Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Halloween 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 22, 2018

If your local shopping emporiums are anything like the ones I frequent, Halloween items have been on the shelves for weeks now, and in fact Christmas knick knacks may well already be showing up as well, so a late September release of the venerable John Carpenter film Halloween may seem relatively appropriate in a seasonal kind of way. Of course, with Lionsgate’s often baffling array of choices for its 4K UHD line, it turns out there may be an “ulterior motive” of sorts, one that the studio is commendably up front about in the press sheet they sent me along with this release, namely that this new 4K UHD release of Halloween is meant to amp up interest in the upcoming version of Halloween, which is set to debut just a couple of weeks before the actual spooky holiday. Judging by our forum, fans are already up in arms over the lack of an original lossless mono sound mix on the 4K UHD disc, and I personally find it kind of odd that Lionsgate has chosen to pair this new 4K UHD version of the film with the first Blu-ray release (for the included 1080p Blu-ray version of the film), a release which was met with fans getting up in arms (do you sense a trend here?) over that release’s brightness and color timing.

I learned long ago through personal experience not to assume anything with regard to who's seen what, even when talking about classic films. Years ago I was frankly kind of in shock when I heard from a number of younger film fans after my reviews of Citizen Kane and Psycho were published that they were excited to be getting the films for their personal collections to watch for the first time after reading my comments. With that in mind, if there are indeed folks who don't already know the saga of one Michael Myers, I refer you to my colleague Martin Liebman's Halloween Blu-ray review of the 35th Anniversary Edition. That release is especially appropriate vis a vis the new 4K UHD version since all of the supplements Marty details in his review are ported over to this 4K UHD release, and while not exactly identical, the video quality of the 4K UHD release more closely aligns with the 35th Anniversary version than the first Blu-ray release. Marty's review also kindly provides screenshots from both the first Blu-ray release and the 35th Anniversary version, and the differences are quite noticeable. While it's noted below, just for clarification's sake, the screenshots included with this review are from the 1080p Blu-ray featured on this release, which is the earlier 2007 release which many felt was problematic.

Halloween 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray. This is yet another release where the transfers on the 1080p Blu-ray and 2160p 4K UHD disc are decidedly different, since the 1080p Blu-ray included in this package is the 2007 release which many fans felt was too bright and inaccurately color timed.

Note 2: My 1080p video score above is my personal reaction to the 2007 Blu-ray version, which is the one included with this release. Our original review at the dawn of both the format and this site gave that release a 4.5, though if you read the user reviews, you'll see it was fairly controversial among the fan base. And while I actually kind of enjoy the warmer palette and upped brightness as an "alternate universe" version of Halloween, I personally felt that the 35th Anniversary edition provided a more accurate and pleasing rendition of the film's often dark and even drab at times cinematography.

Halloween is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a really interesting looking new release that is much closer in appearance to the 35th Anniversary edition, though this 4K version looks even darker to me than the 35th Anniversary version. That said, one of the really interesting things is that the increased resolution combined with Dolby Vision arguably improves shadow detail, at least at times. As picayune as it is, one example is I noticed bannisters for the first time on the POV shot going up the stairs when Michael is about to give his sister a little Halloween scare. There's no doubt that detail levels are improved, again however subtly. Another example stemming from that opening sequence is how finely textured the inside walls of the Myers house looks now — it struck me as almost topographical. Where I found this version a little odd is in its opening "current day" sequences (i.e., the ones that introduce Laurie Strode, played inimitably by Jamie Lee Curtis). This version is certainly miles from the warm and vividly suffused Blu-ray release from 2007, but it also struck me as being almost desaturated now, with kind of ghastly gray tones underlying things and the palette rather tamped down. (It's notable that Marty himself mentions the "gray" aspect of the 2013 35th Anniversary edition in his review, but things look skewed even more in that direction to me on this release.) That kind of almost monochromatic look contrasts with a much warmer and better suffused palette in scenes like the telephone conversation that begins at circa 41 minutes in, and kind of ironically given how the film tips over into scary dimly lit scenes as it progresses, I'd have to say the later part of the film looks generally warmer than the first, often outdoor, scenes in this version. This offers really rich blacks, something that becomes more important as the film progresses, and consistent contrast. Grain is quite evident throughout the presentation, and it's generally well resolved throughout. I personally found some of the grainfield a bit coarse and "swarm like" in brief isolated moments like the first shots of the Mayer house from the outside during nighttime, but overall this sports a healthy, organic appearance that I think most Halloween fans will enjoy.

Halloween 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is actually far from the first time in a review where in the audio section I've begun by saying I'm scoring what's here, not what isn't here. For those unaware of some fan complaints, I refer you to our Forum devoted to this title. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix on this 4K version is more than adequately assessed by Marty in his Halloween Blu-ray review, and I'd only add a few additional thoughts. The first is my admittedly tangential observation how the opening piano refrain Marty mentions in his review has always reminded me a bit of the music from The Exorcist. But I've always had a kind of mixed reaction to the surround repurposing for this film. It's not as hokey sounding as some others I've heard, but it also arguably changes things unnecessarily and tends to provide its surround bursts of energy in fits and starts.

In terms of the lack of an original mono mix presented in a lossless format being a deal killer, that's for each Halloween fan to decide for him or herself. As an audiophile myself, I kind of love the passion of "original soundtrack" purists, and, who knows? Maybe the new Halloween film will be such an enormous hit that Lionsgate revisits this title. What's the holiday for wishful thinking?

Halloween 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplements Marty details in his Halloween Blu-ray review of the 35th Anniversary Edition are included on the 4K UHD disc. The 1080p Blu-ray included in this package has the supplements mentioned in our original Halloween Blu-ray review from "way back" in 2007.

Halloween 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you've seen the 35th Anniversary edition of Halloween, you'll have at least some general guidelines for what this new 4K UHD looks like. That said, I found this to be even darker than the 35th Anniversary edition, and the opening sequences looked even more desaturated and gray toned to me than the already pretty monochromatic 35th Anniversary edition looked. The major controversy (thus far, anyway — are you sensing a trend?) seems to be with regard to the audio options included on the 4K UHD disc, to which I'd add the perhaps odd choice by Lionsgate to get rid of their remainders on the 2007 Blu-ray version (yes, that's a joke, kind of).