UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Halloween (1978 - Scream Factory) -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

It sucks. I know Halloween is for you what Star Trek is for me, and I hated having to wait extra weeks for the new Trek discs when the release had been intentionally scheduled to come out on a specific anniversary date.

I'm going to give you and the Trek fans the lead in that area because my understanding is that the previous Star Trek movie Blu-rays were not particularly great and the Halloween series has actually been treated reasonably well on Blu.

 

[WillG]

A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is set in Springwood Ohio, yet nothing of those films look anything remotely like the Midwest at all. With Halloween's franchise they've at least tired to make it look it's late October as each new film has come out.

I don’t think the geographic location the first few nightmare films took place in was ever specified. The first two, at least, don’t seem to make any effort at all to pretend it’s not California.

 

[TravisR]

I don’t think the geographic location the first few nightmare films took place in were ever specified. The first two, at least, don’t seem to make any effort at all to pretend it’s not California.

Yeah, I think the only time Ohio is mentioned in the series is Freddy's Dead and Freddy Vs. Jason.

 

[WillG]

I’m actually picking up both 1&2 at my local Best Buy.

Yeah, I managed to get an order in for 1&2 for pickup later today (no III though, but Amazon is now telling me it should arrive next Tuesday). When I ordered, both titles indicated only 1 left in stock, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was literally all my local BB received.

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, I managed to get an order in for 1&2 for pickup later today (no III though, but Amazon is now telling me it should arrive next Tuesday). When I ordered, both titles indicated only 1 left in stock, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was literally all my local BB received.

Only the original is available at any of the BBs near me. On the positive side, Amazon now has a delivery estimate of October 12 for the original, III, and 4, October 16 for 5, and II is still in limbo.

 

[darkrock17]

I stopped by my local Best Buy earlier and they had this lone copy of the original. Target and Wal-Mart had none, except for Rob Zombie's H2 and 2018 "sequel" respectfully.

 

[dpippel]

I stopped by my local Best Buy earlier and they had this lone copy of the original. Target and Wal-Mart had none, except for Rob Zombie's H2 and 2018 "sequel" respectfully.

It's not available in Target B&Ms, only online:

 

[Robert Crawford]

I stopped by my local Best Buy earlier and they had this lone copy of the original. Target and Wal-Mart had none, except for Rob Zombie's H2 and 2018 "sequel" respectfully.

I'm picking my curbside order up now.

 

[Tino]

Thanks Best Buy

 

[dpippel]

They're almost as bad as Amazon IMO, in a different way. Making customers jump through hoops just to order a shiny disc.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Halloween never really looked like it was fall, they had to spray paint leaves fall colors and then have a crew member who would use a leaf blower to blow the leaves into a shot and then when the scene was done wrangle all the leaves up again to reuse them throughout the entire shoot.

I know; it's why I mentioned that certain elements were used to give the appearance of the specific season. I believe, if memory serves, that Cundey utilized certain filters when he supervised the THX transfer to add to that reddish/orange tinge. I am well aware of the fact that Carpenter shot this in warmer weather in California, so aspects of the production had to be creatively altered to provide the look of autumn in the midwest; I could just never get into the story the same way once I saw those other "brighter" transfers of the film, some of which sucked the creepy blue atmosphere right out of the Michael-chases-Laurie sequence towards the end (in the kitchen break-in scene) and other tidbits.

I also can't help but be distracted by those palm trees that were never removed in subsequent releases, though this bothers me less.

To me it doesn't matter that it doesn't look like fall, because you're too invested in the story to really notice about the weather and those pesky palm trees that pop here and there.

I disagree, when it comes to this film. It's ALL about mood and environment here. For whatever reason, those bright neon-esque greens always take me out of what is going on...and I have watched this COUNTLESS times since I was a kid up until now.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Having just got the new 4K version, any suggestions on which of my older versions are worth keeping at this point? I have a Compass 35th anniversary blu-ray, Anchor Bay Blu-Ray, Anchor Bay THX DVD, and finally the Lionsgate 4K UHD.

I would recommend NOT getting rid of that THX DVD. I also own the Anchor Bay/Starz Blu-ray, which I don't care for.

 

[Kaskade1309]

I received III already in the mail, couple of days ago, in fact (ordered through Best Buy)...

Looks like, based on what I'm reading here, I will be skipping the 4K variant of the first film. I just can't get used to those bright greens devoid of the splashes of red/orange leaves to suggest autumn.

 

[TravisR]

Thanks Best Buy View attachment 115029

Based on what I'm seeing on Scream's Facebook page, Halloween II seems like the toughest one of the five to get. No BBs in my area have it and my copy from Amazon is currently scheduled for October 27 to November 20.

 

[Malcolm R]

These are nothing I need right away, but for kicks I checked the Best Buy site for availability. It seems like the first two films are available at every BB in the region except the one closest to me.

 

[Tino]

Looks like, based on what I'm reading here, I will be skipping the 4K variant of the first film. I just can't get used to those bright greens devoid of the splashes of red/orange leaves to suggest autumn.

Too bad. I watched most of it today and it has never looked this good. It blows away every previous edition. The upgrade over even the previous 4K disc is very noticeable. The issues you have described never bothered me (nor did I notice them).

 

[Kaskade1309]

Too bad. I watched most of it today and it has never looked this good. It blows away every previous edition. The upgrade over even the previous 4K disc is very noticeable. The issues you have described never bothered me (nor did I notice them).

I'm sure this looked better than the original Lionsgate release, because that was supposedly riddled with lots of issues, the least of which wasn't the de-saturation of colors...

The issues I mentioned DID bother me and always do when I watch this seminal classic; guess my eye just goes to them. It is a bad thing in many ways, as it doesn't really allow me to turn the brain off and get engaged in what I'm watching; on the other hand, it came in handy when I used to do some disc reviewing.

The fact that the lighting scheme for every version other than the THX DVD transfer made the daylight sequences in the beginning look more like spring or summer takes me completely out of this experience; this Carpenter masterpiece is ALL about MOOD, and that's why the color timing arguments have always had a place in forums such as this.

I still may consider it, though, to replace my original Anchor Bay/Starz! Blu-ray...

 

[brap]

Hi. Did anyone get Halloween 4? Mine has 2 UHD discs and is missing the blu-ray.

 

[darkrock17]

Scream Factory's Facebook posted this yesterday about films.

***HALLOWEEN SHIPPING UPDATE***

When we were first planning these releases, we had hoped that supply chain pressures would ease up by the late summer of this year. Reality has been somewhat less forgiving, and we’ve been experiencing shipping issues from China, the European Union, and Mexico to get all of the parts together for these collectible offers.

As of today, the posters for these releases have been printed, the enamel pins and all of the 4K UHDs have arrived, and we have most of the 7” vinyl items in our warehouse. The two pieces we are still waiting on are all of the 7” vinyl for the original Halloween and 1,500 units of the black vinyl slipcase for Halloween II. We expect 80% of all Halloween orders to ship by the end of this week, and if your order is among those that will not be shipped this week, we will send you an additional update by Friday.

The outstanding 7” vinyl for the original Halloween has cleared customs and we are waiting for clearance to pick it up. Once we get clearance, our warehouse has a truck ready to drive to the terminal, pick up the goods, and bring them back so we can start shipping orders with this vinyl immediately. We are still waiting for more information from the manufacturer about the outstanding vinyl slipcases for Halloween II and will update you as soon as we know more.
Orders for ONLY the 4K UHD and poster have now begun to ship. You will begin to see confirmation emails with USPS tracking information for these orders as soon as today, and we expect them to be fully shipped before the end of this week. If you’ve ordered either of the deluxe bundles containing all five Halloween films, please note that these will be shipped via UPS with a 2-6 day delivery window in the United States.
The good news is that everything has turned out even better than we expected when it comes to the pins, the vinyl, and the embossed slipcases featuring our newly commissioned artwork. We’re also THRILLED by the picture quality of our new 4K transfers for all five films and we hope you’ll enjoy them as well.
Lastly, some customers have noted that some locations had Halloween out on store shelves as early as last week. We believe that the revised street date of October 5th was not properly communicated to every location and for that we are sorry.
Again, we apologize for the delay and are working tirelessly to get you your order!

 

[sbjork]

Did anyone else order the first three directly from Sacred Bones? I did, and I haven't heard a peep out of them. I'm wondering if they are shipping themselves, or just taking orders that ship from Shout.

I have no faith in Shout's shipping these days -- that's part of the reason why I ordered from Sacred Bones instead. I ordered an in-stock Blu-ray from Shout on 8/29 which finally shipped yesterday, and yes, they billed me up front for the privilege of waiting.