Halloween: The Mister Sandman Cut Blu Ray Review

Halloween: The Mister Sandman (aKa Halloween 1 and II) is a hybrid and extended cut combining both the original film and it’s sequel Halloween II plus it features 20 minutes of additional footage. It has a variety of deleted and extended uncut scenes inserted back into this epic version of the iconic slasher. Halloween is a 1978 slasher film directed, co-written, and scored by John Carpenter (Escape from New York, The Fog, The Thing, Christine, and They Live). It was co-written and produced by Debra Hill (Halloween II/III, The Dead Zone, Adventures in Babysitting, Clue, and The Fisher King). Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal (Bad Boys, The Witches of Eastwick, The Birds II: Land’s End, and Halloween: Resurrection). It was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill returning from the original feature. They were executive produced by Irwin Yablans (Tourist Trap, Fade to Black, Hell Night, & Prison) and Moustapha Akkad (The Message, Appointment with Fear, Free Ride, & Halloween series). Halloween is one of the biggest horror franchises of all time. It has spawned 8 sequels (which includes the reboot sequels coming soon!), a remake by Rob Zombie, & a follow up to that film. Michael Myers is one of major faces of horror & he’s considered to be one of the best horror villains in the history of cinema. The original was distributed by Compass International Pictures. It had a budget of $300,000 & it ended up grossing $70 million at the box office. The sequel was distributed by Universal Pictures. The budget was $2.5 million and it grossed $25.5 million at the box office in the United States.In 1963 on Halloween night in the Midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois, Michael Myers murders his older sister Judith. He is hospitalized at Warren County’s Smith’s Grove Sanitarium under the care of child psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (played by: Donald Pleasence from Halloween franchise, Phenomena, The Great Escape, American Rickshaw, and From Beyond the Grave). Fifteen years later, he escapes custody & he returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Michael Myers (played by: Nick Castle from Halloween 2018, The Last Starfighter, Dennis the Menace, and Major Payne) stalks high school student Laurie Strode (played by: Jamie Lee Curtis from Terror Train, Prom Night, The Fog, Halloween 2/H20/Resurrection/2018, Trading Places, & A Fish Called Wanda). Her friends Annie Brackett (played by: Nancy Loomis from Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, and Halloween 2/3) and Lynda Van der Klok (played by: P.J. Soles from Carrie, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, Stripes, and The Devil’s Rejects) think that she is just paranoid when she brings it up. Annie’s father Sheriff Leigh Brackett (played by: Charles Cyphers from The Fog, Major League, Death Wish 2, Big Bad Mama II, and Elvis) meets with Dr. Sam Loomis and finds out about the Michael Myers situation. They both try to hunt down the unstoppable monster before he starts killing again. Laurie is babysitting Tommy Doyle (played by: Brian Andrews from Three O’Clock High, The Great Santini, and Intimate Strangers), Annie Brackett is babysitting Lindsey Wallace (played by: Kyle Richards from Eaten Alive, The Car, E.R., and Little House on the Prairie)across the street, and Lynda Van der Klok is hanging out with her boyfriend Bob Simms (played by: John Michael Graham from Grease). All of them are about to have an unforgettable night of terror with “the boogeyman” (played by: Tony Moran from Beg, Death House, The Streets Run Red, and Clown Motel 2) as the host. On October 31, 1978, Michael Myers (played by: Dick Warlock from Haloween III, Pumpkinhead, Firestarter, and Spontaneous Combustion) is shot by his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis and falls off a balcony. He survives and escapes into the night. Wandering the alleys, he steals a kitchen knife from an elderly couple and he starts killing again. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode, who was almost killed that night is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital while Loomis continues his pursuit of Michael with the help of Sheriff Leigh Brackett. Loomis mistakes costumed teenager Ben Tramer (played by: Jack Verbois from Predator, Nowhere to Run, Dark Angel and The A-Team) for Michael which ends up in a gruesome result. Sheriff Brackett abandons the search after getting bad news. It leaves Deputy Gary Hunt (played by: Hunter von Leer from Trancers III, The Unholy Rollers, The Stone Killer, and Into the Sun) to take his place. At the hospital, paramedic Jimmy (played by: Lance Guest from The Last Starfighter, Jaws: The Revenge, Plan B, and Knots Landing) and nurse Virginia Alves (played by: Gloria Gifford from 48 Hrs, Vice Versa, D.C. Cab, and Going Berserk) spend time with the traumatized Laurie. After hearing a news broadcast revealing Laurie’s location, Michael makes his way to the hospital and chaos happens all over again as the body count rises. In her hospital room, Laurie dreams about the time she learned she was adopted, and remembers she once visited a young Michael at the sanitarium. Jimmy and nurse Jill Franco (played by: Tawny Moyer from California Suite, Looker, and House of the Rising Sun) search the hospital for Laurie. Loomis discovers clues connecting Michael to Samhain and the occult, which might explain his apparent indestructibility. His colleague Marion Chambers (played by: Nancy Stephens from Halloween, Escape from New York, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and Halloween Kills) arrives to escort him back to Smith’s Grove on the governor’s orders and under the enforcement of a US Marshal (played by: John Zenda from Paradise Alley, Bad Boys, Colors, and Catchfire). On the way, she tells him that Laurie is Michael’s younger sister. Loomis forces his way back to Haddonfield to rescue Laurie. Michael is a blood thirsty killing machine dedicated to finding his last family member. Can Loomis save this town from it’s living hell again????Halloween is one of the greatest horror movies ever made & it’s definitely one of the best slashers ever produced! John Carpenter took the genre & made it his own. His work here is nothing but top notch quality especially his classic score for the film. It’s one of most memorable musical compositions in any genre for cinema. Almost everyone in the entire world instantly knows where it’s from when they hear it. It just stays with you after you experience it. Halloween is actually pretty tame when it comes to the slasher sub genre. There’s not much nudity in the feature. All of the violence is quick & only happens during select moments plus they are bloodless. Most of the time when this is said about this type of film it’s a not a good thing but Halloween is a cut above the rest so it manages to work somehow still. That’s when great screenwriting & acting helps out the production in a major way. John Carpenter keeps the suspense & thrills going especially the towards the 2nd half. Donald Pleasence gives one of the best performances in horror as Dr. Loomis & Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the all time greats when it comes to scream queens. Michael Myers is such a great character & always keeps you on your toes due to the mysterious history of the role. The replay value for Halloween is very strong, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen this feature in my life & it honestly it never gets old after each viewing. It always entertains me every time & it’s a must watch.Now to the Halloween II portion of this epic The Mister Sandman version. This sequel amped up everything from the original. It has more nudity and lots more bloodshed when it comes to the kills. A few of the main characters from the first one return for this follow up. Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis are still the best things about this one also. Stuntman Dick Warlock steps into the iconic villain role Michael Myers for II and I think he’s even better than the original one plus the quick cameo unmasked version. He’s my personal all time favorite Myers when it comes to the classic Boogeyman. Halloween II is one of the best horror sequels of all time. It takes the momentum from the original and just increases all the great things about it plus it more edgy than that one. I’ve always felt Halloween and it’s sequel were basically one long film because they both take place on the same time so this The Mister Sandman cut finally brings both of them together for the very first time. It’s more than both movies put together as one wild extended version, it has around 20 minutes of deleted footage added back in for more character development and mayhem fully uncut. This is like watching these for the very first time again, it’s an awesome experience seeing them like this & it looks great. It runs 3 hours and 13 minutes now, this is the ultimate Halloween mash up from a dedicated fan that put hours of work into putting this together for the horror community. So yes this isn’t official at all and it’s made on demand (BD-R) but it looks very professional overall when it comes to the packaging. It has “Trailers” for both Halloween 1 & 2. It also has reversible artwork. Just a warning, I’d recommend owning an actual blu ray player rather than a game system but it doesn’t play in all of those. DISCLAIMER: I did not buy this release so no copyright laws were broken here. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended!!!!