So here's the real reason you'll want to consider this release if you've previously purchased the Universal release of the movie. First things first, that Universal release contained the excellent documentary Terror In The Aisles, a pretty interesting dissection of the history of the horror movie. That's not been carried over here, so fans of that documentary will want hold onto that original release for that reason.

What has been created for this disc, however, is impressive starting with the TV edit of the movie. This version will be of interest to fans because it includes quite a bit of alternate footage that was shot specifically for television and therefore not included in the theatrical representation of the movie. Though it's presented in standard definition fullframe and with an English language Dolby Digital Mono track, it's nice to have it here in nice shape. Though it omits most of the bloodshed and R-rated bits that are in the theatrical cut, getting the extra footage makes it and interesting option in its own right. Sure it would have been nice to get it in HD but let's be realistic here, it was never shown that way in the first place, this does an admirable job of recreating the eighties TV movie experience. This is included on a standard DVD as a separate disc within the package, and that disc also contains a PDF version of the script for Halloween II which you can access via DVD-Rom drive.

On top of that, we get two commentary tracks, the first of which is with director Rick Rosenthal who is joined by actor Leo Rossi and the second of which his with the actor who played Michael Myers, Dick Warlock, who also served as stunt coordinator on the film. Both tracks are worth checking out but the Rosenthal/Rossi track is, if you have to pick just one, the choice you'll want to make. It moves at a great pace, covers all the bases you'd expect given that it has the director's involvement and it offers up a load of information. There are moments where the two men slow down a little bit but these are few and far between, fans will definitely appreciate this track. Warlock's solo track is also pretty good, but as he has no one to play off of here (though Robert V. Galluzzo helps moderate and keep him on topic, he wasn't involved in the film so he doesn't have the same type of contributions to make as Rossi does in the first track) it doesn't move at quite the same pace. It does offer up some good information from the opposite side of the camera in some ways, as he talks about the stunts and murder set pieces seen in the movie and his involvement in them as well as what it was like for him to work with the various participants in the film.

From there, be sure to check out a brand new forty-five minute long featurette entitled The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making Of Halloween II (44:56) created by Red Shirt Pictures. Interviewed here are Rosenthal and Warlock, but also Executive Producer Irwin Yablans, Director Of Photography Dean Cundey, Composer Alan Howarth, Production Designer/Editor Tommy Lee Wallace, Lance Guest and Nancy Stephens among others. With so many involved, the documentary does a good job of leaving no stone unturned as it discusses the problems inherent in making a worthy sequel to a ridiculously popular and successful original film and then shares some stories from the trenches. It does cover some of the same ground as the commentary but realistically, how could it not? Some appropriate clips and photographs are used throughout to illustrate the various points made by the interviewees and he HD featurette is well put together and quite enjoyable. Also worth checking out is the thirteen minute Horror's Hallowed Ground (13:10) HD featurette which brings us back to check out the locations that were originally used in the film. Not everyone appreciates seeing location visits like this but for those of us who do, this proves quite interesting and it's well put together on a technical level and it's just cool to see what's changed and what hasn't over the years.

The disc also includes eight minutes of deleted scenes in HD (8:06 in total) with optional commentary from Rosenthal explaining their context and the reasons they were removed, and an alternate ending (1:44) that runs roughly two minutes and also features optional commentary from Rosenthal. Rounding out the extras on the disc are a fairly massive gallery of production stills and promotional artwork, the film's original theatrical trailer in HD, a trio of television promo spots (1:41 in total), a handful of radio spots, animated menus and chapter selection. The discs come packaged in a Blu-ray case with reversible cover art and with a slip case that fits neatly over top - a nice touch.

Scream Factory's Blu-ray reissue of Halloween II is excellent. It not only offers up a marginally improved transfer over the previous Universal release but improved audio as well and a considerable amount of new extras and the television cut of the movie - it's hard to think of anything that was left out! As to the movie itself, no, it's not as good as Carpenter's original film but it is a very strong sequel in its own right with some great tension, a few memorable murder set pieces, a good cast and some slick direction. Horror fans and Halloween diehards already know they need this, but yeah, it comes highly recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.