This September, Universal Home Entertainment will release 1981's Halloween II in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Picking up immediately after the events of the first Halloween, the sequel finds Michael Myers terrorizing Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, Trading Places) in a nearby hospital.
Universal's Blu-ray of Halloween II presents the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1; the disc will also feature a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. In terms of supplements, the Blu-ray includes:
Alternate Ending
Terror in the Asles documentary
The Halloween II: 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray streets on September 13th.
Universal is really stepping up it's game: Great news for BD fans!! This release is better, in PQ/AQ & Bonus content then my current DVD....automatic day 1 for me!!
I wonder if the Terror in the Aisles feature will be presented in HD? I wish they could just use the original poster art... although this one isn't too bad.
Anchor Bay I believe owns the rights to parts 4 and 5 so we should get some good special editions from them. So glad they will not be going to echo bridge!!
Nice to see some actual supplements considering the DVD only had a very well-worn trailer. Halloween II was actually the first slasher I saw when I was young (a year before I saw Halloween) and its always been my second favorite of the franchise besides pt. 1. The Shape's mask never looked scarier than in the second movie. And this is the same week as Star Wars too, this fall I see more and more things to get broke from LOL
This was bound to happen so i'm not surprised but of course none the less happy it's coming out.
But I will be surprised and happy if Halloween 3 comes out. realizing that it's hated and Yeah sure it's not the Best of the films, I love the film and actually consider it the third best. I'm not one to say that it should have been named something else because like John I believe the halloween series should have been just new stories each time based on halloween. Halloween is a time for scary stories after all.
This is good news, but there is more footage that could be added instead of just the alternate ending. I think there's about 2 or 3 extra scenes that are in the alternate TV cut than what was in the theatrical. However, still happy to see this get released. Also, for the person who was asking about the story arcs - Halloween 1,2,H20 and Resurrection are one story line involving Michael and Laurie and Halloween 4,5 and Curse of Michael Myers are another arc involving the Thorn cult and Michaels niece Jamie Lloyd. The Man in Black from Halloween 5 is revealed to by Dr Wynn from the first Halloween. Basically, he's a watcher to make sure Michael is able to fulfill the elimination of his bloodline. The Laurie arc completely ignores the Jamie arc. Really hope we get Halloween III - granted it's not Michael, but it was good camp horror on it's own. Halloween 4 and 5 have a bunch of extras that could be added - would love to see a great release for both of them.
Happy to add this to my collection around Halloween. Now I can watch the 1st 2 back to back. I wish they would have used the original artwork but, oh well. The 3rd movie in my opinion is one of the worst movies ever made but, I still find myself watching parts of it whenever it's shown on tv around Halloween. I get that damn silver shamrock song stuck in my head!
OMG It's Official...Universal just sent me this email:
Dear Tim,
Yes, the full length "Terror In the Aisles" Documentary will be included with Halloween II release.
We appreciate your enthusiasm for this title and hope that you will continue to enjoy Universal products.
Sincerely,
Consumer Relations
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
The fu*ked up mask isn't the same, the stunt man playing Michael is a poor replacement for Nick Castle, Loomis fires SEVEN shots in the opening recap, Michael essentially becomes Jason (yawn) in this one... a lousy movie. Yet I've seen it dozens of times and it is by far the best Michael Myers sequel. Still unclear as to the extent of the reported reshoots by (co-producer) Carpenter and it seems again that there will be no supplement to explain that.
I guess I am the only one who applauded the idea to have an original Halloween movie each year - e.g. Halloween III - instead of the same boring slasher bullshit.
I thought the idea Carpenter had for future sequels starting with H3 was great; each movie a different story centered around the Halloween holiday. And I believe that if it would've been in this present day and age, it would've worked as people are all fed up of endless sequels. Too bad people weren't ready for it back then. I for one love H3 and am looking forward to owning it on Blu Blu-ray.com has cover art for it: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Halloween-III-Season-of-the-Witch-Blu-ray/24433/ so maybe it'll come out this year after all. If not, it's bound to come out next year for its 30th anniversary...
I'd love to see a Director's Cut of this movie; it always felt like The Shape was on-screen a bit too much, and the killing scenes were held for a bit too long. This would be a better movie if it were even 60 seconds shorter.
That being said, I'm excited to finally get a decent transfer of this movie. Hopefully they let the natural grain be present and not DNR it away. Not a day one purchase; I'll be waiting on the review to check the video quality.
Sad to see such measly special features. My guess is Universal doesn't want to spend too much effort for a catalog title. Still, this is a catalog title that Anchor Bay has wanted for awhile, and has asked to purchase from Universal. This and Phantasm II. Universal put such an absurd price on the table that Anchor Bay said "no thanks" to. Universal knows what they have in Halloween II and III, and will greedily keep them from other studios who will no doubt show them up by giving it the treatment it deserves after all these years.
yeah bring on the 80's slashers best horror movie era ever. I know they are cheesy but I love em all, Freddy Jason, Chucky, Hell Raiser, Halloween, and on and on. To me the horror movies from the 80's and late 70's were the best. While I did enjoy I know what you did last summer I was relieved to see some revivals of the good stuff follow.
Shame there's not a bigger list of supplements. There exist more than just an alternate ending. There's something like 15-20 minutes of alternate footage that can be seen on the TV cut.
Rosenthal also expressed interest in recording a commentary track when H:Resurrection (garbage) was released and Universal put out their first DVD of H2. Call him up and get him in there to record a commentary Universal. Don't be cheap.
OH! And NO TRAILER? Seriously? No surprise. This is Universal and they're one of the biggest offenders of not putting the original trailer on the very disc of the movie that you're buying. If you want the trailer for H2 you'll likely have to buy a similar title from Universal and hope it's one of the "preview" trailers they provide.
Preordered. Can't wait to watch TitA again!!! It's been a LONG time!
I sure hope there is a John Carpenter commentary on the main feature though. I love his movie-talk.
@toonloon - anyone posting in this thread has more than likely seen Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers and knows the story behind the Man In Black. At least I didn't divulge the whole Producer's Cut version of it.....
