For many people, including just casual fans of the original Halloween movie, this set is probably overkill, especially now that it is out of print and very expensive. But, for those who are die-hard fans of the series, and loves getting bonus content that comes with purchasing physical discs over streaming, this is a very good set. I will not spend a ton of time reviewing the movies since anyone likely to be looking at this already is familiar with them. This set includes multiple versions of the original 1978 classic horror movie, and its original sequels (plus Halloween III, which I personally do not count as a part of the Halloween series, and Rob Zombie's remakes). The movies range in quality. Most people tend to consider the original movie to be the best, but opinions vary wildly on the quality of the other movies. For me, Halloween Resurrection is the worst of the bunch, but opinions definitely vary. Here is a breakdown of what you get on each disc:
Disc One: The first disc contains the original theatrical edition of the first movie. The extras include a great audio commentary track with John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis, an hour-long featurette entitled "The Night She Came Home" which chronicles Curtis using her (and the movie's) fame to raise money for charity through an appearance at an autograph signing/convention appearance. Then there is a ten-minute featurette on the neighborhood the movie was shot in showing some of the locations, a collection of scenes that played in the TV cut of the movie, the trailer, and TV and radio spots. There is also a new commentary track on the movie with the director of photography Dean Cundey, Editor Tommy Lee Wallace, and Nick Castle, who played Michael (aka "The Shape").
Disc 2: This disc includes the theatrical cut of the movie with a commentary track by Carpenter, Curtis, and producer Debra Hill. It repeats a lot from commentary on disc 1 but does have some decent additions from Hill. Then there is an 87-minute retrospective documentary with the cast and crew members that were made after the original Blu-ray release. Then there is a fast film Facts featurette and the same TV and radio spots from disc 1.
Disc 3: This disc includes the theatrical version of Halloween II, the sequel to Halloween that Carpenter reluctantly made in the early 1980s, continuing the Laurie Strode/Michael Myers story, picking up exactly where the first movie ended. There are two commentaries tracks on the movie, the first with director Rick Rosenthal and actor Leo Rossi, and the second with actor/stunt coordinator Dick Warlock. Then there is a 45-minute making-or retrospective documentary, and an episode of "Horror's Hallowed Ground" which looks at the shooting locations, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, stills, the theatrical trailer and TV and radio spots.
Disc four: This includes the TV version of Halloween II that basically removes the gore and nudity from the theatrical cut and adds a few scenes in to make up for what is cut out. It is not in HD and does not have a lossless audio track, so it is kind of wasted on Blu-Ray. Then there is a copy of the Halloween II script.
Disc five: This has the hotly debated Season of the Witch, a sequel in name only that never should have been released under the Halloween name. Had it just been titled Season of the Witch and not Halloween III, I do not think the movie would have had nearly the backlash it has received over the years. There are two commentary tracks on the move, one with the director Tommy Lee Wallace, Rob G. from "Icons of Fright," and Horror's Hallowed Grounds' Sean Clark in which Wallace defends the movie, and one with lead actor Tom Atkins and BD/DVD Producer Michael Felsher. Then there is a 33-minute making-of documentary, another episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds that visit the various shooting locations, a stills gallery, tv spots, and the trailer.
Disc Six: This disc includes Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, the 1988 movie that basically reset the franchise. It includes a great commentary track with stars Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris and a second commentary with director Dwight H. Little and author Justin Beahm. This is the disc that included an audio glitch (I never noticed it on my player, but it was noticeable on some tracks, so the studio did offer a replacement disc). The only other extra on this disc is the theatrical trailer. The rest of the extras specific to this movie are, for some reason, on disc 15.
Disc Seven: This disc includes Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and again has a couple of commentary tracks, one with Don Shanks (who played Michael) and author Justin Beahm, and the second with director Dominique Othenin-Girad and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman. Then there is an "on the set" feature which is just raw behind-the-scenes footage from when the movie was made, a promo for the movie, and the theatrical trailer.
Disc Eight: This disc contains the very controversial Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. This was one of Paul Rudd's first movies, and Donald Pleasance's last (he died during production). The movie had a good concept, but was just basically a mess and totally screwed up Jamie's story (along with recasting her because Danielle Harris hated the script). This has just the theatrical cut of the movie, TV spots, and theatrical trailers.
Disc Nine: This disc included, for the first time officially, the much bootlegged "Producer's Cut" of Halloween 6. The producer's cut does flesh out the story a bit more and fixes some (but not nearly all) of the issues that were present in the theatrical cut. There is a great commentary track with the writer Daniel Farrands and composer Alan Howarth, in which they discuss the differences between the theatrical cut and the producer's cut, and why the producer's cut was ultimately not the version released. Then there are several making-of featurettes, some alternate and deleted scenes, archival footage, an interview with Danielle Harris about why she did not return for the movie, with a pretty hilarious quip about her pitch to the producers that she could be topless now that she was over eighteen to entice them to give her a larger role, a short tribute to Donald Pleasance, trailers, and promo reel.
Disc Ten: This has the great Halloween H20: 20 Year Later, which was the movie that I would have been perfectly fine with being the end of the series. It saw Curtis' return to the franchise and a great showdown with Michael. There is a commentary track with Sean Clark hosts director Steve Miner and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, an hour-long making-of documentary, scenes with the original score, vintage behind-the-scenes footage, a stills gallery, the trailer, and a tv spot.
Disc Eleven: This has the horrid Halloween Resurrection. It was an awful movie that ruined Halloween H20 in pretty much every way and was a total waste. It has a commentary track with director Rick Rosenthal and editor Robert A. Ferretti, deleted scenes and an alternate ending, a featurette that edits together the webcam videos, a 37-minute making-of documentary, a short set interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, a set tour, storyboard analysis, a stills gallery, tv spots, and the theatrical trailer.
Discs Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen: These are just the Rob Zombie versions of Halloween and Halloween 2. It is the same content that was included in their Blu-Ray release, including the same commentary tracks, deleted scenes, bloopers, and the 260-minute making-of documentary for the first movie. There was nothing added for this release.
Disc Fifteen: The final disc has basically all of the other extras. There is the 101-minute extended edition of the original movie, a 27-minute archive documentary, an interview with producer Moustapha Akkad, more stills from the first movie, an interview with the Season of the Witch's make-up effects artist, and the rest of the Halloween 4 and 5 extras (making of-documentaries for each movie, TV Spots, stills galleries, and a more Horror's Hallowed Grounds episodes).
If you love the Halloween Franchise and love bonus material, you have a lot. About the only thing this set does not have are a couple of extras that were included in the releases and of course, the new Blumhouse movies. It is not a perfect set as not everything is in HD, but the plusses definitely outweigh the minuses. It has hours and hours of bonus content to keep you entertained. The only drawback is that you may get sick of watching the movies multiple times to listen to all the commentary tracks (if you want to watch everything in a short time span). I definitely recommend it for fans of the series.
Disc One: The first disc contains the original theatrical edition of the first movie. The extras include a great audio commentary track with John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis, an hour-long featurette entitled "The Night She Came Home" which chronicles Curtis using her (and the movie's) fame to raise money for charity through an appearance at an autograph signing/convention appearance. Then there is a ten-minute featurette on the neighborhood the movie was shot in showing some of the locations, a collection of scenes that played in the TV cut of the movie, the trailer, and TV and radio spots. There is also a new commentary track on the movie with the director of photography Dean Cundey, Editor Tommy Lee Wallace, and Nick Castle, who played Michael (aka "The Shape").
Disc 2: This disc includes the theatrical cut of the movie with a commentary track by Carpenter, Curtis, and producer Debra Hill. It repeats a lot from commentary on disc 1 but does have some decent additions from Hill. Then there is an 87-minute retrospective documentary with the cast and crew members that were made after the original Blu-ray release. Then there is a fast film Facts featurette and the same TV and radio spots from disc 1.
Disc 3: This disc includes the theatrical version of Halloween II, the sequel to Halloween that Carpenter reluctantly made in the early 1980s, continuing the Laurie Strode/Michael Myers story, picking up exactly where the first movie ended. There are two commentaries tracks on the movie, the first with director Rick Rosenthal and actor Leo Rossi, and the second with actor/stunt coordinator Dick Warlock. Then there is a 45-minute making-or retrospective documentary, and an episode of "Horror's Hallowed Ground" which looks at the shooting locations, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, stills, the theatrical trailer and TV and radio spots.
Disc four: This includes the TV version of Halloween II that basically removes the gore and nudity from the theatrical cut and adds a few scenes in to make up for what is cut out. It is not in HD and does not have a lossless audio track, so it is kind of wasted on Blu-Ray. Then there is a copy of the Halloween II script.
Disc five: This has the hotly debated Season of the Witch, a sequel in name only that never should have been released under the Halloween name. Had it just been titled Season of the Witch and not Halloween III, I do not think the movie would have had nearly the backlash it has received over the years. There are two commentary tracks on the move, one with the director Tommy Lee Wallace, Rob G. from "Icons of Fright," and Horror's Hallowed Grounds' Sean Clark in which Wallace defends the movie, and one with lead actor Tom Atkins and BD/DVD Producer Michael Felsher. Then there is a 33-minute making-of documentary, another episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds that visit the various shooting locations, a stills gallery, tv spots, and the trailer.
Disc Six: This disc includes Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, the 1988 movie that basically reset the franchise. It includes a great commentary track with stars Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris and a second commentary with director Dwight H. Little and author Justin Beahm. This is the disc that included an audio glitch (I never noticed it on my player, but it was noticeable on some tracks, so the studio did offer a replacement disc). The only other extra on this disc is the theatrical trailer. The rest of the extras specific to this movie are, for some reason, on disc 15.
Disc Seven: This disc includes Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and again has a couple of commentary tracks, one with Don Shanks (who played Michael) and author Justin Beahm, and the second with director Dominique Othenin-Girad and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman. Then there is an "on the set" feature which is just raw behind-the-scenes footage from when the movie was made, a promo for the movie, and the theatrical trailer.
Disc Eight: This disc contains the very controversial Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. This was one of Paul Rudd's first movies, and Donald Pleasance's last (he died during production). The movie had a good concept, but was just basically a mess and totally screwed up Jamie's story (along with recasting her because Danielle Harris hated the script). This has just the theatrical cut of the movie, TV spots, and theatrical trailers.
Disc Nine: This disc included, for the first time officially, the much bootlegged "Producer's Cut" of Halloween 6. The producer's cut does flesh out the story a bit more and fixes some (but not nearly all) of the issues that were present in the theatrical cut. There is a great commentary track with the writer Daniel Farrands and composer Alan Howarth, in which they discuss the differences between the theatrical cut and the producer's cut, and why the producer's cut was ultimately not the version released. Then there are several making-of featurettes, some alternate and deleted scenes, archival footage, an interview with Danielle Harris about why she did not return for the movie, with a pretty hilarious quip about her pitch to the producers that she could be topless now that she was over eighteen to entice them to give her a larger role, a short tribute to Donald Pleasance, trailers, and promo reel.
Disc Ten: This has the great Halloween H20: 20 Year Later, which was the movie that I would have been perfectly fine with being the end of the series. It saw Curtis' return to the franchise and a great showdown with Michael. There is a commentary track with Sean Clark hosts director Steve Miner and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, an hour-long making-of documentary, scenes with the original score, vintage behind-the-scenes footage, a stills gallery, the trailer, and a tv spot.
Disc Eleven: This has the horrid Halloween Resurrection. It was an awful movie that ruined Halloween H20 in pretty much every way and was a total waste. It has a commentary track with director Rick Rosenthal and editor Robert A. Ferretti, deleted scenes and an alternate ending, a featurette that edits together the webcam videos, a 37-minute making-of documentary, a short set interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, a set tour, storyboard analysis, a stills gallery, tv spots, and the theatrical trailer.
Discs Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen: These are just the Rob Zombie versions of Halloween and Halloween 2. It is the same content that was included in their Blu-Ray release, including the same commentary tracks, deleted scenes, bloopers, and the 260-minute making-of documentary for the first movie. There was nothing added for this release.
Disc Fifteen: The final disc has basically all of the other extras. There is the 101-minute extended edition of the original movie, a 27-minute archive documentary, an interview with producer Moustapha Akkad, more stills from the first movie, an interview with the Season of the Witch's make-up effects artist, and the rest of the Halloween 4 and 5 extras (making of-documentaries for each movie, TV Spots, stills galleries, and a more Horror's Hallowed Grounds episodes).
If you love the Halloween Franchise and love bonus material, you have a lot. About the only thing this set does not have are a couple of extras that were included in the releases and of course, the new Blumhouse movies. It is not a perfect set as not everything is in HD, but the plusses definitely outweigh the minuses. It has hours and hours of bonus content to keep you entertained. The only drawback is that you may get sick of watching the movies multiple times to listen to all the commentary tracks (if you want to watch everything in a short time span). I definitely recommend it for fans of the series.
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