Michael Constantine, who plays Ryan's dad, appeared (many years before) as a guest-star in the TV series "The Dakotas". His character's name was John Marshak. Here in "F13 the Series" he engages in hand-to-hand combat (stunt doubles) with JACK Marshak.
Most of the cursed objects gives the owner some benefit before or after they kill someone. Like the sheriff's badge in Badge of Honor (1988), the cursed pipe is used strictly to kill, and no beneficial power is ever seen or explained. Most likely because the owners did not have an opportunity to learn enough about the object's power before it was recovered.
Ryan mentions that Micki is "cousin Catherine's daughter".