The 2014 thriller, The Guest, drew inspiration from an unexpected source — John Carpenter's iconic horror film Halloween. Small tributes to Halloween are visible throughout the film, such as images of jack-o-lanterns and the film's title being written in the same font. However, The Guest offers a larger tribute to its predecessor by means of Dan Stevens' David.
The film tells the story of ex-soldier David who unexpectedly shows up on the Peterson family's doorstep, claiming to have served in the military with their late son, Caleb. Once a string of deaths follows his arrival, Caleb's teenage sister Anna (Maika Monroe) begins to suspect David is responsible. Chaos follows once Anna and her younger brother Luke get closer to finding out the truth.
Anna's hunch was right, as David was responsible for those deaths. He blows in unannounced with no attachments to the town and he kills without a second thought. If that sounds familiar, it's because David is an ode to Halloween's Michael Myers. By tweaking a few details of his predecessor, David ends up being a scarier antagonist than Michael Myers.
The Guest's David is a Tribute to Michael Myers
The Guest writer Simon Barrett was inspired to pen this film after a double feature of Halloween and The Terminator, and it shows. The Guest subtly mirrors Halloween's cat-and-mouse between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, but takes it one step further. Michael became such an iconic villain because he killed mercilessly without motive. There's nothing scarier than an unpredictable villain. The more Michael's story was drawn out, the more that initial frightening unpredictability became diluted. Imagine a Michael Myers who gained the Strode family's trust before going on a murderous rampage — that would be The Guest's David.
The Guest takes the character of Michael Myers, gives him a little charisma, and that makes him all the more frightening. Michael is a menacing figure all on his own. He's a seemingly unstoppable killing machine who sets his sights on a teenage girl with no rhyme or reason. These characteristics in a charming guy like David are downright terrifying, as he appears too nice to ever commit a heinous act. The Guest's David has one additional key element that ends up making him a scarier character than Michael.
The fact that Michael Myers appears to be unkillable is scary, but the Halloween franchise made some ridiculous plot choices to continue to bring Michael back time and again, such as deciding to make him and Laurie related. The Guest's David is a one-and-done villain. In true Michael Myers fashion, he survived what should have been fatal injuries, but never returns. This means the frightening nature of his character is never tarnished. While David is a strong tribute to Halloween's Michael Myers, having him appear in one film ultimately makes The Guest's David even scarier than Michael Myers.