DVD Release: 2006

Review by Scott Weitz
— October 10, 2006 —

Caught between the 25th anniversary resurgence of the HALLOWEEN franchise and the signing of Rob Zombie to re-imagine the Michael Myers saga, this solid documentary bridges the past and the future of the series.  HALLOWEEN 25 certainly deserves a place in the DVD library of any Myers-series or general horror fan, though as with any such review of cinema history, it tends to preach to the choir who already know much about the material in it.

The main attraction and value of the two-disc set is the 84-minute documentary film spanning the entire film franchise, from the inception of John Carpenter's 1978 benchmark which jumpstarted the modern slasher film era, up through the seven sequels including the return of Jamie Lee Curtis in 1998's H20 and HALLOWEEN:RESURRECTION.

Co-writer Anthony Masi and director Stephan Hutchinson deliver a well-rounded study of the entire Michael Myers saga, from its humble, low-budget film about a babysitter genesis by executive producer Irwin Yablans, to the suspense chiller masterpiece created by Carpenter and Debra Hill, then on down the sequel line over the next two decades.  

The less you already know about the HALLOWEEN series, the more you'll learn; and the more you already know about it, the more you will appreciate this compact, informative and entertaining history lesson of the films.

Yet this sweeping feature documentary only scratches the surface of the four-plus hours of material in the HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR set.  Filling out the remainder of disc one is an episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds, which takes viewers on a thorough tour of HALLOWEEN filming locations.   While actual residences like the Myers House still exist in one form or another in Pasadena, CA, many have changed over the decades, and this short feature is a fun look — with special guest star P.J. Soles — at the architectural artifacts which created a home for fictional Haddonfield.

Still more is offered on disc one, including more HALLOWEEN II and III cast and crew interviews, extended celebrity spots, on-set visits during HALLOWEEN 5, plus a montage from the 2003 Return to Haddonfield convention held in Pasadena where most of the disc two panel segments were taped.

It is this anniversary convention of Halloween participants and devotees which provide the bulk of second disc material, offering fans who didn't attend a semi-front row seat to the weekend's events.  Group panel discussions illuminate more details about HALLOWEEN I, II and 6, plus individual panels with Ellie Cornell (H5), producers Moustapha Akkad and Irwin Yablans, and a fun gathering of seven Michael Myers players.  The latter is easily the most entertaining and light-hearted segment from the convention, but also interesting to see how the performers' personalities affected their portrayals of Michael behind the mask — alas no appearance from the original, Nick Castle, who was really needed to complete the panel and a truly comprehensive discussion of The Shape both on-screen and behind the camera.

Of particular interest to film production fans is the solo panel appearance by Dean Cundey, director of photography on the first three HALLOWEEN films.  While his discussion may get a bit dry and technical for casual fans, his personal insights into the cinematographic nuts and bolts of giving HALLOWEEN its distinctive mood and visual style is one of the DVD's most valuable treasures.  It's not often DPs get the spotlight in such making-of docs, and his segment proves just how crucial Dean Cundey's contribution was in making HALLOWEEN a true horror classic.

Rounding out disc two are three photo gallery tracks: Location Stills, Convention Behind-the-Scenes and Original Artwork — all fairly typical offerings for such a release with mixed results in source material quality, but completing the package.  If H25 has one drawback, the fault lies in the often amateurish videography, especially evident in the convention-based scenes and interviews.  Granted such 'talking head' shots are tough to keep visually compelling, but a second camera for alternate angles and cutaways would have easily solved the problem.  Worse is the sometimes plain sloppy camera work: shots which drift off the interview subject's face and annoying examples of basic failure to properly frame such shots.  It's hard to tell if the cam operator was going for a roaming handheld style, or if their hand simply got tired during the protracted interview footage.  In any case, the recurring poor videography detracts from the valuable content offered throughout the disc.

Admittedly some viewers may not care about such technical details, but the production team and Anchor Bay would have elevated the DVD's overall quality rating a couple notches had better videography been employed throughout.   After all, such event and interview material is valuable simply because much of it is a one-time opportunity, and sadly moments of these segments are made lesser for the uneven production of them.  Sure the substance quantity far outweighs the style quality, and the H25 creators with Anchor Bay Entertainment definitely deliver the goods, but the DVD set could have been even better than it is without such needless detractions.

It may be just as well this DVD set was produced and released before the June 2006 announcement that Rob Zombie was taking the reins of the next film, since he vows to re-imagine the very origins of Michael Myers and the HALLOWEEN franchise in his new film next year.  In that regard, H25 makes a worthy historical and affectionate summation of the HALLOWEEN series as we know it now.

The unparalleled, dense collection of HALLOWEEN info, cast and crew interviews and wealth of production material make HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR a must-purchase for devoted fans or any who want to learn more about Myers mythology and the talented filmmakers who brought Michael to the big screen over eight films . . . and counting!