Halloween 2018 [raymix]:

[MCP]

Well... this is a long overdue review of a fantastic edit. When 2018 came out in theaters, I loved it. It was a promising restart to the Halloween story that I have come to love over the years. But I wasn't such a big fan of many of the sequels. That first film is gold. Parts of II are well done. But after that, I really wasn't a massive fan of the tone they took with the series. So, this whole "once this happened a long time ago" approach, and the, "let's conclude it" pitch of this movie, I adored. However, JUST like Ray Danger, I had some issues with it after I saw the other two sequels. And that really is because THIS story was all that was needed. The narrative really played itself out so well here, that going further just took away from it, ultimately. It didn't add. So, Ray's IDEA here alone, is amazing. Just make this the moment that ends Michael and gives Laurie a happily ever after. She erases the Shape, saves her family (mostly), and saves Haddonfield (mostly). The demon is exercised, so to speak. But the real genius of the edit is in the execution. The way that the ending is cut together makes it feel like THIS was the original intent for the pitch. As if they went back after the assembly cut and said, "we could change the ending so that he lives and make some more sequels, thus making more money." It's that well done that I cannot now picture it any other way. This is my go to version of the film. The other brilliant work that Ray did here was just tightening everything up. Things that are just set up to disturb or shock, or simply to set up other things for the future, have been sanded off in order to keep our attention on the building reunion and battle between Laurie and Michael. We don't need the uncomfortable and random accidental cop on cop violence thing. And we don't need to drag our image of Laurie through the mud quite as much as the theatrical cut does. As much as it was thrilling to see how Laurie spent her whole life after the first film trying to deal with her trauma and prepare for the inevitable, we don't need the character assassination either. No matter how hurt or disillusioned she is, the audience still wants to see her as the hero. We don't always need to subvert that. And Ray strikes the perfect balance with his edit between traumatized heroine and dysfunctional psycho grandma. Every cut and addition made is a huge net positive to the viewing experience. Also, the edit is clean! The video and audio are top notch. This is one of my favorite kinds of fan edits, because without having seen the original to spot the differences... you would simply never know that it has been tweaked. So, if you are looking for a presentation of the first new Halloween film that gives you a very palatable "back in, and out again" to Haddonfield, with a triumphant and definitive ending, you have found the perfect edit. Congratulations to Ray Danger on this one! You have made my blu ray obsolete. Thanks to you the story ends here for me lol.

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