It’s that time of year again, boys and girls. Today is the first day of October, and it’s almost time for him to come home. As most of you know, the 35th anniversary edition of John Carpenter’s Halloween was recently released. I have been itching to write this review since the day I got my hands on this awesome book and bluray, but I decided to hold off until today, because come on, it’s just so right.
First off, I just gotta say, the bluray transfer of this movie is incredible. You almost can’t even tell this movie is 35 years old. Almost. (The wardrobe kinda gives it away) In my opinion this movie still holds up after all these years, bad wardrobe or not, and is why Halloween is my favorite slasher “franchise”.
I love the way this movie is filmed, and so many people try for this style in their movies, but none ever quite get it right. There are so many instantly recognizable moments through out this film, that you could show someone a single image and they immediately know the movie.
The other thing that really makes this movie a masterpiece in my eyes, is the soundtrack. I love that the first few minutes of the movie are almost completely silent, except for a few sound effects. I still remember the first time I ever watched this movie, and how that silence really grabbed my attention. I couldn’t look away. When the soundtrack does start, it just adds to the atmosphere, and general eerie-ness of this amazing movie.
In my opinion what makes Michael so scary is that, aside from the mask, appears to be a normal man. He has no disfigurations, he has no “curse”. While yes, he is very much crazy, he still moves like a completely normal guy. This connection to normalcy makes you realize anyone walking down the street could be a crazy murderer and you would never know it. (Don’t get paranoid on me)
Along with the amazing film, this anniversary release comes with some really neat special features as well. These awesome features include: NEW audio commentary with writer/director John Carpenter and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, NEW The Night She Came Home featurette, On Location: 25 Years Later featurette, TV version footage, trailer, and TV & radio spots. As well as all these awesome features, the movie comes packaged in a hardcover book, featuring images and stories from the film.
