238: Halloween Ends (2022)

SPEAKER_04 0:04

He's been haunting Haddonfield for 40 years.

SPEAKER_09 0:08

Evil nice tonight on this Halloween.

SPEAKER_10 0:16

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to the spooky season with Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. I just get so excited about all that boogeyman bullshit. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack. A total joke? A waste of time? Or a slash.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Totally killer. Pun intended.

SPEAKER_10 0:36

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac. Hola, Muchachos, the gore lover Alexis, Did you really think I kill myself? And the cowardly creeper Ryan.

SPEAKER_06 0:55

Evil never dies.

SPEAKER_10 0:57

This episode and the entirety of our 2022 spooky season is brought to you by our friends at Comptrips. This week we're back in the theater to watch the final entry in a Blumhouse trilogy that seeks to explore the aftermath of a 1978 murder spree. When last we visited this franchise, the entire town of Haddonfield reached peak rage during another night of Michael Myers mayhem. Now it's time for the 40-year saga of Lori Strode and Michael Myers to reach its conclusion. This week we're talking about Halloween Ends. What were you expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_07 1:28

It's so funny with the title Halloween Ends, you'd think it would be the ending, but I did not I wasn't persuaded by it being the ending of this trilogy at all. I was like, no, there's gonna be more.

SPEAKER_06 1:40

I'm on a pretty similar page. I mean, I sat down next to Chris and I said, Chris, do you really think it'll be a wrapped-up ending? Like, do you really think we'll get the end end of Halloween? It just it seems unrealistic, you know what I mean? But I honestly I just recently re-watched Halloween Kills and I was kind of expecting another like Chase and Michael Myers.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

I didn't know what to expect in terms of like storyline. And I I don't know, I I really thought they were going to end it. Like going into this, my expectation was they're done. They think that we've had enough and that there's enough films for us to watch already, and they're like gonna find a way. They're gonna somehow bring it to a closing note and be like, there you go, we did it for 40 years. You've had enough. Don't ask for any more.

SPEAKER_10 2:25

See, I didn't expect quite that dramatic angle. So going into this, I let myself feel a lot of excitement. You all know that Halloween is my favorite franchise of all time. Halloween 1978 is the movie that made me want to make movies, and I even loved the Halloween kills that we got. So, I mean, it it doesn't take much to keep me happy, but I did allow myself to be excited without trying to plot or pinpoint any crazy expectations of what was actually going to happen. I did know for sure though that they were gonna end this in one conclusive way or another. It was gonna be a take on this relationship between Lori and Michael reaching its peak, but I didn't know in which way it would happen, and I didn't want to know. There are a lot of rumor sites out there, there are a lot of spoilers that get leaked, a lot of predictions, and that's not something that I was down to explore because I wanted to just experience this in the moment. I will say though, that sitting in the theater and walking in in the initial moments, I found myself getting nervous. Nervous in what way? Okay, look, I enjoyed Halloween Kills, but it was a departure from Halloween 2018. We can all admit that and agree and agree to that. There are a lot of people that hated Halloween Kills or think it's so silly. I still really enjoy it, but it is markedly different in quality from I think Halloween 2018. And I, when considering some of the directions that they were going, like when you find out a span of time that passes in this movie, I was thinking, what if I'm setting myself up for this with an open mind and I get Rob Zombied again? And I didn't think it would be quite like Rob Zombie, like I didn't think it would be Halloween 2007, but I did worry that I was gonna be so dissatisfied with the way that it reaches a conclusion.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

I don't know if I was concerned about being dissatisfied. I think I I found it to be a very interesting watch because it was like not at all what I expected. I didn't know what to expect, but for some reason it just didn't line up with what I thought the you know final Halloween movie would be, and not in necessarily a bad way. It was just like a very different story from what I expected. I think there's a lot of time spent waiting. There's I think a longer amount of time in this one spent waiting for like something crazy to happen and for us to get to a lot of the kills because there was just like this big build, and I don't think I was used to such a big build-up along the way.

SPEAKER_06 4:53

I mean, so often with Michael, we get the first scene of a movie, him walking out and killing somebody in their house. Like almost always. And this was definitely a a different feeling. I mean, there's like a whole half of this movie where I was like scared, scared of what might be going on, and then not scared, which is really nice. And I don't mean like fear-wise, I mean like afraid of where they were taking us with Michael.

SPEAKER_07 5:18

I get that. And Mac, I think we both had the same conclusion on that part because I looked over at him and I said, How long is this movie? He's like, an hour and 45 minutes. I was like, How far are we in? He's like, an hour. I'm like, you're telling me this shit concludes in 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_06 5:33

Now see, Alexis, one of your problems is that you like to check the time, and you should not check the time, you just gotta go along for the ride.

SPEAKER_07 5:40

It was because at one point, an hour in, I was confused on where the fuck this movie was going, which you're right, maybe I should have stepped back and just, you know, relaxed, but I couldn't. And I feel like that was a disappointment for me because I'm used to certain things in this franchise and I'm used to certain people, i.e. Michael, being in a lot of this, and without giving away too much, I'm left wanting a lot during that first hour. And I was like, how the hell are they gonna wrap up this entire movie in 45 minutes? Because there's a to me, there seemed like a lot to still do.

SPEAKER_06 6:18

I would say I completely disagree with being disappointed by it because it delivers. We get somewhere. If we hadn't got somewhere, I would have been like, dang, they really spent all this time doing all these things. And it definitely is different from what we normally get with Michael Myers, and you know, it's it's it's a diversion for sure, but for me, it is absolutely not a disappointment. It is a huge surprise. This movie does something different, that's for sure, but doesn't disappoint me with it. I'm down, I'm down for the change up. So it's different in a way that you would enjoy, different in a way that I found to be worth the ride. The destination was worth the journey.

SPEAKER_10 6:57

Okay, so the juice was worth the squeeze.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah, thank you for saying that easier than me.

SPEAKER_10 7:01

No, that was that was great. So I I think obviously going into this with a lot of open-mindedness, a lot a lot of ambition, a lot of hope that this would be good, even while I'm getting some kind of nerves there, there were some things that I did hope for. Halloween Kills gave us this brilliant 1978 flashback that built on the story in the lore, and I hoped for more of the same here. Even if it wasn't like a full like step backwards into 1978, even if it wasn't that, I was hoping for more nods, more references. I wanted to have the memory of those who were lost in 1978 feel more present and part of this story in this chapter. And I think we get it in some ways and we don't get it in other ways, but it was a sentiment that I had while watching this where I felt the shift in this vision. Like when you think about what this trilogy was originally conceptualized as and it being a complete package, COVID-19 changed everything. And I could feel the difference here. And I'm not saying it's for better or for worse, and it's not fair to hold what could have been or what might have been against this film in particular, but I could feel the difference, and I don't know how I feel about feeling that difference.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Uh there's definitely a difference here, and we commented during this, I even texted you about it, that the storyline here and some of the twists that they went with and some of the changes that they that they made 100% reminded me of a completely separate franchise. I was like, oh, they're pulling an insert franchise name here. And not necessarily a bad thing. Like, I'm always down for a fun shakeup. Um so uh it was a shock. I think I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't expect it. I truly thought this was going to be just the third version, or not the version, but like the third installment and kind of what we've already seen. It's gonna be a big fight against Michael Myers. There's gonna be a lot of stabbing, you know, people getting their throats slit, and and then we'll be done with it. And I'm I'm actually kind of glad that they that they threw one over on us. I'm actually kind of glad that they pulled one over on us and shook it up a little bit because that honestly would have been boring. It would have been entertaining in the moment, but it wouldn't wouldn't have been interesting story-wise.

SPEAKER_06 9:19

No, and that was one of the things that I said is like, could we really stand through another just the city chasing Michael the whole time? Like it would have been unbearable. And to go back to what you said, you know, this won't spoil anything at all because it won't make any sense. But there was one point where I looked at Chris and I was like, is this a Marvel movie? Like, are what where are we going? What are we doing? And I don't know, it's just such an interesting thing to get from Halloween to be like uncertain of the direction because I've I've never watched a Halloween movie and been like, I don't know where we're going with this. Like, it's very clear where we're going. We're we're we're going down the street with Michael. That's pretty much it. But I don't know, it's just such an interesting thing that this one did.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Something that I think we were concerned was going to be a disappointment while watching this that ended up really not being was this dynamic that I'm mentioning where it's really shaking things up. I realized at the end while watching this, this majorly answered a lot of the questions that were thrown at Halloween Kills. There's there's a lot of, I don't even I don't know if there are questions, might be just legit criticism of how you know certain characters are treated. And this movie is a direct response to that. And I I absolutely loved when I realized, like, oh, that was so freaking smart.

SPEAKER_07 10:33

So they were like, oops, we made a mistake. Let's uh talk about that mistake.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Almost, almost, but I I think more so it was just kind of like, no, you're right. You have criticisms of the way that Halloween Kills ends and how implausible it seems. And this movie was a direct response to like, but wait, you haven't seen the whole story yet.

SPEAKER_06 10:53

Basically answering Paris the whole time, going, How could he possibly be 60 years old and and kill everybody?

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Yeah, and and I hope that doesn't give anything away. I don't think it necessarily does because it's it's it's a long movie. There's a lot that goes on in it. But I think they were like, We didn't forget, don't worry. Like, we knew what we were doing.

SPEAKER_10 11:12

I think something that disappoints me though is that they seem to forget who everyone else was in this movie because the amount of whiplash I got on some of these characters, some I was happy to see return. There's like one character in particular who I was just watching Halloween Kills earlier today and thought, man, I feel real bad for her. I wish she was still around. Um, and to have some kind of like acknowledgement of that scene and that moment, it felt really good. But I was really disappointed in Allison in this movie, not in Andy Manachek's performance at all, because she was fantastic, but I was disappointed in the direction that Allison took, and that bummed me the fuck out.

SPEAKER_06 11:51

You know what? We will talk about this so much more later, but we talked about this in the theater because I was like, hmm, I'm not I'm not sure what's going on. And then I realized like the age that she's at, and I feel much better about it after that because I had I think a misconception about it during the movie. It's an interesting one. There there are definitely some interesting things that happen with characters here.

SPEAKER_10 12:14

It feels inconsistent at best and not in some ways a natural progression of where the characters were, which I mean that's I guess the price you pay when you deviate and your movie is no longer set on exactly the same night, and now you're charged with you know having to build in what does emotional response look like to an event like this, and in some ways it totally makes contact on its wings and other times it whiffs.

SPEAKER_06 12:42

Yeah, there's there is truly, I mean, like I think we say this about movies a lot, but there's a lot going on here and a lot at play. And so we have a ton to break down, but the thing that is pretty standard here, was this scary? Absolutely not. Michael Myers is not scary.

SPEAKER_10 12:58

Well, here's the thing Michael Myers is typically scary. Even if you're not scared by his movies, his presence, his power, his terror is frightening. And I think this movie does not build on the legacy in a great way. He's still threatening, but I'm not scared of this Michael now.

SPEAKER_06 13:16

But also he's 92 years old.

SPEAKER_07 13:18

Well, they paint him in a light, and especially in certain scenes where you're like, that's not the Michael Myers I know. He would never do something like that.

SPEAKER_05 13:28

This ain't your granddaddy's Michael Myers. This is someone else's. Meanwhile, it literally is your granddaddy's Michael Myers.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

I mean, it's not scary, but but Halloween's never been scary because most horror movies never really scare me that much. Um, but I think if you've been watching some some like true crime documentaries that have come out recently, you might be a bit frightened of some of the characters in it. Like, not me personally, um, but I think they bring a lot here that like reate I think they bring a lot here that does relate to reality in some way. In other ways, it's it's it's movie magic, and that's and that's okay. But um, if you're talking specifically about Michael Myers, I don't think I don't think anyone's really gonna be scared. Um, if you're talking about the shape, you know, as a presence, as a force, I think you can still have that, you know, seeing something in the mirror and still have that fear going on.

SPEAKER_10 14:18

There is brutality there.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Yeah, and I think that's the magic of like characters like this is the the legend is what lives on and is what like frightens people, not the human being. And that's I think this movie does a good job of separating the two.

SPEAKER_07 14:32

He lives in you. Mac, you did touch on that. I've seen a lot of true crime documentaries lately, and um it really scares me when you talk about you know nature versus nurture. And I love how you know they bring up this town is what's making these people, maybe even Michael Myers, like kind of a crazy person. Or was he born this way? So I just like that sort of thing because it yeah, you're right, it does ground it in reality a little bit, which is kind of terrifying.

SPEAKER_10 15:01

I will also say that uh for whatever lack or additions of fear or terror that we have with Michael Myers in the shape, this is a different Halloween movie. This really just looked at Halloween 2018 for the fans, looked at Halloween kills for the gore lovers, and said, let's make something for the rest of y'all. And I think there's still some audience that uh they could have niche down to a bit and tightened some things up. But what a refreshing take on a Halloween movie. And I'm not saying that in like a necessarily a positive or negative way, but it's definitely a departure. This does not feel like any other Halloween movie I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_06 15:42

I have to agree. I wouldn't say it doesn't feel like any other scary movie I've ever seen, but it does not feel like a Halloween movie, and I'll give it the Halloween originality points. Um, I think it's kind of like mid-range, pretty standard for other things.

SPEAKER_10 15:58

Okay, so other things considered, it does give Grease too in some moments, which I'm excited about. It gave me Michael Carrington.

SPEAKER_06 16:07

Yeah, and our friend Alan that came with us, he threw out a few other things. He was like, there were some Lost Boys references, some like you feelings. There's a there's a lot going on in this that we almost never get in like a Halloween movie.

SPEAKER_07 16:19

Yeah, Mac and I were definitely like, is this uh Friday the 13th? And that's exactly what I felt like through most of the this movie.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

To be fair, there's a bazillion Friday the 13th, so it's up to the listener to figure out which one we're we're talking about. Um I think I think you're you're correct in like separating this though, but like between Halloween original and non-Halloween original. And I also don't think that they didn't realize that. I think it's a deliberate choice. This is a different kind of fan service they're playing. Like I think 2018 they really like made a decision to make a Halloween movie, bring it back, you know, imagine the rest of them didn't exist. Imagine the rest of them didn't exist since the first one, right? Like, where can we take off from there? And so I think they made that kind of a choice. And the second one, different type of fan. This one, though, this is more of a horror fan in general. And so I think they played this game where they're like, It's okay that we talk about themes and situations and characters in ways that you've seen in other films because you're all gonna love this because you love horror, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_10 17:20

Yeah, there are some things in here that can warm the cockles of your cold dead heart if you love horror. But I think part of where I'm struggling is that you can consider the ending of this as two different things. The ending of a movie, the ending of a trilogy, and actually, let me go back, ending of three different things because it's also a 40-year saga of the one of the quintessential final girls and one of the quintessential villains.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

He's been haunting Haddonfield for forty years.

SPEAKER_10 17:55

Evil dies tonight on this Halloween. When you think about the ending of this, is it a satisfying ending of a movie? Yeah. Is it a satisfying end of a saga? I think so. But is it a satisfying end to just this trilogy? I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 18:13

I would say it's not. But I think I'm just so used to certain things happening in Halloween movies that I just don't know if I'm completely 100% satisfied on this end.

SPEAKER_06 18:25

You know, I'll be honest, I pretty much was. I mean, I didn't expect what we got from the ending. And when we got it, I was like, okay. I think that my feelings come from not being like a diehard Halloween fan. They just come from me being uh basically a casual Halloween watcher, and it it satisfied me in a way because I hate what you expected is something that drives me kind of crazy. And I couldn't have dealt with that. So I'm happy with what we got and I'm I'm happy where we were at the end of this movie.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Okay, so the ending of this is really interesting, and I I can't give away why I think this way, but you can think of this movie, you like Chris thinks of it, and I think you can end up a little bit disappointed, like I did initially, right? Where you're kind of like, that's that's 40 years of history, that's 40 years of film history, character history, etc. But there's a couple scenes in this movie that deal with the way a story is being told and who's telling it that bring us back to the fact that there's now multiple Halloween universes, and I think it's a good reminder that this is simply one of them. And so if you interpret it through a certain lens, you can go back now and still watch and enjoy the other films.

SPEAKER_06 19:37

Multiverse baby, boom. All right. I'm not particularly down for like multiverse stuff, but one of our patrons did mention like wanting to cry. And if you're like a I want to cry at the end of a movie kind of person, this one's not gonna hit that note for you.

SPEAKER_10 19:53

Okay, look, I cried in Halloween 2018, and this did not poke any emotions for me. And I expected to be disappointed or sad one way or another. Uh, you know, I think there are a few times that I turned to Ryan and said, having not done any predictions beforehand, here are like the three or four different endings that I think can come from this. And the ending that we got, I think was like an initial option, but it's not one that I thought would have like devastated and gutted me. Like I think I was mentally preparing for this kind of ending. And it's one of those where the ending of the actual movie itself isn't an issue for me. It's not even something that I think would impede my ability to enjoy the whole franchise, but it's more so pulling back a bit and looking at the whole third film as a conclusion to this trilogy, I'm not super jazzed about it.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

I I think the reason it's so disappointing is because they wanted this to be a conclusion to the trilogy. And I think with with characters like Michael Myers, you should never do that. We've learned that over the last 40 years. You should never conclude anything. Like calling out Halloween ends um is setting up like a major expectation.

SPEAKER_07 21:10

I agree.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

And you should just let things happen and see what the future holds.

SPEAKER_10 21:14

Obviously, we're a little bit of a mixed bag here as Halloween ends go, so let's go ahead and make our way to our ratings. Now, as we digest our thoughts and ponder what our scores will be, Alexis, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_07 21:26

It's pretty high. You can imagine it is uh people killing people, uh specifically Michael Myers. And there's a lot of there's a lot of bodies in this one. Um, I can't say that it's as much as kills, but it's up there. And what about the animal report? Mike La to pets.

SPEAKER_10 21:45

We're all good. Okay, but famously he doesn't historically. He eats dogs. Okay, but for this one, he loves the dogs. Well, let's go ahead and get into our readings and Halloween ends from twenty twenty two. The conclusion in the Blumhouse trilogy was it a hacker or slash?

SPEAKER_07 22:00

I'll make this simple. I'm giving this a slash. There's multiple things going on in this movie, and although I was slightly disappointed that it did not pick up for me until an hour into the movie, it was still pretty entertaining. Chris, I do wish there was a little bit more nuances to the other movies in the franchise, but I don't think that's what this movie was necessarily supposed to do. You get Gore, you you get Kinlay, you get Michael, you get Lori, you get what makes the pieces of this Halloween pie great, and it's put together in a different way, so it's more like Max Wife's pumpkin pie dip. And I appreciate that because it still tastes good. So this movie's definitely a slash for me.

SPEAKER_06 22:46

What a comparison that was, and not wrong. I think you know, sometimes movies take us on a long journey. Sometimes you really gotta be like strapped in for the ride, and then you like start getting there and you're like, man, uh we we could have taken a left a while ago and got in the same place a lot faster. And for me, this movie doesn't do that, and I think it's really hard to talk about this movie, especially obviously as it just came out without spoiling things. So I I can't say all the things right now that I want to say, but for me, this is a slash. I just recently re-watched uh Halloween Kills, and I could not have sat through another one of those. I really couldn't have lived if we did the same thing again. And I'm so thankful that it took a little bit of a different turn, and I think it took for me, like the casual Halloween person, it took enough of a turn that didn't completely deviate from where we were. This isn't like Halloween three. We're not in a different universe, but it's different, it's unique, I really like it. I I do think there's a little bit of like, I don't know, the magic of like opening night for a movie and seeing it in Dolby and everything like that. So I don't know. I don't know if this would change at all if I rewatched it a few times or something like that. But for now, this is a slash for me, and it's a solid slash, not like a questionable one.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

I'm gonna start out with a story my dad was telling me one time. So he is a huge music fan, and he got to see a lot of bands live in concert in the 70s and the 80s, right? So recently he saw that Carlos Santana was visiting near him, and he was like, Oh, I love Santana. I've been to concerts literally 30, 40 years ago. I would love to go back. Um, then he sees the ticket prices, and he was like, you know what? How much older is he now? You know? In his mind, he's holding on to the memory of what it was like to see him live 30, 40 years ago. And if you were to go see him now, it would be good. The man is very talented as a guitarist. But at the same time, though, like you can't go in 30, 40 years later expecting the same thing you got back then. So it would still be entertaining, of course. He'd still be good. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the same experience. I think the same thing is is true here. You can't go into this trilogy and in this film especially, expecting the same feeling that you got from Halloween 1978. It's just not possible physically, unless they literally just copied the entire film, at which point like why would you even do that? Wouldn't make any sense. So I think the movie's very entertaining. They take like they take a chance, I think, really, with the story here and with the characters here. And in some cases it doesn't pay off all the way, but in other cases it pays off majorly. You can go into this and be very surprised by that. And I like that. I think you have to do that. This this franchise has been around forever. And yeah, while you're watching, we're sitting there predicting things. In many cases, they came true. And that happens in every movie, but we weren't sitting there thinking, this is what they did in Halloween one or two or three, so they're obviously gonna do it here. Not at all. They wanted to give us a new story. They did something here that another major franchise has done before, and they did it the right way, and they did it better, and they made it really entertaining, and they made you still love the characters that you had loved or feared previously. So I think this was the right way to do it. It's it didn't hit every target that it aimed for, but I think it hit enough of them to be an expert marksman here. So it's a slash. It's a great movie to watch.

SPEAKER_10 26:14

You know, Mac, you mentioned we were sitting here making these predictions, and some of them come true, but it's not like it's something that, you know, it's happened in this movie, this movie, this movie, therefore this is what's gonna happen. And I will say I did have a little bit of a prediction at the very beginning in the movie, and I whispered to Ryan, like, okay, based on the typeface that we have in the opening credits here, and based on the style of the pumpkins, and based on the scene that we just got, I think this is gonna be the broader approach. And then that carried through for the whole movie. And it wasn't necessarily bad, but I do think I probably at this table feel the worst about this movie, which is a really weird turntabling moment here.

SPEAKER_06 27:00

It makes sense though, because you're the purist, you're the obsessed person. We're more casual watchers, and so we don't have the connection everything that you do.

SPEAKER_10 27:09

But here's the thing it's not that this movie is a terrible time or a bad time, but when I sit down and think about what this movie would have needed to do to be successful for me, it would have needed to keep Myers scary, which it kind of does. It would have needed to give a satisfying end to whatever this business he has with Lori Strode is, and I think it does, but it also needed to hold and care for the reverence of the characters that we got and have gotten to know for the past two films, and it kind of just shits the bed in that, and that really bums me out. But the worst thing that I think this movie does is it cheapens Michael Myers, and it doesn't do it to the extent of other films that I've hated. It absolutely doesn't. Like this is a far cry from Cult of Thorn Michael, this is a far cry from Rob Zombies Michael Myers wearing a hoodie, having a long beard, and just like a half-exposed face. It's a far cry from all of that, but it's still not the Michael Myers that I was hoping I would get in this movie. But thankfully, I walked in with very low expectations, and I think ultimately this movie is a slash for Lori Strode and Lori motherfucking Strode alone, truly. I think having the perspective of concluding a saga, this movie shines in that regard. But I do think this is the worst film for me personally out of the Blum House trilogy. It's not I think it's in some ways technically better than Halloween Kills, but I didn't have as much fun with this one. It was a fun experience, it's a good theater watch, good to watch with friends. But there are some moments of this, particularly with the disregard for characters, where I was like, all right, what are we doing though? Like, please stop, please stop where you're ahead, knock it off, guys. Let's just get back on track here. I'm gonna watch it a few more times because I need to continue processing my thoughts. But between Lori Strode, between the tie-ins we get to you know 40 years of terror with Michael Myers, this manages to do just enough to still be a slash for me. Now, with that, Halloween Ends 2022, now showing in theaters and streaming on Peacock, has earned a universal slash. We have so much to unpack about this movie in particular, so go check it out for yourself. Then join us in the second half so we can break down that ending together. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

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SPEAKER_07 31:25

We had roughly 18, plus or minus a few. You know, I was watching a movie, so give me some credit. But there weren't too many that were off screen, so there's a good amount to choose from. I feel like hopefully no one will um repeat tonight. We'll see.

SPEAKER_10 31:41

Let me just kick things off with what I thought was the best death in the whole fucking film. And that was Corey getting just what he deserved. Not only with Lori shooting his ass after he breaks into her house, but then Michael to just be completely done with him. I started clapping, and we started the clapping in the theater for this moment because I was ready for him to be gone. Yeah, he was really annoying.

SPEAKER_06 32:06

That one did hit very nicely. My personal favorite was Nurse Deb. I felt like she was out here, you know, doing a little bit of shady practicing, trying to get that uh trying to get that promotion. And I I wasn't in support of it. I didn't like it. First off, why are you at a house sleeping with a man calling him doctor still? Because that's weird. You don't call him by his first name.

SPEAKER_10 32:28

Oh, what you don't realize is that he's really into that.

SPEAKER_06 32:31

Yeah, I'm sure he is. They were gross. They'll literally were sitting in the theater. I'm like, you little hussy. But she was definitely my favorite kill because it was like the first really good Michael kill that we get, and she's stabbed into the wall and hanging there. It was not quite a stab and lift, but it was good enough, you know? It was a different thing. A stab and stick, really. Lift and stab.

SPEAKER_10 32:54

It was a moment where you looked at me and said, His kills are just so much better.

SPEAKER_06 32:59

They were so much better. Corey was such a novice at that moment, especially.

SPEAKER_03 33:02

I I was surprised that Corey was even there. I think at that point it wasn't clear to me yet. Is it gonna be Corey? That because somebody was gonna turn in this movie. It became really clear, and they kept trying to make it ambiguous. But when we realized, like, yeah, he's he's doing these kills and he's going for more than just a homeless dude. I love the fact that Michael showed up to show him how it was done, like held it too. He like was what he's like, well, no, watch, you novice, you amateur. This is how you truly kill somebody because he's out there like stabbing, stabbing, stabbing, he's running, he's getting his hand caught in the door. I think I commented when he did that, I was like, oh, what an amateur. Because you don't run, you take your time. Why would you need to run? You should scare the crap out of them by moving slowly.

SPEAKER_10 33:43

Mac, I don't know what you're talking about with them trying to make it ambiguous. It felt very obvious the path that Corey was on, and it didn't seem like they were trying to do that with anybody else.

SPEAKER_03 33:52

It it seemed like they were trying to do that with his new girlfriend.

SPEAKER_06 33:55

I would agree. I actually thought there was a moment where we were gonna get Corey and Allison working together as killers. I said, Oh, they're gonna work together, and I did not mean Mike and Corey. I meant Corey and Allison.

SPEAKER_10 34:06

Oh, I thought you were obviously referring to Michael Myers and Corey Cunningham, the fucking uh, you know, like uh like follow like son.

SPEAKER_06 34:15

No, Michael Myers is 130 years old. I figured he'd pass the torch.

SPEAKER_10 34:18

Yeah, to an apprentice after he works it with him to show him what to do.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

I'll just throw it out there. Uh, it's the DJ, Willie the kid. That that death was insane because I think we all knew it was coming when he came out and was like, get off my property, you kids are annoying. But like, okay, he's gonna take him out. But when he finally storms in there and does it, he destroys that dude's face so much. And then he had a good, like, Michael move at that point where his hand moved slowly with the scissors. It was like, Oh, he picked up something, he was watching a little bit, and slowly moves, but confidently moves those scissors across his tongue, and then snip. It plops onto the uh under the turntable, and that was intense.

SPEAKER_10 34:56

The tongue flopping on the turntable every time the needle just like skipped over it, wild.

SPEAKER_06 35:03

It was also like such a not Michael Myers kill, right? Like we usually just get a stab, you know, maybe several stabs, but they're not usually that kind of like personal thing, right? Because his was about like you're you constantly have to listen to this guy on the radio everywhere you go, you hear him. He's like, all right, I'm getting rid of that tongue. You know, that's not Michael Myers style. Not at all. Personally, I need to shout out the killing of the cop because why was that kill like slightly erotic between Michael and Corey? Like, Corey was like holding this guy while Michael's like stabbing him. And I was like, Are y'all good right now? Like, do we need to leave while y'all have a moment together? It was something.

SPEAKER_10 35:43

It really was something. And let me just tell you, that was the first real sign of trouble for me. It wasn't just Michael Myers dragging him into the tunnel and then letting him live. It wasn't just the evil eye exchange because that was problematic. But when Michael Myers killed that man and then just let it happen and then like teamed up, buddied up, what? No.

SPEAKER_06 36:06

We definitely have to talk more about the vision transfers.

SPEAKER_05 36:11

Because that was that was something. That was the Marvel bit for me. Worst part of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Okay, let's talk about the big one I think that we all noticed. And that was when Mike's choking them out, right? He's holding them. His life is flashing before his eyes. That's what's happening on screen, is he is like about to go out, and so his life starts flashing, and then he doesn't, and that's why it, that's why it stopped. So I think when we initially saw that, it was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's Professor X crap going on. And then I realized, like, oh, he's like, he's about to die, he's about to go unconscious, and then he he let him go, and so that's why it stopped.

SPEAKER_06 36:42

I don't think that's what was happening at all because it was clear that there was intended to be like some perception of like a transfer. Like he looked into Michael's eyes and and saw who he like like Michael instilled this evil darkness inside of him when he looked into his eyes.

SPEAKER_10 36:58

It's kind of like when you look at the creature in Nope and get snatched, right? This was you look into the abyss and the abyss gazes back. So while I don't think there was actually like a psychic link or like a transference of evil soul, I think it was a moment where Corey saw his life flashing before his eyes, being dissatisfied with what he saw and thinking, oh, I could do this better.

SPEAKER_07 37:22

Agreed. Chris, you mentioned this before where you're you were like, okay, this is where it's going, it's going sideways. To me, that hit very early on when I realized a lot of these kills weren't even Michael in the beginning. I was like, wow, these are interesting. These are either people who somehow, like the couple that was shot or someone that hung that was hung, or you know, we have the first kill of Jeremy, who is killed by Corey accidentally, in my opinion. But I was like, wow, there's a lot of savagery going on here without Michael. So I was like, where is this gonna go? Like it's already going downhill for me.

SPEAKER_10 38:01

That's the impact of the boogeyman.

SPEAKER_06 38:04

Also, have we all learned here that if if something happens to someone with a knife, first off, for some reason this is not a known thing. One, if someone gets stabbed, you don't pull the knife out. And second, if you happen to have a knife in your hand and something happens, you should just drop it immediately. Because more than one time somebody here was caught with a knife in their hand, and it really changed up the story.

SPEAKER_10 38:24

It really did. It's all about the narrative, and you have to control the narrative. Get your prints off that fucking knife.

SPEAKER_06 38:30

And just most importantly, don't hold it while someone opens the door. That's that's the thing.

SPEAKER_10 38:34

Yeah, you really need a ring cam at that point. Like, you need some detection.

SPEAKER_03 38:39

Okay, the bad babysitter thing, though, because if he thought the kid was literally up there like running around and crap, why didn't he just go like, your parents are almost home? I'm just gonna sit here and wait for them to get.

SPEAKER_07 38:49

Did he know that though?

SPEAKER_06 38:50

Well, I think the the haunting of Haddonfield for 40 years comes into play a lot because everyone has, I think, this like underlying fear. But you know, there was a moment the kid is literally upstairs screaming and he's just like barely walking up the steps. And I'm like, bruh, are you are you gonna check on him? He just stands, he's just truly the slowest walk you could ever have up the steps, and he's like, hmm, wonder why that kid's screaming up there. That's it.

SPEAKER_10 39:20

It's a little bitch, he's too scared, too scared. I mean, obviously, if you have this child that you're babysitting, who's just kind of an addict to you, whatever, but the living room or the space is disheveled, the kid is missing, and he is screaming for help, that requires a particular sense of urgency that I don't think Corey is pay capable of possessing.

SPEAKER_06 39:42

Also, I'm not gonna hold you. I don't know if I would pick up the knife along the way. I mean, I I guess if I thought there could be an intruder in the house, I would pick up the knife, but just walking up the steps when realistically nothing's happened and there's just a knife there, and you just carry it up with you to go find a kid, it's a little creepy.

SPEAKER_10 39:58

Yeah, but I do love the shot of Jeremy falling and just like, ooh, that gore that we get where we just quickly see his body. Terrible stuff. What a heartbreaking way to go. But damn, it really set the tone.

SPEAKER_07 40:13

Yeah, and it was super loud too, especially when you're in that, you know, theater and it's shaking the seats. I'm like, holy crap, this kid just fell three levels. You guys all touched on a lot of very good deaths, and honestly, a lot of these kills were crazy, and you have this head stomp too, which I think is freaking nuts by Michael, and it's just so visceral. And I feel like that is a good point to bring up is like a lot of these, this gore seems particularly very the blood is very dark, but I think it to me doesn't seem like it's fake, except for the tongue. The tongue was fake.

SPEAKER_10 40:50

Yeah, so it it's interesting that you say it was Michael when it was Corey, right? But I think it's it's like the the moment of like he's channeling that you just got a a head stomp from him two films ago, but also I think that's kind of my one of my problems, right? How did Corey suddenly get this strength? Like, it's one thing for Michael Myers to be just unrelenting, persistent evil, and to like have this strength that almost seems inhuman. But then for this little guy who was just getting bullied by high school kids, the marching band kids, no less.

SPEAKER_06 41:23

But I think I think they tried to talk about that, which is like kind of a darkness coming out of him. Like, there was there something already there or or was it gone? Did it just show up out of nowhere? And so if that darkness is there, he just had to tap into it. And you know, sometimes that darkness got some strength.

SPEAKER_10 41:40

Is that darkness coming into his glutes or his quads? Because that shit's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_06 41:43

I think so. I mean, Michael Myers was 25 running around killing people too. So if we all got some darkness, we're good. And we've all agreed that Michael Myers is not actually superhuman, he's just who he is. It's just it's just his his nature. So it's just the abyss. Once you tap in, things are unlocked.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

I think it's he let loose. I think when he finally just like switched in his brain that like I'm gonna start taking people out, he stopped holding back because he he quite easily could have taken those high school kids out.

SPEAKER_06 42:15

I think so too. And it's one of those things when you've gone through something, I think like accidentally killing a kid, your defenses against feeling anything that could allow aggression to come out of you are probably so high. That's how I saw it anyway. It's like you ha I if I was in that situation, I would be such a restrained person. And you can tell he is just by the way he is with his family. I think I would be the exact same way. It's like if someone came up to me, I don't care what they're doing to me, if they don't kill me, I am not gonna react to them. If I've accidentally killed a kid before, and then he lets go and he's in there.

SPEAKER_07 42:46

I can't believe none of us said Michael Myers is our favorite kills.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Actually, one of my least favorite kills.

SPEAKER_07 42:51

It was sad. I didn't want it to end, even though I knew it was gonna end.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

Yes, I think that's what it is. Because I think as a kill it was great, and I think Lori did some really smart things about it. Like she went for places that she knew they're not gonna be able to bring him back after I stab him there and like let the blood out out of here. Like he's gone. There's nothing coming back out of him.

SPEAKER_06 43:11

First off, he lost so much blood. I mean, just that first hit like under the arm is like your major arteries are there. Initially, I was like, that's a really weird place to stab. And then as I was thinking about it, I was like, actually, it's kind of a genius place. But I was a little bit surprised that she didn't have some, you know, like some trap set up, like low-key on the house. I know she said she bought a house that wasn't a trap, but I was like, girl, I know you got something.

SPEAKER_10 43:34

But she had one there, you know, she had a little fire extinguisher there.

SPEAKER_06 43:37

Yeah, but I think that was just in case the kitchen caught on fire.

SPEAKER_10 43:40

She kind of home alone it. I thought it was propped up on the door, like it would have fallen on him. Yeah. So it was hilarious when that did not happen.

SPEAKER_06 43:46

Well, I think it had got pulled out at the beginning when they burned the pie. But yeah, I was like, Man, if that I kitchen island don't move and drop him into a into like a bunker underneath and burn him again.

SPEAKER_10 43:58

See, uh I wasn't Not sad about Michael Myers dying because it is the boogeyman. It's someone who's persisted over all these years and you always find a way to make him survive. But the finality with which he went out, I deeply appreciated it. It was it was a situation where either he was gonna kill Lori or Lori was gonna kill him, but we needed it to be satisfying no matter which way you went, and I could not be happier with the finality that he got.

SPEAKER_06 44:26

I agree, and I really don't think that Lori could have been the kill here. I think Lori had to live. She had to continue to be the final girl. Honestly, would Lori produce the movie if she didn't live? I don't think so. I think this is what she needed. This is who she is. She is the final girl. She's always gonna come out as the winner against Michael, I think. Even when she's lost, I still think we all see her as the winner.

SPEAKER_10 44:49

See, I thought it was gonna be a situation where she would win by vanquishing Michael, but with her sacrifice so Allison could kill Michael.

SPEAKER_06 44:56

Yeah, I could see that.

SPEAKER_03 44:58

It was a surprise to me though when he breaks free of the knife, holding his hand in place, splits his hand in half, which is disgusting, and starts choking her, and she is like, just do it then, right? Like, that's hardcore, bro. You were telling Corey minutes ago that you wouldn't actually commit suicide, but you're telling Michael to take you out by choking you. That's a bit it's a bit questionable.

SPEAKER_06 45:19

She's ready to test him. Because honestly, if I had that man on my table, I would just be like, Bruh, can you leave me alone? Like, what did I do? What's the problem?

SPEAKER_10 45:29

So she did less than me. I mean, I think there's no way she was ever gonna let anybody but Michael take her out. But I think at the point where she got uh Michael under under her thumb, really, just like completely pinned down, I thought it was a situation where by the time he like reached up and grabbed her, she's like, I'm tired of this. We're you're clearly not gonna go far, right? Like this man is bleeding out. So I think she was just ready for them both to go.

SPEAKER_06 45:55

So my favorite visual element of this movie actually comes a little bit before that scene. And it is because we get such a put-together Lori this entire movie. She's got like her haircut, she's styled it, you know, she's getting compliments at the grocery store up in Haddonfield. She's, you know, kind of like a transformed person. And then we get Lori sitting down with a bottle of whiskey after we've already known that she's gotten sober and stuff like that. And a couple minutes later, we get just like disheveled Lori. And I was stressed in that moment and I needed to be. That was like they built the perfect tension with that. But the the way that they alter Lori to show what kind of like a mindset she's in. Like, if you think about the entirety of like Halloween kills, she looks like a hot mess the whole time because she is a hot mess. And in this one, she's such a put together, completely different person. And in that moment, you just see this like little tinge like, is she gonna go back? Is she gonna, like I said, have these traps in the house and stuff like that? And so that was one of my favorite little things that they did that that made me question where we were headed when I thought I knew what we were doing.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Well, my visual element that I chose is kind of a cheat, and it's it's the sound design, specifically though, the way in which they get it synced up slightly ahead of whatever crazy visual is about to hit, or like whatever crazy visual we're leaving. And so it was intense. It's very common, I think, in like really good YouTube editing, so like Casey Neistat level, where the start of a sound will happen, like a loud bang or something, but we're seeing the next scene like split second later. So darn impressive to see it in this movie a ton, and it was really effective, like loud, crazy sounds happening, but all of a sudden we're in another scene, and it like still played out really well. It was such a good transition, and I think it made for some really effective jumps for some people in the audience as well.

SPEAKER_07 47:50

Yeah, I think that got me because you're usually expecting those to be hand in hand and to be jump scared or jumped out of your seats at some point. So my favorite visual is two classic scenes in which Michael Myers is in in previous films when he is behind the hedge and this time Corey's behind the hedge. Brilliant. But at the same point, Lori is looking down from the house in the shadows where you've seen Michael Myers too. So I was like, oh, interesting. They're both in positions Michael Myers has been, yet they are opposites of each other right now.

SPEAKER_10 48:32

See, it's so funny, Alexis, because those parallels are actually my favorite visual element of this entire trilogy because we have this approach to the film that rhymes with the 1978 version. And in this, we have moments like the POV shot of Corey's hand grabbing the knife out of the drawer, just like when Michael was a child in 1978. We have these moments where she's looking out the window, but it's framed like the moment in 1978 where she's looking out her window and sees Michael standing in the sheets, and then we have the ending. Oh my gosh, the ending of this movie, where in the original we have shots in the darkness of the house, and we know that Michael's no longer outside on the ground. So where could he be? Could he be here? Could he be here? How about here? The boogeyman is everywhere. But here you get peace. Here you get a brightly lit room, and yeah, his mask, and at one point is just laying on the table and it's all done. But I love the symmetry and the parallels between not only this movie and the rest in its trilogy, but this and the even the original source material. It's so fantastic, which I think also contributes to how much I loved my favorite scene, which was Lori in her disheveled look and faking like she was and pretending she was going to kill herself for Corey to walk in and for her to shoot him and completely take him down, too.

SPEAKER_06 50:02

Truly, in that moment, I turned to Chris and I was like, there's no way with Lori's current mindset that she would be killing herself. And if they had taken us down that route, and to be fair, I didn't think that Lori was gonna go out by killing herself, but if they had taken us down that route, I really would have had a problem with it because it it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense for this person to grow and overcome so much that they've done and then to go and be like, I'm gonna kill myself now, just because of literally, I said, Chris, it's been one day. She didn't even leave yet. And this this woman's about to kill herself. There's no way. And honestly, they got me. I shouldn't have believed that for a second.

SPEAKER_10 50:40

Yeah, that was actually something that was baked into Halloween 2018. I think it was cut from the final version of the film, but it's in the novelization, and I think they actually filmed it where she was considering killing herself.

SPEAKER_06 50:51

But see, in 2018, and I would say in Halloween Kills, it makes complete sense. It's it's the, you know, that kind of chaos mindset. Where she is now, she's so healthy, she's so grounded, she's so understanding. I was so close to being like, nope, this movie's a complete wash because of that.

SPEAKER_10 51:09

Yeah. But let me just say, regardless of uh the the tomfoolery she pulls, the one-two punch that she pulls, the tricks that she pulls on this night of treats, she's wearing a similar outfit to the original film. And there are so many moments, like earlier in the film when she's baking the pie, she's wearing a skirt that's very similar to the original film. And it's like she's finding herself again. It's like she's erasing all these years of trauma and going back to who she was. Absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_03 51:39

There was still, I think, the fear up to that point that somehow Corey was gonna continue being the shape after this film. And so when they tricked us, when they really kind of like fold with us there, she's pointing it, the doors kind of close, and you hear the pumpkin smashing on the wall. Uh, the reaction is kind of like, are they really gonna do it like that? Are they gonna take Lori out like that? That would be, like you said, a huge letdown. But this is one of those times that they used sound design and you know some intelligent shadow work to make us think that really, like, yeah, this is the way out. This is this is the last Jedi right here. We're gonna kill everything that you knew. I hate the last Jedi as well for that reason. But I I think it was it was questionable because we're sitting here thinking, like, oh yeah, Cory's learning. Corey's got a mask, Cory's got the mask, he's gonna do it. They're gonna keep this movie going. Halloween is going to end by beginning anew, and it's gonna be it's gonna be Friday the 13th, part five. And part four. But that was like a real fear for me when we get to that point.

SPEAKER_10 52:44

By that, do you mean part six when it's Roy?

SPEAKER_03 52:47

That's what it well, you know, so I'm I'm thinking of of how we transition from parts four to five where we think the entire time that it's actually not Michael Myers, and it's this other guy, and then it's not that guy, it's a completely other guy the whole time. And then finally, when we get to six, yes, now it's a different guy. And there's lots of other guys aside from actually Jason. But I I was I was curious if they were gonna pull the same thing here, and I'm like, that that's trashy. They wouldn't do that unless they were really just trying for a reboot and they had like 10 other movies planned afterwards, after this. But I'm glad they didn't. I'm glad they faked this out. I'm glad they faked out Corey as well. But that pumpkin was so damn effective, and it was almost like for for two or three seconds, it was like, holy cow, that's how they ended 40 years of Lori's Road was like having her take herself out.

SPEAKER_07 53:30

I wouldn't have hated them having Corey continue. I don't know. I'm fine with it going on for another 40 years.

SPEAKER_06 53:38

He's been haunting them for so long, though.

SPEAKER_07 53:40

And now it's time for a new haunting.

SPEAKER_06 53:43

So speaking of Corey, this is n, you know, there are some parts of him that I really enjoyed that are not obviously like aligned with the original Halloween and everything they were trying to do. But my one of my favorite scenes from this movie is the scene where Allison and Corey go to the party. And I think it's partially because this is the last time we see like fully good Corey. And I really felt for him, I really like felt the pain of something happening and the whole town turning against him for it. And I I felt really bad. And I think that's a really big part of why I slashed this movie is because I did care about this person that they were introducing to us, that I don't think there was necessarily a lot of other reason to care about. He just seemed good. He seemed like something bad happened to him, he got a bad hand played to him, and he just was doing what he could with it. And they went to this party and they kind of like let loose, and I thought it was really sweet for both Allison and for him, and it just sucked like the way it ended with that woman, and you know, she's got the same hairstyle five years later. Like she's still going to that great Gatsby party. So it was a little rough, but man, I just I felt so much for him and like so bad. And that was definitely the point where, you know, of course, obviously everything changed because he, you know, got jumped, went under the thing. But that was one of my favorite scenes where they just felt like they were just both gonna be able to like conquer their issues, really.

SPEAKER_07 55:04

Yeah, I do feel bad for him, and I especially felt bad in that opening scene because I feel like it really sets this movie up, and you have this comedy that you've gotten throughout these movies. The comedy we like that I'm not typically used to in a Halloween franchise. Then you, you know, this curiosity. Oh, the kids going upstairs, you hear thump, so there's this like cat and mouse, it's faked out, you know, the kids playing a trick on him, and then he's in the attic. Well, at that point, I really thought that Michael Myers is gonna be in there. Because why wouldn't you start off a movie with Michael Myers killing someone? And I think that's what made this my favorite because then there's such tragedy after that that I was like not expecting, and it really just threw me out of sorts and really had me engaged from that moment on in the in the movie.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

The reaction at that point, like in the audience, was like, what the hell is going on? What are we watching? When is Michael Myers gonna show up? Where's Lori? We don't know who is this character? Why did this happen? How does this relate to Halloween in any way? And it really throws you off and leaves you sit up for like, I don't know what to expect out of this movie, which is I think really effective for a conclusion. I think it's hard for me to pick a favorite scene because there's a lot to like here. Some of the like character interactions are kind of weak, but I think the strongest, most effective one is when Lori walks out of the grocery store, happy go-lucky, cherry blossoms in mind, and is greeted by her neighbor. And that was just like it was so heavy for her to deal with, but I think it was heavy for us because this is one of those times where it's like you never think about the impact that this has on the community, except for Michael Myers haunting them for 40 years, and like this is someone's like real life that's been ruined by this.

SPEAKER_10 56:51

Oh my gosh, can I tell you how happy I was to see that she made it? Because I was just watching Halloween Kills earlier today, and I was thinking about how sad I was for her, like when she just snatches up her little drone and she's just trying to have a good time, but she's deeply concerned about this person in the house, and to have had that light bulb shoved through her neck, and to sit there having to watch her husband be brutally murdered and stuck like a pig with that many knives. And there's a moment where I thought, like, well, we never really see her die. I didn't think for a second that she was still alive, but I did think, man, I hope she made it out of there.

SPEAKER_06 57:34

Those were definitely the kills that made me like the most sad in Halloween kills. I was like, man, they were just like a cute little energetic old couple. And I was very, very sad when they had to go. And I did think the same thing, like, man, we didn't technically see her die. But I also was not expecting her to come back.

SPEAKER_10 57:51

And that impact is just so damn sad. I think that's part of the character work that makes a lot of this movie interesting. But I feel like this movie does so poorly with the rest of its character work that it really just bums me out. Like this whole thing with Corey and Allison, like I guess you could really summarize this film by saying that this is the prime example of why two unwell people cannot make each other well. And Corey's place where he is is a far cry from where Allison thinks he is. But then there's some like really disjointed decision-making, like for some reason Allison is working where she is, and it seems like a clinic kind of situation, except she's in line potentially to be a charge nurse, and it doesn't quite make sense considering it's only been four years since she was in high school, and I feel like there's more education required for that, and maybe there isn't. I don't know. I'm not in the medical field, but she just seems like she's well into her mid-20s or uh her mid to late twenties at that. But to see that not making a lot of sense, but then to also see her kind of that lack of emotional intelligence when she seemed to have had such a good head on her shoulders previously, this felt like a regression for Allison, which disappoints me. However, I understand that at this point she's not living her life for herself, she's living it for Lori, and I can understand the toll that it takes on her. But I feel like she was not done justice in this movie.

SPEAKER_06 59:24

I feel a kind of two ways about her because I think she was such a strong character before that it's really hard to see her not being like the one to carry the family this time. But at the same time, like there's one thing. If you've ever been like the kid that has to be an adult your whole life, I feel like there is a point where like the irresponsibility finally sets in and you're like, cool, I need to just like be a little bit free for a little bit. And you know, Chris, I don't know if you are the type of person that would make irresponsible decisions for like a person that you like. I don't think I don't read that as something that you do.

SPEAKER_10 1:00:00

Ma'am, let me tell you that I got dropped on my head and my shoulder to try to impress somebody that I liked.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:06

So I understand. I just, you know, I don't know. I I grew up as a very like responsible child, very like too old for how I was. And then there was a point where I hit a certain age and I was like, cool. I'm I didn't do anything crazy, but there are things, especially like when romantics get involved, you just can have a uh you can have a a willingness to give in to stuff that it goes against your logic and what you know to be better. But I think the thing that really got me is she does seem so healthy and she's like there with her grandma. Everything seems to be, I don't she does seem to be on a very different level from from where he is. I don't know. It's a tough thing. And also their ages, like you said, it they don't make sense. At the beginning, it didn't make sense that she was a nurse. It doesn't make sense that she's a nurse trying to get a promotion. And the entire movie, I'm thinking she's like 25. For a 25-year-old, these are horrible decisions. When we pause for a second at the end and I asked you a question, Chris, and you were like, Oh, she's like 21. I was like, Okay, I get it. This is 21-year-old decisions, but she doesn't seem 21 years old in this entire movie. She seems 25 just like him.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:14

Their romance, and I get it, maybe it was the initial attraction. I'm sure everyone can relate that it starts hot and heavy, but it was this odd perception that they had known each other and they had been around each other and they not had just met. Like they had like she was making comments and jokes and stuff as if they had known each other for a while.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:39

Well, also part of the problem that I had is that the movie took place over like four days. Like they they were talking about going to a Halloween party four days before Halloween, and then he came into the hospital. So four days later, she's like, I'm throwing away my grandmother for you. And I was like, listen, I can relate to a lot of stuff. I can't relate to that.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:58

Yeah, okay. So that's the thing, right? It's one thing for her to be on the journey that she's on uh emotionally, internally. It's another for her to make reckless decisions for some fucking dude. And like, look, she already had questionable taste in men, wasn't a fan of Cameron in the first two films, but she did not strike me as someone who needed this moment. Like, I get them kind of like being attracted to each other. I totally understand that. But with the whole let's run away together bit, listen, I get needing to escape the feeling of suffocation, but with this guy that you just met, Allison, I think you're smarter than that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:40

They did a lot to make her seem like fairly sane and fairly well adjusted in many cases. But when we look at her track record of men, it's so poor. The the cop that they show her like having dated for a little bit doesn't add up at all. There's no way that that girl would have been going out with that guy unless secretly underneath all of it, she's in no way well adjusted and is still heavily traumatized.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:06

I am going to once again defend this dis this decision because it is not uncommon for young women who should not be dating these people to date older cops. I don't know why, especially if they've been through certain things in life, it's just a thing that that people do. I kind of related it, you know, we're kind of in a military area. It's it's the military thing when you don't have military. I don't know why, but people people often date older cops. I don't know. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:33

Okay, but regardless of her track record with dating poor men and poor in quality, not financially poor, uh there's a moment where you kind of pause and realize regardless of where this man is on his journey to being evil consumed, he sees Michael Myers, and his first reaction when seeing the woman and her granddaughter who are traumatized and brutalized by Michael Myers, is not to say, Oh, he's back, I saw him. It is, I'm just gonna keep this real, hush, hush.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:06

Well, like one of the first things he says after he says, Come on a walk with me is I killed somebody.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:11

Yeah, what the fuck? And you think, okay, Allison, why are you taking his hands? Clearly, you must think that he's conveying to you some level of guilt about Jeremy, but this man really is just talking about the guy that he just killed, but he's gonna take advantage of your positive intent by taking you back to the scene of the biggest like accident that set his life on a bad path.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:31

I think the last thing that I need to say about Allison is that my biggest frustration was there seemed to be a moment where she recognized that he was off. There seemed to be this moment, like when they first were in the diner, she was just kind of looking at him and kind of just like, I don't know, making a, you know, a bit of a face, like, man, something feels off. And the fact that she missed that intuition and just like ignored it bothered me. Like Chris said, she doesn't have her final girl instincts yet, and she really didn't in this movie, which is weird because she did before.

SPEAKER_10 1:05:02

Yeah, it was a regression. I'm telling you, it's like the last few years of focusing her energy on Lori getting better, she has just stopped developing, and it's kind of like if you don't use it, you lose it, right?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:16

21-year-olds do be a regression in, though. Not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:20

Do we think though that Michael Myers regressed in this movie? Because he definitely did in the beginning for sure.

SPEAKER_10 1:05:26

Okay, what the fuck? I did not need to see Michael Myers struggling to kill someone. I didn't need to see that. And I also did not need to see him buddy buddy with some young kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:36

I think most of the criticism of this movie is probably gonna come down to that is his partnership with Corey. I think there's gonna be a lot of negative reviews and it's gonna be really related to that whole dynamic. I like the fact that at the end he finishes him off, but I think it should have been shown as being more deliberate. And it seems like it only happened when he took the mask.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:56

I absolutely agree. It only happened when he took the mask. I Just need to say, it you know, we talk you said this at the beginning, Mac. Like this is an answer to the the critics from before. He was too old to beat all those people in the street before, and he's too old to be have a having lived in a sewer for four or five years. Like, there's I don't know what everyone's so upset about. The man is almost dead. How would he not look old?

SPEAKER_10 1:06:21

Okay, look, it would make sense if he looked this old, maybe in Halloween Kills after getting beat down, but he didn't. Like maybe it was just the adrenaline of the moment. Because here's the thing, like you can you can chalk it up. Like I was I was down for the journey in Halloween Kills, where you know, we have this moment where he's getting beat down by Haddonfield, and then he strikes back against Haddonfield, and then you know, he kills Karen. You think, okay, maybe there's something else happening here. But then to find out that he really is like okay, a strong person, but is just lurking in the sewer and he is deteriorating, it's just uh like it took away a little bit of the spice. And even if he was still beaten down, cool. I don't need him so beaten down that he needs a sidekick.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:11

Like he needs the robin to his Batman? What the fuck is that?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:15

I I'm I'm I'm not disagreeing. I didn't like the Robin feeling, but at the same time, like, you know, Halloween and Halloween Kills was two nights after he got off out of jail. He had been eating and exercising and whatever. He'd been living life, he was already whatever, 50, 60, however old the man is. It's been five years. He had to just he doesn't have anything, he doesn't have a place to go, he has nothing to do. He's gonna be feeble. I'm sorry that you guys don't want to see him feeble, but he's feeble. He's an old man, he's 132 years old.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:46

The man needs help. He gets older by the second that you try to name that you try to age him. He's 175 years old. How's he gonna do this? Evil dies tonight.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:54

It seems like in in the previous film, we got a major theme of like we're all monsters in a way. Like the monster creates of the monsters. And in this film, it was all about humanizing. It was all about showing that Michael Myers is a human. He's a you know, he's a crappy old dude that got beat up and now he can barely like push people down. It's all about showing that, like, yeah, Cory thinks he's this big bag monster, but in reality, he's just a human. He's gonna get taken out. Lori, while she thinks she's a monster, well, she's she's pretty beefy. She can take Michael Myers out, but she's also still a human who suffers trauma. And so like we built everybody up previously, but now we're like kind of tearing them down to human level once again.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:31

But he was just thirsty. He needed a couple kills. He's a little bit of a vampire, as it turns out. And then he came back to he came back to his full strength, went and killed some hoes.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:41

Did he come back to his full strength though?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:43

I would say he did.

SPEAKER_10 1:08:44

I would say he didn't, or he wouldn't have gotten wrecked as much as he did with a with a refrigerator pinning down one of his legs when he still had pre-mobility of the other leg. Look, I'm not mad at how it happened. Don't get me wrong. What I'm saying is 64-year-old Sewer Myers is never gonna be as strong as 21-year-old or even 60-year-old Myers.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:04

Obviously, that's the point. That's my argument.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:07

So we agree.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:08

We do agree, but I don't know why you're seeing it as a negative when it's just the way of life. We're all old people.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:13

Okay, I I get it though, because it's not necessarily that it doesn't make logistical sense. It's a matter of do we want that on film?

SPEAKER_06 1:09:20

I do because it's realistic. Because last time he beat down 500 people with one hand tied behind his back.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:25

I want it in a different trilogy. Like you already committed in Halloween kills. And I can appreciate the differences between freshly broken out of Smith's Grove and you know being well nourished and well exercised. I get it. Sure. Okay, cool. Yes, now he has more wounds. Okay, slowing down for sure. I get it. But I still do not want to see him like Corey needing to be his nurse in a retirement home. Like he had to hold someone down for Michael Myers to stab him, and then Michael Myers like shaking a little bit when he gets I why?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:58

Because it was erotic. But here's the thing that's why he's dead. You don't have to worry about it anymore. Boom. Listen, Michael Myers will live forever because evil never dies. On your arm.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:08

So to sum it up, Corey's just a little bear cub.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:11

Look, I could have done without Corey. But okay, so in the beginning of the movie, we get this whole scene. We get the typeface for Season of the Witch in the opening credits, and then we get the pumpkins exploding out from inside other pumpkins. And I turned to Ryan, I'm like, this is gonna be like generational evil. Like this is the the threat is so much bigger than just Michael Myers as one singular individual person. So I had a feeling like that's gonna be the direction that we were gonna go, but I still need to process and watch more because I don't know with great certainty how I feel.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:50

I think this was a missed opportunity to turn Allison into the next Haddon Field killer.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:56

I definitely thought it was gonna happen for a minute. Nabu, that's Halloween 4 with little Jamie Lloyd.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:01

Yeah, but this is the nude trilogy now. They could have taken things in this with this new family that she's got, not the other not the old families.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:07

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, this nude trilogy. You know, there's plenty of material for us to go back and just make new again.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:13

Exactly, because this is a different universe in this multiverse of Halloween. I I think one of the most interesting parts of this movie was was using Corey and like doing this whole back and forth between them. I also do think it it was easily the worst part of the film. And I don't know if it's Cory that made it the worst part. I think the partnership is what made it that's what the entire film made us question is are we gonna actually be able to slash this? Is this like back and forth between them?

SPEAKER_07 1:11:42

It was Corey not having an iPhone when Allison messaged him and the fucking messages turned green, which was the worst part for me.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:51

Yeah, how dare that man ha you know, he did look like an Android man. I'm not gonna lie to you. He worked at a he's a mechanic for his dad. He's an Android for sure.

SPEAKER_10 1:12:00

Okay. Look, I know I've picked some bones with this movie. I do think the partnership is among the worst part, but I'm gonna go specifically into evil gazing into evil's eyes and the flashing, the eyes flashing before Corey's eyes that make it imply that Michael Myers is seeing it and feeling it too. It's kind of like that book, The Giver, where everyone has a certain role in society, but only one person gets to be the keeper of all knowledge, and they give that knowledge to others with a touch, and that's what that movement felt like. It felt like the fucking giver.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:36

I do remember that book.

SPEAKER_10 1:12:38

Yeah, I mean it's a great book, uh, but not necessarily something that I want or need in a Halloween movie. But I do want to then conversely say that the best part of this movie, not fully the best part, but one of the best parts, was its use of archival footage from the original films, because there's a moment where we get the original shot as we hear Lori's voice kind of reading her memoir, we get the shot, or we get the title card in 1978, and it's just so damn good and satisfying. And then to see her photos of Linda and Annie above her little craft that Karen made her when she was a small child, it felt like that connection that I wanted. It felt like this is a real place, these are real people, these are people who remember the people they've lost.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:23

You were very happy when we got some original footage because it definitely wasn't the same as Halloween Kills, where you were like, eh. But I I think for me, the the vision thing, the eye connection thing was definitely one of the worst parts. I have a few others. I think Allison Allison falling for Corey's like facade was another worst part. And the last one is Corey's family. What are those people? And I just need to say this on the podcast. Why was that woman drinking milk while she was eating spaghetti? Okay. I just need to ask that question. I don't know what's wrong with you people. If you do it, don't tell me because I'll never talk to you again. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:02

I do want to point out that you that wasn't even your first question. Your first question was, why is there so much pasta sauce on the glass of milk? And then several beats later, why is she drinking milk with spaghetti?

SPEAKER_06 1:14:14

It was amazing. It was a horrific scene. But that family is horrible and it it it does have some importance in the story. I think it leads into like what's really going on inside of Corey, and you know, maybe that darkness has always been there and yada yada. But that family sucked, and I wouldn't say I needed them to suck. They could have not sucked very easily.

SPEAKER_10 1:14:31

I think though it's about lacking control, right? And it's about how he, you know, that he has these moments where he tries to stand up for himself in front of some high school kids, but he doesn't even stand up for himself at home.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:44

Yeah, when his mom's kissing him on the lips, which I don't know about y'all, but my mom or dad does not kiss me on the lips.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:53

I'm I'm not as weird about that as other people. Not that I do it, but I'm just not as weird about it as other people. But also it more importantly, she cussed him out one second before it. So she's psycho too. That's the problem. Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 1:15:06

I'm not particularly stoked about revisiting that relationship on my rewatches, but this is something that I will absolutely be seeing again. I think I have Halloween off this year. So I'm gonna do the original franchise and then I'm gonna do a rewatch where it's like one 2018 kills and ends. And I want to see how it fits together watching them all back to back to back to back.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:30

I do think that I need to watch this again. I think I need to be away from the release of it, the uh theater experience, being with friends, people I love in kind of a packed theater. I I do think I'll probably feel differently when I rewatch this at home.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:44

I don't know if I'll feel that much differently. I don't know. But um, I definitely would watch this again, probably very similar to the way Chris would watch it.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:52

I'm still gonna think of this as being one of many universes as one story, because in my mind, you could think of this as just Lori's story that she's telling through her through her novel that she's writing.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:04

Well, she's already signed a document that she won't play Lori Strode ever again.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:07

Right, but I know it's done done, but like I think you could also go back and skip these and re-watch all of the other films and kind of pick and choose how you want to believe the story actually goes down.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:18

Yeah, like famously, my idea is the fan edit of Halloween one plus two minus the bits about being related. We can get a little H2O in there and just pretend that John dies, and then we jump into 2018. It's great.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:32

So that is to say though, I I still think it's worth rewatching. I think my opinions might change on details, but not overall. I think it's still probably gonna be a slash for me. Um, I just wish I had time off to watch every single film. Like, like from start to finish. And I know it would take me way too long to be able to do that, but it I would love to be able to watch this trilogy at least from start to finish, all in one go, all in one day.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:59

Quit your job.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:00

That's true. I don't need food or housing or anything like that.

SPEAKER_10 1:17:04

Yeah, just take one day of unemployment, it's fine, Matt, because really not that big a deal.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:08

I am the quit your job person in everyone's life right now, because every time someone complains, I'm like, quit your job. It's great. You can find other jobs that allow you to watch movies.

SPEAKER_10 1:17:19

Yeah. Well, I know that this has inspired so much desire for you to spend time at home watching movies, but for now, there you have it, folks. Halloween ends from 2022. The conclusion to Lori Strode and Michael Myers saga is under Universal Slash. Now we certainly had a lot to talk about here, but it doesn't end here by any means. We want to know what you think. Were you down with Corey Cunningham? Do you think this movie took some missteps? Do you think it ranks higher than Halloween Kills? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free over in our Discord, and you can click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:54

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com slash hacker slash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows. If you become a patron as part of our new blood drive during October, you'll also receive our limited edition anniversary poster.

SPEAKER_10 1:18:11

Thanks again to our friends at CommStrips for making our 2022 spooky season possible. We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Bye. As we go on, we remember all the times we had together. And as our lives change, come whatever, we will still be friends forever. From the book of Zach Perez, quoting vitamin C. Happy fifth anniversary. The drama.

SPEAKER_07 1:18:53

That kind of made me cry a little bit. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:18:56

Why does that make you cry?

SPEAKER_07 1:18:57

I don't know. It's just a lot of memories in what, five years? Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:01

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you have been here since 2018. So four years for you.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:06

And three years for Ryan and myself.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:08

Three years for us, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:09

For a fact, we did the math.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:10

Doing the math.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:11

Yep. Because it was crawl was the first time we watched a movie. Together. Yeah, like together. And then I recorded that episode, but you didn't. And then you joined, what, an episode or two later?

SPEAKER_07 1:19:21

Yeah. Wow. I was on a full year before y'all got on.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:24

Yeah, you were like the OG when we got here. You were holding it down. You joined the summer of 2018. Rest in peace. Rest in peace to those people that used to. It's me. I'm the people who used to be on here. Rip to me. No, no, no, no, no. It's not you.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:39

The people love you. There's a reason you're here, and there's a reason the podcast is still here.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:44

Five years of memories, though. What a wicked change.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:47

Chris, how do you feel about your baby being five years old?

SPEAKER_10 1:19:51

Uh, I feel like I gotta send this fucker to kindergarten now. So it's gotta really start making its way in the world and you know, contributing to the household. No, I'm kidding. It's wild though to see. Um, obviously, I was doing an Instagram live earlier with Comstrips, uh, who sponsored us for this month. And I had the question, I got I got was asked the question of why did you start the podcast, and then just thinking back to what a podcasting was like back then, but also B what horror podcasts and what the horror community was back then, and seeing like the way uh I felt like this needed to be. It's been able to grow into something so much more than I could have ever imagined, and uh, I think that's all thanks to finding the right people to be on it, which is all of you.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:37

Stop, I'll cry right now.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:38

I'm two beers in, I will cry.

SPEAKER_07 1:20:40

Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:42

I love that. I I remember listening to the podcast, like hearing about it, because you know, we worked together, listening to the podcast on long drives, and so I would do like two or three episodes, and there was one what god, what episode was it where it was Pet Cemetery? It was Pet Cemetery, that's right. Because I think I I think I said like Alexis's thoughts were wrong. Um, excuse me.

SPEAKER_10 1:21:04

Oh, to be clear, he thought everyone's thoughts were wrong except for me. And I was like, I need this guy around. Yeah, that's what it was to balance things out.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:12

So the the the other three, yourself included, Alexis. I was like, Chris, Chris, like, come on, what are they saying? What are they what are they thinking here? This is nuts. Um and I think shortly thereafter is probably where I was like, oh yeah, I would love to like watch a movie with y'all. That sounds like so much fun. And you know, Rob, Rob in the chat is telling me that's wrong to tell people that their opinions are wrong. But uh, I don't think I phrased it like that. I just thought they were nuts for thinking what they thought.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:39

It sounds like you just said I was wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:41

Yeah, you were wrong.

SPEAKER_10 1:21:42

But it also sounds like exactly what Rob says to us on a regular basis. So we're good. We're fine. That is very true.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:48

Yeah, he constantly tells us we've disappointed or failed him. So that's okay. It's love. That's what it is, is love. But yeah, it's weird to imagine like my coworker has this cool podcast, and I'm listening to it, and like several episodes later I'm still listening to it, and then like one day I've done how many episodes, and that is mind-blowing.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:06

And now we're not even co-workers anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:08

I know. That's that's even weirder. It's been literally years. Like, what? It's been like three years.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:14

You weren't even dating anyone when you started this podcast, and now you're a full ass married man with your wife making us a beautiful spread. I know.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:21

Pause. He was he was dating a lot of people.

SPEAKER_07 1:22:24

Well, he wasn't significantly tied to one particular person. Yeah, he was very far from dating anyone. I was too. And I don't know what my d I was dating everyone too.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:35

No, no.

SPEAKER_07 1:22:36

You were between a couple things.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:37

Yeah, you were happily committed. I remember that. You were happily committed to one man. I don't know about happily. You were committed heavily to one man when I joined and when Ryan joined.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:46

Because we used to record at the townhouse.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:48

And that man was Mac's foot.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:51

Not quite. There has been a lot of footsie along the way though.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:56

But it's true. Okay, I am realizing this because the the bit in my mind where I just remembered about where your dating life was, that was when Page was on the show. Yes. And then Mac joined, and then Ryan joined shortly thereafter, like a week later. And that's when you had kind of made the decision to commit.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:12

Interesting. Interesting how all of our lives have very very much evolved since then.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:18

To be fair, mine has been quite the same.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:21

Oh no.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:22

Up until very recently. Possibly, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:24

That's totally not true.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:25

That's totally true.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:26

Your life in general has been the same.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:28

You have had a very dynamic time the last few years.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:30

I'm a very different person, yes. But my life, like as far as like stages and living and things that I have to do and my jobs and stuff, it's all was the same for a very long time.

SPEAKER_10 1:23:40

It was until recently, and I think this is a good time to tell everyone listening that Ryan and I are engaged.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:46

If only. Okay, maybe not. The real hanky panky going on, okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:54

No, but the recent life changes have been great. But yeah, it's uh yeah, it's very interesting to think about what we've done and where we've been in three years. And truly, like the podcast is so different. And amount of interaction that we have with everyone, like week by week, every episode. Like, why are we all staying up listening to our episodes live? You're crazy people. I don't understand you, but I love you for it.

SPEAKER_10 1:24:14

I love it. I welcome it. It makes me feel so nice inside. It also is really cool when you know, I think we've mentioned this before, but Zach Perez, who's one of our uh patrons, uh has chronicled the years of our show by when he was in college. So he like is fully a college graduate now, living in a big adult job, but he started listening to us when he started, and that is amazing to me. I can't wait to be a fully graduated adult human in the world. That's a journey that you could have been on too.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:46

Had you listened to Hackerslash?

SPEAKER_05 1:24:48

Yeah, I've been on it for a while. It's been a long journey.

SPEAKER_10 1:24:51

But instead of just listening to Hackerslash, you joined, so we slowed you down a bit. Um, but I also love that this is from Rob. I thought Mac and Alexis were a couple for a long time. I was confused when Mac got married and Alexis didn't.

SPEAKER_09 1:25:06

Oh my god.

unknown 1:25:07

That's too bad.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:09

Oh, that's hilarious. It was confusing when Alexis stayed with me on the wedding night. We drove up together and left together.

SPEAKER_10 1:25:17

We all were talking about Mac's wedding and not anyone else's wedding.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:20

I don't think it was confusing that you guys stay together. I think it was enlightening.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:25

Ooh, it was enlightening. It was a great time. A random trip with someone that you haven't ever like spent tons of time with could be a weird thing. And we had a 10 out of 10 time. It was definitely not weird, yeah at all. It's such a good time. Like a long, long road trip staying together.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:41

And I don't know I thought it was funny though, with the room we walked in. It was like, oh, it's one king. Yeah. I mean, I didn't expect anything different, but I did book the room.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:52

And Lion thinks I'm gonna take advantage of her and she's out here booking a single bed for her and Alexis. It was significantly more affordable. That's the truth, I promise.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:02

It is weird thinking about like when we first started having Peach around, and like now I see him like once every few months. He'll just pop in and and and say hi. And like recently he was like, Hey, let me know if you're free like X day. And I was like, Oh dude, like free on a day? No, that doesn't happen anymore.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:17

He does just like you just like will be somewhere, and you're just like, Peach, what are you doing here?

SPEAKER_10 1:26:23

Let me tell you something else, though. It's a little bit sentimental. But I was thinking about the idea behind the podcast and and what the ultimate goal was. And you know, I wrote this down a long time ago, like many years ago, and I didn't really feel it, uh, that it's like actually here in a real thing until very recently. And that was like the ultimate goal is to foster an environment in which conversations about horror movies are used as catalysts to build enriching connections between people. And man, I thought that was like a pipe dream, but the community that's has really shown up for the show and shown up in Discord and showed up in Patreon has just absolutely blown me away.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:01

It's very true, and I've heard you say that as like the goal before, and it's funny because other people have said like you need other types of goals for this podcast and like you know, monetary goals or size goals or something like that, and your focus has always been on the community, and that's what makes it special. That's why we're not like the horror podcast that um I don't know, farts on the mic and like cusses you out and says that movies just suck just because.

SPEAKER_10 1:27:25

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:27

I told Chris today, it was kind of mind-blowing to me that a that a listener on Instagram was like, Hey, where can I get a sticker of your face? Right?

SPEAKER_10 1:27:34

Oh, she thinks you cute though.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:35

Well, I I I can't, I won't read her response because I was I literally just said, like, where are you gonna put it? And she just listed like funny places, but one of them was why would you ask her that? I was just curious. I was like, Is she does she want like a laptop size sticker? Does she want a sticker for a phone? Um, but she came up with good places like water bottle, a laptop, car, and then she throws in Death Note list, and I was like, that's amazing, fantastic response.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:00

Love that. I do actually have to get in there. Part of my vacation plan is to like update the store and like make some new stickers and shit. So don't worry, listener who uh wants Mac's face, you'll get that soon.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:11

But but at the same time, another human being that I've never met wants a sticker of my face because they listen to me give ridiculous opinions about movies, and that's amazing.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:21

It's mostly because of your voice. You got the radio voice. It definitely is. That's how you're pulling hose on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:28

I don't need to be pulling hose. I don't think that's what it is.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:30

Meanwhile, your wife is completely supportive of this that we do here, so we need to chill out, okay?

SPEAKER_03 1:28:35

No, it's I'm not pulling any hose. Let's just say that. That's not what's happening here.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:39

How does it feel they had the best voice on the podcast?

SPEAKER_03 1:28:41

I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. Because I have had I have had friends and friends and coworkers who have listened to episodes tell me specifically they thought Alexis sounded hot. They're like, I've never seen her, but she sounds so hot.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:53

But she sounds like a hot blonde.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:54

I don't think I sound hot. I think I sound like I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:59

Sometimes, but mostly you sound like a hot blonde for sure. That's why it's confusing that I'm me and you're you. I don't think I look like like the hot blonde that you sound like, but I'm the blonde and you sound like you're blonde.

SPEAKER_10 1:29:11

I think the funny thing is that most people on podcasts who like will have attractive voices also look like potentially gremlins sometimes. But I want to say that you two are very attractive. So it's like you really deliver on all areas. Thanks, Chris.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:28

So do you. You deliver on well-researched. You look well researched and always well put together, no matter what.

SPEAKER_10 1:29:35

I don't I look like a gremlin who's well researched.

SPEAKER_05 1:29:38

You know, I've You do not look like a Gremlin, shut up.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:41

I've known Chris for now going on eight years, and one of the first things I one of the first things I learned about Chris was the level of organization that she like expects at all times. And like seeing I think back then it was cool to do Evernote, right? Was that the thing?

SPEAKER_10 1:29:58

Oh my god, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:00

And so to see you like have a notebook, have perfectly crafted letters that you're writing in, shapes like checkboxes and arrows and all that kind of stuff, and then you would like do the Evernote scan, and it would like perfectly import your notes because somehow your handwriting is good and mine is chicken scratch. But I remember you like showing me your system, color-coded, tabbed, everything, and I was like, holy cow, that's organization that I will never reach, and that is impressive. I love organization porn.

SPEAKER_10 1:30:24

Wow, I don't even know who that Chris Rojas is anymore. I haven't used Evernote in so long, but I love that you remember this about me.

SPEAKER_07 1:30:30

Yeah, but even your notes on your iPad are like that. I mean, that's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:30:35

That's true. I just, when Mac said that he's known me for going on eight years, I was like, what did Mac first remember about me? Because I can tell you what I remember about him, and it was his James Earl Jones impersonation. Because holy shit, it was so good. He came into the room that I was in and he was wearing a Mets, a New York Mets cap, and he was talking like Darth Vader and Mufasa. And I was like, fuck yeah, I like this dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:59

I can't do that anymore. I haven't practiced it in such a long time.

SPEAKER_07 1:31:01

I think it needs to be a sponsor read.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:03

I I think we've tried before, but you know what it is. So what I realized is throughout the day, the more like anxious you get, the more like tight your throat gets, and then like more your you know, you like your pitch increases and all that kind of stuff. When I wake up in the morning, they j people joke about morning voice, but when I wake up in the morning, it's pure, pure Darth Vader.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:20

Yeah, there's a lot of things that happen in the morning.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:22

I'm the father. I see I can't even do it right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:24

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_10 1:31:25

You have to do it with the right like uh intonations. You have to be like, I am your father.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:30

I can't even do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:31

You can.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:31

Luke, I am your father.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:33

Yeah, you're getting there. That was pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:35

You could get there if you try it like three more times.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:37

I it would take it would take me a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:39

Everything the light touches.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:40

Is that what he says? Is everything light touches? Yeah. Everything the light touches is ours.

SPEAKER_10 1:31:46

What about that shadowy place?

SPEAKER_01 1:31:48

I don't know the next line. You must never go there, my son.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:54

That was good. That one hit. That one hit.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:56

Look through the stars. See, I I can't do the A's. He's got a different A, but.

SPEAKER_10 1:32:00

Yeah, it's the my son that really hits different.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:06

Where is my son? Where is the prince?

SPEAKER_06 1:32:10

Oh do you think we should actually start the podcast?

SPEAKER_07 1:32:16

Yeah, I don't know if I'm being too spoilerly. Keep trying to say the word, and the word just don't work, honey.

SPEAKER_10 1:32:24

Just say something else. Ryan, I didn't cry. I feel like I had to just say that on the bike. On the mic now.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:32

Agree that your eyes were juicy.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:34

They weren't at all. They literally were.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:37

And it was a napkin.

SPEAKER_10 1:32:39

My eyes have never been more dry. See, the more you say it, the more I know you're lying.

SPEAKER_05 1:32:44

Well, why wouldn't she just admit it?

SPEAKER_02 1:32:46

I wouldn't. I've cried over such dumb shit. I cried in barbarian for a little bit. I think it's because it was just gentle.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:52

A little gentle, sad Christmas.

SPEAKER_10 1:32:55

Listen, Ryan, you know that one of my most attractive qualities is my vulnerability. And I would never hide that from a woman.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:02

Ever. Was it the movie or the smell of your bloomin' onion that made you cry?

SPEAKER_10 1:33:08

Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:09

Oh, wait. Rob, you're thinking of the curly fries that I brought Ryan. Literally not an onion. I thought he was making a euphemism. Sorry, but it's not. It's funny. You looked at me and you're like, oh.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:20

I was like, I don't want the sound of that. I don't know that one. I've never done that position. But a blooming onion could be a dirty girl. You know? And the rest of the Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_07 1:33:33

We even foot-flopped. Usually we're like this.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:43

I kind of related it. You know, we're kind of in a military area. It's it's the military thing when you don't have military. I don't know why, but people people often date older cops. I don't know. It is what it is. It's gross.

SPEAKER_07 1:33:54

I don't know where you're coming from on that. But you dated an older military guy.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:58

It's either military or cops. It is a thing. I'm not saying it's for everybody. I'm just saying it's a common thing. The fact that she was dating him did not stand out to me as weird at all. It's a d it's like it's a poor decision that you make when you're 21. He's got money, he can do stuff, he's got power. I don't know. You just get swindled.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:18

Fucking messages turn green, which was the worst part for me. Fair.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:23

What year was this?

SPEAKER_07 1:34:25

This year.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:26

Yeah, it's like set in present day.

SPEAKER_10 1:34:27

That's supposed to be present day? Yeah, so it's four years after 2018.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:31

You know what? This whole time I'm thinking, oh, this is old school. Yeah, okay, well, there's some wait, I might need to rewatch this. There might be some things I got some beef with. Why I'm, you know, I it's just because I always think of Halloween as being old. I'm thinking of like old. Of course it's now. Just double checking that I'm recording.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:52

Press the red button.

SPEAKER_10 1:34:56

We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. No?

SPEAKER_04 1:35:05

No, it's a good one.