THE SYNOPSIS An interesting documentary on the films, fans and phenomena of the Halloween movies (1978-present). Most of the the project was shot in 2003 at the Halloween Returns to Haddonfield: Official Halloween 25th Anniversary Convention--which took place at the Pasadena Convention Center mere miles away from many of the original locations that served director John Carpenter and his crew on the first (and best) Halloween movie. Many of the the talented people, cast & crew of all of the movies appear at the convention and on-camera for informative interviews. THE CRITIQUE While not on the same qualitative level of say, Laurent Bouzereau-produced documentaries (like the brilliant JAWS documentary for laserdisc & DVD)--HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR is a close-second in terms of material and sheer passion for the series. As produced and written by Anthony Masi, webmaster of halloweenmovies.com (the official Halloween-series website --and thus, under the auspices of the late Moustapha Akkad), the speedy (@ 84 mins.) documentary exhibits an almost homemade quality about itself that is both pretty nifty and--yet simultaneously--pretty low quality. Much of the footage was shot on standard 4x3 digital video. Good in that most of the interviews/talking heads are very nicely rendered; bad in that many of the panel discussions are cheesy 1-camera affairs with yak-inducing zooms and pans. Ugh! (For more on the visual specs and other technical facets, please read my DVD review on the documentary.) Mercifully, the actual clips from all of the Halloween movies are presented in their original aspect ratios--and look pretty good! So does newcomer Heather Bowen--who won a walk-on part in Rob Zombie’s new sequel. Not only because she’s really cute, but the girl does a mean PJ Soles impersonation (from Part I), showing off her lovely, um, pumpkins. All of you peeverts who are interested should keep your eyes peeled at around the 71-72 minute mark... The documentary gets some kudos because of the various cast & crew talent that the producers were able to corral from all 8 movies (plus some interviews with Rob Zombie on the Halloween remake/re-imagining). Sadly, the maestro himself, John Carpenter only appears in archived interviews (but recent ones created for the DVDs). Sadder still is the poignant feeling of loss when the late Debra Hill (producer of Halloween I-III) and the late Moustapha Akkad (producer of the entire Halloween oeuvre) appear on-screen to discuss their work on the movies that they held so dearly. Terrific, creative people taken from us much too early. This documentary was definitely a labor-of-love for all involved. With a few reservations about the technical aspects of it, HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR merits a place in the pantheon of cool documentaries. THE BOTTOM LINE A definite treat for Halloween-series fans everywhere. While scruffy around the edges, this one should be viewed by all fans of horror cinema. A stabbing success! AC/AL 2006 84m ENGLISH N/SV halloween.htmlhttp://www.halloweenmovies.comhttp://www.moonstardvdreviews.com/halloween-25yearsofterrorDVD.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2