Halloween: The Doctor’s Cut

I watched The Doctor's Cut as a double feature with LastSurvivor's "The Night of the Boogeyman", and really appreciated the way the two versions of the combined Halloween and Halloween II movies worked. While LastSurvivor's edit focuses mostly on Laurie and feels like a complete story, Jnisch's focus on Loomis makes just as much sense, and while it doesn't feel quite as complete as Laurie's story, all of the extra material added with Loomis at the mental institution helps to make this edit feel more like the first chapter in Loomis' story as he battles against the Shape, and it makes the later Thorn Trilogy sequels feel more justified in largely ignoring Laurie to tell the story of Loomis instead.

Halloween (1978) is a movie in which the creator, John Carpenter, put a lot of love and care thus creating one of the most important horror films of all time, Halloween 2 is a movie he wrote the script while drunk so he could get money, thus creating a sequel he hated and which to ignore, but should you too?

Halloween (1978) is a movie with a lot of scary moments and an interesting story that doesn't have any payoff the ending leaves the viewer with a lot of questions that you think the movie is building the plot towards an explanation.

Halloween 2 is the payoff of everything that was built in the first movie, but the movie couldn't keep the same scary tone.

This Fan edit tries to have a consistent scary tone by focusing the story from the point of view of the doctor alongside having some other really good ideas, the new opening is great.
This new approach creates a scary tone that is superior to Halloween 2 but inferior to Halloween 1, although that is expected when you combine Halloween 1 and 2 and this fan edit does a much better job than the other fan edits that combine both movies.

It's the definitive way to experience the story of "The Night He Came" saga
The editing itself is flawless

I have to say that I am truly impressed that this is a fist time editor submission. Every cut is flawless and a first time viewer would not even know anything was changed and that is the goal after all. The additional scenes with Dr Loomis were a nice addition to the movie because it fleshes him out more and give one of the main characters of the franchise so much more to do.

If you are a fan of the original Halloween movies, give this a watch. I think you will enjoy this version. I look forward to seeing what this editor continues to do with producing such quality.

Definitely a very solid edit. I viewed a very early version of this edit and the narrative has really been strengthened since that early cut so congrats to JNisch on all their hard work. All the cuts and additions have really made Loomis the star here and it definitely works. Though being more of a supporting character or second lead here, Laurie's story is still given room to breathe and she remains an important part of the narrative. You still feel the same attachments you would have to characters even if they don't have quite as much screen time.

Great job inserting the Loomis centric scenes from the TV Cut of Halloween. I myself have always loved them and they fit right in here. Kudos as well for pairing down the runtime to Halloween II. I feel you need very little of this movie to tell a full story. I did enjoy a lot of the score replacements and scoring more of Loomis scenes did help him feel more like the main character. Though the feel of the Halloween 1-3 scores can be quite different, I didn't find it particularly distracting to have all of them present here.

I have a few nitpicks but they are minor. Audio removal tool could probably help limit the amount of the original soundtrack is present when Judith yells Michaels name. While I'm absolutely in love with the somber version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" used to close out the movie, the original version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" used to open the movie just didn't quite work tonally for me. I do however know this is personal preference and many have loved this. Lastly, Laurie mentions someone watching her in Mr. Riddle's back yard while Annie guesses it was actually just Mr. Riddle. With Laurie actually seeing Michael in her backyard being cut, you can't really say who's right. I would've preferred either that scene been left in or this dialogue exchange been cut. Again, these are minor when weighted against the edit as a whole.

A fun way to watch Halloween and Halloween II for sure! Great to see how far this edit came from its early inception!

As someone who did a similar Halloween 1+2 film concept and has seen many other incarnations of this specific fan mix, Jnisch has made the best I've seen. The cuts are logical. The Hi-def footage of Carpenter's tv footage is not something I thought I'd ever see, and it showcases the power of that scene and its seamless integration into Halloween. The pacing is solid and the transition between the two films is seamless without losing the catharsis of the theme music playing at that moment when Michael is gone. It's tough to not lose momentum by the time you get to part 2 and this edit cuts through the fat. Congrats on getting approved. Well deserved! My only suggestion would be a little less security guard. Never liked that execution of that sequence much and think it goes on too long in the original H2 so a fanmix especially could spare it imo. I like the idea of the opening being in black and white, gives it kind of a Psycho vibe, though the editing is more modern. Works best for those who know the original. Volume is a bit in the red which is fine just be careful with headphones. Like I said this is my favorite of the H1 + H2 edits I've seen.