Halloween: Restructured

Halloween (2018)/H40/Whatever really you want to call it was always very intriguing to me. When first announced, I was skeptical it would even happen considering the stop-start nature of this franchise. When it was clear it was going to be made, I was skeptical it would be any good which made me pleasantly surprised when I entered the theater with no expectations only to walk out when the credits rolled absolutely loving it to the point where it quickly became my top Halloween sequel and I've only continued to love it ever since rewatching the film several times on Blu-Ray. That being said, there was always this curiosity about what the film almost ended up as. If one knows their history, they'd know that this movie was originally meant to have a VERY different structure from what we saw. Not only was there the usual cavalcade of deleted scenes and such that one could watch on the Blu-Ray but also there were very different shots present in the trailers and at one point a completely different ending that was shot for it so I was always curious about what a version with those elements incorporated would look like, especially once I got into watching fanedits. Thankfully I was able to do that at long last thanks to this lovely little edit by Bobson Dugnutt which gives us a neat look into how this modern slasher could've turned out and the end result is... well let's get to the review.

Right off the bat I have to commend Bobson on the quality of work here. Most of the cuts, transitions and so on made in this movie feel incredibly natural. Aside from like one kinda jerky cut from one scene to the next I found early on in the film to a tiny noticeable shift in the audio quality later on, everything was seamless and even those tiny moments didn't take away from my enjoyment. I also appreciate how this isn't forced to being the maximum length by just incorporating every deleted scene along with content from the movie. Every decision here feels like it was made in service of the cut's mission statement and for the sake of enjoyment which I applaud. Also with this restructuring, I will say I do like how a lot of these scenes flow into each other and how it does slow down the pacing a bit to levels that in some ways do remind me of Carpenter's original and even as the write-up suggests, it does kind of enhance the viewing as some characters are given a few more details that make you care about them which is impressive considering that the 2018 film I already felt did such a good job with its final cut already. One of my personal favorites is the inclusion of the extended scene of Laurie at the gun range which is inter-cut with the podcasters driving up to her home since it not only adds details such as where Laurie is at emotionally in the movie and demonstrates more succinctly some of the issues that have led to her being estranged from the Strode family but it also gives some scenes in the finale a bit more impact. I also really love the scene of the podcasters hanging out in their hotel room. With its placement being after the scene where Michael escapes, it provides not only some good tension as well as a good false scare but also it humanizes these two just that little bit more so when their death comes, the impact is just that smidge stronger. I also have to commend how this feels like a fully realized film which is important to me since sometimes the issue you run into with restructures of any variety is that you can sometimes tell when a scene is meant to come earlier or later and thus the effect it has depending on the spot isn't necessarily that you enjoy it so much as you feel like you just bumped some buttons on your remote and ended skipping back and forth. With this one though? I'm glad to say that this movie doesn't feel like that... often. With that? I feel like it's unfortunately time to delve into the negatives though I want to stress before saying this that I have nothing but immense respect for Bobson Dugnutt and the work of other fan-editors. Reworking basically completed movies the way these guys do I can't imagine how difficult it is, even when it's something seemingly as simple as rearranging scenes so know I say this from a place of love and respect and that I'm only trying to be honest.

Now earlier, I praised how there were some careful choices made in the choices of which deleted scenes were utilized and for the most part, the most fitting scenes were used and when they hit? They hit hard. That being said there are those moments where a scene comes on and while one can certainly applaud them for their quality and what they add? You wind up understanding why certain scenes do end up on the cutting room floor. Though in an odd way, this could also be considered a positive since it does teach people somewhat about the nature of filmmaking and why certain decisions wind up being made. For instance there's the brief moment with Allyson and her friends hanging out at the high school outside where we see the friends just chatting. On its own it's a pretty good scene that does add details such as us getting a slightly more overt glimpse at Oscar's "nice guy" tendencies, we get more of Vicky and Dave being a cute couple as well as Allyson and Cameron and overall it's just a nice little scene. Put back into the movie though? Well that's where problems come up.

First it introduces a minor continuity gaffe since in this scene Dave mentions that maybe he and Vicky could get matching tattoos to commemorate the night and later when Dave shows Vicky the tattoo, it's like he's presenting a surprise. Granted limitations like this are gonna be present when dealing with deleted scenes and I certainly would take this over a jarring out-of-place cut, especially considering the purpose is to be faithful to the shooting script but it's still something I noticed and it did make me raise an eyebrow. As for the other issues? Well with this scene I feel it's just kind of filler. We don't need to know necessarily that Vicky isn't gonna be able to attend the dance due to babysitting duties nor do we really need her speaking about her plans, with how the original movie does it where when we see her next she's doing her job telling Allyson on the phone how she wishes she could be there but also explains her plans for the night, it works well enough and just results in two scenes undercutting each other with one being superior because it's exposition delivered just a tad more naturally and in a way that keeps the plot moving. Same unfortunately goes with Allyson discovering the dead dog on her jog. On the one hand, this is a creepy scene that both pays tribute to the fact Michael ate a dog in the original movie, it shows him doing more stalking and it just has such a nice creepy atmosphere to it. On the other hand, it feels kind of superfluous especially when paired with the scene at the cemetery which in the original cut basically does what this scene does but a bit better. Plus with there being no scene where we see Allyson bring up this disturbing and odd sight (Which I'd imagine she'd speak about since... who could honestly keep silent upon seeing something like this?), it kind of just happens and is left with not much of a point to it ultimately in the end. That being said those are deleted scenes that are still really good in their own right and put back into the movie while they still have problems, they have merits. The one scene I can't say the same for is the one that explains what happened to Cameron following him tossing the phone in that bowl.

On the one hand, this deleted scene flows VERY well with the movie. In fact honestly it's up there with the additional scenes with Laurie in terms of how much it feels like it just belongs with the original. It adds more to the conversation Allyson has with Oscar, has a nice callback to how apparently Lonnie's family has always had some issues with cops and of course it provides a definitive cap to the Cameron subplot which I know some people felt was something of a plot-hole in the original. That being said? This is the only deleted scene I actively dislike. There's parts I like such as Cameron demonstrating some care for Allyson and being genuinely apologetic as well as the humorous moment with Oscar rushing into help Cameron only to be stopped by the cops but everything else is just off. The cops here go beyond just being serious with kids in the middle of a crisis and wind up veering a little too close into cartoonish jerk territory and Cameron's belligerence is just a bit too much. It feels kinda like what I can only describe as "Rob Zombie-lite" and it winds up hurting the film more than it helps it. Also while the restructure overall is really cool to see especially with how scenes are arranged and how it results in the film being a bit more slowly paced? I must admit I can't help but feel that the way scenes were arranged in the theatrical helped this movie out. I mean don't get me wrong, I prefer Halloween films to be slow paced and it wasn't like this slowed to a crawl but it felt like the theatrical cut just was a little more balanced, like it kept in only what was absolutely needed and trimmed out the fat where it could and overall made for a much more enjoyable movie overall.

That being said though, make no mistake I really liked this cut and honestly I'd highly recommend it. Even with my criticisms, this is still really cool as it gives a glimpse into what this movie could've ended up being at one point and if nothing else? It's still as the description said, it's the same movie just with more to it and some content shuffled around and considering I love this movie? I mean I'm not gonna suddenly hate it. If I were to give it a number grade? I'd give it a solid 8.5/10. It's really enjoyable stuff and I look forward to checking out more edits by this creator.

Once again Bobson Dugnutt knocks it out of the park. Every cut is seamless and with the deleted scenes the movie, in my opinion, flows much better. Simply put This edit of Halloween (2018) is great.

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