With Halloween Ends seemingly ending the four-decade-long franchise of Michael Myers slashers, it's only fitting the film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castlein their original roles would pay homage to the original film.
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Curtis and Castle originated the roles of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers in the 1978 film Halloween, portraying the characters several times since. And with the 2022 film being the final time Castle dons the iconic white mask and Curtis fights for her life, it allowed plenty of opportunities to call back to the movie that started it all.
This article contains spoilers for Halloween Ends.
The Opening Credits Jack-O-Lantern
Every opening credits sequence in the franchise is unique to its film, from the homage to Dr. Loomis in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later after his portrayer Donald Pleasance's passing to the eerie jack-o-lantern that splits in half, revealing a skeleton face in Halloween II.
But the most memorable of them all was the flickering jack-o-lantern sitting beside the rolling credits at the start of the original film, with its round eyes and slit through its nose. The same jack-o-lantern appears in the Halloween Ends opening credits that rotate between different pumpkins.
The Knitting Needles
In Halloween, Laurie brings a ball of yarn and knitting needles to little Tommy Doyle's house to occupy herself while she babysits on Halloween night. But those knitting needles proved to be pretty handy when Michael broke into the house, and Laurie's only defense was stabbing him in the neck with one.
Knitting needles become a useful weapon in Halloween Ends when Laurie and Michael partake in their epic final battle, and Laurie grabs one to fight off her stalker with. But this time, the tables turn when Michael grabs the needle from her and begins spearing it into her face.
Michael Sits Up
One of the most iconic moments in the original film is when Laurie thinks she's finally beaten the boogeyman and takes a moment to lean against the doorframe and compose herself while Michael's corpse lies behind her. But in a thrilling twist, Michael sits straight up and stares at Laurie from behind.
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Michael still perfects his signature move 40 years later after being attacked by his protégé, Corey (Rohan Campbell), lying on the ground for just a moment before sitting straight up. Corey, possessed by Michael's curse, also manages to do the famous situp after being knocked down.
The Piano Tune
The theme song of the Halloween franchise was composed by director John Carpenter and has appeared in every single film, sounding a little different every time. The song and its anxiety-inducing beat first appeared during the opening credits of 1978's Halloween.
As per tradition, the song plays during Halloween Ends' opening credits, but keen Easter egg finders may have heard it elsewhere during the film. When Corey and Allyson (Andi Matichak) sneak into the mansion he once babysat at, Allyson taps a tune on the dusty piano, playing the first few notes of the theme song.
Corey Looming Outside
Michael Myers is best known for his stalkerish presence. In the 1978 film, Michael is first spotted creeping behind a hedge as Laurie and Annie walk home from school. When Laurie goes up to her room, she peeks out her window and spots Michael looking up at her from outside.
These two scenes were combined into one in Halloween Ends after Michael possesses Corey and the young man arrives outside Laurie's house. When Laurie looks out the window, Corey is looming in the distance by a large hedge, similar to how Michael did the first night he came home.
Laurie's Crouch
A memorable moment of Halloween comes after Dr. Loomis shoots Michael assumably to death while Laurie sits crouched on the floor in terror. She asks him, "Was that the boogeyman?" to which Dr. Loomis replies, "As a matter of fact, it was."
This moment was recreated for a split second in the 2022 film after Laurie's encounter with Corey leaves him to kill himself. Laurie crouches down by the doorframe in distress before realizing her back door had opened, realizing her nemesis had arrived.
The Pull-string
The pull string during the closet scene in Halloween is one of the best-known mistakes in the original film. When Laurie hides in the closet, Michael eventually slashes his knife through the closet door and breaks in, reaching wildly for his victim and accidentally pulling the string and lighting the light in the process.
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A pull-string becomes a notable Easter egg in Halloween Ends when Laurie hides from Michael in the kitchen pantry as he searches her house. A pull-string of some sort swings beside Laurie before she grabs it to stop it in what appears to be a small scene shot solely for the megafans of the first film.
Nurse Deb's Fate
After Corey and Michael turn into a slasher team and begin their reign of terror on Haddonfield in Halloween Kills, one of their deathly stops is the house of Allyson's boss, who happens to be dating a rival nurse. While Corey murders the doctor, Michael stabs the nurse continuously, finally stabbing his knife through her and pinning her dangling, bloody body to the wall behind her.
This artistic kill style was a direct callback to the original film when Michael kills Lynda's boyfriend, Bob, by strangling him against the wall before stabbing a knife through him and pinning his corpse to the wall.
Laurie's Friends Photo
Flashbacks play a major role in Halloween Ends, showing several memorable scenes from the first film in the franchise. But another callback that was simultaneously heartwarming and heartwrenching was Laurie's frame photo of herself and her two high school best friends, Annie and Lynda, hanging in her kitchen.
While their portrayers, Nancy Kyes and P.J. Soles, never returned to the Michael Myers franchise after their characters were killed in the 1978 film, their legacy seemingly lives on for both the viewers and Laurie.
'The Thing'
Only a few years after making Halloween, John Carpenter directed the landmark horror film, The Thing. At the start of Halloween Ends, when Corey babysits Jeremy on Halloween night, the two are seen watching Carpenter's other horror hit, but the Easter egg doesn't end there.
Carpenter's The Thing was a remake of the 1951 black-and-white film The Thing from Another World, which is the exact movie Laurie and Tommy watch on Halloween night when she babysits in 1978's Halloween.
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