October 30th, 1981, lives in infamy with HALLOWEEN fans as one of the greatest days the franchise has ever seen. All Hallow’s Eve ’81 not only saw the theatrical debut of the highly anticipated HALLOWEEN II but also the world premiere of John Carpenter’s 1978 “immortal classic,”HALLOWEEN.
And I got the embedded video right here, complete with commercials as it once aired for all our gluttonous entertainment for horror movie tracking nostalgia!
Horrors of Halloween
But first, a little background because I need to fill the page up here.
Upon the major success of the independent film with audiences, NBC Universal bought the television rights for HALLOWEEN for a whopping (at the time) 3 million bucks. It was eager to be the first to air it for the Samhain season. However, the FCC being what it is, wanted NBC to censor some of the film’s scenes, which ultimately led to the standard practice of editing down the movie for sensitive viewers but in the same act, shortening the allotted running time for said time slot.
That being the case and after much debate with Debra Hill and Carpenter, Carpenter agreed to shoot extra scenes for the televised version to appease the corporate Gods; and wasn’t that much of an inconvenience for them considering they were shot during the filming ofHALLOWEEN II. This brings a very interesting point to these now-infamous scenes as the movie and extra footage were being shot simultaneously, it better ratifies the sister films together; especially with the bonus scenes of a young Myers staring out a window (of which a snippet actually makes it into the theatrical cut of HALLOWEEN II via Laurie’s dream) and the extra scenes with Dr. Loomis. One of which, offers a more detailed description of how Myers escaped that night along with shots of his trashed room and scribblings on the door that say, “SISTER”. I’m assuming that was thrown in there purposely for the sibling plot twist element revealed in the sequel.
I want to make it a point to mention a rather ironically pointless note that since most of us are hip to the fact Jamie Lee Curtis had adopted her signature short haircut by 1980, her additional scene filmed at the Strode home with PJ Soles begging to borrow that notorious “expensive blouse” is shot entirely with a towel on her head. Presumably to hide her pixie-ish cut underneath.
It’s a small thing, but I always think about it when watching this version.
In 1981, I never got to witness this monumental night of new and altered versions of Halloween sister films, as I was a mere fetus in my birth mother’s belly and wouldn’t be born until the Summer of 1982. However, the ripple effects of notoriety from this televised version trickled over for years to come as I finally got to watch this edited treasure via my local Vegas horror TV horror movie host of the early 90s, Count Cool Rider-who is essentially Danny Koker of Counting Cars for you History TV and auto buffs. YouTuber Darth Awesome has re-uploaded this treasure that was once available on the platform but disappeared for a while. So kudos for making it available once again!
2023 marks 45 years since John Carpenter made a little movie about a homicidal maniac stalking babysitters, and the phenomena of HALLOWEEN hasn’t wavered once since that initial release. If anything, the fandom has only gotten stronger, more fierce, and completely loyal to one of the first masked slashers on the horror scene.
I was pretty damn young when I first saw HALLOWEEN; like, way younger than what should have been allowed at the time- I believe I was around 4 or 5 when I first started catching tidbits of it here and there during one of my Dad’s viewings on TV. It wasn’t until I was about seven when I pressed the play button myself and watched it in its entirety all on my own. I’ll never forget the recorded VHS that held an unholy trilogy of horror on it: a translucent shade of blue VHS tape in a brown clamshell with recordings of Frankenstein (1931), The Exorcist, and Halloween. And thus my love for the franchise was born from an early age, so much so, I, like many others, can utter the whole fuckin’ thing word for word without ever skipping a beat.
Up until the late 90s, I didn’t even own a legit VHS copy. I had merely relied on old faithful blue there along with anytime it was showing on TV- my favorites were when Joe Bob Briggs and MonsterVision would run it, or when the USA Network had a Friday Fright Night.
Also, this is my goddamn favorite promo ever for HALLOWEEN ever; and it’s a double feature!
JOHN CARPENTER’S HALLOWEEN has been released on home video in a myriad of ways over the last 40 years, probably giving this horror film in particular a record for how many different variations of this classic exist to watch at home. In my mind, I never like to live much past the 21st century, so we’re going to forgo the 2,000 releases HALLOWEEN has seen since the DVD coming of age and stick to the nostalgic basics of glorious VHS cover art, where it all began as it had quite the shelf-life on this format. And what the fuck, we gotta throw in BETA with a dash of Laserdisc because they never get their due.
1979(VHS)
The most coveted VHS of HALLOWEEN is the first-printing, 1979 Meda Home Entertainment Full Screen release that followed one year after the film’s debut. The signature retro orange and simplistic nature of this one, in particular, has been known to sell for thousands to interested buyers in the modern day. It’s pretty much every VHS collector’s holy grail. Mine included.
1979 (BETA)
The BETAMAX was first introduced in 1975 and was basically the 4K version of a VHS with higher resolution and overall better quality viewing. They ran a pretty penny, so you really wouldn’t see this in your average household. But of course, even in 1979 we all knew HALLOWEEN was something special and had to be seen on the beautiful BETA in full screen, so a cassette was made to coincide the release of the VHS. I’ve never owned a BETAMAX myself, but my ritzy friend had one growing up and yep, she had this. I can confirm the visual experience was mounds better, and I was forever jealous I never had a BETA Cassette Player. A second BETA was released in 1985 before the format completely fizzled out and BETA was no more as VHS ultimately won the home video wars.
1981 (VHS)
The second release occurred in 1981 as a promo deal upon the release of HALLOWEEN II. There was another release in 1984 and 1987, but it pretty much had the same box art with nothing really added. In today’s age, there would be hell to pay for that!
1985 (Laserdisc)
1985 brought on the massive Laserdisc format of the immortal classic and ran consumers about $40, which would amount to about $112 in 2023- insane, right? Presented the film in pan & scan, believe it or not, this was the first of a few, Laserdisc releases for Halloween with a really cool Japanese release in 1986, and a Criterion Collection debut in 1994. In 1996, the UK sourced a LD from a new 35mm Panavision print minted from the original negative. Pretty neat, huh?!
1989 (VHS)
1989 brought on one final pressing of Halloween before MEDIA fully went bankrupt, riding the coattails of HALLOWEEN 5 before its theatrical release. Interestingly enough, there was an accidental pressing of the television version that was originally shown on television in 1981 with the extra added scenes. It was pulled from the market shortly after its initial release, corrected, and thrown back into the market, making it a highly sought after collector’s item!
1995 (VHS)
In 1995, Blockbuster which had become the king of VHS home movie rentals, purchased the distribution rights to Halloween and released it as part of their Blockbuster Presents October showcase. This is also the VHS that most people own because in pure Blockbuster fashion, they printed a SHIT TON of these bad boys for purchase. Less is never more with Blockbuster as they always 200 copies of one new movie taking up two walls in their store.
Also, let’s look at that TV promo for it because it’s pretty damn glorious.
1997 (VHS)
In 1997, Halloween distribution changed hands once again, but this time for the last time to Anchor Bay and with that saw yet, another VHS release. But, this is also the first time the film was hawked to home video with a Widescreen version, as the movie has only ever been seen at home in full screen.
1998 (VHS)
In 1998, to mark the film’s holy twentieth anniversary and the release of HALLOWEEN H2O, Anchor Bay put out this gorgeous orange double cassette collector’s VHS edition that also came with this keychain that I still proudly keep on me this very day. This clamshell edition, to me, is the absolute best as far as VHS releases go, and the only one I own personally. The 10.31.78 Edition, as it was called, was limited to only 40,000 copies. The first tape is the widescreen presentation of the film, and the second tape contains all its special features as in television scenes (as well as the slightly censored opening kill of Judith), Halloween Unmasked 1998, the film’s theatrical trailer, and a couple of TV spots, radio spots, and a beautiful photo still gallery. My only regret is not sending in that dollar for the poster.
2001 (Final VHS)
2001 was the final year a Halloween VHS would ever be released and with this, Anchor Bay pimped out the extended edition, which was basically the film’s theatrical cut with the television scenes spliced in. Which has now, become the fan favorite way to watch it.
Soon after, the VHS format completely fizzled out to make way for the advanced DVD technology. However, I have to say, old faithful 40 year VHS’ I own still hold up and play well while you so much as slightly hold a DVD wrong, the thing doesn’t want to play right. Which is why the resurgence of the VHS in the past years has become a splendor to behold to know the cassette tape has found its way back into mainstream households. And most importantly, 45 years later, HALLOWEEN, and its many VHS format releases.
First off, I just want to start off by saying that I’m gleaming like a Halloween jack-o-lantern in Carpenter’s intro credits after stumbling upon this information by pure accident via /Halloweenmovies on Reddit. Halloween is by far, one of the most discussed and beloved horror movies of the horror genre, and finding any kind of new information, facts, or trivia on the film is slim fuckin’ pickings as every horror journalist in the world has said everything and anything they could on the film. But, behold I come bearing gifts on that strange and interesting tale told by none other than the grave keeper of Haddonfield, Angus Taylor to one Samuel Loomis as they trenched through the cemetery. The mystery of Charlie Bowles and what he “proceeded to do” drives us all crazy to this very day. However, I can verify as the story checks out, that Charlie Bowles was based on a real person living in Russellville, Kentucky; and his name was, well, Charlie Bowles.
“He ran a drive-in movie theater in Russellville. Russellville is my hometown and about 30 minutes from Bowling green and Smiths’ grove where John carpenter spent much of his childhood. I always thought that was a cool way to pay tribute to ol’ Charlie.”
She goes on to say that while ol’ Charlie was no hacksaw murderer, he was known to be involved in illegal activities like bootlegging and gambling.
Now, if you’re a John Carpenter buff, you know that while he was born in Carthage, New York, his family later moved to Bowling Green,Kentucky, where his father was the head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. And about fifteen minutes away from a little town called Smiths’ Grove with Russelville another fifteen from that. Carpenter used these places from his years in the Bluegrass state as references in his “immortal classic”; so using names of people he actually knew isn’t that inconceivable.
Upon further investigation, while verifying this information, I came across an interview done by Chris Cooper with Carpenter himself who did indeed confirm Charlie Bowles was a real person, but that, however, he was not willing to discuss anything about Charlie Bowles: “Under no circumstance will I talk about Charlie Bowles. He is the father of an old girlfriend, deceased, and had other things in his life best left unsaid by me.”
So while we may not know exactly what Charlie’s fate was in the film, we do know that Charlie did exist in reality and is forever immortalized as the one lingering cliffhanger in the classic 44-year-old movie.
Now, let’s let our OCD go crazy one more time and revisit that scene.
![[Video] The 1981 NBC Premiere Broadcast Of John Carpenter’s “Halloween” Complete With Commercials!](https://nightmarenostalgia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/attachment-halloweentv.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
![[Video] The 1981 NBC Premiere Broadcast Of John Carpenter's "Halloween"!](https://nightmarenostalgia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/halloween-1978-nbc-tv-broadcast-premiere-1981-parental-warning-1180x720-1.jpg)
Nightmare Nostalgia 