OK, it’s a bit out of season, but it’s always Halloween in Haddonfield, right?

This is the Bluray release of the 40-years-later sequel to Halloween – the 2018 Halloween that was released last year, coincidentally at Halloween. It strips away all previous sequels, so when you pop the disc into your player, just accept that Michael Myers was never fried to a crisp in an inferno in Haddonfield Memorial Hospital to the strains of Mister Sandman, nor any of the other fates, including runestones, dealt to him in any of the final reels of any sequel, ever. He was apprehended off-screen after his first floor tumble at the end of Halloween.

Likewise, Laurie Strode is still alive and well, and for forty years has been waiting for Michael to break out of Smith’s Grove Mental Institution and resume his relentless pursuit. Not that they’re related or have any link any more, she was just the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time back in 1978. She has, however, spent the last four decades making her home a combined bunker/fortress and has trained herself into a badass warrior who’d give Sarah Connor a run for her money. This is the story of that showdown, and might be the best beatdown since Ripley took on the Alien Queen.

The disc offers a variety of special features. The extended/deleted scenes are of particular interest, as what was left on the cutting room floor provides some further story exposition and fills some of the gaps in the narrative, explaining how certain characters got from one pivotal scene to another. Others add to the sense of mounting menace, and their inclusion in the film would make a great movie even better without hindering the pacing.

Also in the special features are featurettes about the making of the film, but that’s just a series of complimentary soundbites from the actors, producers and director with no real insight being given. There’s an all too brief couple of minutes on the making of the iconic Michael Myers mask and how it was recreated and aged, and a slightly more substantial feature about John Carpenter and his son Cody composing and recording the soundtrack score to the movie. By far the best feature is a roundtable discussion about Halloween and its legacy with executive producers John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis joining the producer and director of the latest instalment.

All in all, a nice package and a great addition to the series – if you can figure out where on your shelf it should go if you’ve collected the whole franchise.

HALLOWEEN (2018) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: DAVID GORDON GREEN / SCREENPLAY: JEFF FRADLEY / STARRING: JAMIE LEE CURTIS, JUDY GREER, ANDI MATICHAK / RELEASE DATE: 25TH FEBRUARY