WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Scream, now playing in theaters.

Scream (2022) is a sequel that brings things back to the basics. With new tropes to emulate and ties to the original film, the latest installment delivers scares that should have been expected but were just subversive enough to still surprise audiences. There are also many callbacks to earlier films in the slasher genre that help make this entry another love letter to the sub-genre. One example hides in plain sight and brings Scream even closer to a slasher movie pioneer, John Carpenter's Halloween.

Scream follows a new protagonist named Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), who returns to Woodsboro after an assailant in a Ghostface mask attacks her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega). With her returning to her hometown along with her boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid), Sam realizes that she's part of a clever web of mistrust as the killer begins to pick off Tara's friend group to get to her.

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The film later reveals that Sam is actually the daughter of one of the original film's main killers, Billy Loomis. As a result, Sam's name is technically Sam Loomis, a clever nod to the main character from the Halloween films. But even more interesting is the realization that the ties between both characters go deeper than having the same name. To start, Sam deals with mental health issues that cause her to see her father if she isn't properly medicated. Ironically, Halloween's Sam deals with youths suffering from mental health issues, making Scream's Sam her own psychiatrist as she wrestles with her visions while protecting her sister.

Like Loomis and Myers, Sam also shares a connection with the film's killers, not only literally as they are both her boyfriend and childhood friend, but also because she sees Billy in visions. In Halloween, Loomis and Michael are constantly at odds with one representing goodness and the other pure evil. Sam in Scream (2022) shows this by always staying as close to the killer as she can, putting herself in harm's way to save her sister and others she cares about.

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By far, the scariest connection Sam has to the Halloween films is her constant avoidance of embracing the killer within. Throughout the film, Billy tries to get her to accept that she's related to a killer and use that bloodlust to protect her family. Sam always teases his darker nature to protect others in the Halloween franchise but never fully plunges into the abyss. This is best shown when he uses Jamie Lloyd as bait in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. Scream's Sam endures the same struggle, but when she finally accepts who she is to kill one of the murderers, she never lets it take over and instead uses the moment to finally live life without fear.

Both versions of Sam Loomis have their own lives and stories that place them on a collision course with a killer. However, beyond their different backgrounds, they both show the dangers of constantly putting themselves in the company of evil. Even though neither of them fully embraces the darkness within, Scream's connection shows how one bad day has the potential to take a good person and turn them into someone violent.

To see how Sam emulates her Halloween counterpart, Scream is in theaters now.

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