Halloween Ends is the best one
I’ve just finished watching through the entire Halloween franchise, and I honestly think Halloween Ends is one of the only genuinely interesting movies in the series.
I really like Corey as a protagonist turned villain, his journey makes complete sense to me and it was honestly pretty tragic. There was a line in the film along the lines of “when you’re fighting monsters, make sure you don’t become one”, and it felt like a great explanation of the mission statement of the film.
It felt less like your average slasher (something the majority of the Halloween films fell into for me, becoming pretty stale and tired) and more like an intellectual supernatural horror along the lines of the Babadook or Get Out with some slasher fun thrown in.
Hot take also: Michael is the least interesting part of the Halloween movies. Him lacking motivation or character is a weakness that always ends up affecting the quality outside of the original. Having the main villain be someone you can relate to makes it a much more emotional and thrilling - Michael is at his best when he’s lurking in the shadows while Corey makes the moves.
It’s the same reason I’d say Halloween 2 (2009) is my second favourite, since it lets you understand Michael - it makes him a character you can connect with rather than just a force of nature.