Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 4K UHD (1988)

[cmac]

Originally Posted by BNex99

Figured you were looking into it. Thanks for the info, and for all the hard work!

I've wondered for years what in the world happened to the audio for this particular movie. Anchor Bay had perfectly good 5.1 and 2.0 tracks on that first DVD, neither of which had these issues. (And for all I know, some of the apparent mixing differences may be down to how each track was compressed for its various releases, but of course that doesn't explain the SFX that are just gone).

But for whatever reason, it's the botched track that's been grandfathered down to pretty much all subsequent releases. Until this one, we hope.

I think these errors happened during a Chace remix. We are looking to fix them.

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by cmac

over the years, it's become apparent that some elements never went back to their licensors from the days when Anchor Bay used Crest for their film elements. I think when Crest closed, the elements were trashed if not picked up.
Many negatives are missing - HELL NIGHT, SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT etc.

Thank you guys for your work on these, regardless of what limitations may come. I am excited to get these releases, especially because I didn't think 4 or 5 would get remasters from Lionsgate, but you guys doing it is even better.

Was Crest a production company? Did they hold negatives to the Trancas catalog or are they just for reference?

[cmac]

Originally Posted by dylrichard02

Thank you guys for your work on these, regardless of what limitations may come. I am excited to get these releases, especially because I didn't think 4 or 5 would get remasters from Lionsgate, but you guys doing it is even better.

Was Crest a production company? Did they hold negatives to the Trancas catalog or are they just for reference?

Crest was a lab that Anchor Bay used. At some point, they went out of biz and it appears that a lot of the elements never went back to Anchor Bay or the licensors.

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by cmac

Crest was a lab that Anchor Bay used. At some point, they went out of biz and it appears that a lot of the elements never went back to Anchor Bay or the licensors.

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

Lost negatives sounds like a gold mine, that's really unfortunate.

Sounds great and I can't wait! I just watched the AB blu-rays last month and was quite disappointed with how dull everything looked. Them being from the negative will also make a huge difference. I imagine the others were scanned from a print derivative of the IP, but I could very well be wrong (I'm still learning about all of this stuff). Thanks again!

[TravM]

Originally Posted by cmac

Crest was a lab that Anchor Bay used. At some point, they went out of biz and it appears that a lot of the elements never went back to Anchor Bay or the licensors.

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

So glad to hear re: H5. I know you can't reveal too much, but can you say if you guys were at least aware of the deleted H4/H5 footage prior to licensing these films again? Fingers crossed something comes of this. That's my own main hook.

Also, would Scream ever be willing to navigate the issue of the lost H1 footage? Something has to be done about it and I'm thinking no party will budge unless the others (i.e. you, lol) really press for it.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by cmac

I think these errors happened during a Chace remix. We are looking to fix them.

Any chance for the H5 release we can get those newly discovered deleted scenes?

Edit: Haha someone beat me to it asking

[bobbyh64]

Originally Posted by BNex99

Figured you were looking into it. Thanks for the info, and for all the hard work!

I've wondered for years what in the world happened to the audio for this particular movie. Anchor Bay had perfectly good 5.1 and 2.0 tracks on that first DVD, neither of which had these issues. (And for all I know, some of the apparent mixing differences may be down to how the tracks were compressed each time out, but of course that doesn't explain the SFX that are just gone).

But for whatever reason, it's the botched track that's been grandfathered down all these years. Until now, we hope.

Even if the original elements of the 2.0 track can’t be found, I wouldn’t mind an old compressed 2.0 track from the DVD or laserdisc if that’s all there is.

[cmac]

Originally Posted by TravM

So glad to hear re: H5. I know you can't reveal too much, but can you say if you guys were at least aware of the deleted H4/H5 footage prior to licensing these films again? Fingers crossed something comes of this. That's my own main hook.

Also, would Scream ever be willing to navigate the issue of the lost H1 footage? Something has to be done about it and I'm thinking no party will budge unless the others (i.e. you, lol) really press for it.

Yes, i can't say anything, but we are about 4 weeks from the full announcement. We can't add anything to a press release that isn't done and signed off on. So, there is more to be announced.

[MrPlatinum]

Originally Posted by cmac

We can't add anything to a press release that isn't done and signed off on. So, there is more to be announced.

That's all I need to hear. Cheers, and thank you for your hard work.

[steev210]

Originally Posted by cmac

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

I can't wait to see the new masters, especially for H4 and H5-they were desperately in need of new scans.

I was hoping that HII might get a 4K release this year, but not in my wildest dreams did I think HIII, H4 and H5 would all be released as well with new scans and in Dolby Vision! Christmas comes in September for me this year.

This may be premature, but I hope Shout can acquire the rights to Halloween 6 (Theatrical and Producer's Cut), H20, Resurrection, and Zombie's 2 films and release those on 4K UHD as well. H6-H8 especially need new scans and your commitment to the first 5 films is reassuring the remaining films would receive the same level of care.

[steev210]

Originally Posted by cmac

I think these errors happened during a Chace remix. We are looking to fix them.

Thanks for the updates and to all the teams at Shout Factory who made these 4K releases happen.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by cmac

I think these errors happened during a Chace remix. We are looking to fix them.

Thanks again for all your efforts! Looking forward to all of these discs.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by cmac

Crest was a lab that Anchor Bay used. At some point, they went out of biz and it appears that a lot of the elements never went back to Anchor Bay or the licensors.

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

Thanks for engaging with us on these forums, all of us aren’t jerks lol, can’t wait for these to come out.

[TravM]

Originally Posted by cmac

Yes, i can't say anything, but we are about 4 weeks from the full announcement. We can't add anything to a press release that isn't done and signed off on. So, there is more to be announced.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As an aside - is it true the negatives for the H2 deleted scenes are lost? The scenes featured in the TV cut are obviously SD and heavily cropped, and that cut doesn't feature all of the deleted scenes, to boot.

(I only feel so bold to ask because I'm reserved to the fact these aren't appearing here.)

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

Even if the original elements of the 2.0 track can’t be found, I wouldn’t mind an old compressed 2.0 track from the DVD or laserdisc if that’s all there is.

I wouldn't mind that either, but I guess there could be legal hurdles there.

[mad_max2000]

Originally Posted by cmac

Crest was a lab that Anchor Bay used. At some point, they went out of biz and it appears that a lot of the elements never went back to Anchor Bay or the licensors.

I will tell you that so far the masters look amazing. I was looking at H5 with Dolby Vision and the kids costumes have such detail and color. We have spent a lot of time on these. All five were scanned from the original negatives and we have spent a lot of time cleaning the films

RE: Those asking about Crest, here you go; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crest_Digital

And, as others have said, thank you cmac for interacting on here, I've always wanted the original sound mixes restored for Halloween 4&5 and this is as close as we've gotten to that. It sucks so many of these original film elements were junked and/or lost but it's reassuring to know you guys are putting in so much effort into looking for them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[lilboyblu]

Thanks for all the info, Cliff. Looking forward to the full announcement next month!

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

Even if the original elements of the 2.0 track can’t be found, I wouldn’t mind an old compressed 2.0 track from the DVD or laserdisc if that’s all there is.

Better off with a PCM LD track than a lossy DVD one!

[flash.over]

Originally Posted by cmac

Yes, i can't say anything, but we are about 4 weeks from the full announcement. We can't add anything to a press release that isn't done and signed off on. So, there is more to be announced.

Thanks for being so open about what you can talk about!

While we have you, I have but one request if you guys ever license the Zombie Halloweens again; Please try to acquire RZH2’s making of documentary, if the Weinsteins didn’t outright destroy it haha!

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by cmac

When a licensor has poor elements, you do the best you can. We can only deal with the items they still have in their possession.

We are still working on the disc and we are working to fix everything we can.
You can of course cancel if you want, but we are working to making these releases the best they can be.

I understand. Thank you for acknowledging the issue and doing your best to address it.