Halloween: The Inside Story

Halloween: The Inside Story (2010)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Documentary about the making of John Carpenter's classic HALLOWEEN features the majority of the main cast and crew returning to discuss the production of this now legendary film. There's no doubt that HALLOWEEN: THE INSIDE STORY is a very well-made documentary but there's also no denying the fact that this one little, $300,000 film has been the center of countless other documentaries. If you're a fan of this series then it's probably going to be a fact that you've already seen countless other movies about the making of this film so it's doubtful that you're going to see or hear anything new here. If you're unfamiliar with the history of the Carpenter film or what all history it actually made then there's no doubt that this film does a good job at explaining the history and helps you understand what made the movie so special. Of course the making of the film is discussed as Carpenter talks about his influences, what he wanted out of this picture and we get to other items like the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis, the now legendary opening shot and the various influences it has had. The fact that the film got some pretty negative reviews at first is discussed and it's also talked about what turned the film and made it a box office hit. Carpenter, Curtis, PJ Soles, Nick Castle, Dean Cundey, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Kyes, Tommy Lee Wallace and just about everyone else is interviewed here and all of them share the sames stories as most fans have already heard. The notable missing people are Debra Hill and Moustapha Akkad who both died in 2005. Rob Zombie is also on hand to discuss why he felt the need to remake HALLOWEEN and he also shares the phone conversation he had with Carpenter when he called to let the director know he was remaking the film. If you new to the entire franchise then there's no question that this will tell you just about everything you need to know. If you're a die-hard fan such as myself then it's doubtful you'll learn anything new but then again, it's always fun hearing these stories.

This is a TV behind-the-scene documentary of the classic horror. It has all the main contributors and most of the main points. The only one missing is the late Donald Pleasence. It doesn't have anything on the new one coming in 2018. It does have the ugly stepchild that is Rob Zombie. Mostly, it's about the original and not so much about the sequels. This is solid work about a horror which changed a genre and cinema and the audience.

I don't like the Halloween franchise, I've always believed them to be criminally overrated but being that it's that time of year again I decided to watch all three Halloween documentaries.

Halloween: 25yrs Of Terror heavily focused on the entire franchise and the fans that kept it alive. Breaking down the history of each addition to the series.

This however focuses solely on the original movie and unlike the other documentaries actually features decent in depth interviews with all the stars not just the lil folk.

Curtis, Pleasance & the grumpier than usual Carpenter tell stories of the original 1978 classic and even impressed me a guy who thinks it was an average slasher at best.

Definitely one for the fans.

The Good:

Essential for fans of the series

Highly in depth

Great interview segments

The Bad:

I still don't like the Halloween films!

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee turned down the role of Loomis!