Editor’s Note: the following contains major spoilers for Halloween Ends.
The original so-called “final girl,” who has been put through one horrifying scenario after anotherfor several decades of various films across multiple timelines,Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode has now arrived at what may be her last on-screen fight inHalloween Ends. She has faced down the terrifyingMichael Myersmany times before, though never quite like this. The biggest question facing this concluding chapter is whether she will be able to survive or, as she has once before, perish at the hands of The Boogeyman. If you hadn’t already figured this out,this piece is going to spoil all of what happensto Laurie in this newest film. You can either go check it out for yourself then come back or prepare for us to dig into everything.
The short answer is that, no, Laurie does not meet her death in this film. However, there is a rather long road to survival that the film leads us on where she comes awfully close to not making it. Taking place four years after the events of the previous entry, Laurie has done everything she can to put the past behind her after Michael killed her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) before vanishing without a trace. The town remains haunted by the fear that he is still out there which, you know, isn’t a wrong thought to have considering how many times he has come back. For Laurie, she is mostly focused on writing a memoir and taking care of her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) who has also endured so much at the hands of Michael. After a rather lengthy setup, the showdown all the films has been building towards begins and sees Laurie come the closest she has in this recent trilogy to meeting an untimely end. However, she is not someone who is going to go down without a fight and still has some tricks up her sleeve. Oh, and fittingly, plenty of knives that come in handy when taking on her longtime nemesis in an encounter that proves to be the last they’ll ever share.
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This all kicks off when Michael, as he tends to do, has snuck into Laurie’s home where she is currently alone. While certainly surprising, she is still ready, having thought about and prepared for this moment for years. Even as she gets momentarily trapped in a closet, she still manages to hold her own against Michael. There are a couple of moments where she seems like she may be in trouble, such as when he puts her hand into a running garbage disposal, or she gets stabbed with her own knitting needle, though she also manages to push back just enough to keep the fight going. This then culminates in her using two knives to pin Michael to her kitchen table stigmata-style. She even brings down a fridge on top of him for good measure just to make sure he can’t get up too easily. While he thrashes around he seems to be good and stuck. Not content that this is enough, Laurie begins cutting into him to ensure he is dead. It seems as though she has the complete upper hand until he manages to break free and lunge at her. He shreds his hand in the process though still has her in his firm grasp.
This is the closest Laurie comes to dying, and she may very well not have made it had it not been for the sudden appearance of her granddaughter, who rescues her. Though they had their disagreements, they were able to come together for the moment when they needed to most. Michael, still pinned to the table following this, then receives an additional cut from Laurie who is doing everything she can be certain that he is not going to leave this situation alive. Even as he is seemingly dead, she then decides to take a nice little drive with what is left of him on top of her car. Accompanied by the police and a growing procession of community members, they go to the local scrapyard. It is there that Michael is removed from the car and put on top of a crushing machine. Laurie then climbs up on top of said machine and gives him one final push into the waiting teeth that tear him apart almost instantly. All that is left is a bloody pulp and the memories in those that have been cursed to get caught in his path of carnage.
This is the moment that seals Michael’s fate and ensures that Laurie will be able to get away unscathed. Don’t let it be mistaken, she did come awfully close to dying and sustained rather serious wounds. However, she still was able to survive one last time. For all that was thrown at her over the last three films, as well as the original that preceded it, she made it to the finish line relatively in one piece. She is undeniably scarred by all that has happened and likely going to be forever changed. In that sense, part of her has died as a result of the trauma that Curtis has referred to as being a central theme of these films. With that being said, Laurie is still alive and able to rebuild her life, which is not something many who have tussled with Michael can say. Most of them have been barely lucky enough to get away and no one has ever been able to claim that they have killed him for good like this. None, that is, except for Laurie Strode, who ensured that she and the rest of Haddonfield will never have to worry about him ever again. The film concludes with her finishing up her memoir and her granddaughter leaving town to now go off on her own. Not only did both survive, but they will now get to live their lives for the first time without the dark shadow of Michael Myers looming large over their shoulders.
Halloween Endsis in theaters and streaming on Peacock.
