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This film is a classic and the greatest horror film ever made, and not going into that. I see a lot of confusing information out there to people about different editions, and as an avid fan that has all editions, thought I might help (I will update once the 35th anniversary comes out.) There is a lot of hate for the remastered version, mostly because of bit rate. I remember the first time that I saw the film, it was released by some company I have not heard of before or sense, and it was truly grainy 70's grind house quality. I'm sure sure VHS copies still exist, and maybe are the truest representation of the film, but good luck finding that. In 1999, Cundey released a remastered version. I first saw it on VHS, and it was night and day from the "original" version I had before it. It became prevalent with DVD as well, though due to the horrible bit rates, I will say that the VHS version is actually crisper than the DVD release. This is due to having both the full and wide screen versions of the film on the same side of the disc. Regardless of the fault, it is the best selling version of the film, and hasn't been taken out of circulation yet. It is the version that I see when they take snippets of the film played for halloween and horror documentaries. The film has horrible contrast and light levels and the whole thing just seems saturated in Black.
The 25th anniversary version came out to "fix" the problem but took it almost too far in the other direction, increasing light and contrast levels to make the film almost completely different and taking away much of the suspense and darker elements of the mood. It is still a gorgeous looking print of the film, and presented in divimax and very high bit rates. It is also the only version of the film to offer commentary (albeit a lifted commentary from the laserdisc version that I have not seen). It also has a very good documentary A cut above the rest.
There is also an extended cut that is really the NBC television version of the film, that includes a couple of additional scenes that were intended to pad the running time and were shot around the same time as Halloween II. The quality of the transfer is about the same as remastered version except for the additional scenes, that are still presented in widescreen version, despite it being a television version of the film. Also present is the nudity that was obviously cut from the television version of the film. They really looks like they took the remastered version of the film and inserted the additional scenes. I will not comment too much on the quality of the scenes, as I don't like them (a lot of people who saw the film on tv for the first time think this is the definitive version of the film, and I'm not going to argue this point one way or the other) but I will say that they do not edit very well in terms of the visual look of the scenes. They really do stand out. There is also the inclusion of the plot point from the second film that Laurie is Michael's sister which is nowhere in the original version. The extended cut has shown up in several places. The 20th anniversary where it was coupled with the remastered version, as well as a stand alone and the 30th anniversary. I bought the 30th anniversary because it was about the same price as the stand alone version of the extended cut and included the Blu Ray version of the film as well as the documentary 25 years of terror.
Which brings us to the Blu Ray version of the film. This is the definitive version of the film for me. This film is taken from the 1999 Cundey remaster, and it looks amazing. It is crisp and clear without suffering from being overly bright. I have never seen a conversion from an old film look so good and brought out many of the details of a film that I had never seen and made the material seem fresh. It might not be the version you remember because it is so clear and clean, but I love this version. It also contains the Cut above the rest documentary. I prefer the 25 years of terror documentary, but they really do cover much of the same ground, and the commentary is missing for some reason, maybe because carpenter demystifies much of the film.
For the 35th anniversary they are creating a new Blu Ray with yet another remaster. I am not sure why they are doing this, but I do know that Cundey is handling the remaster yet again, which really doesn't make sense because he did the last one, but considering that there is a huge difference between the VHS, DVD, and Blu Ray version of his 1999 film remaster. Maybe he didn't have much say over the digital conversions, and since this remaster is only on Blu Ray, but I will update when my preorder gets here. I do know that Carpenter has a new Commentary with Jamie Lee, so should be interesting to see what is difference.
Update:
I just received the 35th anniversary in the mail. I was a little disappointed in the packaging, pretty flimsy cardboard, though there is a nice booklet inserted. The special features were very lack luster. The night she came home was a huge disappointment and actually made me lose respect for Jamie Lee, and the new commentary was not as good as the one on the 25th anniversary divimax version. Trailers and such are the same. The Location featurette was short and forgettable. None of that is really that important though, because the transfer of the film is amazing. It gets everything right. This is the definitive version of the film. I can't imagine anyone that is familiar with the film not liking it (read, they didn't grow up with one of the other versions of the film as a child because they came to the film late). The colors are much more rich so the contrast of the images doesn't have to be so high. It almost looks bleached out like most of the old prints, but the color is able to shine through. I actually found myself startled by some of the scenes because the dark was not as saturated that the frame position of the shape is much more stark. I couldn't recommend this transfer enough. The others are going to just be interesting side notes for collectors.
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| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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February 4, 2002 "Please retry" | — | 1 | $9.99 | $3.50 |
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June 29, 2010 "Please retry" | DVD | 1 | $14.93 | $3.37 |
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Reviews with images
Greatest horror film ever!!
I've loved this movie ever since I was 12 years old. It came out back in 1978 and I didn't see it until 1981 around the time Halloween 2 was about to come out in theaters. Even on network TV with commercials and certain parts edited, I still was obsessed with it. I now own it on DVD and I'm proud of it. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't yet seen it. I will always give it 5 🤩.
Top reviews from other countries
Nick Hendrickx
De beste Halloween film van allemaal.
Reviewed in Belgium on March 13, 2024
Das empathielose Filmlexikon
"Heute Nacht ist HALLOWEEN!"
Reviewed in Germany on October 31, 2022
Fer Carrillo
Excelente, una edición muy completa (Aclaración sobre las ediciones con y sin subtítulos)
Reviewed in Mexico on August 23, 2017
Fer Carrillo
Reviewed in Mexico on August 23, 2017
Recomiendo esta edición no tanto por los subtítulos, sino porque fue restaurada bajo la supervisión y aprobación del mismo director de fotografía, por lo que la presentación que vemos es justo como la película fue concebida visualmente. En cuanto a audio incluye una opción de 7.1 canales y la otra en mono que fue la pista original con la que se proyectó en cines en 1978. En cuanto a extras incluye algunas escenas adicionales que se utilizaban sólo en las transmisiones por televisión (no subtituladas), el trailer, un audiocomentario y entrevistas. También incluye un booklet con notas de producción y fotografías.
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