It’s a typical trope in horror movies for characters to be seen watching other horror movies, either to put some fear into them or foreshadow what’s to come. Sometimes an artistic choice, sometimes a nod to a creator’s other works, it’s not uncommon for film characters to enjoy a good scary movie.
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Fromblack-and-white monster moviesto slasher hits, plenty of other horror films seem to exist within each other, while several appear within theHalloweenfranchise, andHocus Pocus 2got a meta movie moment.
‘Halloween’ Watched ‘The Thing From Another World’
No one’s safe on Halloween night in Haddonfield, even if you’re cooped up inside watching an old black-and-white horror flick while you babysit. When Tommy Doyle wishes to snack on popcorn and carve jack-o-lanterns, he can’t seem to tear Laurie’s eyes from the television as she watches the 1951 filmThe Thing From Another World.
Lindsay Wallace is also seen watching the same film over at her house while her babysitter calls her boyfriend. The film’s director and composerJohn Carpenterwould later take inspiration from this movie when he created a remake in 1982 simply titledThe Thing.
‘Halloween Ends’ Watched ‘The Thing’
Halloween Endsbegins by introducing the audience to a new babysitter named Corey, who spends Halloween night watching a familiar film with the young boy he’s babysitting. Scenes from 1982’sThe Thingflash on the television screen while Corey realizes the boy may be a bit too young for the movie’s gore.
Not only does this act as acallback to the originalHalloweenwhen Laurie and Tommy watch the film as she babysits, but it’s also an Easter egg to John Carpenter, who directedThe Thingand composed the soundtrack to theHalloweenfilms.
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Watched ‘Hocus Pocus’
After 29 years,Hocus Pocus 2was full of noticeablecallbacks to the first film,from the way the Sanderson Sisters walk to the way they fly. But once blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter egg just might outshine them all.
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As the witches run amock in Salem, Winifred peaks through someone’s window and catches a glimpse of the movie they’re watching. On the TV screen is the scene from the originalHocus PocuswhereGary MarshallandPenny Marshallstar as the Devil and Medusa.
‘It Follows’ Watched ‘The Giant Claw’
Albeit a lesser-known monster movie,The Giant Clawis a notable film bySam Katzmanthat followed a man who discovers a UFO that turns out to be a gigantic bird from outer space who later attacks The Empire State Building not too long after King Kong did.
In 2014’sIt Follows,a group of teenagers seem to be 1950s sci-fi lovers when they not only watchKillers From Space,but alsoThe Giant Claw,both of which were considered as a way of foreshadowing their own experiences.
‘The Babadook’ Watched ‘Black Sabbath’
In the 2014 supernatural horrorThe Babadook,not only does it reference the 1963 Italian horrorBlack Sabbath,but Amelia is seen watching the film’s “A Drop of Water” scene, which exactly foreshadows her fate in the following scene.
The film’s writer and directorJennifer Kentadmitted toComplex.comthat she felt so strongly this film needed to feature theBlack Sabbathscene, that she “paid an arm and a leg” for the rights to the footage.
‘It’ Watched ‘I Was a Teenage Werewolf’
In the midst of all the scares at the hands of Pennywise, in 1990’sIt,the losers club attends a screening of 1957’sI Was A Teenage Werewolf,which later inspires one of Pennywise’s attacks on Richie when it transforms into a werewolf.
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The characters in the 2017 remake don’t have the same experience, but they do often ride past the local movie theater on their bikes that’s marquee advertisesA Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Warriors,though no clip from the film is ever watched.
‘Trick ‘R Treat’ Watched ‘House on Haunted Hill’
Trick ‘r Treatisn’t one for many Easter eggs, being a unique slasher film in its own right. But it does continue the classic tradition of a victim watching a horror film just before they’re attacked by a real-life killer.
On a lonely Halloween night, Mr. Kreeg sits at home with his pooch watching 1959’sHouse on Haunted Hilljust before he’s terrorized by Sam, who invades his home and attacks him with his killer candy.
‘Scream’ Watched ‘Halloween’
What’s probably the most iconic horror movie-watching-horror movie moment comes in 1996’sScreamwhen all the teens gather at Stu’s house and pop in a VHS of 1978’sHalloweento wind down from the night.
But it’s later in the evening when Randy’s the last one left watching that he yells at the television screen for Laurie to look behind her just as Ghostface starts creeping up behind him, unbeknownst to the horror movie fanatic.
‘Halloween: H20’ Watched ‘Scream 2’
Not long after theScreamcharacters watched 1978’sHalloween,theHalloweenfranchise made things even more meta in 1998’sHalloween H20: Twenty Years Laterwhen the characters are seen watchingScream 2.
While the scene is brief, before heading out to a party, Molly and her friend can be seen watching the famous scene fromScream 2that starsSarah MichelleGellaras Cici, who tragically gets killed by Ghostface.
Night of the Living Deadhas to be the most-watched horror film within horror films, its black-and-white scenes appearing in over a dozen films since the 80s. But a standout appearance came in 2013’sAll Hallows’ Eve.
Before it was the origin ofTerrifier’sArt the Clown,All Hallows Evefollowed a babysitter who puts on a VHS ofNight of the Living Deadbefore the film turns into a montage of home movies featuring Art’s murders.
