Love it or hate it Halloween Kills has arrived and did pretty well during its opening weekend at the still recovering box office. Series fans were excited to see where the newly rebooted timeline would take Michael and Laurie next after the explosive ending to the last film. While this new trilogy of films has done away with all the Halloween continuity outside of the original 1978 film, there are still a lot of Easter eggs other films in the franchise to be seen in Halloween Kills. Either a revamped idea or some items from a completely nonrelated film timeline, there is lots to keep an eye out for while watching this bloody sequel.
Let’s begin!
In Halloween Kills, eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted an Easter egg in the form of the often controversial station wagon that Michael stole in the original film to get himself to Haddonfield. This plot point from Halloween 1978 is often a source of jokes from fans. Who taught him how to drive? Filmmaker Adam Green even made a short film explaining it for one of his famous Halloween Season Short Films. Here in Halloween Kills, during one of the 1978 flashbacks, we see a young Hawkins and Officer McCabe making their way to the run-down Myers house. As they reach the front of the house, you can see the station wagon parked along the street.
Even though all the Halloween sequels have been erased from existence, some footage from Halloween II actually made its way into Halloween Kills. This film brings back Sheriff Brackett who hunted down Myers with Loomis way back in the 1978 original. His daughter Annie was sadly one of his victims. In Halloween II Sheriff Brackett learned of Annie’s fate and happened upon the scene just as they were wheeling her body out of the house. He takes a moment to confirm it’s her and then breaks down crying. While Halloween II no longer exists in this timeline they still used the footage in a quick flashback to catch up the viewers that Brackett still has an unresolved conflict with Michael as well.
While the scene of Sheriff Brackett finding his dead daughter from Halloween II was still used in this film, one thing left unknown is the fate of Ben Tramer. He is first mentioned as Laurie’s crush in the original film, but in Halloween II poor Ben Tramer is mistaken for Michael Myers as he is wearing a similar mask. When police confront him he tries to get away but is hit by a police vehicle and crushed into a van. Of course, the cars explode into flames, and Ben is burned to death.
Now that all Halloween II is mostly written out of existence we don’t know what happened to Ben Tramer. People were curious after the 2018 film if he could be one of Laurie’s mentioned ex-husbands. In this film, he does get a name-drop when Hawkins and Laurie reminisce about their almost romance years ago. Hawkins says he knows she was sweet on Ben Tramer but nothing is said of his fate in this timeline yet.
Once again we revisit plots from the erased Halloween II as Laurie is once again transported to Haddonfield Memorial after her injuries from the 2018 film. At the hospital, we see that the logo for the hospital is an exact match for the logo that was originally used in the original sequel. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. It’s a very identifiable logo to the fans of the franchise and it was nice to see it again. Sadly, much like the original sequel, Laurie doesn’t get much to do in this movie and spends most of her time laying in a hospital bed.
One continuity point we probably could have done without was we see the dead dog that Michael feasted on when he returned to his childhood home. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett mention a dead dog that looks half-eaten when they first enter the house back in the 1978 film. Here we see the young Hawkins and Officer McCabe stumble upon it when they enter the house while searching for Michael after Loomis shoots him off the balcony. Poor upper.
Did you know Better Call Saul star and Breaking Bad alum Bob Odenkirk is in Halloween Kills? If you blink, you’ll miss it. While going over photos for a montage shot on a news report, Director David Gordon Green, stumbled on a high school picture of Bob Odenkirk and remarked that he looked a lot like the guy that played Bob in the original film. Figuring it would be a fun joke they decided to get clearance to use the picture of Odenkirk in the film. It all worked out and now Bob Odenkirk gets to play one of the most famous Bobs in horror history.
During one scene of Halloween Kills, we go to Mick’s Bar where there is a talent show going on. Some participants are singing karaoke to a song called She Doesn’t Want You Anymore. This song is from 1985 and was released by the Coupe De Villes. What makes this significant is that the band had a song in the original Halloween and is made up of John Carpenter (director of Halloween and consultant on Kills), Nick Castle (played The Shape in the original and returns for select scenes in these two new films), and Tommy Lee Wallace (production designer and editor on the original film). It’s a nice touch to see the Coupe De Villes are still popular among the residents of Haddonfield.
The idea of a mob of Haddonfield residents taking matters into their own hands isn’t a new one, and makes for an interesting Easter egg in Halloween Kills. Back in Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers, another vigilante group formed to take on the Shape. That group was more of a small militia as they grabbed their guns and jumped in their trucks to find the evil stalker. In that film, the mob ended up getting spooked at a park and opened fire on the beloved town drunk who had been sleeping one-off in the bushes. Here we see the town get caught up in their mob mentality and chase another escaped mental patient throughout the hospital until he jumps to his death out of fear of the mob.
During the flashback scene where Michael is surrounded by police after walking out of the Myers house, the camera pulls out into a crane shot showing Michael standing still as the police stand frozen around him. This is a nod to the flashback scene in the original film where Michael’s parents pull the mask off of young Michael. The shot looks identical. It’s a great homage to the fantastic camera work of Dead Cundy on the 1978 film.
This is one of the most obvious to the fans of the franchise but for those that may not know, the masks that the kids in the park are using are from the controversial Halloween III. The film that didn’t feature Michael Myers in it. They made a brief appearance in Halloween 2018 as Laurie tells everyone to go inside. We see some kids wearing them as they are walking down the street. Here some kids are hanging out at the park when Michael shows up just in time to kill one of the kids off-screen and then have a showdown with Lindsay Wallace, Marion Chambers, and some new friends. He then poses their bodies on the playground wearing the famous masks. It’s enough to get the Silver Shamrock song stuck in your head.
Did you notices all of these Easter eggs in Halloween Kills? If you think we missed any, sound off below!