John Carpenter, creator of the HALLOWEEN franchise and executive producer on the new sequel being produced by Malek Akkad and Blumhouse Productions, has said that the latest entry in the series picks up after his 1978 original and pretends that none of the other sequels were made. But while the events of those films may not have happened in the story crafted by Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green, it's obvious that there will still be echoes of some of the excised sequels in there.
While all we have to go on are images that have been shared on social media, references to previous HALLOWEENs have slipped through in those images. One major example is that Haddonfield Memorial Hospital appears to be a location in the new film. The bulk of 1981's HALLOWEEN II took place in that hospital, so while the new film may not acknowledge that Laurie Strode was once stalked through the hospital's halls by iconic slasher Michael "The Shape" Myers, at least it references HALLOWEEN II in some way. The filmmakers could have called the hospital any number of things, but they chose to give it the same name it had in the earlier film.
Another reference spotted in Instagram images is more of a deep cut – the sports teams at Haddonfield High in Blumhouse's HALLOWEEN are the Haddonfield Huskers. Unless I'm forgetting a hint of Huskers in the first two movies, this name is a tie to 1988's HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (pictured above). In that one, a sign proudly proclaims that Haddonfield is "Home of the Huskers". That's a nice bit of obscurity to pick up on, and it really warms my heart to know that the movie is going to be nodding to HALLOWEEN 4 in some way.
This leaves me to wonder, if the movie is going to be referencing HALLOWEEN II and 4, will it be sneaking in references to other sequels along the way? I'm excited to see it to find out.
In Blumhouse / David Gordon Green's HALLOWEEN,
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Curtis is joined in the cast by Judy Greer as Laurie's daughter Karen; Andi Matichak as Karen's daughter Allyson; Miles Robbins, Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, and Drew Scheid as Allyson's Haddonfield High classmates; Will Patton and Rob Niter as police officers; Rhian Rees as a character named Dana; and both original Michael Myers performer Nick Castle and stuntman James Jude Courtney as the slasher.
The new HALLOWEEN reaches theatres on October 19, 2018.