Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006) (V)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Stefan Hutchinson

Writers:

Stefan Hutchinson (writer) and
Anthony Masi (writer)

Release Date:

25 July 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Horror

Tagline:

The Night EVERYONE Comes Home!

Plot:

A documentary that follows the evolution of the 'Halloween' movies over the past twenty-five years....

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Haddonfield | Michael Myers | Number In Title

Cast

Moustapha Akkad	...	Himself
Ana Alicia	...	Herself (archive footage)
Brian Andrews	...	Himself
Tom Atkins	...	Himself
Clive Barker	...	Himself
Heather Bowen	...	Herself
Larry Brand	...	Himself
J.C. Brandy	...	Herself
John Carl Buechler	...	Himself
Jeff Burr	...	Himself
Michael Cacciotti	...	Himself
John Carpenter	...	Himself (archive footage)
Nick Castle	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jaysen Clough	...	Himself
Jennifer Cocchiara	...	Herself
Jason Paul Collum	...	Himself
Ellie Cornell	...	Herself
Dean Cundey	...	Himself
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Herself (archive footage)
Charles Cyphers	...	Himself
Kim Darby	...	Herself
Chris Durand	...	Himself
Cliff Emmich	...	Himself
Bradford English	...	Himself
Dennis Etchison	...	Himself
John Fallon	...	Himself
Daniel Farrands	...	Himself
Paul Freeman	...	Himself
Gloria Gifford	...	Herself
C.J. Goodman	...	Himself
Jamie Greco	...	Herself
Marianne Hagan	...	Herself
Brad Hardin	...	Himself
Danielle Harris	...	Herself
Philip Hendrix	...	Himself
Cassandra Henwood	...	Herself
Debra Hill	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alan Howarth	...	Himself
Sasha Jenson	...	Himself
Bianca Kajlich	...	Herself
Wendy Kaplan	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jeff Katz	...	Himself
Julie King	...	Herself
Kathleen Kinmont	...	Herself
Janice Knickrehm	...	Herself
Nancy Kyes	...	Herself
Jeffrey Landman	...	Himself
Dwight H. Little	...	Himself
Brad Loree	...	Himself
David Margrave	...	Himself
Anthony Masi	...	Himself
Tom Morga	...	Himself
Tawny Moyer	...	Herself
Kim Newman	...	Himself
Thomas Ian Nicholas	...	Himself
Gregory Nicotero	...	Himself
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe	...	Herself
Dominique Othenin-Girard	...	Himself
John Ottman	...	Himself
Ron Paglio Jr.	...	Himself
Josh Pennell	...	Himself
Nick Phillips	...	Himself
Donald Pleasence	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rick Rosenthal	...	Himself
Tony Sago	...	Himself
Brad Schacter	...	Himself
Don Shanks	...	Himself
Marc Shapiro	...	Himself
Pamela Susan Shoop	...	Herself
P.J. Soles	...	Herself
Beau Starr	...	Himself
Garn Stephens	...	Herself
Paul Swearingen	...	Himself
Donna Tucker	...	Herself
Dave Vanderhoff	...	Himself
Tommy Lee Wallace	...	Himself
Mark Ward	...	Himself
Dick Warlock	...	Himself
Lance Warlock	...	Himself
George P. Wilbur	...	The Shape
Joseph Wolf	...	Himself
Edgar Wright	...	Himself
Rob Zombie	...	Himself

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Masimedia

Movie Connections:

References Halloween II (1981)

"Death has come to your little town, sheriff."

Made with real devotion by genuine fans of this ongoing horror movie series, "Halloween: 25 Years of Terror" arose out of the real-life 25th anniversary convention held in South Pasadena, and it's impressive to see such an assemblage of series participants, celebrity admirers (running the gamut from Clive Barker to Rob Zombie to Edgar Wright), and dedicated super-fans. Engagingly narrated by the consistently appealing P.J. Soles, whom I don't need to tell anybody played Lynda in the original 1978 classic, this picture shows many things that die-hard fans could appreciate: memorabilia, convention footage, individual testimonials, and the like. It takes time to explore the genesis of the trend-setting first movie, examine its cultural impact and legacy, and give viewers details of the making of each series entry.

Now, while I do love horror movies, I'm not an unconditional series fan myself. I actually kind of enjoy "Season of the Witch", but agree that it should have really been removed from the franchise and been its own film; it then might have had more of a chance for success. However, "Revenge" and "Curse" represented the bottom of the barrel for me. "H20" was a mildly entertaining return to form, but "Resurrection" was too self-consciously trendy and completely lacking in scares and suspense.

That said, I found this documentary informative and likable and was pleased to see so many actors from the series turn up (in particular, the long missing-in-action Nancy Kyes (a.k.a. Nancy Loomis, "Annie" from the original film)) and offer their thoughts.

Ultimately, the recent two-disc Anchor Bay DVD release containing this documentary looks to be a real dream come true for any admirer of the series, with enough extras to keep the interested consumer busy for a while.

It's an impressive piece of work all around.

8/10