Really Surprised!

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Mark Cerulli's "'Halloween' Unmasked 2000" is a 26-minute documentary from 2000 that takes behind the scenes into the making-of of the American cult classic Halloween that is producing sequels and spin-offs until this very day. You get to see director John Carpenter, some cast members and others elaborating on the production of the movie that always gains a lot of extra traction in late October, but is also pretty famous during the rest of the year. I personally haven't seen Halloween yet (I think), so it's really bound to happen soon I think, but admittedly this documentary here does not get me much more curious about it. We hear some solid references and information about the actual shooting of the film, also in terms of make-up and costumes including a little William Shatner reference, but the focus is mostly on the Michael Myers character. Also we hear some anecdotes from the cast what it was like to see the film themselves. Some of the anecdotes may be on a level where one does not need to be famous or associated with the project to tell such story, but it adds an element of normalcy and that makes it worth again. Many making-of documentaries do basically nothing but glorify their product (*cough*Game of Thrones*cough*), but not so this one here. It was the decent watch I expected and I give it a thumbs-up. Especially worth seeing for big Halloween fans (the film(s), not the event), but I suppose they probably did so anyway.

'Halloween' Unmasked (1999) *** 1/2John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Tommy Lee Wallace, Dean Cundy, P.J. Soles, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad are all interviewed for this thirty-minute documentary that takes a look at the making of HALLOWEEN. It's important not to be too hard on this documentary because since it was made there have been a couple others that contain even more details. The longer options are certainly the way to go but at the same time this here was a well-produced film for its time and there's no question that these interviews were terrific especially when you first saw them. Even though the running time is rather short there's a lot of great details on here about the production, the casting and of course the reaction to the movie once it was released. If you're a fan of HALLOWEEN then this is still worth watching.

I saw a stripped-down version of this mini-documentary (simply titled "HALLOWEEN: UNMASKED"--minus the "2000" part) on the second tape of my nifty "20th Anniversary Collector's Edition" two-tape set from Anchor Bay. It basically consists of Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister fame) narrating a brief history of the 1978 horror classic HALLOWEEN, followed by interviews with Jamie Lee Curtis, Moustapha Akkad, Nick Castle, and Debra Hill. Oddly enough, John Carpenter--nor any of the other cast and crew, for that matter--was not featured in the version I saw.The interviewees are likable and fun to listen to, and it's clear that they really do have a genuine fondness for this cult classic, but they don't reveal anything that the die-hard Michael Myers fans don't already know. Nick Castle's segments are probably the most entertaining, especially when you consider that this laid-back, goofy-looking guy is the same man who horrified millions as Michael Myers in the original HALLOWEEN film.As a whole, though, this documentary is pretty standard "DVD extra" fare. It isn't really engaging enough to pique the interest of the average viewer, and it isn't nearly insightful enough to satisfy the die-hard HALLOWEEN fanatics. Actually, I found the deleted scenes and the trailers (also featured on tape 2) to be much more interesting and entertaining.

I was surprised that Halloween Unmasked 2000 was not on imdb and now that imdb.com added it from my submission, I'm glad to see that others have already voted on it.Quite simply "Halloween Unmasked 2000" was a great addition to the collector's/limited edition version of Halloween. Hopefully it is also included on the DVD because it is neet to see most of the behind-the-scenes people for the defining horror movie."Halloween Unmasked 2000" also sneeks in little tidbits of information.like-- 1-Michael Myer's hands (when he grabs for the knife) at the beginning of Halloween are actually the hands of Debra Hill.2-Debra Hill also played Michael Myers in some of the trick-or-treat scenes (when Michael was in the background).Little information like this and personal interviews with the cast and crew make "Halloween Unmasked 2000" a good viewing and a great addition to Halloween.Hopefully you can find this small treasure that actually adds to the movie instead of a lot of DVD and special edition extras.