Halloween H20 And Scream 3 Coincidentally Share An Eerie Connection

It's difficult to underestimate just how much of an effect "Scream" had on the horror genre. The Wes Craven-directed slasher lovingly poked and prodded at the tropes of genre movies from decades past, while never losing sight of the very real menace that Ghostface posed. Conversations among horror nerds were being acknowledged by the mainstream. It ultimately led to a slew of horror films that often tried to emulate its meta spirit, with films like "Urban Legend" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" that featured a whole bunch of youthful stars on the poster. A lot of them came from Dimension Films, the Miramax subsidiary that produced/distributed "Scream." It certainly put the distributor in an interesting predicament when it came time to make "Halloween H20."

If you've ever thought that "H20" felt more aligned with "Scream" than its own series, you're not wrong. In addition to being more aware of horror cliches, portions of John Ottman's score were swapped out for "Scream" tracks from Marco Beltrami. It's incredibly noticeable, especially if you've seen these movies a whole bunch. Other times, however, you start to notice things that never really registered before. "H20" takes place at a private boarding school named Hillcrest Academy in Summer Glen, California, and it was about halfway through that I started to make some interesting connections.

"H20" was largely shot at the Canfield-Moreno Estate in Silver Lake, California. But do you know what other movies filmed there? Why, it was none other than "Scream 3," where the manor served as the film's climactic set piece. Reusing locations, especially for movies made under the same company, isn't that surprising, but it is eerie how they coincidentally share one other very specific thing in common.

In "H20," Hillcrest serves as the setting for Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode to face her demons and actively bring an end to masked killer Michael Myers (Chris Durand) once and for all. It doesn't work out in her favor in that timeline due in part to the next film ("Halloween: Resurrection") retconning Michael's seemingly definitive beheading, but she gave it her best shot. In "Scream 3," Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott finds herself at the manor of John Milton (Lance Henriksen), where she fights Ghostface. It's revealed that there's only a single killer this time, and it's "Stab 3" director Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), who also happens to be Sidney's half-brother. Considering "H20" takes place in the hilariously convoluted "Halloween" timeline that loosely follows the events of Rick Rosenthal's "Halloween II," that would mean both Laurie and Sidney spend the climax fighting their brothers in the exact same location.

Although they were released within a few years of one another, the production schedules for "H20" and "Scream 3" had a time gap of about a year, with the former shooting in 1998 and the latter in 1999. The Canfield-Moreno Estate, which now goes under the Paramour Estate, is such a visually distinct setting that it was easy to clock even with all the interior and exterior decorating changes. But it didn't even occur until recently that they feature two of horror's most prolific final girls forming their "last stand" against slasher villains that just so happen to be related through blood. Revisiting family can sure be killer, huh?

If we're pitting these two slashers together, it comes as no contest that Michael wins every time. He sure looks like a doofus in "H20," due to the interchangeable usage of four terrible masks, but at the end of the day, he's the Michael Myers. "H20" weirdly doesn't touch upon Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) emptying his chamber into the serial killer at the end of John Carpenter's "Halloween," nor the hospital explosion of "Halloween II," so I can't take these incidents into consideration when talking about strength. But Michael does, however, lift Hillcrest guidance counselor Will Brennan (Adam Arkin) in the air with a kitchen knife. That's gotta count for something. Laurie's strong, yet even she has a difficult time taking him down.

Even though Dewey Riley (David Arquette) is the one to put a bullet in his head, Sidney pretty much kills Roman when she says, "God, why don't you stop your whining and get on with it? I've heard all this s*** before," during his big revelatory monologue. It only makes sense that the architect behind the entire series (up to that point) was yet another manipulative opportunist who committed his murders by transforming Maureen Prescott's (Lynn McRee) injustice to mask their insecurity and pave the way for their own success. "Scream 3" has unfortunately aged pretty well due to its introspection of Hollywood bigshots preying on young up-and-coming talent. In the end, Roman – for as fast as he is – doesn't stand a chance against Michael freaking Myers on a mission.

"Halloween H20" is currently streaming on HBO Max, while "Scream 3" is streaming on Paramount+.