Halloween has been one of my top horror films of all time and I have seen it on so many formats and releases. Each releases does seem to be a bit different from one another when it comes to picture and audio quality and special features. Now when it came to them releasing a 35th Anniversary Edition blu-ray I was skeptical at first because there was just a blu-ray released back in 2007 which was not that bad of a release if you ask me. After the details for this release started to surface my skepticism started to fade fast. Now lets get into this autopsy!
I am not going to blab on about what I think of the film itself because everyone and their mother has seen it and I would just be most likely repeating what you feel about the film and or read about it. I will say that it is one of the top 10 most influential horror films to ever come out in my opinion. Halloween is also a film that does the job right when it comes to building up suspense and delivering some truly chilling scenes. There you go that is my brief thoughts about this masterpiece of horror.
One thing I noticed right from the start is that the colors have been corrected to what they should be and are way better in this release compared to the previous one. The skin tones seem to be more what they should be and the brighter colors seem to pop more. The detail was great in the 2007 release and does hold up well even next to this one. When it comes to the blacks they seem to be deeper and darker this time around which is something this film definitely needs. The overall picture quality is very much a step up from the previous blu-ray release. I will say if you are just a casual fan then you could stick with the cheaper 2007 and I think you'd be pleased with that, but if you are a big fan of this film then I suggest you get this release. The audio is great as well and comes in both a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and the original Mono soundtracks. Both of them are clear and I think will satisfy those who love 7.1 audio and who love the original audio. For me I love when they actually release the film with the original audio.
The special features on this release are actually pretty damn good. The only thing ported over from the 2007 blu-ray release was the trailer and TV/Radio spots. This release sports a new audio commentary with John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis and they are actually in the same room while recording it compared to the previous one where they were not. There is a new featurette on this release which is pretty cool it's called "The Night SHE Came Home" which follows Jamie Lee Curtis as she does her first and only horror convention appearance. I like to see this side of her as she does the fans right and helps out a children's hospital in the process. On top of those two awesome features you also get the TV Version Footage that you can watch. That brings me to what I wish they would of added and that is a blu-ray version of the TV Version. That could of made this an even more awesome of a release.
Overall this a damn good release that will please those who are fans of the films and is a truly worthy upgrade. I don't look at this as a double dip because it goes above and beyond what the other releases. One last thing I want to touch on is the packaging. The packaging is in the form of a blu-ray book which I absolutely love. The words and Michael Myers are embossed and it has a shiny foiled look on the top where the blu-ray logo is and the words on the cover. The only things I wish they would of done is make the black parts more shiny and not matte black because finger prints show up easily on there and are hard to get off. The other thing is I wish they would of put some kind of picture on the back of the case instead of it being just black, one image that would of been great is the pumpkin made from the hand with a knife. Other than that it has some damn cool packaging, but get it while you can because I could see it switching over to a regular case in no time!
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: John Carpenter
Lead Actor/Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence
Genre: Horror/Slasher
Blu-ray Release Year: 2013
Theatrical Release Year: 1978
Time Length: 91 mins.
Rating: R
Region Code: A
Release Company: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Website:
www.anchorbayent.com
ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS:
Halloween has been one of my top horror films of all time and I have seen it on so many formats and releases. Each releases does seem to be a bit different from one another when it comes to picture and audio quality and special features. Now when it came to them releasing a 35th Anniversary Edition blu-ray I was skeptical at first because there was just a blu-ray released back in 2007 which was not that bad of a release if you ask me. After the details for this release started to surface my skepticism started to fade fast. Now lets get into this autopsy!
