There's no subreddit I love more than r/MovieDetails*, and I'm not just saying that because I've unfortunately chosen to make loving movies my whole personality on this website.
And, if y'all know anything about me, you know I also specifically love horror movies. A lot. One (read: a therapist) might say too much. That's right, I have two whole personality traits and THAT'S IT.
So, with this in mind, I decided to round-up some of my personal favorite horror movie specific details, Easter eggs, and behind-the-scenes things from r/MovieDetails for your viewing pleasure!
Ready? I hope so! Here we go:
For those who've never had the pleasure(?) of watching Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the story revolves around — strap in — a shady corporation selling Halloween masks that straight-up kill the children wearing them...so let's hope the ones in the 2018 film are just meant to be a fun coincidence and not the actual masks themselves!
Also, unrelated, but related: my personal favorite one of the three is the pumpkin mask. It's hilarious. It has the least detail and looks like the murderous makers gave up halfway through designing it — which, relatable. Give us nothing, pumpkin!
While you're likely already familiar with the memed-to-high-heck scene, for those not in the know: Christian Bale's serial killing Patrick Bateman is obsessed with all things luxury and is all but orgasmic when he's faced with Paul Allen's (Jared Leto) beautiful new business card. My god, it even has a watermark!
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Also, as an added bonus fun fact in another hilariously odd detail in the film, the word "Acquisitions" is inexplicably misspelled on not only Paul Allen's card, but every other business card shown in the film. A mistake by the prop department or a meta-commentary on how these men only care about their outward appearances and not actual substance? Who knows for sure!
Tod (Chad Donella) is nearly choked to death by his headphones on the plane while rushing to exit, only to later be choked to death for real in his own shower.
While watching the plane leave through the airport window, we see the shadow of the aircraft cut across the top half of Billy's (Sean William Scott) head. Later, Billy is killed when a metal shard is flung from a train and cuts his head clean in half in the same formation.
And, of course, Terry (Amanda Detmer) is seen standing in front of an ad for a bus. A little later on, she's hit by a bus in the number one jump scare in the film (if you ask me, anyway)!
During the scene at the laundromat, William (Colman Domingo) can be seen reading a paperback copy of Weaveworld, a dark fantasy novel written by Barker.
Barker is horror royalty, having not only written the short story that Candyman is based on, but also writing the Hellraiser series! Here he is with the squad:
The plot of this sequel revolves around the Warren's coming to the aid of a single mother who's experiencing a demonic presence. They realize that the only way to contain the demon is to say the demon's name, but it takes the length of the film for them to discover the entity's true moniker.
However, you can actually see the demon's full name, "Valak," spelled out on the bookshelf behind Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) at one point!
While many non-horror fans already know Jason isn't the killer in the first film, courtesy of Ghostface's trivia at the start of the original Scream, many non-horror fans still don't realize that Jason doesn't actually get his trademark hockey mask until the third film. My man was wearing a potato sack for a full movie and a half!
Anyway, not long after our boy gets his signature look in the third film, he's slashed in the noggin with an axe. The mark of that axe remains on his mask in every subsequent film.
In the film, the family friends of the Wilson's see their twin girls brutally murdered by their twin tethers, who leave their bloodied bodies strewn out in a hallway.
This blocking is a direct reference to the twin girls in The Shining, who are revealed in a quick cut to have been brutally murdered by an axe. DO NOT COME PLAY WITH THEM, DANNY.
If you've never seen Child's Play, emotionally prepare yourself, because my explanation of the story is going to sound like I'm making things up: the series follows notorious serial killer Charles Lee Ray who attempts to escape arrest (and, ya know, death) by performing a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into a "Good Guy" doll. That's not just some terrible doll, it's a grown-ass man trapped inside a doll.
So, as pointed out by the Redditor, it's a pretty cool detail that the longer Charles is trapped in this form, the more human-like the doll then becomes as his soul desperately attempts to escape it — plus, it also makes the doll look terrifying! Gross!
The Ring is a supernatural horror film about the dangers of VHS tapes (jk, but kinda). It follows a journalist who's investigating a mysterious tape that sees its viewers die exactly seven days after watching it. It is later uncovered that this is caused by the vengeful ghost of a little girl named Samara who was brutally murdered.
As the Redditor notes, in one scene a Japanese maple tree is seen, and the fruit grown on that particular tree hints at the name of our antagonist. The "fruit" is actually a green to red long-winged seed, and they are, in fact, called "samaras." Samaras ripen between September and October and are scattered by the wind.
After a tragic accident takes place in the film, there's a shot lingering on the family's home during the day, which then quickly cuts to night. Before the cut to night, you can see the house is fairly remote and inconspicuous, surrounded by lush trees.
But, when it cuts to night, the house is surrounded by...something else, too. Things get real creepy real fast as (with the brightness raised, as we did here) you can see the home is now surrounded by naked cult members. No thanks!
Billy and Stu are revealed at the end of the film to both be Ghostface, taking turns donning the mask and murdering and, at times, working together.
In this scene, you can see that Billy and Stu have on matching pairs of black boots. They are the only two characters wearing these matching shoes, and these are the same shoes seen being worn by Ghostface later.
In Saw, it's revealed toward the end of the film that seemingly sane cancer patient, John Kramer, was, in fact, the Jigsaw serial killer the entire time, and the creator of the many traps the police kept finding victims in.
This becomes clear with hindsight, as we see him doodling perhaps his most infamous trap — the reverse bear trap — in a notebook while sleeping at the hospital during his treatment.
The Insidious franchise was directed by James Wan and co-written by Wan and Leigh Whannell. Wan directed the original Saw, while Whannell co-wrote the film and starred as Adam.
Here's Billy the Puppet in Upgrade:
And here he is again in The Invisible Man:
The long history between these two horror directors and their communication back and forth through their films is a little convoluted — and, frankly, the kind of drama I LIVE for — so stay with me: back in 1977, Craven featured a torn Jaws poster in the background of a scene in his film, The Hills Have Eyes. Many interpreted this inclusion as less of a fun cameo and more as Craven's way of insinuating that Jaws wasn't actually all that scary in comparison to his own work. It was basically just a dig at Steven Spielberg.
Then, petty king, Raimi, decided to one-up Craven when making The Evil Dead, including a torn-up poster for The Hills Have Eyes in the background of one scene, saying of this choice: "There’s a torn-up poster of Jaws in The Hills Have Eyes, so I thought it would be funny to tear a The Hills Have Eyes poster into pieces in The Evil Dead, to tell Wes, 'No, this is the real horror, pal.'"
After this began an ALL OUT silent Easter egg war, in which each director would include a reference to the other's work in their ongoing films. This went on to include The Evil Dead being played on a TV in the background during A Nightmare on Elm Street and a Freddy Kruger glove being planted in the background of The Evil Dead II. In short: I love petty horror drama!
Well, there you have it! Which horror movie detail and/or Easter egg is your all-time favorite? Do you know of any more not listed here? Share in the comments below!
And, of course, H/T r/MovieDetails!