Halloween Kills References Michael Myers’ 1978 Movie Escape

The first trailer for David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills features a callback to Michael Myers’ very first escape. Directed by John Carpenter, the 1978 Halloween movie became one of the most iconic horror films of all time and spawned twelve sequels and reboots, including the anthology entry Halloween III: Season of the Witch and the upcoming sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.

2018’s Halloween was a direct sequel to the original Halloween, discarding the events of Halloween II and all the other sequels from canon. It also was the first Halloween movie since Season of the Witch to have John Carpenter onboard as a producer and offering creative input. Producers Jason Blum and Malek Akkad were keen to get Carpenter involved and return the Halloween franchise to its roots, and Halloween 2018 features plenty of references to Halloween 1978, including recreations of specific kills. Based on the trailer, it looks like Halloween Kills will continue with those callbacks.

After an intro that shows Michael Myers killing his older sister, Judith, when he was just six years old, Halloween 1978 jumps forward 15 years to show Michael’s escape from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium as an adult. Michael’s psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Loomis, is driving to the sanitarium with a nurse, Marion Chambers, in order to transport Michael for a court hearing. When they arrive, however, the patients are wandering freely outside of the facility’s grounds. When Dr. Loomis gets out to investigate, Michael Myers jumps on top of the car and attacks Marion, smashing the window with his bare hand. She is able to get free and escape the car, which Michael promptly steals.

The trailer for Halloween Kills includes a scene that recreates Michael Myers’ escape – only this time, he doesn’t allow the nurse to get away. A character dressed in a Halloween nurse costume is shown struggling to open a car door, eventually falling out onto the road like Marion did in the original movie. The car window is already shattered, suggesting that Michael may recreate his bare-handed window break (in the original movie, Michael Myers actor Nick Castle actually had a wrench taped to his forearm to ensure the window was smashed successfully). Later in the trailer, the body of the character wearing the nurse costume is found in a playground, with a Silver Shamrock skeleton mask on her head.

Though Marion Chambers survived her initial encounter with Michael Myers, the character was killed off when she returned in Halloween H20 and had her threat cut by the masked murderer. Thanks to Halloween 2018’s reset of the franchise’s continuity, Marion is still alive at the start of Halloween Kills – and actress Nancy Stephens is set to return in the role. Hopefully Marion will be able to escape Michael Myers once again.