Halloween DVD: Review By slysnide

When I first saw this at Target in August 2003 in a 2-Disc 25th Anniversary Edition format, I freaked. It was the thing I didn't even know I'd been searching for that I'd suddenly found. I immediately enjoyed it's prized extra when I got home, and I gotta say, this DVD truly is 'A Cut Above The Rest.'

Everyone remembers the story, and this weekend especially with the release of the sequel to the 2007 remake, or reimagining as it should be called. A babysitter drops off a key at an abandoned house for her realator father and is then stalked the rest of the day & night by the crazed escaped mental patient who hid within while his psychiatrist stalks the streets himself in search of him. And it comes at the cost of three of her friends, and one night she & we will never, ever forget. The night HE came home...and no, not God, but more like Samhain.

[For my review of the film itself, see my 9th review on page 21 of my reviews]

On Disc-1 you can find the Widescreen presentation (2.35:1) of the film that's been enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs as you can find on every oldies movie now on DVD. The highlight of Disc-1 is the Audio Commentary by writer/director/composer John Carpenter, Producer Debra Hill (RIP), and Actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Apart from 'on the set' memories, you'll get lots of other inside bits on the making of the scenes, amongst other things.

On Disc-2 there's a ten minute feturette entitled "On Location: 25yrs Later." It wasn't really a tour of the locations, but was rather some reflections on the pre-production of the film while actress P.J. Soles (Lynda in the movie) and her two daughters walk up North Orange Grove Avenue where the two houses were in the last minute or so of the featurette. The Doyle House looks relatively the same with a tan paint job and much more foliage in the yard. The Wallace House however where the murders took place has since undergone a major renovation which includes raising the lawn slightly so there's no stairs to climb at the porch, but rather on the path to the porch, and the porch itself isn't nearly as big. An actual garage has been added where the long driveway was too, so there doesn't seem to be any access to the backyard garage unless there's a second garage door at the back, assuming of course that the smaller garage from the film wasn't torn out completely. The new paint job also obscures its former appearance as after years of neglect, it needed a renovation as it resembled a haunted house as one photo shows. An upper patio/deck from the bedroom also disguises the fact that this was the Wallace House, but till this day it's unknown if the interiors of either houses were shot at the same exterior houses as there are obvious discrepancies with the design, such as the doorknob on opposite ends of the front door from the outside and inside of the Doyle House, and the missing living room to the right of the front door of the Wallace House which was seen frequently in the film. None of the crew seemed to notice this discrepancy until buffs pointed it out to them, and they can't recall where the real locations are. Only that they're in the relative area. {Just imagine how much THAT tidbit of trivia about your house could boost its net worth}.

The Myers House was bought for $1 by a man who didn't want it bulldozed as part of a construction project a few years after the film's release. He then moved it right down the street where the hardware store from the film was {though that probably cost him a lot}. The Myers House is now a dental office which rests to the right of the hardware store across the street next to the intersecting railway tracks on Mission Street. Though every Halloween or more through the year it's open for tourists who beg to walk up the stairway to Judith's room.

The major highlight of the whole DVD was the 87 minute doc*mentary "Halloween: A Cut Above The Rest." It features interviews with cast members, and crew members like production designer Tommy Lee Wallace (real wife of Nancy Loomis), who reveals some money saving tricks, Dean Cundey the famous Director of Photography who explains some interesting techniques like the illuminating mask trick, and actor/filmmaker Nick Castle who wandered over to the set to hang out with John Carpenter and ended up playing the Shape. [Years after the film's release, actor Christopher Lee ran into producer Debra Hill and said that rejecting the role of Loomis was the biggest mistake of his career]. Plus all the data in the two preceding paragraphs is also in the doc*mentary, making it an excellent one at that which reveals almost all of Halloween's secrets...like how John and Debra wrote the script, and got together many of their friends to work on the film for free over the course of three weeks in south Pasadena, where many of the locations are still intact today...and treats.

It all started when Irwin Yablans came up with the simple idea of babysitters being stalked and killed by the boogeyman, but this "boogeyman" wasn't like all the rest in the cheesy rip-offs of the '80s. The Shape reigned supreme, and was a stalker by all means, which is where the scare factor of the film comes from. For there isn't much scary AFTER the killer reveals itself, but in the suspense leading up to it, just as quiet and undisturbed as a stalker would be.

And the power of the very word "boogeyman" is what also assisted in swaying Moustapha Akkad's decision to fork over the $300K, plus an extra $20K to get Donald Pleasence in the film. For Moustapha was moved by that word, in that the Shape wasn't just another thug in a suit, but was the boogeyman instead, which instilled in his mind something more threatening than just your average killer in an '80s rip off. The word 'babysitter' also clicked with Moustapha who knew that every kid in America knew what a babysitter was, or had been one, or had been babysat by one, thus already implying the film's success. And his son knew that too considering that he took a different girl to see the film all the time till he found the right one. ;) I kid you not. He actually did that. Whether this is Malek Akkad or another son, I don't know.

But it was production designer Tommy Lee Wallace that scouted out the locations, and was given the most important task in the pre-production of the film: "Go find a mask for the Shape." And so, he returned from a costume store with an Emmet Kelly mask (a clown), and a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) "Star Trek" mask. So he took the Kirk mask and shaved off the sideburns and eyebrows, then cut out the eye-holes to be more round, spoofed up the hair to make it look demented, and spray painted the mask whiter than it already was. At the time, Nick Castle wasn't cast as the Shape, so a crew member came out of the bathroom with the costume on wearing the Emmett Kelly mask, and many agreed that it was certainly grotesque and strange looking, but when he went back in the bathroom to try on the Kirk mask, he came out and it sent a chill down everyone's spine!

[you can google image: "Emmett Kelly Mask" and decide for yourself if they made a good choice.]

The greatest lesson learned from the film however was the sheer power of music, in that the executive from 20th Century Fox didn't find it scary without it, until John returned within 3 days with the completed musical score. Never before or since has music made all the difference in the world, such as most films would be just as dramatic/epic/romantic/and or shocking without music, but not so for the horror genre. It seems to hold music as being something extra special to its' success.

At a preview screening at John Carpenter's alumni UCLA, a male student asked why they would stoop to make such a disgusting and unvalued type of film, and when told by the film-makers that they hoped it to be a classic one day, he criticized them again, saying it was too pretentious of them, and that they'd be fools to think it could amount to anything. Then he stormed out of the screening room. The point in this bit of data you ask yourself? You gotta imagine how stupid he feels now!

Alright, so that's enough secrets for now. Besides all that there's 2 TV Spots, 2 Radio Spots, and 3 Talent Bios on John Carpenter, Debra Hill, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

So overall: Who can forget the night that the fugitive mental patient stalked into a sleepy town and offed a few citizens? Or the weekend the Shape stalked into theaters and doubled it's gross box office intake for the first 3 days of release? Or how Irwin Yablans tricked Moustapha Akkad into forking over $300K by slyly insulting his pride? Or how it was submitted the first time without the chilling score and had meant nothing at all? And how John Carpenter composed the most memorable theme music that was inspired by playing bongos? Or the moments that the Shape disappeared from view entirely, only to make a surprising comeback?

I'll tell ya who: Wusses that couldn't stand to see the film even once after reading the reviews!! And those who THINK today's horror films reign supreme!!!! So go out and snag this DVD!!! Right now.