The first movie to ever really scare me remains to this day one of my very favorite movies - Halloween. John Carpenter's second feature film became an instant classic that has since, sadly, been lumped into the same category as the inferior and innumerable imitators that have followed it (including a slew of its own bad sequels).

Cinematographer Dean Cundey would later go on to work with Steven Spielberg and garner an Oscar nomination. His work behind the lens in Halloween is essential to its success; the equal use of both foreground and background imagery was crucial to create suspense as well as making Spring in southern California look as close to Midwest autumn as possible.

I've geeked out enough about this one (and believe me, I could go on). The last three images were filmed exclusively for the 1981 NBC broadcast of Halloween. After editing the film to make it safe for network televsion, the Peacock asked John Carpenter (who was already on hand for the filming of Halloween II) if he would film an extra 12 minutes of scenes to pad the trimmed running time. With the help of the original cast members, he filmed three more scenes to be included in the television cut.






Check out the wrench in his hand - he couldn't break the window barehanded
























Television cut scenes:

weren't some of those added scenes filmed after the fact? this is a brilliant movie. started a whole wave of copycat films... started a genre....

The SISTER on the door reminds me of th MURDER from The Shining movie. I hate the Boogie man... the only good thing about the boogie man was the song Blame it on the Boogie...i just can't, i just can't, i just can't control my feet...by MJ

I just love the widescreen format. It even makes a low budget movie look like an epic and our horizontal world fits so nicely into it.

Lately when I've shot stills, I've framed them so that I can crop them into a widescreen look later. I'm very pleased with the results.

ufoclub said:

Did you even even my nerdy rant?

RipHer2Shreds said:

i dunno why but this scene always scared me the most ...after he was pushed and michael shows up.

Love it of course. They showed Halloween II the other night here in Holland, but I was too tired to stay up for it. I did watch the uncut Exorcist though that came on before it.

Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

minneapolisgenius said:

Yeah, I even like that crappy slow ass sequel! Jamie Lee's wearing a really bad wig in it. It took place the same night as the original, but they had to use a wig because Jamie Lee's hairstyle had changed since then - she'd had it feathered

RipHer2Shreds said:

lol at the wig. I watched the first 10 minutes and then fell asleep. I have seen it before of course, but not for a long time. I always think of it as "the hospital one".

I haven't watched this in probably 12 years.


I think I'm watching Rocky Horror Picture Show tonight, in the theatre with a bunch crazy people throwing stuff.

they fucked up the music in Halloween 2

sorry... actually, that scene of those two looking out the door was scary in my memory... where are these scenes available?

RipHer2Shreds said:

ufoclub said:

John Carpenter was hot peformin his own soundtracks!

My absolute favorite horror film of all time! The only one that can still give me the creeps after watching it numerous times over the years.

ufoclub said:

Order it here:

http://www.amazon.com/exe...ance&s=dvd
[Edited 10/31/05 8:15am]

CinisterCee said:

But Carpenter didn't do the music for II. That flick featured a really stupid electronic version of the theme. Sucked!

JediMaster said:

You just beat me to the punch!
If you still can't get a hold of it, let me know

RipHer2Shreds said:

I've taken to watching this version the past few years. I still like the theatrical cut, but this version just gives me more Halloween goodness!

JediMaster said:

I've had every issue of Halloween - all the VHS, the laserdisc (still my favorite issue) and the various DVDs. The first DVD release with the TV scenes was actually a big deal. They were presumed to have been shot on tape in television aspect ratio, but they just happened across the original widescreen negatives in a vault.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Man, I remember trying to track down that DVD. I was so happy when they released it individually a year or two later, since that pressing went out of print incredibly fast. It was fantastic to see those scenes, and in wide-screen no less!

the music alone freaked me out. I love this film. For the low budget at the time, it was really well done. I don't think most lunp this into all of the other slasher movies as this remains a classic horror flick (and the sequel is good too). I do recall the NBC one coming on...they would play that music during hte commercials and I would have to get out of the dark basement.

superspaceboy said:

You'd be surprised. A lot of people can't distinguish this film from Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th. I know a good number of people that assume that since the others are bad, this one is too.

RipHer2Shreds said:

But the two you just mention aren't that bad at all. Different filming styles and certainly less "serious" that Halloween (nor had the acting behind it), but to put these 3 together, isn't necessa a bad thing IMHO. All 3 are considered classics in thier own right(as well as being scary). Now if you had said sleepaway Camp or something like that I could see having issues.

superspaceboy said:

Well, I like them all but I don't think Friday the 13th is a good film.

RipHer2Shreds said:

No, Ft13th was, essentially, just Halloween set in the woods. The sequels are even moreso, as Jason is just a clone of Michael Myers.

NoES is a classic, even though the sequels degenerated into parodies of the original.

Still, none hold a candle to the original Halloween. So many slasher films since have ripped it off, it isn't even funny.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Unfortunately, too many people judge this flick by the lame sequels. To me, its a sin to compare this one to The Curse of Michael Myers.

Actually, the second film is decent (not great), the fourth is creepy, and H2O ain't bad. All the rest are craptacular. It pisses me off that 5 and 6 had to be so bad, as 4 really set up a good storyarc that could have really been something.

JediMaster said:

That's what I'm sayin'! And The Curse of Michael Myers is the worst of the worst! Even the so-called producer's cut that - by some fan standards - is supposedly better than the theatrical cut is hokey at best.

The first "Halloween" is definately the scariest movie of all time.