olivia Wilde talking Don't Worry Darling, Sex Education breakout Emma Mackay discusses Emily and Barbie, and Billy Eichner reveals all about Bros. Plus, so much more! Halloween Ends reaches cinemas October 14.
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