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Details On The HALLOWEEN 30th Anniversary Set
By Dave Dreher

Jul 29, 2008 - 11:29:35 AM

We told you about this a few weeks back and folks around the net have been bitching about it ever since but I have to admit that I am a sucker for these things and ANCHOR BAY seems to know just the right buttons to push to make us fans have to own the latest edition of these films.

Just got the official word on what this release is going to have and it looks like they have done it again.  Read on for all the gory details:

In October 1978, John Carpenter released a small, independent horror movie that became a box-office phenomenon. Halloween became one of the most successful independent films of its time, and launched a franchise that would reinvent horror films and make household names out of the fictional Michael Myers and the very real Jamie Lee Curtis.

Much like Star Wars the year before, Halloween had a profound and immediate impact on cinema and pop culture the world over. Many horror aficionados believe that without Halloween, there would be no Friday the 13th, no Evil Dead, no Nightmare on Elm Street and certainly no Scream.

Over the years, Anchor Bay Entertainment has released numerous special editions of Halloween – each one more spectacular and shocking than the one that preceded it, in an effort to continually satisfy the ravenous hunger of the film’s worldwide legion of fans. Halloween 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set is unquestionably the greatest edition of them all!

Anchor Bay Entertainment will release celebrate the 30th anniversary of John Carpenter’s classic with the limited-edition 30th anniversary boxed set on Oct. 14th – just in time for the year’s scariest night. SRP is $89.97

Only 20,000 sets of the Halloween 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set will be released, each one individually numbered.

The six-disc boxed set includes:

Halloween Restored (Original 1978 film)

Halloween Extended Edition (out of print for several years)

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror Documentary

Halloween Blu-ray (SPECIAL BONUS DISC)

The restored version of Halloween boasts a THX-certified transfer (2.35:1 widescreen presentation, enhanced for 16x9 televisions) approved by the film’s cinematographer, Dean Cundey (Apollo 13, Hook, Academy Award® nominee for Who Framed Roger Rabbit). The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack was created by Chace Productions in association with film composer Alan Howarth using the original 16-track music studio master, along with the original 35mm magnetic dialogue and effects tracks.

Special features for Halloween Restored include: Widescreen presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs, full-frame presentation, theatrical trailer, TV spots, radio spot, talent bios, still gallery, behind-the-scenes still gallery, and the featurette Halloween Unmasked 2000.

The extended edition of Halloween, which has long been unavailable, is out of print no longer! When the film was sold to NBC in 1980 for network broadcast, NBC’s Standards & Practices Department demanded numerous cuts to the original film. In order to fill the movie’s two-hour television running time, director John Carpenter, joined by the crew of Halloween II and stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, commenced a three-day shoot of all-new scenes and alternate footage that was then added to the original feature. These 12 minutes of scenes have long been described as the ultimate missing piece of Halloween history.

Special features for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers include: Widescreen presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs, audio commentary with actors Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris, audio commentary with writer Alan B. McElroy, Halloween 4/5 discussion panel, Final Cut: The Making of Halloween 4, and the theatrical trailer.

Special features for Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers include: Widescreen presentation for 16x9 TVs, audio commentary with director Dominique Othenin-Girard and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman, Inside Halloween 5 documentary featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage, a cut scene, and interviews with Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Don Shanks, executive producer Moustapha Akkad and cinematographer Rob Draper; introduction by stars Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell, on-set Halloween 5 footage featuring never-before-seen footage taken from the set, and the theatrical trailer.

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror is a comprehensive retrospective that chronicles the man, the mask, and the movies. Narrated by P.J. Soles (“Lynda” in the original Halloween), this much-acclaimed documentary features interviews from more than 80 filmmakers and actors including Carpenter, Curtis, Clive Barker, Rob Zombie (director of the 2007 remake) and more. The documentary also includes such bonus features as fan convention panel footage and an exclusive comic book inspired by the series, as well as extended celebrity interviews, Halloween II extended interviews, Halloween III extended interviews, Halloween 5 on-set footage, Halloween convention montage, and the featurettes “Horror’s Hallowed Grounds,” and “Fans of Halloween.”

As a special bonus disc, the collection also includes the Blu-ray release of Halloween, which boasts such fearful features as: high-definition 1080p widescreen presentation, PCM uncompressed audio, commentary with John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis and producer Debra Hill, and the documentary Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest.

And, finally, there’s the mask…

The Halloween 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set also includes an exclusive, miniature display replica of the Michael Myers mask, which has become THE face of horror for the last three decades. (Sorry, head not included.)

This Halloween, Michael Myers Mania will reach a fever pitch!

WHEW!  That is a lot of HALLOWEEN.  It sounds like a pretty definative collection of all that ANCHOR BAY owns the rights to and as always they have found a way to make you want even if you already own the titles.

It will hit stores on October 14th and as it mentions above will only have 20,000 units available so circle the date and prep you checking account now.