[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through Halloween Kills]
Following the success of 2018’s soft-reboot Halloween, David Gordon Green is back to helm Halloween Kills, a sequel filled with callbacks to John Carpenter’s original 1978 film and hints about the franchise’s future. But, of course, all these easter-eggs are dripping with blood once Michael Myers finishes his deadly stroll through the peaceful suburban town of Haddonfield. Fortunately for you, you don’t need to get your hands messy while doing an autopsy of Halloween Kills, as we went ahead and found the killer easter-eggs and references hiding in plain sight, just like The Shape does. So grab a pitchfork and follow us on the hunt. We are going to find all of Halloween Kills’ callbacks together.
The Doctor is Back, in the Flesh
Michael Myers’ doctor, Samuel Loomis, has been a recurring presence in the franchise, doing everything a psychiatrist shouldn’t do and claiming his patient is untreatable. During the opening segment of Halloween Kills, we are taken back to 1978, to the night of The Shape's first assault. At the moment Michael is arrested, we get to see Dr. Loomis again. Since original actor Donald Pleasence passed away in 1995, fans might think we are looking at a digital reconstruction. However, that’s not the case, as Halloween Kill’s crew used their construction foreman Tom Jones Jr. with a lot of makeup to replicate the good doctor’s exact look.
Michael’s ‘Star Trek’ Mask
The flashback segment has Michael Myers wearing a copy of the mask the killer wore in the original 1978 film. The mask bears an incredible resemblance to William Shatner’s Captain Kirk on Star Trek because that’s precisely the costume Carpenter used for the first appearance of The Shape. The Shape’s mask went through many transformations over the years, to the point where it became somewhat unique. However, the original movie’s mask still bears a remarkable resemblance to Captain Kirk, and it’s a nice touch that Halloween Kills respects the tradition and brings it back for the flashback section.
Bob Odenkirk Special Cameo
As Haddonfield residents first start to learn of Michael's latest escape, we see a glance of a TV where a reporter recounts his first massacre in 1978, in which several people were murdered in cold blood. The report uses photos of the dead, namedropping the original victims in Halloween. One of these victims is Bob, Lynda’s boyfriend, who gets impaled into a wall by a knife when he’s going to grab a beer. As it turns out, director Green didn’t get the rights to use the original actor John Michael Graham's image. So, the crew had to find a replacement for a photo. And you know who looked a lot like Graham when he was in high school? Better Call Saul’s star Bob Odenkirk. When the picture of Bob is shown on the screen, we are actually looking at a high school picture of Odenkirk.
Haddonfield Memorial Hospital and Coronavirus
A significant chunk of Halloween Kills occurs in the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, first introduced in 1981’s Halloween II. Both films deal with the aftermath of Michael’s attack, and while Halloween II is no longer part of the current continuity, Halloween Kills tries to make callbacks to the whole franchise. The times have changed between the two productions, though, as some well-placed signs on Halloween Kills hospital say, “Vaccinate before it’s too late.” While there’s no direct reference to the pandemics, this might tease the last chapter of Green’s trilogy that the director claims will deal with Covid and its consequences. While Halloween Kills takes place on the same 2018 night of the soft-reboot, Halloween Ends will start with a four-year time jump, getting the franchise back to our times. We just hope to see Michael using hand sanitizers after each kill.
Michael Survivors
Halloween Kills brings back many survivors of the original 1978 film, giving most of them the chance to face the boogeyman again. Kyle Richards, mostly known nowadays for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, reprises the role of Lindsay Wallace, one of the kids Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) saves from the fury of The Shape. The other kid protected by Laurie, Tommy Doyle, is also back, although neither Brian Andrews nor Paul Rudd reprised the part, now played by Anthony Michael Hall. Tommy’s school bully, Lonnie Elam, is also in the new film, played by Robert Longstreet in place of original actor Brent Le Page.
Another familiar face is Nancy Stephens, who returns to her role as Marion Chambers, a nurse who gets thrown away from a car when Michael escapes for the first time. It’s also worth noticing that Michael attacks the former nurse in a car in Halloween Kills, mimicking their first encounter. Lastly, Charles Cyphers reprises his role of sheriff Leigh Brackett, the man who hunts Michael in the original film, after his daughter Annie is killed during Michael’s attack.
Silver Shamrock Masks
Believing that Halloween could become an anthology franchise, Carpenter and Debra Hill produced Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the only film in the franchise that doesn’t feature Michael Myers. The movie, written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, tells the story of an evil company that plots to kill children by using Halloween masks implanted with deadly microchips. It’s a wacky concept that didn’t please fans at the time, even though Season of the Witch would become a cult classic in the following decades. Halloween Kills has a nice nod at Season of the Witch since the three Halloween masks of the evil Silver Shamrock company are seen in the movie: the skeleton, the Jack-o’-lantern, and the witch. Michael even uses the three masks to decorate the bodies of Vanessa (Carmela McNeal), Marcus (Michael Smallwood), and Marion Chambers, who doesn’t survive a second encounter with The Shape.
A Supernatural Origin?
At the end of Halloween Kills, Michael Myers is stabbed, shot, and hit in the head with a baseball bat multiple times by an angry mob. While Michael was always a tough guy to take down, most franchise movies don’t give a supernatural origin to the killer. However, once Michael gets back on his feet after being stabbed in the neck, we feel like there must be a reason for The Shape to be seemingly immortal. Michael’s return to life is also followed by Laurie’s monologue, in which she wonders if evil can ever be destroyed.
To the despair of fans, Halloween Kills might have taken a few notes from 1989’s Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, in which it’s revealed a secret cult gives Michael supernatural powers. Both movies were poorly received when they were released, which led to their removal from almost every continuity of the franchise. It’s going to be hard to explain how Michael is still alive after Halloween Kills ending, but we all hope Halloween Ends does not walk the path of the Cult of Thorn.