Warning: SPOILERS for Halloween Kills.
Paying homage to one of the greatest horror movies of all time, Halloween Kills features a clever Psycho easter egg during a major death. Long before the arrival of Halloween Kills, the original 1978 Halloween movie helped inspire many of the tropes of the slasher genre, but the first film itself borrowed from its predecessors. Halloween kicked off the slasher craze that would blossom throughout the 1980s, but ‘60s horror movies and Alfred Hitchcock classics like Psycho provided plenty of inspiration for filmmakers.
Out of the many easter eggs present in David Gordon Green’s sequel Halloween Kills, the Psycho tribute is the most notable. As such, it’s no surprise the Halloween franchise’s main star, Jamie Lee Curtis, is the daughter of Janet Leigh, one of the first official "Scream Queens" who played Marion Crane in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Over the years, Halloween movies and especially Curtis have enjoyed paying tribute to Leigh’s famous role. Leigh even cameoed in Halloween H20 opposite her daughter, though Green’s Halloween films have retconned this sequel. As a foreshadowing that Psycho would make its way into the movie, Curtis even dressed up in Marion Crane’s outfit for the Halloween Kills premiere.
Green’s Psycho easter egg comes in at Halloween Kills’ ending as it mimics the iconic Marion Crane kill. As Karen is inside Michael Myers’ house and stares out of his window, he suddenly appears brandishing his knife. The sequence is clearly a Psycho homage, with its staggered killer’s point of view that doesn't actually show the knife punctuating the skin, and focuses on Karen's screams as she tries to block his blows. It goes even further as Karen slowly slides down the wall of Michael’s house, just as Marion slide down the shower wall in Alfred Hitchock's movie. The quick edits in Karen’s death scene deviate from Halloween Kills’ typical style, proving its Psycho influence was intentional. The only other aspect that would have made the tribute more obvious is if a dying Karen had slowly reached out her hand.
Halloween Kills’ Psycho homage was spotted quickly by viewers and later confirmed in interviews like Screen Rant's chat with actress Judy Greer. When discussing Karen's death, Greer recalled, “it's a little bit of an homage to Psycho, which is for Jamie [Lee Curtis] and… very like a dance and operatic and it's supposed to be really gorgeous.” Halloween 2018 didn’t have any overt Psycho nods, though Halloween Kills made up for that with Karen’s stylistic demise. It also leaves room for comparisons between Michael and Psycho’s Norman Bates, who is essentially wearing the mask of his mother’s identity when he murders Marion.
Halloween 2018 featured a deleted scene that was an unmistakable Psycho callback. This depicted the British podcaster Dana showering as the camera shows the bathroom door opening with "Michael Myers" slowly walking in. Channeling his best Norman Bates impression, "Michael" pulls back the curtain and readies his knife - but it's just the other podcaster playing a prank on his partner. The goofiness of this sequence is likely why it was cut. Halloween Kills was finally able to fulfill the tribute, and it was even more meaningful as the victim in question was Laurie’s daughter, Karen, which will set up an intense showdown in Halloween Ends.
