SIMILARITIES
1. Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, and Nick Castle were all in the original 'Halloween' (1978) and returned for this sequel. The characters of Tommy Doyle and Lonnie Elam from the original also returned, but were recast with Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Longstreet, because original Tommy actor Brian Andrews has been retired from acting since 2015 and original Lonnie actor Brent Le Page never acted again after the original 'Halloween'.
2. Lonnie seeing Michael standing by a bush during a flashback scene then disappearing is similar to the original film, when Laurie saw him do the same thing.
3. In the flashback scene to 1978, Michael attacks Deputy McCabe (Jim Cummings) with a rope. In the original 'Halloween' (1978), Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) responded to an alarm in a hardware store, and reported that a rope, some Halloween masks and a set of knives were stolen.
4. Early in the movie, the wagon stolen by Michael Myers from Dr. Loomis and Nurse Marion Chambers at the Smith Grove Sanitarium can be seen parked behind Young Hawkins and Pete McCabe during one of the flashback sequences to 1978.
5. The character Lonnie (Robert Longstreet) is the grown-up version of Lonnie, Tommy's tormentor in the original film who Dr. Loomis scared away from going into the Myers House.
6. The logo for Haddonfield Memorial Hospital as seen in this film is taken directly from the now de-canonized 'Halloween II' (1981).
7. In the original 'Halloween' (1978), while inside the Myers House, Brackett and Loomis discover a dog in the living room that has recently been partially eaten. While referred to, it is never shown. In this film, however, during a flashback scene, Hawkins and Deputy McCabe are standing in the living room and for the first time the dog's half-eaten carcass is revealed.
8. In the opening of the film, Laurie screams to the fire trucks to "Let It Burn!" as they head towards her house. This is based on a deleted scene from 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers' (1988), where a flashback to the end of 'Halloween II' (1981) shows Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) pleading with paramedics to "Let Him Burn!" after blowing up the operating room, only to be ignored.
9. The characters of Phil and Sondra are similar to The Elrod's from 'Halloween II' (1981). Only this time, Michael does more than just steal a knife.
10. The premise of Haddonfield citizens banding together against Michael Myers is similar to the vigilante mob that forms against him in 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers' (1988).
11. A group of trick-or-treaters shows Little John and Big John that one of the candies they provided has a razor blade that cut through one of their mouths. This is a reference to the original 'Halloween II' (1981), where a trick-or-treater (Little Gary, son of Deputy Hunt) is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital with a razor blade in his mouth, soon after Laurie arrives.
12. In the first scene in the bar, the scene begins with three ladies doing karaoke at the open mic. The song they are singing is "She Doesn't Want You Anymore," which was a song recorded in 1985 by The Coupe De Villes. The band has a song in the original 'Halloween' (1978) and consists of John Carpenter (original "Halloween" creator and composer/executive producer for this movie), Nick Castle (who cameos as 'The Shape' again here), and the production designer and editor of the original film, Tommy Lee Wallace, who also directed 'Halloween III: Season Of The Witch' (1982) (the only movie in the franchise that did not feature Michael Myers).
13. When musing on how Michael seemingly becomes more powerful the more fear he instills, Laurie uses the phrase "the true curse of Michael," which is a nod to the sixth film's subtitle, 'The Curse Of Michael Myers'.
14. Julian, the little boy being babysat by Vicky in 'Halloween' (2018), makes a cameo appearance as an interviewee on the news.
15. An escaped mental patient hiding in the backseat of the car (Lance Tivoli hiding in Marcus' car) is similar to when Michael hid in the backseat of Annie's car in the original.
16. The text alert that the entire bar received notifying them of Michael's presence is similar to the call received at the bar in 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers', just updated with technology.
17. Original Shape actor Nick Castle revealed that he made a cameo for one brief shot in 'Halloween Kills', but it was ultimately cut from the final edit. Podcaster Sean Clark details the scene on his show, "The Thing With Two Heads", explaining that "People keep asking what scene Nick Castle was in. He was in a scene that got cut, that's supposedly gonna be on the DVD or Blu-ray. It was a POV shot from the drone going into the bathroom and you see his reflection in the mirror. That was the shot". Nick Castle previously stated that he thought his scene might get cut, due to the nature of the shot, but that he hoped it would still be included. This is not the first time the original Shape actor has reprised his role in cameo form, as he similarly appeared in a single shot in 2018's 'Halloween', appearing through a window and offering a slow head-tilt, referencing a famous moment from his original performance. James Jude Courtney may be The Shape behind the mask now, but Castle still provides the ADR breathing for Myers.
18. On Ranbir Sartain's toe-tag in the morgue, the place of birth is listed as Izmir, Turkey. This is a homage to the birth place of Haluk Bilginer, the Turkish actor who played Sartain in the previous film.
19. This is the third 'Halloween' movie in which Michael is shown to have been burnt in a fire, the first time being 'Halloween II' (1981) and then again in 'Halloween: Resurrection' (2002).
20. During rehearsals of the scene where Michael kills the firefighters, James Jude Courtney wore an eye patch over his right eye to maintain the authenticity of Michael being blind in one eye, since Laurie stabbed him there with a coat hanger in the original film.
21. When Dr. Loomis attempts to kill Michael in the flashback scene, he utters "purely and simply, evil" under his breath, as if to justify murder with the philosophy he explained to Sheriff Brackett earlier that night.
22. Michael smashing a masked head off of the windshield is similar to 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers', when the masked head that smashed it was his own.
23. Like the original two films and its predecessor, you can hear Michael breathing several times in this film.
24. The name on one of the firefighter's helmets reads Gamby, who was a character played by writer Danny McBride on the TV series 'Vice Principals' (2016).
25. During one of Laurie and Frank's conversations at the hospital, Frank mentions Ben Tramer, the boy Laurie wanted to meet in the original film (and who later was hit by a car and killed when he was dressed as Michael in 'Halloween II' (1981)).
26. When Michael grabs the fireman's hand from the burnt out basement after killing his colleague, it's a nod to one of the original Universal horror monster sequels, 'Bride Of Frankenstein' (1935). In that film, the sequel to Frankenstein (1931), which also takes place on the same night, the monster grabs the hand of little Maria's mother from the burnt out bottom of the windmill after disposing of her husband.
27. The movie playing on Sondra and Phil's TV is 'The Funhouse' (1981).
28. Similar to the theatrical cut of 'Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers' (1995), Michael gets a dose of extreme melee revenge from Tommy Doyle, although it's not as effective here.
29. In the 'Halloween Kills' novelization by Tim Waggoner, he reveals that Tommy Doyle has a Cult of Thorn tattoo, just like Halloween 6's Michael Myers. Waggoner writes, "Tommy in some ways he was the worst of them, including Laurie. Ever since the night that Laurie saved him and Lindsey from Michael, he'd had difficulty controlling his anger. He had a hair-trigger temper, was quick to take offense at any perceived slight, no matter how mild, and he could be irritable, impatient, and impulsive. He'd gotten into a lot of fights in high school, and even more after he'd graduated. He drifted from job to job, unable to hold on to one for any length of time without blowing his top off at someone usually his boss or taking a swing at them. He'd gone through a series of relationships, but they never lasted long either. No one wanted to be the partner of someone with such a volatile emotional state. Tommy had been in therapy on and off since his late twenties, and while he'd picked up a lot of psychological tools to help him deal with his anger, it was by no means fully under control. He was so obsessed with Michael and all things Halloween that he'd gotten a tattoo of a Thorn rune on his left arm, and when he was anxious, he rubbed his hand over it subconsciously".
30. During scenes in the original Myers House, despite extensive remodeling by Big John and Little John, Judith Myers' original (or a very accurate reproduction) make up table and mirror is still in the same (or very close) spot as it was in the 1978 original.
31. Michael killing the firefighters is a reference to one of the unused endings of 'Halloween: Resurrection' (2002). In that scene, Michael wakes up on the stretcher and strangles Freddie Harris until Sarah kills him with a firefighter's axe to the head.
32. While James Jude Courtney is the primary Michael Myers throughout, sometimes it was necessary to put the mask on someone else during filming. Stunt coordinator Airon Armstrong played Myers in the flashbacks to 1978, and 2018 Myers needed a stunt double as well. That double was Douglas Tait, who also doubled as Jason Voorhees in the final shot of 'Freddy Vs. Jason' (2003), where Jason emerges from Crystal Lake carrying Freddy Krueger's severed head.
33. Michael defends himself against a shotgun blast from Allyson by deflecting the barrel on the second floor, near the top of the stairs in his old house. This is similar to the way Michael defended himself from Brady trying to shoot him in 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers", where he deflected the barrel of the shotgun on the second floor of Sheriff Meeker's house.
34. When Little John finds Michael standing by the bedroom window, he says, "Michael, you've come home". This is similar to the original film when Dr. Loomis states, "He came home".
35. Allyson approaching a cracked, dimly lit bedroom door is similar to when Laurie did the same thing in the original film.
36. Allyson falling down the stairs and injuring her leg after being attacked by Michael upstairs is similar to Laurie's leg injury after being attacked by Michael upstairs, and falling over the railing, in the original film.
37. Nicholas Pryor (Morgue Doctor) was also in 'Damien: The Omen 2', the middle movie of a three-movie horror series, portraying Charles Warren.
38. When Michael exits his childhood home at the end of the prologue and is surrounded by police, the filmmakers replicate the high angle crane shot from the prologue of the original 1978 film, when Michael's parents find him with a bloody knife in his clown costume.
39. The escaped mental patient (Lance Tivoli) the mob mistakes for Michael Myers, is the "umbrella man" from the opening scene of 'Halloween' (2018).
40. Although every previous sequel was ignored in this new timeframe, the movie still features a scene from 'Halloween II' (1981) of Brackett viewing Annie's body.
41. When Michael traps Marion and the others in the car, he breaks the passenger side window the same way he broke it when he attacked Marion in the original 1978 film. If you look closely, you'll also notice that the performer playing Michael has a wrench strapped to his hand to break the glass. This was the same process they used to in the original film and was done on purpose to replicate the effect.
42. During the opening flashback scene, the sheriff's deputy instructs the others to "Search Chestnut South to the bypass", nearly verbatim what Deputy Hunt says in 'Halloween II' (1981) when he sends the deputies back out to continue their search for Michael Myers.
43. Similar to when Nancy Loomis (Kyes) came back for 'Halloween II' (1981) simply for one shot of her dead body, actor Drew Scheid returns to play Oscar, for one shot of his corpse in the hospital.
44. Karen's death is a composition of many camera set-ups, and fast edits to imply violence rather than show it explicitly. The sequence was choreographed as an homage to Marion Crane's death in the Alfred Hitchcock's classic 'Psycho' (1960). Crane was portrayed by Janet Leigh, who was Jamie Lee Curtis' real-life mother.
45. When Michael kicks the car door open, hitting Vanessa's hand, causing her gun to go off and shoot herself in the head, this marks the second time in the franchise where Michael uses a gun to kill someone. The other occurred in 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers' (1988), when Michael used a double-barrel shotgun to impale the sheriff's daughter to a door.
46. The flashback sequence to 1978 of Michael returning home after being shot by Loomis is not a completely new idea. Before the end credits of 'Halloween' (1978), various locations where Michael killed Laurie's friends throughout the movie are shown, along with the sound of Michael breathing. The last of these locations is the Myers House, which could be interpreted as Michael having gone back home after fleeing from Loomis.
47. Much like 'Halloween II' (1981), Laurie spends most of the film in the hospital.
48. To taunt Michael (and lure him into a trap), Karen compares herself to his sister. The movie ends with Michael killing Karen in the same room and the same way that he killed Judith.
49. Allyson falling down the stairs, followed by Michael stalking her down them is similar to when he did the same thing to Laurie in the original film.
50. The characters Marcus and Vanessa originally appeared in 'Halloween' (2018), right when Michael first returns to Haddonfield. As he is walking down the street filled with trick-or-treaters, he sees them getting in their car, presumably to go to the talent show the audiences see in this film. Similarly, Marcus forgot his stethoscope and runs back inside to get it, while the wife nervously watches Michael approach, finding him suspicious.
51. Upon arriving at the playground, Tommy, Lonnie, Lindsey, Allyson, and Cameron stumble across a dead Vanessa, Marion, and Marcus whose faces are covered with a skeleton, witch and jack-o-lantern mask, which is an obvious tribute to the deadly Silver Shamrock masks from 'Halloween III: Season Of The Witch' (1982).
52. As in 'Halloween' (2018), Karen's triumphant "Gotcha!" once more signifies Michael being lured into a trap. This time it doesn't end so well for her.
53. This film marks the second time that Marion Chambers has been killed by Michael Myers. She was also killed by Myers in an alternate timeline at the beginning of 'Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later' (1998).
54. Karen stabs Michael in the back with a pitchfork, a call back to 'Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers' (1989), where Michael uses a pitchfork in the back to dispatch Spitz.
55. This film features plot points, details and references deliberately similar to other 'Halloween' films, including Michael returning to his childhood home and killing people living in it (Part 6); Michael jumping on top of a vehicle to attack potential victims (the original & Part 4); Michael killing a bunch of angry citizens (Part 4); Michael killing Laurie's daughter (Part 6); Haddonfield citizens hanging out in a local town bar before hunting down Myers (Part 4); The Haddonfield Sheriff's department being out in full force while Myers is on the loose (Part 5); Movies playing in different scenes on TV (the original & Part 2); A character being mistaken for Michael and then killed (Part 2 & Part 4); A Haddonfield news report on the TV at the local bar (Part 4); and a head security guard at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital as a character and being killed by Myers (Part 2).
56. Across two different timelines, Laurie has two different daughters: Jamie Lloyd in 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers' (1988), 'Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers' (1989) and 'Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers' (1995); and Karen Nelson in 'Halloween' (2018) and 'Halloween Kills' (2021). In the end, both Jamie and Karen have a vision of The Shape as a little boy, enter the Myers house as part of an attempt at subterfuge to capture Michael and, naturally, die at his hands.
57. Tommy forming a lynch mob to hunt down Michael is similar to 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers' (1988), when the rednecks hunt Michael.
58. Michael killing Marcus and Vanessa while they're dressed up as a doctor and a nurse is a reference to 'Halloween II' (1981), where he kills the hospital staff of nurses and doctors.
59. When Vanessa approaches her car in the parking lot, the windows are steamed up, just like when Annie approached her car in the original 'Halloween'. In both cases, there was an escaped mental patient in the back seat, although it wasn't the same one.
60. When the young Officer Hawkins approaches the alley after he shoots at Michael, he puts his hand in blood on the ground. This is similar to what Dr. Loomis did in the beginning of 'Halloween II' (1981), although this film ignores those events.
61. The font used at the beginning of this film mirrors that used in the original 'Halloween II' (1981), just like the font of 'Halloween' (2018) echoed the font used in the original film.
62. Lonnie's death (hanging from the attic) is similar to Debra Strode's death in 'Halloween 6'.
63. When Michael is choking Lindsey, she claws at his mask and rips it back from his face, similar to what Laurie did at the end of the original film.
Know any similarities that I don't have here? E-mail them to us at: lairofhorror@yahoo.com and you will get credit for them.
Back To Halloween Kills Page
Back To The Lair Of Horror