Halloween: The Doctor’s Cut

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 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.

I watched this a month or so ago and I loved it. As usual I'm happy to say I really don't need to see the theatrical versions anymore now that this is available. My one minor nitpick would be I think some of the music is a tad too high on a scene here or there and it makes some of the dialogue a little difficult to understand but it's not a big deal. That's the only thing I would try to fix and that's why I deducted one point in the audio score. I look forward to watching this again on Halloween night.

Once again, I'd like to thank the editor for sharing this work with the fans. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. GREAT JOB. This is a must for Halloween fans.

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!

**Halloween: The Doctor’s Cut** (Halloween I and II) - JNisch


Filesize = 5 GB, Video = 1920 X 1080p AVC, Audio = 164 kbps 2-Channel Stereo, AAC. No subs.

Very good edit, especially for a first edit. A few too many fade to blacks at the beginning, although the editor does not make that a habit.
The video editing is skillfully done, especially the transition from the first film to the second.
Overweighed with the first film, I probably would not have missed an additional 10 minutes cut.
Second film is noticeably darker, although that works to disguise Jamie Lee Curtis’s age. In neither does she resemble a high school student.
High praise to the editor doing such a fine job merging the two films.
The first film was fresher, though I’ve always found Carpenter an adequate director, at best. Too many long shots, poorly paced until the final third, too much time where little happens. The second film was better directed, with nail biting tension from beginning to end, and the deaths were better shot.
For many (including me) this will be all the “Halloween” you need.