a classic still working nowadays

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2011)

What a classic this is. So low on everything just like Texas Chainsaw Massacre but still people believe to think that they saw gore and blood. But they were so wrong. It is the atmosphere and the way of filming that created this classic. Due the fact that there is a lot of talking in it still you are attracted to the screen because John Carpenter did an excellent job. But don't forget the cast in it who are all believable and giving the best of themselves. Halloween was low budget and started a new era in horror. The slasher genre. Friday the 13th was written soon after Halloween and they wanted to copy the story but on a location and look, another classic was born. Both had some kind of supernatural killer and a soundtrack that still sticks in your mind after all those years. Friday had K-K-K-Kill Ma-ma-ma-ma and Halloween had the well known riddle made by Carpenter. As I said before you also have to mention the way the camera was used. Extreme long shots and shots revealing things after a while.
Funny was to see that on television The Thing(1951)was playing. John remade it 4 years after Halloween. But naturally Halloween had it's problems with releasing it on DVD. That's a strange thing because there's no gore or blood in it as I said before so in Europe it was released at 87 minutes, the US version was 93 minutes and the NBC extended version was 104 minutes. I have seen all versions in one day just to see where they have added something or had made some cuts.
The difference between the US and European version lays in the fact that there were more cuts in the nudity. Okay, there wasn't that much nudity in it, only in the beginning and P.J.Soles making love with her friend. In the U.S; version there's more to see from her breasts then in the European version were they cut out the nipple shots. But it's the extended version that had a difference of 11 minutes. here in Europe it isn't that easy to find the extended version, it's available on a German limited release but it easy to get in the US.
NBC bought the rights for 4 million dollar of Halloween to show it on television. But the Standards and Practice Department made a cut in the original movie so NBC didn't had a full feature anymore to broadcast. John Carpenter was asked to shoot some extra scene's to beef up the running time. John agreed and 11 minutes were shot in conjunction with the production of Halloween 2. Debra Hill brought John back for a 3 day shoot with stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance. It was edited to the original feature ready for a NBC broadcast. For many people the extended version isn't a need to see but for Halloween buffs it's a must see.
There were 4 separate scene's, the best being Loomis' talk with Michael when he was a child . The scene follows just after Michael has killed his sister, and it's the longest scene. We see Michael as a child, a part that was important in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. Here you see Dr. Loomis talking to Michael at Smith's Grove but naturally he's not responding. Many had a problem with it stating it as taking the horror from Michael away because you can see his face and was wearing normal clothes. Another television scene involves Dr. Loomis discussing Michael's release with the hospital board. It didn't deliver an extra to the flick but it gets a bit deeper into the mind of Loomis. A third scene is of Loomis visiting Michael's room after his escape. The room is shattered and trashed with the word "sister" scratched into the back of the door. The final scene involves Laurie answering her door and finding her friend being followed by Michael via a station wagon. So in fact non of those scene's had any gore or red stuff in it.
I have said it before, it hasn't any red stuff but it's the score and the eerie atmosphere that gives the creeps. Some things just take too long before things happens but it is that waiting that works. Just look at Michael waiting disguised as a ghost at a door before doing his killing. A creepy shot, or the way he looked when he pinned a boy at a door. You can see that he had no feelings or whatsoever.
A must have in a horror collection just like Carpenter's other flick The Thing. It still works nowadays, a classic.
Gore 1/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 3/5 Story 4/5 Comedy 0/5