10 Movies That Subtly Homaged Other Movies

Retconned out of existence by the recent franchise reboot, Halloween H20 was one of the better efforts in the string of sequels following the horrific adventures of Michael Myers. It follows Laurie Strode twenty years after the events of the first two films. She's now a single mother who has faked her death in order to avoid the clutches of her relentless brother and she is also the headmistress of Hillcrest Academy, a private boarding school in California.

Played to iconic effect by Jamie Lee Curtis, Laurie is a jumpy mess in this movie because it takes place around Halloween. Understandably, it's not a time of the year that she's incredibly fond of. So when Norma Watson, a secretary at Hillcrest, accidentally sneaks up on her, she screams aloud. What follows is a homage to Psycho.

Watson is played by Janet Leigh, the mother of Curtis and a film star herself. Leigh's most famous work was Psycho, in which she played leading lady Norma (her character's name is a nod). Earlier in the film, Norma mentions that the showers aren't working, a reference to her famous scene.

After bumping into Laurie, Norma asks for pardon as she wishes to be 'maternal' with her younger colleague. She offers kindly advice before walking off to the Psycho theme and getting into the same car that her character drives in the Alfred Hitchcock classic.