It can be difficult to remember, living as we do in the age of franchises and cinematic universes, but there was a time not so long ago when the notion of ongoing sequels was viewed with indifference or even outright disdain.

For a long time, the sequel was largely considered the realm of shlock, an effort to cash in on low-rent continuations of genre series. It used to be a joke; now, it’s a mainstream business model (and a massively successful one at that).

Take “Halloween,” for instance. John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher was an instant horror classic, its murderous villain as relentless as he was inscrutable. But that film’s success led to a spate of sequels, creating a tangled and often incomprehensible web of expansive and self-contradictory lore. Ironic, considering that the initial film’s success was built upon the idea that we didn’t know anything about the why of the killer.

We got half-a-dozen films from that franchise, followed by two films that retconned away all but the first two entries, followed by a pair of hybrid remake/reimagining offerings courtesy of Rob Zombie, followed by a sequel trilogy that retcons the entire continuity and throws out everything but the first film.

That’s where we’re at now, at the end of that sequel trilogy. They say that all good things must end, but if “Halloween Ends” is any indicator, bad things end too.

David Gordon Green is the man calling the shots in the trilogy – he directed this film, as well as previous installments “Halloween” (2018) and “Halloween Kills” (2021), while also co-writing the script with Danny McBride and others – and the returns have most certainly been diminishing, with the first film being quite good, the second film being OK and this third film being … something.

What is clearly intended to be a closing of the book is instead a haphazard and messy collection of illogical leaps and twists, with very little of the perceived closure being the least bit earned. “Halloween” was never about the “why” – or at least, it was never supposed to be – but Green and company get lost in that why, resulting in plot developments that at times border on the nonsensical. In all the ways that matter, it’s a sad and ultimately unsatisfying conclusion.

Even in a Hollywood landscape constructed atop a foundation of IP-driven franchises and remakes, there are few rabbit holes as deep as the one surrounding the current iteration of “Halloween.”

The John Carpenter original is one of the classics of the horror genre; its success gave birth to a lengthy list of sequels of rapidly-diminishing quality. We got a Rob Zombie effort at rebooting, resulting in a couple of movies of middling quality. And then, in 2018, we got yet another reinvention of the franchise with David Gordon Green and Danny McBride leading the way – an effort to wipe the slate clean of the confusing and convoluted lore and reenergize the franchise. It was an effort that mostly worked.

However, the sequel to THAT movie – “Halloween Kills” – doesn’t achieve the same manner of success, instead opting to lean into over-the-top gore and an added selection of legacy characters from the franchise’s early days. And while there’s some meat on that particular nostalgic bone, Green and the rest of the filmmaking team never quite figure out how to most effectively gnaw it.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s joy to be derived from the sheer splatter factor here, as well as some moments of dark levity. It’s just that this is very obviously a middle movie, and when you already know the next movie is coming, it’s hard to make any sort of real narrative progress; it occasionally feints at some greater themes, but can’t really deliver on the follow through. In the end, what you get is largely a placeholder, a movie that exists largely because you can’t get from point A to point C without a point B. It’s fine for what it is, but ultimately, it proves disposable.

Every moviegoer is different. We all have our own personal tastes. We have likes and dislikes specific to ourselves. Also – and this is important to note – we can like things that are “bad” and dislike things that are “good.” Again – taste.

This brings us to Adam Sandler.

As someone who came of age in the early 1990s, I experienced the beginnings of Sandler’s cinematic output at PRECISELY the right age. “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore,” “The Waterboy” – those movies were squarely in my juvenile-humored wheelhouse. So even as I grew up and my tastes became (somewhat) more sophisticated, I maintained a real affection for Sandler and his work.

Objectively, I can look at his output and recognize its many, MANY flaws. I can watch these films and acknowledge how “bad” they are. That doesn’t change the fact that part of me still enjoys watching them. Even the REALLY bad ones.

Happily, his new film “Hubie Halloween” – the latest installment under his megadeal with Netflix – isn’t one of the outright terrible ones. It isn’t, you know, good or anything, but it’s not as awful as some of what he’s churned out in recent years. Directed by longtime collaborator Steve Brill from a script co-written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, it’s fairly typical, the standard goofy-voiced man-child boilerplate packed with dumb jokes and stupid gags, all delivered by the usual assemblage of Sandler buddies and relatives.

It’s shaggy and sloppy in the usual ways, but there’s also a low-key cheerfulness at the heart of the movie that elevates it somewhat. It’s far from the top of the Sandlerian canon, but it’s even farther from the bottom. These days, that’s a win.

When it comes to scary movies, you can conjure up all manner of ghouls and supernatural forces. Ghosts and monsters and gibbering creatures from beyond the dimensional veil – all of that stuff can make for solid scares.

But sometimes, all you need for good horror is a guy in a mask wielding a knife. He doesn’t have any special powers or superhuman abilities. He’s just a strong psychopath with an affinity and aptitude for stabbing.

That’s what made John Carpenter’s 1978 horror film “Halloween” such a classic. Just a dude killing people on Halloween. In a lot of ways, it was the Platonic ideal of the slasher movie. Of course, the film’s success led to sequels and reboots galore, with seven installments following the original and then a pair of Rob Zombie-helmed reimaginings.

So what was writer/director David Gordon Green going to do to set his own take on the tale apart? Well, plenty, but here are the two big ones: he got Carpenter’s blessing and then basically threw away all the convoluted canon. He flushed the ridiculous lore and made a straight-up 40-years-later sequel. That’s Green’s “Halloween.”

And you know what? We’re all the better for it.

PROSPECT - Stephen King fans rejoice – one of our area’s most hallowed Halloween events is bringing the works of the master of horror to life this year.

The 19th annual “Fright at the Fort” features many of King’s most loved stories, taking shape in the massive granite stronghold of Fort Knox.

Labor Day has come and gone, so the time has arrived for us to offer up our annual Fall Movie Preview.

2018 doesn’t have quite the luster that some past years have had – at least in terms of sheer box office appeal. There are movies that will make plenty of money, of course, but there aren’t really any of the big franchise tentpoles that we’ve seen in year’s past. There’s no MCU offering, no “Star Wars” movie.

And that’s OK.

There are some big-budget extravaganzas and some franchise sequels, as well as some original works and even a few early Oscar possibilities. Comedy and drama, sci-fi and fantasy, horror flicks and family fare – there’s something for everyone this fall.

Check it out.

A look at some of the spooky scary Halloween fun coming our way

A three-day celebration of gore, goth and frightening fun

ORONO A celebration of all things scary is coming to the New Balance Field House on the University of Maine campus in Orono. The second annual BanGoreFest is set to take place Oct. 28-30.

Halloween is a fun event for both kids and adults alike, but it's easy to rack up the expenses when you fork out for candy, decorations and costumes.

According to the National Retail Federation, the average American is expected to spend $80 on Halloween this year, up from $72 last year.

The hottest costume this year are all rooted in popular culture, including the TV show 'Game of Thrones,' and blockbuster movie superheroes such as Thor, Bateman and Spiderman. And since it is an election year, there is a lot of interest in political costumes.

Halloween is nigh, and there are tons of themed events taking place all over that range from fun to hair-raising. So whether you're just looking to gorge on candy and dress in a sexy/hilarious costume or to have the crap scared out of you, there's something for you. Unless you're against Halloween and all it stands for. Then you're out of luck.