Certainly John Carpenter had no idea what sort of an impact he would be making when he created his masterpiece, "Halloween" in 1978. Not only did the movie go on to be the most successful independent feature of it's time, but it spawned seven sequels, which in turn gave birth to a large and loyal fanbase. "Halloween: 25 Years Of Terror," a two-disc DVD set, centered around an in-depth documentary, celebrates that. Captured at a 2003 convention to mark the 25th anniversary (hence the title), this set beautifully covers nearly every angle of all eight "Halloween" films, their effect on the industry, their successes, their failures, and so on and so forth.
The documentary itself, clocking it at the length of the average "Halloween" film, traces the history of the franchise, from the baby stages of the original film, to the ridiculous nature of the most recent installment, "Halloween: Resurrection." Nothing is really held back here. The producers, directors and castmembers are not shy about revealing certain problems encountered during production (especially on parts 2 and 6) but also don't treat the films as complete failures, or as cinematic scum, as some critics might label it. If you own access to the internet and have done enough research on the films, this information may not be any news to you, but it's nice to have all the wrinkles ironed out and to hear it straight from the source. We get interviews from the legends, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, John Carpenter and Danielle Harris, to the lesser-knowns like Sasha Jenson, Marianne Hagan and Pamela Susan Shoop, and are even treated to input from everyone from internet critic John Fallon (Arrow In The Head) to future "Halloween" director/reinventor himself, Rob Zombie. I was intrigued by the documentary, and was only disappointed when it ended.
The documentary itself, clocking it at the length of the average "Halloween" film, traces the history of the franchise, from the baby stages of the original film, to the ridiculous nature of the most recent installment, "Halloween: Resurrection." Nothing is really held back here. The producers, directors and castmembers are not shy about revealing certain problems encountered during production (especially on parts 2 and 6) but also don't treat the films as complete failures, or as cinematic scum, as some critics might label it. If you own access to the internet and have done enough research on the films, this information may not be any news to you, but it's nice to have all the wrinkles ironed out and to hear it straight from the source. We get interviews from the legends, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, John Carpenter and Danielle Harris, to the lesser-knowns like Sasha Jenson, Marianne Hagan and Pamela Susan Shoop, and are even treated to input from everyone from internet critic John Fallon (Arrow In The Head) to future "Halloween" director/reinventor himself, Rob Zombie. I was intrigued by the documentary, and was only disappointed when it ended.