Danielle Harris Revives Jamie Lloyd in ‘Among Friends’
February is Women in Horror Month, so to do our part in participating in the celebration, we are kicking off a series of special features that will spotlight some of our favorite ladies of horror (and of Halloween), and pay tribute to their contributions to the genre.
Of course, when we think of women in horror, one the first people we think of is the amazing Danielle Harris, who has been winning our hearts over and over ever since she first faced Michael Myers in 1988’s Halloween 4., followed the next year with Halloween 5, solidifying her place in horror history and paving the way for an impressive career that includes memorable performances in Urban Legend, The Last Boy Scout, Roseanne, Hatchet II and III, Laid to Rest 2, See No Evil 2, Hallows’ Eve, and Stake Land, to list just a few.
Her career came full circle in 2007 when Harris returned to the franchise that made her famous, this time playing Annie Brackett (originally played by Nancy Loomis) in Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake. In her final shot as Annie in the 2009 sequel Halloween II, Zombie noticeably inserts a quick flashback to an actual clip of young Danielle, as she appeared in Halloween 4, as if  to remind us all of her importance to horror’s most hallowed franchise.
But did you know that Danielle briefly reprised her iconic role as Michael’s niece Jamie Lloyd in her own feature film directorial debut Among Friends?
The film is a wickedly fun cocktail of drugs, sex, and violence, culminating with a bloody good dinner party to die for. It’s quite a ferocious and unpredictable film, with a killer leading lady in Alyssa Lobit, another notable “woman in horror” who also wrote the screenplay.
The cast also includes A.J. Bowen (You’re Next, The Guest, Hatchet II) Jennifer Blanc-Biehn (Everly, The Victim), Brianne Davis (currently on History Channel’s Six), and a cameo appearance by Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th VII-X, Hatchet I-III). There is also another blink-or-you-miss-it cameo by one of Danielle’s earliest co-stars, when the camera momentarily focuses on Erik Preston, who played young Michael Myers in Halloween 4.
That’s right! Danielle Harris reunites with Michael Myers in Among Friends, but that’s not even the best part.
During a trippy hallucinogenic-fueled sequence in Among Friends, director Danielle Harris appears on screen wearing her iconic clown costume and mask in character as Jamie Lloyd from Halloween 4! If that’s not enough, she even starts crying out for “Rachel! Rachel!”, her step-sister played by Ellie Cornell in H4.
Danielle also put on her clown costume again for a dream sequence in the 2012 “Halloween Girl” episode of Adam Green’s comedy series Holliston, but she was playing an exaggerated version of herself in most of the episode, but in Among Friends it’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Harris in her most famous role again.
While we have showcased tons of references to Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise in pop culture over the years, this is definitely one of the coolest shout-outs that we have seen.
Released in 2013, Among Friends is currently available on DVD, which you can purchase here.
Danielle can next be seen in the upcoming thriller Havenhurst, which, in another Halloween match made in heaven, is written by Daniel Farrands, who also wrote Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
Have you seen Among Friends? What is your favorite Danielle Harris movie?
Who are some of your favorite Women in Horror?
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