Note, this project is one of my annual Halloween Projects, which are something of an outgrowth of my old Children’s Halloween Record blog Scar Stuff.
For a complete listing of my Halloween Projects, please click here.
As a companion piece to the original 1977 version (vimeo.com/6825745) here’s a higher quality/downloadable encode of the complete 1985 “Halloween Safety” Coronet Educational Film that I converted to digital from the original 16mm source and uploaded to YouTube a few years ago.
Halloween Safety Educational Film (1985, Coronet) from Jason Willis on Vimeo.
For context I’ll just run with my original description, originally published on Scar Stuff. Enjoy!
Okay Educational Short Film Fans! Direct from 1985 I present “Halloween Safety [Second Edition]”, yanked straight from the Centron/ Coronet film vaults. Produced 8 years after the original, this was also filmed in my hometown of Lawrence, KS and stocked with local acting talent & scenery.
Really more a complete reworking than a “second edition”, the difference in both era and production aesthetics is apparent within the first few seconds of the film’s un-spooling: check out that killer montage of awesome dime-store masks flying through the air! Yeah! This is immediately followed up by some great & simple shots of kids walking around in cheapo store-bought Ben Cooper & Topstone getups, which felt just perfect. I mean, maybe I’m just speaking for myself here, but despite the fact that on the real Halloween night in 1985 I was busily enjoying something billed as “The Scum Of The Earth Costume Party”, seeing those kids parade about in their outfits more than managed to resurface plenty of decade-dormant memories. Sadly none of my childhood regional Midwestern candy faves show up during the treat sequences though — where the hell are the Cherry Mashes & Valomilks? Ah well, I guess you can’t have everything.
So anyway, settle back from the vantage point of 22 years worth of hindsight and help yourself to loads of quality advice on pumpkin carving, fire hazards, costume functionality, mask visibility, street crossing etiquette, vandalism & mayhem, treat tampering (bear in mind that this was only a few years after the 1982 Tylenol murders), and more — all told against a sub-Michael Jackson soundtrack by an animated Jack-O-Lantern narrator!
And for completeness sake, the original two part YouTube upload is here:
and here: