I think we all know this one: A disturbed young boy kills his sister, gets sent to a mental hospital, gets out and goes through a series of re-enactments of the murder.

There’s not a whole lot that can be said about HALLOWEEN that hasn’t been said before. I really dislike horror films, and especially slasher flicks, but even I have to give this one some credit for being creepy as hell, 25 years later. Unfortunately, some people forget just how good/scary this film really is because all they can remember are the bad and numerous sequels that followed. Even LL Cool J himself couldn’t stop the sequels.

It had been a while since I originally saw this film and I think the biggest realization I had while watching it again was how drastically horror films have changed since this film first came out. What made HALLOWEEN so great was that not only was it very freaky, but it piled on the suspense. The audience was literally tired at the end of the film which matched up nicely with the uneasiness you got from watching a madman kill people. Today’s horror films sell out for shock value and the intensity gets left behind. The originality in this film really paved the way for slasher flicks over the past 30 years.

I had also forgotten how great Jamie Lee-Curtis was as the original scream-queen. The role has been mocked in today’s films and culture that it’s easy to forget how good of a job she did with it. I liked it when she came back for H20, and even though I’m still angry that wasn’t the last one, it made a nice bookend to the original.

Overall, the film holds up well and is a must own for horror fans everywhere. It’s still a good, intense film that will continue to freak you out even after you’ve seen it several times. If you want a reminder that horror films can be bloody, intense, creepy and original, do yourself a favor and pick up HALLOWEEN.

Video: Widescreen (2.35:1) and Fullscreen (1.33:1): There are numerous versions of this film on DVD and all of them have improved over the original release. This is probably the best of the bunch and it made it easy to forget the film is almost 30 years old.

Audio: English 5.1 and English 2.0 with English subtitles: I will give the disc some credit on the audio front. On the other DVD’s, I always thought the audio sounded more like a mono mix, but it seems like they actually got it right this time.

It’s hard to give this DVD any credit since I know there’s a great commentary track with Curtis and Carpenter on another edition of the film. This is the budget-conscious version and looks like it’s been released to take advantage of the Halloween season.

Halloween Unmasked 2000 (27:03): I feel like I’ve seen this before, but I can’t remember where. I looked back at the other DVD editions and couldn’t find it. Despite the familiarity, this documentary isn’t bad and features all the interviews you’d expect. It’s not nearly as thorough as some of the other documentaries on the film, but it’s not bad.

There are also some Previews, TV spots, radio spots and a Still gallery

If you’ve never seen the original HALLOWEEN and you like scary movies, then you definitely need to find a copy. However, without the commentary track and other features, this version isn’t the answer.