Halloween Ends Has Meta John Carpenter Easter Eggs
The original Halloween was written by Debra Hill and John Carpenter, with Carpenter also serving as the director and composer. Not only has the filmmaker had an undeniable impact on all of genre cinema, but his fingerprints are intrinsic to the success of the Halloween franchise, as proven with his producing and composing efforts on the recent trilogy of Halloween films from director David Gordon Green. In addition to these new films attempting to honor his cinematic sensibilities, the latest film had more direct references to the filmmaker himself, which have an added layer of homage to the man who helped kick off the long journey of Michael Myers. Halloween Ends is in theaters now.
WARNING: Mild spoilers below for Halloween Ends
In the original Halloween, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) watches over two young children on Halloween night, only for this peace to be interrupted by the villainous Michael Myers. As Laurie is working on carving a pumpkin, the two children treat themselves to an old sci-fi movie on TV, which is Christian Nyby's 1951 film The Thing from Another World.
In 1982, Carpenter himself would go on to offer his own adaptation of the source novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, as The Thing. In the opening scenes of Halloween Ends, Corey (Rohan Campbell) is watching a young boy on Halloween night and they enjoy a horror movie, though this time they are watching Carpenter's The Thing. Not only is this a tribute to Carpenter himself, but also a callback to what the kids were watching on TV back in the 1978 Halloween.
This TV tribute isn't the only way the film pays respects to John Carpenter, as a piece of dialogue channels a popular quote made by the filmmaker himself.
In various interviews over the years, such as when he spoke with Vulture in 2011, Carpenter has described that there are ultimately just two kinds of horror stories. As the filmmaker puts it, "There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don't understand. Internal is the human heart."
Later in Halloween Ends, Laurie confronts Corey, who is exhibiting strange behavior, in hopes of thwarting him from leading her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) down a dangerous path. While Laurie doesn't explicitly share Carpenter's words verbatim, she similarly warns Corey of how there are only two types of evil, one being internal and one being external. Carpenter fans will surely recognize the significance of the scene and how it draws direct inspiration from the filmmaker's approach to unsettling stories.
Throughout the film, there are a number of small nods to other corners of the Halloween franchise and Carpenter's contributions specifically, with these being some of the more layered elements that go outside what has been seen in his films themselves.
Halloween Ends is in theaters now.
What did you think of these homages? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!