Halloween 1978 - Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

I will split this review into two parts - The Movie and The Blu Ray. Part One - The Movie. Not many people will argue that John Carpenter's seminal horror classic "Halloween" would not rank as one of the top suspense/horror films of all time. In fact, it may actually be the most influential horror film of all time (even surpassing Alfred Hitchcock's timeless classic "Psycho" in this regard). Like 'Psycho', 'Halloween' affected the moviegoers long after initially seeing it in the theaters. It wasn't long after that imitators such as 'Friday the 13th', 'My Bloody Valentine', 'The Funhouse', and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (among many, many others) used the 'Halloween' formula of a psychotic killer after helpless, unsuspecting teenagers to great effect. It has been 35 years since it's initital release, and yet 'Halloween' still maintains a lofty perch on the horror landscape and is still a beloved holiday classic (despite being terribly re-made by Rob Zombie, who has no business touching a classic like this), culminating in annual holiday theater re-runs as well as finding a special place as the final film showed (on Halloween night) on AMC's yearly 13+ day 'Fear Fest' horror film marathon. It's hard to list many movies that have held their grips on the minds and hearts of moviegoers over years and decades like 'Halloween' has. The plot is so well known that I wont even attempt to go into it. I will instead describe my first encounter with this film. Originally I had seen the sequel 'Halloween II' first. So, I was already familiar with Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, but there were obviously details that were omitted from the second film because the filmmakers assumed that the viewer had already seen the original. Fast forward to Halloween night, 1992 - a saturday. After a night of trick-or-treating I retreated to my bedroom with my generous Halloween haul to enjoy some candy and some TV on my "huge" 19 inch RCA color tv (having retired my 13 in. black and white Zenith the prior year). I orignially planned a night of NES, but didn't want to have to stop every minute or so to open another piece of candy, so I tuned in WDRB-41 (the Louisville area Fox affiliate) instead, and just before 10:00 p.m. saw that 'Halloween' was due to air. I had never seen it and decided to go ahead and watch (I recorded it on VHS as well). I loved it and immediately after popped in my old VHS recording of 'Halloween II' from an old tv airing on WGN 9 and watched that all the way through, mainly so I could see how the pieces fit together. My first impressions of the original film were that I thought it was one of the coolest horror movies I had ever seen. I couldn't wait to watch it again on my recorded VHS, and did so the next morning. The viewing had such an effect on me that I remember it so vividly now, more than 20 years later. In the simplest of terms, 'Halloween' is a masterpiece of psychological horror. Carpenter drew on inspiration from not only Afred Hitchcock, but directors such as Howard Hawkes (who he pays homage to in the film with Laurie and Tommy watching Hawkes film "The Thing From Another World") and even elements from Stanley Kubrick as well. It is an amazing movie and there's no wonder why it is universally praised as being one of the top 100 films of all-time. Part Two - The Blu Ray. Although I expected the picture to be far better (after being spoiled by the amazing restoration jobs done on Spielberg films "Jaws", "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial", and "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the film does look better than it ever has, with deep blacks and rich vibrant colors (particularly in things like pumpkins and grass/trees, etc.). I did, however, expect a bit more from the Dean Cundey helmed HD transfer and was a bit disappointed, but not much. The film still looks amazing and maintains just the right level of film grain. The sound mix is great and really enhances the mood of the picture. The coolest thing about the Blu Ray release, however, is the Carpenter/Curtis commentary track which I will update this review with my thoughts on once I listen to it this weekend. I've been waiting for this for years, since listening to the Carpenter/Russell commentaries on "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China". Overall, this is a great Blu Ray release of one of the greatest films of all-time. Read more

This HALLOWEEN 35th ANNIVERSARY EDITION is pretty cool and features several new items in the "special features" area. The picture has been remastered for Blu-Ray and approved by the original cinematographer, Dean Cundey, as well as adding a new Dolby True HD 7.1 audio for those with high end home theater sound systems. I didn't see this in the movie theaters, so I'm not sure why there was some controversy about the first Blu-Ray release, which I also own, but in this release the picture is really stunning! I only noticed the tiniest bit of noise in some scenes that had a pitch black background, but otherwise the image quality is outstanding. The darks are really dark, without becoming a blackout, and you can make out details in the shadows, so it really makes the movie even eerier than before. One thing that puzzles me is the scene where the Shape comes into the bedroom dressed as a ghost with Bob's (John Michael Graham) glasses on, and Lynda (Soles) is in the bed and she says, "Like what you see?" I could've sworn viewers could see her breasts and she lowers the sheet, but here you don't really see past the top part of her chest. Maybe my memory is fuzzy or it was one of those scenes where your mind fills in the blank (like the shower scene in Hitchcock's "Psycho"). Anyway, it's not a big deal. The only issue I had is with the special features. Missing in this 35th Anniversary Edition of Halloween is the nearly 90-minute featurette, "Halloween: A Cut Above The Rest" that was featured on the 2007 Blu-Ray release, so fans might want to hold onto that disc. However, other special features have been added in its place: SPECIAL FEATURES *** The Night SHE Came Home!! *** 59:42 -minutes 11/2012 This featurette shows Jamie Leigh Curtis going from Los Angeles to Atlanta and then on to Indianapolis for the "Horror Hound" convention in a fundraising effort for Children's Hospital Los Angeles. You get to see her interact with fans of Halloween, take pictures with them, and sign a million autographs (you'll also see a grown up Tommy Doyle [Brian Andrews] come up and greet Curtis). This is one of the very few horror (if not the only) conventions that Curtis has appeared in for "Halloween." *** On Location 25-Years Later *** 10:25 -minutes 1993(?) Fun featurette that features writer/producer Debra Hill and actress P.J. Soles (Lynda) revisiting the real locations that were used in the film. All of the exterior shots were filmed in South Pasadena and West Hollywood, California, and viewers get to see them. The featurette shows the scene from the movie, and then shows the actual location as it looked in '93 (or when this was shot). *** TV Version Footage *** 10:46 -minutes (SPOILERS) This shows clips that were used in place of certain scenes in the movie that were too racy for television. I'm not sure if it's shown exactly as cut and presented on TV or not -- I don't think I've ever seen the TV edited version -- because it's a little confusing the way it's presented here. It shows somewhat of the back-story of what takes place after the murder of his sister and Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is having it out with the psychiatric board about the need to keep Michael Myers in a maximum security mental hospital, but they refuse. He then goes to visit the young Michael and tells him that he's not fooled by this act and then the scene brings us back to the present (back then). Myers is an adult and already in Haddonfield, and we get to see the inside of Laurie's (Curtis) house with a scene of Lynda (Soles) coming over and then they talk to Annie (Nancy Loomis) on the phone. This scene takes place after they get home from school and before Annie picks Laurie up in the car for baby sitting. *** Trailers & TV/Radio Spots *** The digibook also comes with liner notes about the movie and production with great behind the scenes photographs of the cast and crew. This movie is a CLASSIC and it held up well through the years, in fact it's better than most horror movies coming out today, so I would recommend getting it. I'm not sure why this now only available from third party sellers (as of this writing 11/04/13) unless Amazon sold out because of Halloween. Read more

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