7 Horror Movies Connected By Easter Eggs

Whether you like your eggs boiled, scrambled, or sunny-side up, it's undeniable that the very best ones are those found in the murky depths of movies.

They might be far less tasty and probably a bit sticky thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow, but when dressed up as little nods to the films that inspired them, or functioning as full-blown secret subplots, there's nothing more satisfying than spotting the humble movie easter egg. And that's especially true of horror movies, since spotting fan-nods in the middle of watching people getting torn apart on screen seems far gnarlier than your average scavenger hunt.

Looking at the ones that connect the worlds we know and love then, these are the moments in horror movies that tie them into other franchises - essentially proving we live in the Matrix of interconnected universes that house multiple serial killers. Lovely, that.

From hidden props to director nods, to recurring characters, whilst it might not be steadfast evidence of one giant horror universe, it's still great fun to pull apart exactly how they could slot together in some way.

Now, Lost isn't a film - but this is an interesting reach.

We already know that Cloverfield has it's own connected universe. From the underground bunker of 10 Cloverfield Lane to the intergalactic nightmare of The Cloverfield Paradox, the movies that tie into the monster massacre of 2008's hit found-footage film are pretty obviously linked to their namesake as each release hits cinemas. Interestingly however, there's one more connection that has idly slipped by plenty of fans as the years have rolled on - hidden for a brief moment in the opening sequences of the first movie.

As the tape begins to play, we're shown a 'U.S. Department of Defense' test card complete with a octagonal company logo in the bottom left of the screen. Take a look closely and it's revealed to be one that we've seen before, for many years, at the height of a TV show produced by the very same J.J. Abrams behind Cloverfield: Lost.

Within the TV show, the Dharma Initiative is a foundation started up as an attempt to stop the end of the human race, so the logo we see that represents their collective, in both Cloverfield and Lost, is essentially a group of people intent on delaying doomsday by whatever means possible. Take into account what actually happens in Cloverfield - a large-scale assault on the Earth that seems to spell its end - and you can see why the involvement of the initiative makes sense.