The most recent trailer for Halloween sequels. When Halloween (2018) was released, it effectively restarted the entire franchise, erasing all previous sequels and the Rob Zombie reboot. Laurie Strode’s nightmare never continued beyond that one fateful night on October 31, 1978. There was no massacre at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, no children born to be hunted and slaughtered, and no mysterious Man in Black or Satanic cult to explain Michael’s supernatural desire to eliminate his bloodline.
Yet as seen in Halloween Kills, there are callbacks to some of the earlier sequels that, while no longer canon, seem to have influenced the visual style and narrative of the film. Some of these references to past movies in the franchise are subtle, while others are more overt.
Welcome To Haddonfield Memorial
Halloween 2 (1981) fans know the significance of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital as it served as the main setting for the franchise’s first sequel. After Laurie survives her first encounter with Michael in Halloween (1978), she is taken to the seemingly safe confines of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Michael eventually tracks her down, decimating the entire staff of doctors, nurses, and security guards before meeting a seemingly fiery death at the film’s climax.
In Halloween Kills, there are several scenes with Laurie and her family recuperating at Haddonfield Memorial after their own fiery battle with Michael. While the movie does not appear to be set entirely in Haddonfield Memorial, it utilizes the location as a key starting point to re-establish the characters and jumpstart the narrative.
The Return Of Nurse Marion Chambers (Again)
At the beginning of the original Halloween, Dr. Loomis is accompanied to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium by a young nurse, Marion Chambers. The two are subsequently overwhelmed by stray patients released by Michael during a thunderstorm. He eventually traps Marion in her car before forcing her out and stealing the vehicle to make his way to Haddonfield.
In Halloween Kills, that scene is recreated almost shot-by-shot, with Michael even smashing through the enger side window to grab Nurse Chambers just like he did in the original film. This is not Marion’s first return to the franchise; in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, she first re-appeared in the film’s prologue as Joseph Gordon Levitt’s doomed neighbor.
Tommy Doyle Is Back
In the original Halloween, Laurie spends the last half of the film babysitting two children, Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace. Tommy receives special focus as he inadvertently runs into Michael earlier in the day and is the first one to notice the “boogeyman” stalking the streets and houses of Haddonfield. His fears become reality as Michael invades his home and tries to kill him and Lindsey to get to Laurie.
Both characters return for Halloween Kills with Tommy Doyle played by a new actor, Anthony Michael Hall. Far from his days as a scared adolescent, Tommy in Halloween Kills appears to be ready to defend Haddonfield and take down Michael Myers. Like Marion, this is not the character’s first time back in the franchise. In Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, a young Paul Rudd played Tommy as a brooding loner obsessed with Michael Myers.
Lindsey Wallace Returns
Along with Tommy, Lindsey Wallace returns in Halloween Kills. This is the first time Lindsay has re-appeared in the franchise, and she is once again played by Kyle Richards, who is now best known as one of the stars from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
In the trailer, Lindsay tells a couple of kids to run away while she faces off with Michael. This scene bears a striking resemblance to the last act of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, where Tina implores Jamie and Billy to run away from Michael so she can face him alone. Tina ends up with a knife through her heart, so let’s hope Lindsey has better luck with Michael.
It’s Not Easy Getting Old
Michael spares no one in his rampage, not even the elderly. In Halloween Kills, Michael brutally dispatches an old man by crushing his head against a window frame. He then slaughters the man’s wife with a strip light bulb before returning to her husband to stab his dead body one more time.
Michael’s encounter with the elderly couple is a callback to Halloween 2 (1981). In that film, Michael is stalking the back alleys of Haddonfield looking for a new weapon to slaughter his victims. He finds one in an elderly couple’s house, quietly taking a knife and leaving behind only a few drops of his blood. That version of Michael is more benevolent than the one in Halloween Kills; he spares their lives, destroying only the ham sandwich the wife was making for her sleeping husband.
Silver Shamrock Surprise
Halloween Kills features another unexpected callback from the most maligned sequel in the Halloween franchise: Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982). In that film, Michael Myers is largely absent save for archival footage from the previous Halloween sequels. Instead, the main villain is a maniacal toy manufacturer, Silver Shamrock Novelties, which seeks to bring about a new age of witchcraft by killing children with microchipped activated Halloween masks.
While Halloween Kills will undoubtedly avoid such plot devices, the film pays homage to that sequel by showing several trick-or-treaters (and some unfortunate victims) wearing the jack-o-lantern, witch, and skeleton Silver Shamrock masks.
The Haddonfield Mob Strikes Again
In Halloween Kills, the effects of Michael’s massacre are felt not only by Laurie and her family but all of Haddonfield as well. In response to the death and destruction Michael has wrought, several Haddonfield citizens (including Tommy) take the law into their own hands, brandishing bats, guns and other weapons in an attempt to bring down Michael once and for all.
The Haddonfield mob was also seen in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. With Haddonfield’s Police Department wiped out, Haddonfield’s citizens decide to take become the law of their town and protect Jamie Strode at all costs. Their efforts prove futile; Michael wipes them out one by one, leaving young Jamie to defend herself.
Haddonfield Riots
In addition to the Haddonfield mob, the town’s citizens also stage a riot throughout the town, protesting Michael’s return and seeking vengeance for his crimes. Halloween 2 (1981) first featured the town rioting with the majority of Haddonfield throwing rocks and destroying Michael Myers’ childhood home.
Halloween Kills promises a reprise of that scene. Michael’s path of destruction is discovered to be leading to his childhood home, providing the perfect callback.
Allyson’s Self-Sacrifice
In a seemingly pivotal moment from Halloween Kills, Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson Nelson, implores him to kill her, daring him to stab her with his knife. Allyson’s act of self-sacrifice has an antecedent in the Halloween franchise, specifically at the climax of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.
After a long night of endless slaughter, a wounded and weary Jamie Strode decides enough is enough and relents to Michael. She crawls into a coffin Michael has fashioned for her and closes her eyes, waiting to die so that Michael’s endless bloodlust will stop. Things do not go according to plan, and both Jamie and Michael live to slay another day.
Michael Unmasked
In Halloween Kills, Laurie’s daughter Karen brazenly holds Michael’s mask in front of him, ordering him to “come and get it.” There is a long tradition of unmasking Michael that began with the first film. At the end of Halloween (1978), Michael is unmasked as he struggles with Laurie. Michael’s deformed face is briefly seen before he quickly puts the mask back on.
In Halloween 2 (1981), this struggle is shown again except the face reveal is edited out, preserving the mystique. In Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Jamie silently asks to see Michael’s face, which he shows her (but is obscured mostly by shadow to the viewer). In Zombie’s Halloween 2 (2009), Michael willingly unmasks himself in his fight with Dr. Loomis.
