HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS: SPECIAL DIVIMAX EDITION.

Most of us already own the original Anchor Bay release for this movie, so no need to rehash the story here when you can scroll up for it. Instead, let’s focus on the new features and figure out if this DVD is worth double-dipping.

First and foremost, this is a Divimax release which means that the sound and picture have been digitally remastered and cleaned up to their utmost best possible quality. Is there a difference? If I recall correctly, the original H4 release looked pretty good, but this one is practically perfect. The biggest addition to this new special edition would have to be the 2 new audio commentaries. The first is with H4 gals Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris. While this sounds exciting in print, the commentary is actually not very good. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ellie and Danielle, but after a few minutes it becomes apparent that neither of them know anything about ‘Halloween’ or the Halloween series aside from this one movie they worked on. It’s dishearting for a die-hard fan like myself to hear them get so many facts wrong and constantly ask themselves questions about the series that even the most casual cinema fan could probably answer. I really wish someone had moderated this commentary. It might have made it more enjoyable. However, the second commentary is what MAKES this entire DVD release! It’s with writer Alan B. McElroy and moderated by Tony Masi (uncredited for some reason). Now, THIS is an entertaining, fun commentary track that Halloween fans are going to love. Alan himself is a huge fan of the previous movies and goes into detail about how his script came to fruition in such a short period of time. He explains some really great deleted material, such as the original opening, which would’ve been a re-shot version of the ending of Part 2, but where we’d see Dr. Loomis getting blown out of the burning hospital thru a wall, hence showing how he survived. Other cool tid-bits are pointed out thru-out the entire commentary, such as how the friend Lindsay who picks up Rachel & Jamie is actually meant to be Lindsay Wallace from Part 1. This is a commentary I know I’ll probably watch a few more times, just to soak up all the interesting new details surrounding the making of this movie. I’m sure Halloween fans in general will love it. Also, new to this disc is the Halloween 4/5 panel from the 25 th anniversary convention. I feel that you have to buy all 3 of these recent releases to truly complete your Halloween collection. And transported from the original release are the “Final Cut” making-of featurette and the original kick-ass original theatrical trailer. (Still gives me chills!) So, the final verdict? This disc is worth it alone for the commentary track with writer Alan McElroy and the panel footage from the H25 convention. Double-dip! –robg.