History Recap / CreepshowS3E3SkeletonsInTheCloset

That night, Burke returns to the museum, carrying a load of boxes. Suddenly, Bateman's skeleton, which has become animate, grabs a [[Film/{{Phantasm}} Sentinel Sphere]] and throws it into Burke's head, killing him. Meanwhile, as Danielle showers, the reanimated skeleton viciously [[Film/{{Psycho}} stabs her to death.]] Upon hearing his ex-girlfriend screaming and discovering the body, Bateman's skeleton begins [[Film/TheShining hacking the bathroom door with an axe]] to get Lampini next. Lampini manages to smack it in the face with a nearby toilet tank lid and escapes to the entrance of the museum. When he discovers Burke's body, the skeleton attacks him again, prompting Lampini to hide. Bateman's skeleton then approaches the skeleton display, where it swipes the sword and shield from one of the other skeletons and corners Lampini. Lampini arms himself with a machete and attempts to fight off the skeleton, but he quickly loses his weapon. Suddenly, the skeleton of Lampini's father springs to life and arms itself with its own sword and shield. The two skeletons engage in a brief duel, which ends with Lampini's father decapitating Bateman, then climbing back into its display and assuming a victorious pose.

** Old Lady Spinster's axe from [[Recap/CreepshowS2E3DeadAndBreakfast Dead and Breakfast]] can be seen hanging from one of the museum's walls.

* {{Fanservice}}: As detailed both above and below, this episode goes ''all out'' with the movie references, to the point where story elements are actually ''ignored'' for the sake of gratuitious references.

* PsychoShowerMurderParody: Danielle's death is framed as a remake of the scene, complete with B/W cinematography, non-puncture stabbing, the original score, and her killer, Bateman's skeleton, having its' hair resemble Mother Bates' wig.

* RoundhouseKick: Danielle kills Bateman with one of these. She was wearing the bladed Rosa Klebb shoes from ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' at the time, and the blade ends up slitting his throat.
* ShipTease: Burke flirts with Danielle while Lampini is "coalating" in his "lab", offering to elope with her if Lampini ever drops dead.

** Immediately after said shower scene, Bateman's skeleton attempts to attack Lampini by [[Film/TheShining hacking down the bathroom door with an axe, even peeking its head through the hole.]] Of course, it isn't able to yell a certain phrase Creator/JackNicholson yelled to complete the illusion, but it works well enough.

** Lampini is first introduced wearing a ''Film/DayOfTheDead'' T-shirt.

** The vat of acid where Lampini and Danielle submerge Bateman's corpse happens to read [[Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead "2-4-5 Trioxin"]], likely explaining Maybe why Bateman's skeleton came back to life.

** The vat of acid where Lampini and Danielle submerge Bateman's corpse happens to read [[Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead "2-4-5 Trioxin".]] [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe that's why Bateman's skeleton came back to life.]]

* CameoProp: Naturally, since Lampini is the owner of a prop museum. Greg Nicotero, a producer of the series, is also a collector and worked on many of the films mentioned, so many of the props featured were supplied by him. Listing them all would probably require the episode to have its own ShoutOut page, so we'll focus on the some of the more notable ones seen throughout the museum:
** [[Franchise/{{Alien}} A Facehugger and a Xenomorph Egg.]]
** [[Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes A statue of the Lawgiver.]]
** [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger's glove.]]
** [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees' hockey mask.]]
** [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Meyers' mask and knife.]]
** [[Film/{{Scream}} Ghostface's knife.]]
** [[Franchise/{{Jaws}} A giant shark hanging from the ceiling.]]
** [[Franchise/StarTrek The Captain's Chair of the]] ''[[Franchise/StarTrek USS Enterprise.]]''
** [[Film/{{Psycho}} Mother Bates' corpse.]]
** [[Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon Jack's reanimated corpse.]]
** [[Film/MyBloodyValentine Axel/The Miner's gas mask.]]
** [[Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace One of the Killer Klowns' ray guns.]]
** [[Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch A computer chip from Silver Shamrock Novelties.]]
** [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Holy Grail,]] which the teenagers briefly fool around with in the opening scene.
** The meat hooks from ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''.
** The box cutter from ''Series/BreakingBad''.
** A bust of Jason's head from ''Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday''.
** The faceless android from ''Film/{{Westworld}}''.
** A miniature [[Film/{{Psycho}} "Bates Motel" sign]] above the front door.
** Two license plates: One reading [[Literature/{{Christine}} CQB 241]], the other reading [[Series/AshVsEvilDead 3971 KTL]].
** [[Film/EvilDead2 The Kandarian Dagger and Ash's chainsaw.]] At one point, Bateman's skeleton comes at Lampini with the chainsaw much like Linda's headless body does.
** Dennis Hopper's screen-used chainsaw from ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre2''. Bateman shows off that he has the chainsaw Gunnar Hansen used in the [[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974 original movie]] as a show of superiority.
** The shelf of decaying heads from ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''. Not only is violin music heard when they are showcased, but Lampini even scares Bateman by pulling Eye-gor's "I ain't got no body!" prank on him.
** Danielle wears, and shows off at Lampini's request, the last surviving pair of Rosa Klebb shoes from ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', accompanied by a snippet of the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' theme. To once again one up them, Bateman reveals that he owns the gyrocopter from ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', which he says still flies.
** [[Film/{{Phantasm}} One of the Tall Man's Sentinel Spheres]], which has, according to Burke, been sitting in Don Coscarelli's mother's attic for the last 40 years. Bateman's skeleton later throws it into Burke's head to kill him.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Lampini bringing Danielle's skeleton to life and making out with it? Nauseating. Him making out with the skeleton while an 80's power ballad plays? Hilarious.
** The pair also have a tense and emotional argument while covered in Bateman's blood and viscera.

* NauseaFuel: Lampini making out with the reanimated skeleton of his girlfriend, especially since it's hinted he turned her into a skeleton in the first place.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Bateman namedrops the trope when comparing the superiority of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974'' to that of its sequel.

* ShoutOut: Sweet mother of Romero, where '''''isn't''''' there a shout-out in this story?! With its main characters being a pair of die-hard film-lovers who own and operate a museum of movie props, "Skeletons in the Closet" currently holds the record for the biggest amount of references crammed into a single episode, with a movie-related quote or object being spoken or displayed every few seconds. It even gets to a point where the references actually ''overshadow the episode's plot.''
** Along with the above mentioned list of [[CameoProp Cameo Props]], there's also the amount of stars, directors, and producers mentioned, such as Creator/DennisHopper, Creator/GeorgeRomero, Creator/TomSavini, Creator/BruceCampbell, Creator/TobeHooper, and Creator/GunnarHansen.

!!Skeletons in the Closet

[[Film/{{Jaws}} "Cooper drives the boat, chief."]]\\

* DeathByIrony: Bateman's skeleton kills Burke by throwing the Sentinel Sphere he was introduced unboxing into his head, and later kills Danielle by stabbing her in a scene straight out of ''Psycho'', one of her favorite movies.

* LoveTriangle: Before they became rivaling prop collectors, Lampini tells Danielle that his Pop and Bateman fought over the affections of Lampini's mother, who was described as "uniquely beautiful".

On the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, die-hard movie lover Lampini (Victor Rivera) has inherited a large collection of movie props accumulated by his late father. With the help of his assistant Burke (Lucas Godfrey) and his fellow movie-lover and girlfriend Danielle (Valerie [=LeBlanc=]), he has been preparing to open "Skeletons in the Closet", a museum in which film-lovers from all corners of the world can gaze upon the various props in his collection. When Danielle spots a pair of teenagers messing with the [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Holy Grail]], she angrily tells them to leave the exhibits alone, asking them if they would fondle ''Art/TheMonaLisa''. Lampini moves in to dissuade the tension, launching into a heartfelt soliloquy about how props are hand-crafted by artisans, have heart and soul, and about how they never die, unlike movie stars themselves. After pointing out a couple of other famous props in the museum, such as [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger's glove]], the captain's chair of the ''[[Franchise/StarTrek USS Enterprise]]'', and [[Film/{{Psycho}} the corpse of Mother Bates]], he hands the teens a pair of [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory Golden Tickets]], inviting them back for the grand reopening of the museum. The opening also includes the premiere of the museum's newest exhibit, obscured by a large velvet curtain.

Later that night, Lampini is outbid in an online auction for [[Creator/DavidWarner David Warner's]] severed head from ''Film/TheOmen1976'' by Bateman, his late father's nemesis, who was not only a rival prop collector, but fought over the man for the affection of Lampini's mother. Lampini reminisces that his parents met when they worked in the Magic Castle, his mom running the coat check and his father being a table magician. Lampini boasts that his father's magic was real, real enough to bring his various props to life. When he sadly admits that he isn't in the same league as his old man, Danielle comforts Lampini by inviting him to "do it in the Captain's Chair", to which he eagerly accepts. The next day, Bateman himself (Creator/JamesRemar) enters the museum as it nears closing time, presenting himself as an ordinary customer and offering to look at the new exhibit a day early. While glimpsing at the props within the museum, Bateman demonstrates his contempt at [[Creator/DennisHopper Dennis Hopper's]] screen-used chainsaw from ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre2'', boasting that he owns the chainsaw Creator/GunnarHansen used in the [[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 original film.]] Lampini attempts to one up his late father's rival by having Danielle show off the last surviving pair of bladed Rosa Klebb shoes from ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' that she's wearing, only for Bateman to admit that he owns the gyrocopter from ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', which still flies. Fed up, Lampini reveals Bateman's identity and asks him why he's arrived. In response, Bateman opens the curtains obscuring the museum's latest exhibit, revealing it to be a collection of actual human skeletons as they appeared onscreen (including a familiar face from the [[Film/{{Creepshow}} original film]]).

Lampini and Danielle proceed to wheel Bateman's corpse to the back room, where they flay his skin, submerge him in a vat of acid, and place his skeleton among the others in the collection. Recovering from the ordeal, Danielle questions her boyfriend about the accusations, hoping he didn't actually desecrate a person's grave. Lampini assures her that he didn't... but he also reveals that he hired Burke to do it for him. In response to her outrage, Lampini is quick to remind her that she is the one who killed Bateman, and why they now have to cut up a blood-stained carpet and move his car, and justifies his deed by claiming that the skeleton is from his favorite movie, and he "restored" it to its former glory. After some further prodding, Lampini reveals that another one of the skeletons in the collection is actually his father, who he claims wanted to be part of the collection as per his will. In response, Danielle harshly breaks up with Lampini and storms off to take a shower. As he goes off to take care of the remaining details, Lampini briefly notices Bateman's skeleton staring at him.

The next day, "Skeletons in the Closet" is packed with a plethora of eager patrons. The teenagers from the other day tour the skeleton display, noting one of them looks rather interesting. Lampini joins the teens to reveal the identity of this particular skeleton: Danielle, having been posed like the Mona Lisa. After reminding the teens that props ''are'' magic and never die, Danielle's skeleton comes to life and begins making out with Lampini, prompting the disgusted teens to make a hasty exit.

Nearby, the Creep is seen posing next to the prop version of himself from the original movie, taking a selfie with his original self.

* AssholeVictim: Bateman, even if he was right that Lampini was technically a grave robber.
* AudienceSurrogate: Lampini acts as a pastiche of ''Creepshow's'' typical viewers: hard-core horror/film lovers. The fact that he embodies the typical fanboy so thoughtfully may even be why the universe decides to spare him in spite of the fact that he was indirectly responsible for grave robbing.
* TheBadGuyWins: Lampini ends the story with his museum being a huge success, even after he was revealed to have orchestrated a grave-robbing racket.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Danielle asks Lampini if what Bateman said about him digging up the basement zombie's grave was true, he admits that he didn't really dig up the grave. He actually paid his assistant Burke to dig it up for him.
* BerserkButton: Danielle has three: being pushed, being insulted, and mistreating the movie props. Bateman hurls several insults at her, shoves her, and threatens to use the Rosa Klebb shoes she was wearing as a cheese spreader when she tries to defend Lampini, after which she snaps and slits the guy's throat, albeit accidentally.
** The third button is also pushed early in the episode, where she goes off on the teenagers fooling with the Holy Grail.
** Similarly, she and Lampini waste no opportunity to insult and ridicule any remake of any classic movie.
* BigDamnHeroes: Lampini's father, who returns from the dead to save his son from being butchered by his long-time rival.
* BittersweetEnding: Lampini's girlfriend and assistant are dead, but Lampini himself escapes justice for his crime and has his museum become a smash hit.
* {{Blackmail}}: Bateman threatens to report Lampini's grave-robbing to the cops if he doesn't get one of the skeletons from his collection.
* BrickJoke: Danielle asks the teenagers in the opening if they would fondle the Mona Lisa if they were given the chance. Lampini also continually refers to Danielle as "my Mona Lisa". In the end, when her skeleton is put on display, she is posed as the Mona Lisa.

** The violin music heard when Bateman examines the severed head display is the same music that accompanied the gypsy in [[Recap/CreepshowShapeshiftersAnonymous Shapeshifters Anonymous]]. The story's title can even be seen on one of the museum's placards.

* CameoProp: Quite naturally, since Lampini is the owner of a prop museum. Greg Nicotero, a producer of the series, is also a collector and worked on many of the films mentioned, so many of the props come from his personal collection. Listing them all would probably require the episode to have its own ShoutOut page, so we'll focus on the some of the more notable ones seen throughout the museum:

** [[Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon The puppet of Jack's reanimated corpse.]]
** [[Film/MyBloodyValentine Axel's gas mask.]]

** [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Holy Grail,]] which the teenagers briefly fool around with.

** [[Film/EvilDead2 The Kandarian Dagger and Ash's chainsaw.]] At one point, Bateman's skeleton comes at Lampini with the chainsaw much like Linda's headless body.

** The shelf full of decaying heads from ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''. Not only is violin music heard when they are showcased, but Lampini even pranks Bateman by performing a version of Igor's "I ain't got no body!" joke on him.
** Danielle wears, and shows off at Lampini's request, the last surviving pair of Rosa Klebb shoes from ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''. A snippet of the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' theme even plays as they are displayed. To once again one up them, Bateman reveals that he owns the gyrocopter from ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', which he notes still flies. Danielle eventually uses the shoes to slit Bateman's throat.
** [[Film/{{Phantasm}} One of the Tall Man's Sentinel Spheres]], which has, according to Burke, been sitting in Don Coscarelli's mother's attic for the past 40 years. Bateman's skeleton later throws it into Burke's head to kill him.

* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: Once it reanimates, Bateman's skeleton adopts a cackling, [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 Skeletor-esque]] voice as it claims victims and hunts down Lampini.

** The pair also have a tense, emotional argument, while covered in Bateman's blood and viscera.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The episode turns black and white during Danielle's death scene, as it is an homage to ''Film/{{Psycho}}''.
* DemBones: The main supernatural threat of the episode is a murderous animate skeleton.
* DeusExMachina: Without any warning, the skeleton of Lampini's father magically springs to life to save his son and defeat his nemesis.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Danielle is an avid lover of movies who tolerates her boyfriend's little quirks, she dumps him when he's revealed to have paid his assistant to dig up at least one grave so he could put the remains on display.
* {{Fanservice}}: As detailed above and below, this episode goes ''all out'' with the movie references, to the point where a handful of story elements are actually ''ignored'' for the sake of references.
* ForeShadowing: Lampini ominously glances at one of the skeletons when telling Bateman that he works for him and his father, hinting that the skeleton in question ''is'' his father.
* GeekPhysiques: Lampini is a pudgy, ponytailed, neckbearded, quote-spouting nerd. As such, he doesn't really have a lot of physical strength. He manages to use a machete to swordfight Bateman's skeleton for a few seconds, but he is very quickly disarmed.
* GiveGeeksAChance: Attractive PerkyGoth Danielle is the girlfriend of the geeky and pudgy Lampini, and she generally supports him due to her being a fellow cinephile. She ends up dumping him after he shamelessly reveals that he hired Burke to rob graves for him.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Both the protagonist and the antagonist are revealed to both have questionable morals when it comes to obtaining movie props. Bateman is a SmugSnake who resorts to blackmail and violence in an attempt to get whatever he wants, while on the other hand, Lampini paid his assistant to dig up skeletons to pose in his museum.
* HateSink: Bateman, being a SmugSnake who resorts to insults, blackmail, and even physical violence to get what he wants, is clearly a character that is meant to be loathed. But despite this, he was right that Lampini was (indirectly) grave-robbing, giving him a valid reason to turn him in to the cops. What's more, since Lampini and Danielle (accidentally) kill him and turn him into a makeshift prop, it would make perfect sense that he would go after his killers when his skeleton reanimates.
* HesDeadJim: After witnessing Danielle mindlessly slit Bateman's throat, Lampini quotes the trope.
* HollywoodAcid: Bateman's corpse is melted to the bone after being dunked in a vat of the stuff.
* ILoveTheDead: At the end, Lampini brings Danielle's skeleton to life and begins making out with it, nauseating the teenagers he had been talking to.
* {{Infodump}}: Lampini gives Danielle one when he explains how his parents first met, as well as his father's feud with Bateman.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Lampini is highly self-centered, treating everything he owns and the people around him as masterpieces for him to express pride in.
* {{Jerkass}}: While Bateman is an arrogant asshole who is willing to resort to blackmail to gain movie props for his collection, it's gradually revealed that Lampini is not that different from him (if not outright worse), since he was having graves desecrated for the sake of turning the corpses into museum exhibits. On top of that, he seems to treat nearly everyone, from his parents to his girlfriend, as works of art for him to express pride in instead of human beings.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite how much of an arrogant SmugSnake he was, Bateman was technically right that Lampini was having graves desecrated for the sake of his art, so he did have a justifiable reason to turn him into the police.
** Additionally, when Lampini admits to having paid Burke to dig up said graves, he reminds Danielle that she's the one who actually killed Bateman and is the reason they had to hide his body and get rid of his car.
* KarmaHoudini: Lampini himself gets off scot free after orchestrating the robbing of graves. His assistant and girlfriend are murdered, but by the end of the story, he doesn't really care.
* LoveTriangle: Before they became rivaling prop collectors, Bateman and Lampini's father fought over the affections of Lampini's mother, who was described as "uniquely beautiful".
* {{Manchild}}: Lampini is all but said to be one, fawning over his prop collection like they're mint-condition comic books, spouting a movie quote every other line, and engaging in petty squabbles with anyone who questions him like a spoiled brat.

** Lampini shares his name with Professor Lampini from ''Film/HouseOfFrankenstein'', who also had a collection of peculiar and otherwise morbid curiosities. In the latter's case, said curiosities weren't movie props.
** Danielle, who ends up killing Bateman, shares the name of Creator/DanielleHarris, known for playing serial killer Michael Meyers' niece in some of the later ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' movies.
** Burke, who is revealed to be paid by Lampini to dig up graves, shares his with one half of Burke & Hare, a pair of grave robbers and serial killers who would sell corpses to medical schools.
** Bateman gets his name from Patrick Bateman of ''Film/AmericanPsycho'', which makes sense, given that he's the antagonist of the story.
* TheMovieBuff: Lampini, Danielle, and Bateman are all major cinephiles, displaying [[Film/{{Scream}} Randy Meeks]]-levels of knowledge regarding motion picture quotes and trivia through their dialogue.
* MythologyGag: A movie-centric story like this obviously isn't going to end without paying tribute to the [[Film/{{Creepshow}} original film:]]
** The original version of the Creep is displayed front and center in the skeleton display, in front of a background reminiscent of the outside of Billy's window. When Bateman locks eyes on him, he refers to him as "the original", and decides that he is the one that he's purchasing. In addition, the teenagers note that he's "not bad", compared to the other skeletons. At the very end, the series' incarnation of the Creep is seen taking a selfie with the prop, possibly the only time that two different Creeps will be seen side by side.

** The film's theatrical poster is seen hanging on the wall of the museum.
** What appears to be Nathan Grantham's corpse is also displayed among the props displayed in the museum.
** The ashtray that is used to kill Nathan makes its obligatory appearance as one of the museum's exhibits, complete with a placard detailing its origins.
** Creator/JamesRemar, who plays Bateman, previously appeared in ''Film/TalesFromTheDarksideTheMovie'', which not only adapted a story from Creator/StephenKing, but was also the movie that Creator/TomSavini referred to as the unofficial "Creepshow 3".
** Much like Mike the janitor, when Burke ends up dropping some boxes, he exclaims "Fuck-a-diddle!".
** At the very start of the episode, the camera takes a good long look at Creator/GeorgeRomero's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
* NightmareFetishist: As it's revealed that he's actually a VillainProtagonist, Lampini is visibly turned on when Danielle reminds him that she killed his rival for him, even moving in to make out with her ''while the both of them are covered in said rival's blood.''
* OffWithHisHead: Bateman is killed once and for all when Lampini's father slices off his skull.
* PerkyGoth: Danielle.
* POVCam: A few scenes are shown from the perspective of Bateman's skeleton, which has the camera masked by an overlay of a skull.
* PsychoShowerMurderParody: Danielle's death is framed as a remake of the scene, complete with her killer, Bateman's skeleton, having its' hair resemble Mother Bates' wig.

* RealAfterAll: Lampini mentions that his father's magic was real, real enough to bring his props to life, and that he is nowhere in the same league. When his father's skeleton comes to life, it's revealed that he is in fact in the same league. He later uses his newfound power to bring Danielle's skeleton to life.
* ReferenceOverdosed: The entire episode is nothing but one ShoutOut after another, apart from the actual storyline nestled therein.
* RoundhouseKick: Danielle kills Bateman with one of these. She was wearing the bladed shoes from ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' at the time, and the blade ends up slitting his throat.

* ShoutOut: Sweet Romero, where '''''isn't''''' there a shout-out in this story? With its main characters being a pair of die-hard film-lovers who own and operate a museum of movie props, "Skeletons in the Closet" may just hold the record for the biggest amount of references crammed into a single episode, with a movie-related quote or object being spoken or displayed every few seconds. It even gets to a point where the references actually ''overshadow the episode's storyline.''
** Along with the above mentioned list of props, there's also the amount of stars, directors, and producers mentioned. Creator/DennisHopper, Creator/GeorgeRomero, Creator/TomSavini, Creator/BruceCampbell, Creator/TobeHooper, Creator/GunnarHansen, and several others are name-dropped.

** Danielle also refers to her and Lampini's relationship as being "two peas in a giant [[Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978 seed pod]]."
** The vat of acid that Lampini and Danielle submerge Bateman's corpse in reads [[Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead "2-4-5 Trioxin".]] [[FridgeBrilliance Perhaps that's why Bateman's skeleton came back to life.]]
** Aside from the Creep, the rest of Lampini's skeleton collection can be pretty recognizable, as most of them come from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/Poltergeist1982'', and ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978''. In addition, the skeleton revealed to be Lampini's father, placed in a display for ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'', wields the same sword and shield as the skeleton from ''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad''. As an added bonus, when the skeletons of Bateman and Lampini's father come to life, they are animated in stop-motion, and even engage in a ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts''-style duel when they meet each other.

** Many theatrical posters are hung on the walls of the museum. ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' and ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'' being the most visible.

** After giving away the plot twist that [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates became his own mother]], Lampini assures Danielle that he didn't forget to say "Spoiler Alert:" because "Everybody's seen ''Film/{{Psycho}}''."

** Immediately after said shower scene, Bateman's skeleton attempts to attack Lampini by [[Film/TheShining hacking down the bathroom door with an axe, even peeking its head through the hole.]] Of course, it can't yell a certain phrase Creator/JackNicholson uttered to complete the illusion, but it works well enough.
** When wondering what Bateman and Lampini's father would constantly fight over, Danielle guesses that it was the [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture flux capacitor.]]

** Being the hard-core movie lovers they are, Lampini and Danielle's dialogue is ''loaded'' with movie quotes:

* SmugSnake: Bateman. When presented with the props in Lampini's museum, he shows off or boasts about owning rarer and more complex props.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: InUniverse: As mentioned above, Lampini and Danielle think very lowly of ''any'' remake of any classic film, especially horror films.
* UnexpectedlyRealMagic: Lampini's family's magic seems to be all hype and no action, but the end of the story has the magic activating to bring the skeletons of those closest to Lampini to life.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Burke, who decided, for whatever reason, to ''snap a picture of the grave he just robbed'', which ultimately landed in Bateman's ownership and thus gave him some blackmailing material.
* TheUnreveal: The logistics of Lampini's family and their "magic" aren't really ever elaborated upon, probably for the sake of adding more gratuitous references.
* VillainProtagonist: After spending half of the episode parading his self-centered mindset and flaying/melting down the corpse of his late father's rival, Lampini finally and undeniably becomes one when he reveals that he did indeed hire his assistant to steal the ''Dawn'' zombie from its grave.
* WouldHitAGirl: Bateman shoves Danielle when she attempts to stop him from harassing her boyfriend.