Posted in: Horror, Movies | Tagged: Corey Cunningham, Halloween Ends, Rohan Campbell

Halloween Ends: Everyone, Leave Corey Cunningham Alone

Halloween Ends is a film that I, like most horror fans, have been looking forward to for almost three years since being announced in July 2019. Slowly, starting with last year's Halloween Kills release and each interview and trailer since that excitement eroded. As a firm believer that in this continuity, Laurie Strode doesn't actually matter to Michael Myers (more on that another time), the film we were being sold was an all-out brawl for two hours between the two to settle the score, and it would be boring. As we all know now, that was far from the case, as I don't think anyone could have predicted what we would get with Halloween Ends. I have watched the film five times now, liking it more and more each time, and it all has to do with an unlikely character.

Corey Carries Halloween Ends, And In A Good Way

Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell, was the breath of fresh air that this franchise needed. Wrongfully accused of murdering a young boy, he has become the Haddonfield pariah, with everyone from teenagers to adults disrespecting him every chance they get. He finds a kindred spirit not only in Michael Myers but with Alyson, Laurie's granddaughter, played by Andi Matichak. The two have one of the more exciting courtships you will find in a film this year. From the start, his darkness attracts Alyson immediately, and he sees some of the same pain he has experienced in hers. If this film was not set in Haddonfield, people would be gobbling it up.

But this was set in Haddonfield and is the final film in a trilogy and the supposed conclusion of 40+ years of storytelling. In that sense, the film is a failure. But none of that can be laid at the feet of Corey Cunningham. Director David Gordon Green has even said that what fans were expecting was not the direction he wanted the film to go: Honestly, we never once considered making a Laurie and Michael movie," Green told Movie Maker. "The concept that it should be a final showdown-type brawl never even crossed our minds. I wanted to see where it would go." So, we didn't know it, but we would never get that brawl over the full runtime. In fact, the brawl for the last 20 minutes of the film feels like a tacked-on short film.

No, what we did get was Corey. His descent into madness is a tragedy and a great look at how this trauma loop has captured Haddonfield and will never let it go and how it envelops Corey and creates a new monster. This isn't even a very new concept in the franchise, as we had a version of it told in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. at the end of that film, they set up young Jamie (Danielle Harris) to be the new Michael Myers as well. However, that ends up being a whole cult thing and such we don't need to get into here. They never really went there fully, though, not like Halloween Ends does with Corey. Make no mistake, Michael's fingerprints are all over his story from the start; the complaints about Michael barely being in the film are weird to me. Physically, sure, but Michael informs every aspect of the film.

Also adding another layer is the love story between Corey and Alyson. The two have great chemistry, and there is a fire between them whenever they are on screen together. The scene where Allyson begs Corey to let her help him, and he cannot accept it, is heartbreaking. After his fateful meeting with Michael, she begins to lean on him, and he becomes her comfort, though obviously, she shouldn't. Oddly though, you root for them to be together. Dangerous as their love may be, we rarely see this kind of relationship play out in this way, especially in the 13th film of a horror franchise.

But that is ultimately why most have rejected the story and Corey Cunningham as a character. It is not the themes Green is throwing at us through him, the performances of Campbell or Matichak, or any of that. What it boils down to is that the masses wanted another Halloween film, and what they got could not be further from that. Maybe if they had this nugget of an idea when they were making Halloween Kills, they could have snuck Corey in there, and the focus on him wouldn't be so jarring. Horror fans should already recognize his story already, however. Corey has a lot in common with a character from another John Carpenter film, Christine. Hell, his last name matches the main character of that film as a tribute, both were bullied for their part in a tragedy, and both were helped along to becoming evil by the town boogeyman, even if one of them was a car.

I implore you to rewatch Halloween Ends this weekend on Peacock or in theaters. Clear your mind, sit back, and just watch it without the discourse at the forefront of your brain. If you do that, you will realize that the scorn and hatred for an interesting character like Corey are unwarranted. I feel that history will be kind to this film and Corey as a horror character.

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