When it comes to contemporary horror franchise icons, the daddy of them all is without a doubt Michael Myers. He was striking fear into the hearts of oversexed teenagers whilst Jason was still a mama's boy with a potato sack over his head. Now of course, John Carpenter admits that he had no idea he was making a bankable monster, and by the late 1980s, when the ball was rolling on further movies about the inhuman vegetable in the spray-painted Captain Kirk mask, he had divorced himself entirely from the series. The cash cow behind the sequels was executive producer Moustapha Akkad, who sadly died in a terrorist attack not too long ago whilst talk was brewing over a potential ninth installment.

Nine installments? Well, rumor around the campfire is that Rob Zombie will be directing a prequel/remake of the original, which seems kind of bizarre seeing as how Michael Myers spent a good part of his childhood in the cuckoo's nest. There are the fans, however, and their support has been the life blood for the franchise for over 25 years, through good times and bad. It's not a stretch, then, to consider Stefan Hutchinson's HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR a love letter to the cult following that have kept The Shape alive.

This is a feature-length documentary produced around the time of the original Halloween's silver anniversary. Perhaps the first of its kind, HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR is a seemingly comprehensive overview of the entire Michael Myers saga, with input from a large swath of the major creative personnel responsible for the films (over 80 interviews were used). There are segments devoted not only to the original, which merits its own documentary (see the DVD review I previously posted), but also the shabbiest of the sequels, including 1989's Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and 2003's Halloween: Resurrection.

Addressing the main problem early, it would be wise to point out that if you followed the series and picked up on all the insider info, a glut of the information will only reflect what you already know. It's a given seeing as how the original has been documented so damn much and that some of the more controversial later instances (including the creative war over the final cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) are still fresh in the mind. But the commentary from all involved, including even some of the series most insubstantial bit players, keeps you glued to your seat the way the original movie couldn't since it made you jump so high.

The original Halloween was made on a tight budget and with virtually no great paychecks for all involved. It owed a great deal to Bob Clark's immortal Black Christmas, which contained a similar plot about an escaped lunatic that terrorized a bevy of girls. However, the imagination on display in the original, from the groundbreaking use of the 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio as well as the classic Steadicam movements used to give us the perspective of a young, murderous Michael, surpassed any fears of creative bankruptcy. It also developed terror from atmosphere rather than cheap splatter, a point many hammer home when comparing this film to the countless imitators in its wake, primarily the Friday the 13th series.

There isn't a whole lot of new trivia to be gleamed from this retrospective on the original, but there are some interesting tidbits and insights. It would seem as though few people would compare the film's visual look to Euro horror a la Dario Argento or use Moby Dick as an allegory for the way in which Donald Pleasance's progressively madder Dr. Loomis hunted down white-faced Michael. These do become apt comparisons when brought up by film critic Marc Shapiro and FX artist Greg Nicotero. It's worth noting that the iconic Myers house was faced with the wrecking ball, but was miraculously purchased for one dollar and moved across the way from the hardware store also seen in the movie. And there are interviews with celebrity fans Clive Barker (Hellraiser), Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) that weigh in on the movie's legacy with real intelligence, from Barker's explanation of what "The Shape" means to Wright's observation that the movie's success was the "death knell for Hammer horror."

Barker and Zombie provide blunt commentary later in the documentary about the decline in quality of the various sequels, which seemingly started with the first one in 1981 (the same year Jason started his reign of horror). Having learned a lesson about the value of an audience's reaction to bloody violence with The Fog, Carpenter wanted to bolster the gore quotient when he wrote the script for Halloween II. Director Rick Rosenthal, however, wanted none of it, and thus began one of the first creative battles that would seemingly dog the series. Carpenter admits his biggest mistake, as re-told by narrator P.J. Soles, is that he made the decision of making Michael and original survivor Laurie Strode siblings. On a lighter note is an anecdote shared by actress Pamela Susan Shoop concerning the nudity in the hot tub scene where she was told by Rosenthal that the 19-person crew on the closed set would all strip with her. Wait until you hear Rosenthal's side of the story.

Thankfully, the documentary devotes a good time to talking about the notorious Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Having rightfully felt that Michael Myers should have been put to rest, Carpenter and co-writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace (who skipped on directing the previous sequel) decided to take pursue an alternate storyline based on a script by Nigel Kneale about a Celtic warlock who devises a scheme to kill millions of children on Halloween night. But Kneale dropped his name from the movie when his initially dark, sarcastic script was rewritten to become more standard. That was just a small fraction of the problems that arose: when released, Halloween III was a box-office bomb that angered many of fans who simply wanted Michael to go around killing youngsters observed in the act of coitus. Wallace defends the movie as an homage to Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and considers how the movie should've been released as "Season of the Witch," which would've probably only invited confusion with the George A. Romero film of the same title.

1988's Halloween 4 and 1989's Halloween 5 immediately fell into the 1980s slasher movie glut that many criticized the original for kick-starting. Once a human being who served to provide a genuine menace, Michael Myers not only lost his identity but also some credibility. Money talked despite the criticisms and both managed a decent run at the box-office. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers came several years later and ruined the appeal of Michael Myers for many by wrapping him in the Celtic glow that was axed from the second sequel. Me, I just thought it was a poorly-executed waste of time no matter if you're viewing the dreary theatrical version or the much-ballyhooed and bootlegged "Producer's Cut." Although the fourth installment is rather underrated, part five takes it lumps in a hilarious tirade by web-based critic John "Arrow in the Head" Fallon, who sums that stinker up in one quote: "Why is there a mute kid in this movie?!"

Halloween H20 brought back Jamie Lee Curtis in her immortal debut role, her performance elevating what would've been just another trendy teen slasher film (with a story treatment by Kevin Williamson) to what is arguably the best of all the sequels. That goodwill nose-dived with the release Halloween: Resurrection, which not only killed off Laurie Strode but also once again placed the series on life support. Everything that was stale, uninspired and lame about that sequel could also easily be summed up by one of the movie's working titles: "Halloween H2K." H2FU! Thankfully, that one only gets about three minutes of analysis, mainly by those who, like me, felt rapper/star Busta Rhymes overcompensated WAAAYYY too much. H20 is covered with greater detail, primarily when the issue of the alternate designs for Michael's signature mask comes up.

When the documentary is at its best, it focuses mainly on the uphill battles and little details that went into the making of all of the movies. These provide for more interesting conversations than some of the more general commentary about the issue of sexism in horror movies and whether or not some of the series' fans were perhaps a bit too devoted as evidenced by actresses Danielle Harris (Jamie from H4 & H5) and Kathleen Kinmont (from H4). There is also something to be commended concerning the balanced viewpoints, even though they at times contradict wildly (Brad "Tommy Doyle" Andrews considers Mike more of an indestructible monster than a human being, but H20 star Jodi Lyn O'Keefe says the opposite).

For better or worse, HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR takes you down memory lane, a road paved with intentions both good and bad. The original was a groundbreaking movie as potent as a suspense film as it was a horror flick, and there was nowhere to go but down after it became a classic. As the market place became more favorable of slasher films, the series conformed to the status quo and became rather one-note in their creation, although there was always some novelty in hearing Dr. Loomis explain Myers' soulless persona ("I prayed that he would burn in hell, but in my heart, I knew that hell would not have him"). In the end, I would say that this boils down to less of a testament to an actual franchise than to the fans who stuck with it as long as it did. They will likely keep the Halloween franchise alive long enough even when the series stoops to getting as low as to have Michael Myers in space. Now, that's scarier than the last seven movies combined.

The documentary looks and sounds pretty good as a whole. The tricky thing when reviewing the a/v content here is that its all a matter of the origin of the source material. A lot of interview footage looks pretty crisp and clean compared to the convention footage, which is a little too soft image wise. Presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, a good part of the film clips used are in letterboxed widescreen not enhanced for 16x9 TVs. There was a little shimmering, but the gripes stop there. The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack presents all the talking head chatter and musical cues ("Silver Shamrock!") in equally crystal quality, with some fair attention paid to utilizing the soundscape. Once again, the convention footage is considerably low in terms of audio quality, but is devoid, thankfully, of excessive problems. Closed captioning is provided, but no subtitles/alternate audio tracks are available for access.

I will get into more detail about the convention when I get around to disc two, but let me just run through the bonuses on the first platter of this loaded double-DVD release. Horror's Hallowed Grounds is a video tour of the shooting locations for the original Halloween revisited by Dread Central's Sean Clark, who is visited in some spots by none other than Lynda herself, P.J. Soles, who revisits the old haunting grounds and reveals just how much of a non-smoker she is in real life. We get to revisit all the major houses used in the film, the actual streets of Haddonfield, the exteriors used for the asylum, and even the phone booth Dr. Loomis once occupied. It runs 17:45 and is well worth seeing immediately after the documentary ends.

Halloween II and III Extended Interviews (24:32 combined length) provides us with additional comments from many of those who were interviewed in the documentary, including directors Rick Rosenthal & Tommy Lee Wallace and actors Tom Atkins, Pamela Susan Shoop, Tawny Moyer, and Brad Schachter (the memorably-doomed "Little" Buddy from HIII). We learn information about any deleted scenes, additional accounts of on-set atmosphere and general comments about each film's legacy. The best moments include Tommy Lee Wallace getting into detail on why he turned down directing the first sequel, Schacter playing both John Carpenter's theme and the "Silver Shamrock" jingle on piano and the always awesome Atkins calling into question his status as a "ladies man," something he seemingly alludes to in the documentary when he recalls seeing the first film with women to the left and right of him (he also talks about his MIA HIII romantic partner Stacey Nelkin).

Extended Celebrity Interviews will disappoint those wanting to hear more from Rob Zombie and Clive Barker, as they consist of interview outtakes from the people who participated in any of the movies excepting II and III. We hear from the likes of producer Moustapha Akkad, cinematographer Dean Cundey, composers Alan Howarth & John Ottman, FX artists Greg Nicotero & John Carl Buechler, and actors P.J. Soles, Danielle Harris, Charles Cyphers, Sasha Jenson, Kathleen Kinmont, Jodi Lyn O‘Keefe, Bianca Kajlich, and Brian Andrews. Aside from some potentially valuable comments from Buechler, Harris, Cundey and documentary narrator Soles, the glut of these comments feel just like the throwaways they are and will likely appeal to those with a soft spot for the individual movie in which the interview subject was a part of. The whole bonus runs about 35:12 in length, and that's not even the half of the material that was scrapped from the documentary.

Anchor Bay's decision to throw the same seven-minute-long reel of Halloween 5 On-Set Footage that is available on the Divimax Special Edition DVD of the actual movie smacks of cross-promotion (aren't the forced trailers for the first, fourth and fifth installments enough already?). Fans of that movie might like hearing from Beau Starr and Wendy Kaplan, but I was just wondering why the time couldn't have been used to pay tribute to Debra Hill or Moustapha Akkad, who died after the 25th Anniversary bash but before this DVD's release. The disc rounds out with Fans of Halloween: Collections of Props and Memorabilia, which is 7:36 of oddball displays of adoration (check out the two-men versions of all eight movies as well as the self-proclaimed "first transgender scream queen"), and a Halloween Convention Montage that lasts 3:44. Look out for a segment devoted to a "Halloween 9" contest won by a fan named Heather, who is seen in the documentary paying tribute to Lynda the "Girls Gone Wild" way.

The "Return to Haddonfield" convention in 2003 that was staged by co-producer/co-writer/Trancas International webmaster Anthony Masi provided a lot of the interview material on the feature documentary and makes up for over 90% of the extras on the second disc. The only material not related to this are an audio clip for thrash band Vicious Disorder's "Pure Evil" and a pair of still galleries devoted to locations used in the series (34 slides) & original artwork from fans (41 slides), and even then we also get a whopping 88 photos from that bloody convention. With these out of the way, you can prepare yourself for 2 hours of videotaped convention footage in the form of several panel discussions:

Halloween Panel Discussion - With P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, Brian Andrews, and executive producer Joseph Wolf. Wolf points out that editing the movie so that it would air on network TV cost more than it did to make the movie as well as where the name of Michael Myers originated from. Cyphers seems to be asked twice about what it was like working with Donald Pleasance, Andrews remembers how difficult it was for him to break a pumpkin being a small child and Soles recalls her foray into acting as well as her characters gratuitous use of the word "totally."

Halloween II Panel Discussion - With Pamela Susan Shoop, Tawny Moyer, Gloria Gifford and Chris Emmich. The four actors reveal how they got cast, what their favorite moment from the film was and how their death scenes were shot (in the case of Gloria, her death wasn't filmed; she just lied down in a pool of blood for hours). Moyer reveals that she did her own stunt work as a way to get bonus money, which led Shoop to do the same thing when it came time for her hot tub murder.

Halloween 6 Panel Discussion - With writer Daniel Farrandas, producer Paul Freeman and actors Marianne Hagan, Kim Darby, Bradford English & Janice Knickrehm. We hear about how Farrands got the writing gig seemingly based solely on his love for the original movie since he saw it on NBC. His description of the script as along the lines of Rosemary's Baby is a moment of pure pretension no one scoffs at. Other than that, most of the questions and requests are aimed at the actors, including old Janice, who recites her entire "Do you know why we celebrate Halloween?" epilogue verbatim. Not a whole lot of attention is paid to the messy controversy, which makes this the lesser of all the panel discussion material.

Ellie Cornell Panel Discussion - The heroine of H4 didn't live to survive H5, but shows up here in what is the shortest of the panel discussions. We learn about how it was like during the filming of Part 4 having to make new friends and kiss new boys as well as her attitude towards her character's untimely demise. Although an engaging speaker and still a hottie over ten years after the fact, she doesn't neglect to mention her Mindfire Enterprises production company, whose most notable contribution to cinema is Uwe Boll's House of the Dead. Hearing her shout "Die, you son-of-a-b*tch!" rings all too clearly in my ears.

Michael Myers Panel Discussion - Since having a real panel discussion with Mike would go nowhere, we get several of the stuntmen who have donned the black jumpsuit and mask(s) throughout the series: James Winburn, Dick Warlock, George P. Wilbur, Tom Morga, Brad Loree, Don Shanks and Chris Durand. Although many, primarily Warlock (the most quizzed of the Shapes), express surprise at the fan following, they all get the chance to explain what it was like getting to play a monster and whatever mark it left on their physical selves. And, of course, they don't forget to mention their favorite kills.

Dean Cundey Panel Discussion - The cinematographer behind the first two movies goes into technical detail about how it was like shooting in Cinemascope and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, noting the collaborative endeavors between him and Carpenter as well as his own influence on Rick Rosenthal's directorial effort. Cundey begins this with a pretty interesting anecdote about how the film was received back in 1978 when, during a panel discussion at a premiere screening at USC, one of the audience members outright damned the movie and those who made it.

Halloween Producers Panel Discussion - With Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad. The team explain how the original was developed and express their opinions on how the series has endured, with Akkad declaring that one of the biggest mistakes was attaching the "Halloween" name to "Season of the Witch." The duo also talk about the many ideas for sequels and franchise confrontations (anyone up for "Michael vs. Pinhead"?) that have been on fans' minds. The late Akkad had nothing but the utmost respect for the series, as it was him who kept it going to the love of the audience members, and a sentimental moment occurs that might as well bring down the house for many, and at just the right time to send this package off on a graceful note.

The previews for Halloween, Halloween 4 and Halloween 5, as well as one for the Masters of Horror series, can be accessed without obligation on the second disc. An insert contains an essay by Anthony Masi, who acknowledges the loss of Akkad, and there's also a nifty "Halloween: Autopsis" comic book written by Stefan Hutchinson and centered around some of the more famous characters in the series.

I've done enough reviewing, so by now you should know for yourself whether to indulge yourself in all things trick-or-treat by picking up HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR. Long live the Bogeyman!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age