On October 31, 1988, Rachel sees that Jamie is again wide awake in the living room, being the fourth night in a row she has had difficulty sleeping.

[4] The character of Rachel only makes a quick appearance in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers before being killed off and having her role as Jamie's protector taken over by her friend Tina.

At the beginning of the film, Michael stalks Rachel around her house after she gets out of the shower and eventually kills her by stabbing her in the chest with a pair of scissors.

Club writes that Jamie and Rachel split the heroine role previously held by Laurie Strode as the pair of sisters "are stalked by Myers, who in turn is hunted by both a scarred, limping Loomis and a mob of trigger-happy hillbillies.

"[8] "At the inception of the film, the innocence and vulnerability of Jamie contrasted with the stern and nonchalant demeanor of Rachel," Rodoflo Salas wrote.

Salas explained that the relationship progresses after Rachel recognizes "her selfishness was steamrolling over Jamie" and tries to bring her joy during Halloween ahead of Michael encountering the pair: "Once Michael Myers arrived, Rachel took charge and fought back against Jamie's psychotic uncle on rooftops, schoolyards, and streets.

We had different points of view about which way we should go.” “Ellie was very real and I felt that she came from Haddonfield and I felt like she represented a kind of wholesome quality that was gonna get our empathy and our sympathy as the movie went along and a lot of 80's sort of scream movies would have very very glamorous leads and I never felt that it was quite real to the town that they were from, and when we projected the film in the theater then Moustapha sort of understood my point of view.” Ellie Cornell auditioned for the role of Alice Johnson in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and Rachel Carruthers in Los Angeles at around the same time.

"[15] Akkad later expressed regret about killing Rachel off early in Halloween 5, admitting that if he knew how popular her character would become, he might have chosen differently.

[12] Cornell did not initially plan on returning as Rachel in Halloween 5 but agreed to with the understanding that her character would be killed off early in the film.

Professional critic John Kenneth Muir states that "Ellie Cornell is particularly strong as Rachel, a delightful girl-next-door with just the right measures of sassness and sweetness" and that she is Laurie Strodes equal in resourcefulness and resilience.

The remainder of the film includes a mysterious stranger and comedic cops, and doesn't really honor Rachel in any significant way, or even treat her character with respect.".

[16] Rodolfo Salas on Screen Rant adds in that "Before Rachel's body went cold, this sequel added some shame to her shallow grave.