Halloween H20's Nod To The Friday The 13th Franchise Was Quick, But Intentional
Steve Miner's "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" was the seventh "Halloween" film, but it came during a slasher revival that was sparked by the success of Wes Craven's "Scream" two years earlier. "H20" ignored the mythology laid out in "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers," and "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers."
The film caught up with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), still overcoming the trauma of Halloween night back in 1978 (covered in "Halloween" and "Halloween II"), and learning to live with the fact that Michael Myers is her brother. Moreso, "H20" focuses on Laurie's son John (Josh Hartnett) and his hip-talking teen peers. The teen cast contained a few notable stars-to-be, including Michelle Williams and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. If the kids sound like characters from a Kevin Williamson film, it's because Williamson served as an uncredited co-screenwriter on "H20."
It was Miner's first "Halloween" film, although the director had helmed numerous notable horror films in the past. He was behind the excellent 1989 time-travel picture "Warlock," as well as 1986's bizarro haunting film "House." His first two movies as director were "Friday the 13th Part 2" and "Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D," making Miner the only filmmaker to work with both Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. There is a certain synergy to this fact, as "Friday the 13th" producer Sean S. Cunningham has openly admitted that his movies were a direct knockoff of John Carpenter's original "Halloween."
On the commentary track for "Halloween H20," Miner admitted — albeit very briefly — that he included a little "Friday the 13th" homage in his "Halloween" film, spiritually bridging the gap between the two. In one scene, Levitt can be seen wearing a hockey mask.
'Really, Steve? An homage?'
It's pretty well-known among slasher films — and by the horror community at large — that "Friday the 13th" was a brazen rip-off of "Halloween." Most slasher fans don't seem to mind, however, and many might declare themselves to be fans of both series. Carpenter isn't much of a fan, as one might have guessed, and he has gone on record lambasting "Friday" for lifting off his technique.
A small twinge of Carpenter's resentment also seems to have leaked into Curtis, who speaking on the "Halloween H20" commentary track alongside with the director. Miner mentions that Joseph Gordon-Levitt became more famous after the making of "H20," and explained the hockey mask in the scene, saying: "He is a big star and I knew it then, and he was wearing a hockey mask as an homage to an earlier movie I had done."
One cannot see the sardonic expression on Curtis' face in response, but her reply was golden. "Really, Steve?" she said. "An homage?" Curtis is being playful, of course, but she is pointing out that "paying homage" to a "Friday the 13th" movie in a "Halloween" movie is kind of a pop-cultural double-back. It would be like, say, "Digimon" including a "Pokémon" homage.
Of course, "Friday the 13th" homages were myriad throughout the '80s and '90s. One might see Jason's mask in a police locker in 1998's "Bride of Chucky," or the same mask on the poster for "Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers." For many years, "hockey mask" was the same as "serial killer" in the pop culture consciousness. If anyone had the right to include a Jason mask in a modern "Halloween" movie, it was the director of two "Friday the 13th" movies.
This is what we might call a Miner reference.