Hubie Halloween carried forward Adam Sandler’s portfolio of films released via Netflix. While Sandler’s recent offerings have been nothing if not inconsistent, this new movie tapped into the Halloween ethos and has generated some buzz, if only for connecting with holiday enthusiasts. Moreover, it’s that rare Halloween film that hits the sweet spot between not explicitly being a children’s movie, like Hocus Pocus or Halloweentown, but also not being a horror film that might scare off prospective viewers.
More than a passable holiday comedy, though Hubie Halloween succeeded in tapping into the tradition of Sandler films. Indeed, there were a number of references to his other movies, including from his heyday in the 1990s, when he won over many of his most dedicated fans.
Julie Bowen - The Love Interest
People watching Hubie Halloween might have first recognized the title character’s romantic interest, played by Julie Bowen, from her most famous recent work as a central character on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Years before she played Claire Dunphy, though, one of the things viewers may not have realized about Bowen was that she previously had a featured role as Virginia Venet — Sandler’s publicist turned girlfriend in Happy Gilmore.
Bowen’s divorced mom and waitress character, Violet Valentine, may have been a bit less polished than the one she played in the 1990s. Nonetheless, the old chemistry with Sandler, not to mention the double-V initials for a Sandler love interest, lived on a decade and a half later.
The Man-Child
There’s a bit of a pattern to so many of Adam Sandler’s signature lead roles in that he often plays a grown man who behaves more like a kid. Indeed, his immature antics were central to some of the funniest scenes from Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and his a number of his other comedies. Even his most mature role of all in Uncut Gems saw his lack of responsibility with money and the people in his life catch up to him in dramatic ways.
Hubie Halloween fits this tradition by featuring a character who has a childlike devotion to October 31st and who scares easily, but finds his way to greater responsibility and respect by the end of the film.
Ben Stiller - The Orderly
Before Ben Stiller had fully broken out as a star in his own right, one of his more celebrated early roles saw him play a belligerent orderly who cared for Adam Sandler’s grandmother in Happy Gilmore. In a fun turn, Stiller — back in his orderly garb, with his mustache and similarly styled hair — was the first actor to appear on screen in Hubie Halloween.
The overlapping nametag of Hal suggests that Stiller was even playing the exact same character in these two films, supporting theories of a Sandler multiverse. The role was much smaller — more of a cameo — in this recent movie, but nonetheless, it signaled that the film would be rich in callbacks.
The Devoted Maternal Figure
Alongside Adam Sandler’s lead characters tending to behave in childlike ways, another pattern in so many films is the prominence of a maternal figure in the protagonist’s life. This includes Kathy Bates’ mother character who shapes Bobby Boucher’s warped world view in The Waterboy, the grandmother Sandler will do anything to defend in Happy Gilmore, and arguably even the kindly old woman he teaches to sing in one of Sandler's best movies, The Wedding Singer.
This pattern of characters continues into Hubie Halloween, as adult Hubie still lives with his mother, and she ultimately proves herself quite overprotective of him.
O’Doyle Rules
One of the most quotable lines from Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison was “O’Doyle rules!” This was the rallying cry for a whole family of bullies who sequentially tormented Billy and friends as he moved up the grades in school.
As Hubie, Sandler faced bullies again, including a persistent stream of kids throwing things at him as he cycles through town. Notably, on multiple occasions, they call out “O’Doyle rules” after picking on him. Could this be the very same O’Doyle family from the Sandler universe of films? There’s no reason it couldn’t be, though it’s also a common enough name for the overlap to pass as a coincidence.
The Misunderstood Monster
Despite a distinguished acting career, in which he has appeared in a number of celebrated films, Steve Buscemi is also a frequent Adam Sandler castmate. Throughout Hubie Halloween, the threat looms that his character might be a werewolf. At the same time, a masked escapee from a mental institution pees all over town and poses the ominous threat of doing much more. Spoiler alert: by the end of the movie, both men are proven mostly harmless.
This idea of someone looking like a monster only to turn out to be gentler and more likable is one that Sandler’s films have visited quite a few times. From some of the bruisers on Sandler’s prison football team in The Longest Yard and the giant landlord turned fan played by Richard Kiel in Happy Gilmore to the Revolting Blob, as well as Buscemi’s own role in Billy Madison, Sandler’s catalog is rich in misunderstood monsters.
A Nod To Gladys O’Connor
Gladys O’Connor plays a kindly, if oblivious old woman who greets children on their field trip in Billy Madison. A markedly similar-looking woman in similar garb appears in Hubie Halloween for a quick sight gag in which she throws away the word searches Hubie had prepared to entertain a line of kids and in a quick line about her being sexually excited.
O’Connor passed away in 2012, having cleared 100 years old by that point, so she couldn’t appear in Hubie Halloween. Having someone to remind hardcore Sandler fans of this earlier cast member was an offbeat, classy way of paying tribute to her memory.
Flaming Poop
From the early stages of Hubie Halloween, it’s a running gag that people always throw things at Hubie as he rides around town on his bike. In a fun subversion of expectations, Hubie dodges the debris quite skillfully — hinting there’s more to him than it would appear on the surface, not to mention that he’s quite used to this brand of persecution.
Notably, early on, kids throw flaming bags of poop at him. This is a direct homage to the pranks Adam Sandler and his friends played early on in Billy Madison to pick on their elderly neighbors, leaving similar fecal conflagrations at their doorsteps.
Steve Buscemi Revives His Werewolf Persona
Steve Buscemi’s character in Hubie Halloween thinks he’s a werewolf. Indeed, the audience is led to believe this is true for much of the film, rendered from Hubie’s point of view, though the movie ultimately seems to suggest that he is instead an escaped patient from a mental health facility.
Buscemi’s obsession with being a werewolf in this movie all but has to be read as a callback to his voicework in Adam Sandler’s earlier animated feature, Hotel Transylvania. Therein, the character Buscemi voiced was more literally, undeniably a lycanthrope.
Helping Kids
For as juvenile and uneven as Adam Sandler’s catalog of films has been — particularly as the years have gone on — one of the more consistently redeeming qualities of his movies tend to be that whether it's one of his family-friendly or more adult movies, the protagonists demonstrate a good heart when it comes to helping kids.
The eponymous character from Billy Madison stands up for and befriends weaker kids as he goes through school. Sonny Koufax in Big Daddy finds redemption in caring for and becoming a role model to a child. So, too, does Hubie demonstrate a commitment to keeping Halloween safe for kids in particular, and he ultimately becomes a worthy father figure for Violet Valentine’s kids.