Anchor Bay has begun releasing special edition videocassettes of many great horror films. The special editions are in widescreen format and come with other goodies. I'll assume you're all familiar with the films themselves, so I'll concentrate on the special edition extras.

A SPECIAL NOTE: Why widescreen? Most critics of the widescreen format complain about two things. First, those "annoying black bars". Many people actually think that they are losing picture on the top and bottom. You're not! You are GAINING picture. Films are shot for theaters in a wider ratio, and regular tapes (pan & scan) simply cut footage off the sides to make it fit on a television screen. Some may complain, "The stuff on the sides isn't important anyway." For a horror fan, it is. Horror films rely on striking visual moods and shot setup more than most films to attain a scary feel. This sense of fear is compromised when you don't get to see the director's true vision. If the black bars are truly distacting, try one of two things. One is to simply turn off all the lights in the room. The black bars then fade into the darkness in the room and become unnoticeable. Besides, horror should be watched in the dark anyhow! Your other option, silly as it may sound, is to get a large cardboard box and place it over your television set. Then cut out a viewing area the size of the widescreen image, leaving the black bars covered. The second major complaint against widescreen is that it makes the image too small. This is a legitimate complaint, especially to people with a tv smaller than 20". The only advice I can give to you concerning the size is get a larger tv or get closer.

This film is finally presented on videocassette in the widescreen format, and the difference is obvious. This film was shot very wide, and it's incredible to finally see how much was actually cut off in the old pan and scan version. The coloring also looks better than any other tape I've seen. The packaging is the best of the three special editions. It has a plastic clamshell case that is much more durable and impressive-looking than a cardboard case. This tape has one other additional feature: the original theatrical trailer for the film. I must admit, I'm a fan of old movie trailers, yet this one disappointed me. You would think for a movie as great as Halloween that the trailer would be cool. It's not. But that's a minor complaint, and not Anchor Bay's fault (and I'd rather have a crummy trailer than none at all).

The packaging for this edition, while not as good as Halloween's box, is still nice. This film was shot in a narrower aspect ratio than Halloween, so the widescreen presentation doesn't add as much to the film as it did on the Halloween tape, but it's still an improvement other pan & scan. As a bonus treat, this tape features not only a theatrical trailer, but a tv spot as well, even though neither was advertised on the box! And the trailers were cool, not like the boring Halloween ad.

The good news: this special edition is the best of the three. The bad news: it is no longer available in most places because the rights to the film have reverted back to New Line, who has released their own tape. The Anchor Bay set consists of two tapes. The first contains a widesceen copy of the movie and trailers. LOTS of trailers. About four or five spots for Nightmare, plus trailers for each film up to part 5. The second tape has alternate takes of scenes, scenes that were cut from the film, and special effects takes. Some of these (notably the cut scenes) are fascinating to watch, while others become montonous. I only wish that the Halloween tape was this thorough (where are the tv scenes?).

All in all, these are great tapes. Anchor Bay has done a great job in restoring these films and presenting them the way they deserve to be shown. More reviews will be added soon. Other special editions from Anchor Bay include Hellraiser, Hellraiser 2, Dawn of the Dead, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. And to the folks at Anchor Bay, if you're reading this, my wish list for future special editions includes Halloween 2, Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, Terror Train, The Funhouse, Return of the Living Dead, and Friday the 13th Parts 1 & 2 (with censored footage).