Editorials
Let’s Explore the Shared Slasher Movie Universe That Already Exists
Are they fun Easter eggs, or do our favorite villains live in the same universe?
“Shared cinematic universes” are all the rage in Hollywood right now. Of course, it all began with the Marvel and DC comic book superhero universes that have been dominating the box office for the last several years, and in 2017, Universal is launching their own shared monsters universe with the action-oriented reboot of The Mummy. And then there’s the so-called Cloverfield Cinematic Universe, which continues next year with a film that will share some connection to both the 2008 found footage monster movie and this year’s universe-expander, 10 Cloverfield Lane.
But what about the big horror movie franchises of the 1980s? Fans have for years been begging for a “Shared Slasher Universe” of sorts, hopeful that the likes of Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, and Ash Williams will eventually come together for either an epic mash-up film or a series of interconnected movies. Of course, it will likely never happen. Then again, does it already exist?
Back in November 2015, our own Daniel Baldwin wrote an excellent piece about the Universal Monsters Universe that already exists, and today we delve into the Slasher Universe.
It all began in 1987…
In response to Wes Craven featuring a scene from The Evil Dead in A Nightmare on Elm Street, which itself was a response to Sam Raimi putting a torn up Hills Have Eyes poster in The Evil Dead, Raimi cleverly hid Freddy Krueger’s glove in Evil Dead 2. The glove appears in two different scenes: at one point it hangs above the workshed door, at another it can be seen hanging in the fruit cellar. Freddy’s glove subsequently popped up for a cameo appearance in “Ash vs. Evil Dead” last year. Of course, the various appearances of the glove in the Evil Dead franchise can’t really be viewed as anything more than Raimi paying tribute to Craven, but Evil Dead 2 was the first time a major prop from one franchise found its way into another.
If nothing more, it’s fun to imagine Ash and Freddy residing in the same world.
Eagle-eyed fans spotted another fun little franchise-to-franchise nod in 1990’s Predator 2, which has since become one of the most well-known Easter eggs in cinema history. At one point in the 1997-set sequel, an instantly-recognizable Xenomorph skull is spotted in a trophy case aboard the Predator Mother Ship. Though an Alien vs. Predator comic series had just begun at the time, the skull represented the first time the two franchises crossed over on the big screen. Of course, two Alien vs. Predator films followed many years later: AvP in 2004 and AvP: Requiem in 2007.
The skull suggested that the battle had begun long before we were given a front-row seat.
If there’s any one lynchpin of the Slasher Universe it’s Jason Goes to Hell, released in 1993. While Evil Dead 2 suggested that Freddy and Ash live in the same world, Jason Goes to Hell went ahead and made it clear that Jason lives right alongside them. Down in the Voorhees basement, the Evil Dead franchise’s Necronomicon is spotted, and if that wasn’t direct enough a connection between the series’, the Kandarian Dagger is also prominently featured in the body-hopping film. In fact, it’s the Kandarian Dagger that possesses the power to kill Jason Voorhees once and for all; and indeed it serves precisely that purpose, suggesting that… Jason is a Deadite?! Freddy then pops up at the very end to drag Jason into Hell, teasing their 2003 battle a decade in advance.
Maybe it was the Necronomicon that brought Jason back from the dead?
That’s not all that Jason Goes to Hell brings to the table, in terms of universe-building. Also seen down in the Voorhees basement is the crate that housed the monstrous Fluffy in Creepshow, and you may remember that at one point, a character makes mention of something happening near “the old Myers place.” The implication is that Michael Myers lives in that very same world.
Speaking of the Necronomicon, did you know that it also pops up in 1994 sequel Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings? It can be seen in Ms. Osie’s cabin, suggesting that the witch uses the Book of the Dead as part of her spells. Does Pumpkinhead have some connection to the Necronomicon?
Another film that heavily expands on the Slasher Universe, if you choose to have a little fun and use your imagination, is 1998’s Bride of Chucky. Early in the film, Tiffany steals Chucky’s remains from a police compound, and several iconic horror movie props are seen in the same building.
Locked up in the station is Freddy’s glove, Jason’s mask, Michael Myers’ mask, and Leatherface’s chainsaw. We already knew up to that point that Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers inhabited the same world, but Bride of Chucky posits that maybe the killer doll and Leatherface do as well.
I’d be remiss to not also mention 2006’s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which is set in a world where all the big slasher villains exist. At one point, Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers are mentioned by name, and it’s also worth noting, as I recently did in a separate article wherein I spoke with the film’s writer, that Eugene is supposed to be Billy from Black Christmas.
Also worth reminding that Leslie Vernon is mentioned in Hatchet 2, which would place bayou monster Victor Crowley into the same universe as all the other slasher icons!
Now look. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I feel I must once again point out that this is all for fun. Most of this stuff isn’t canon but rather the work of filmmakers paying tribute to the horror movies they love; it’s just amusing to examine all the homages, connect the dots, and imagine a world where all of our favorite slasher characters exist and breathe the same air.
Did I miss any franchise-to-franchise connections? Let me know if you think of any!
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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