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Major ‘Halloween’ News From ‘3D’ to the ‘H6’ Producer’s Cut!

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Some seriously big Halloween news was reported out of this past weekend’s Saturn Awards in California.

Collider caught up with Malek Akkad, who took over the family business and worked on the five most recent Michael Myers films.

The site covered a wide variety of topics and received very candid answers. The biggest news to break is that the upcoming Halloween box set will include the Producer’s Cut of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers!

Yes. I can announce that on the box set we will have the Producer’s Cut, finally. […] It’s been around for so many years and people have bad bootlegs, so I’m really happy that we were able to get the right elements and put it all together. And it looks – the transfers great, the sound is great. I think fans are going to be really happy with it.

He also talked a bit how they planned to continue the Thorn plot but Halloween H20 sent them down a new path.

“We did discuss continuing it and, what happened was, we were coming up to the twentieth anniversary and [The Curse of Michael Myers] wasn’t one of the bigger box office hits. So what the studio and I and my father, we got together and said, ‘Let’s do the twentieth anniversary.’ And the only way to do that properly was to get Jamie Lee [Curtis] back. So when you bring Jamie Lee back, it kind of leads to a whole different kind of storyline. It’s focused on the whole, Jamie Lee/Laurie Strode character. So, the Thorn thing faded away with that, but I think that was the right move because H20 was a great movie.”

The writer also talked a bit about Rob Zombie’s remake, and asked about a “rape scene in the hospital” that was deleted out of the final cut of the film.

“It was a bit graphic and we kind of wanted to ride that fine line that, the people that Michael kills, we want to feel for them. So, immediately, the two guys, when they’re… the rape scene. You wanted him to kill them, you start rooting for Michael to kill them. It was that fine line. We wanted it to still be scary and we wanted the kills to still be scary, not root for Michael. I think that was the thinking at the time.”

As for the now defunct Halloween 3D, which is being revived in some unknown capacity, Akkad reveals that they were two weeks away from shooting when The Weinstein Company pulled the plug!

“Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier did a script. The next day after the last one came out, we were back in production for Halloween 3D. We were about two weeks from going down to Louisiana to shoot it and for whatever reason, the studio thought we were maybe moving a little bit too quickly. I disagree. I think we had a great script and a great team and it would have been a massive hit. But right now we’re currently working on a new script for Halloween 3, so it’s all in the works right now.”

Lastly, will the potential Halloween 3D follow the characters from the Zombie franchise?

“I can’t talk about it too much right now, but it will definitely keep elements and bring in new elements. But I really want to bring it back to kind of like, the classic – because the last one got a little dark – I want to bring it back to the classic Friday night horror film that people will really like.”

You can catch the entire video interview at the above link.

halloween

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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1995 Horror Movie ‘Mute Witness’ Coming to 4K from Arrow Video and Streaming Courtesy of Shudder

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Mute Witness streaming

Fans of 1995’s Mute Witness have two big reasons to celebrate this week, as the film is finally getting a brand new physical media release AND it’s finally coming to streaming.

The film has long been only available on DVD, and it’s currently not available to stream or rent ANYWHERE, but Arrow Video has announced that a 4K Ultra HD release is on its way.

The suspense thriller Mute Witness hits 4K from Arrow on June 11, 2024! This is a US, UK and Canada release, and a Blu-ray version of the same release will also be available.

Mute Witness will also be coming to Shudder beginning April 1, 2024.

Director Anthony Waller (The Piper, An American Werewolf in Paris) combines cat-and-mouse suspense with classic intrigue in Mute Witness, an updated take on the Hitchcockian thriller in which the only witness to a brutal crime can neither speak nor cry out in terror.

Limited Edition Bonus Features include:

  • 4K restoration approved by director Anthony Waller
  • 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in HDR10
  • Restored original lossless stereo soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by writer/director Anthony Waller
  • Brand new audio commentary with production designer Matthias Kammermeier and composer Wilbert Hirsch, moderated by critic Lee Gambin
  • The Silent Death, brand new visual essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, examining Mute Witness and its relationship with snuff films
  • The Wizard Behind the Curtain, brand new visual essay by author and critic Chris Alexander, exploring the phenomenon of the film-within-a-film
  • Original “Snuff Movie” presentation, produced to generate interest from investors and distributors, featuring interviews with Anthony Waller and members of the creative team
  • Original location scouting footage
  • Original footage with Alec Guinness, filmed a decade prior to the rest of Mute Witness
  • Teaser trailer
  • Trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
  • Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
  • Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michelle Kisner

In the film, Billy Hughes (Marina Zudina) is a mute special effects artist working on a low budget American slasher movie being shot in Russia. Accidentally locked in the studio late one night, she stumbles upon two men shooting what appears to be a snuff film. Having borne witness to their victim’s final moments, Billy desperately flees – but this is only the start of a protracted night of terror, drawing her and her friends into a tangled web of intrigue, involving the KGB, the Moscow police… and a mysterious crime kingpin known as “The Reaper.”

Arrow Video previews the new release, “Filmed on location in Moscow and co-starring Fay Ripley (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) and Evan Richards (Society), Mute Witness is an unpredictable, nerve-shreddingly tense viewing experience. Now fully restored in 4K and presented alongside a host of new and recently unearthed bonus materials, there has never been a better opportunity to discover – or rediscover – this gem of 90s thriller cinema.”

You can pre-order your copy from Diabolik today.

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