THE RESURRECTED (1991) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE RESURRECTED (1991)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 105 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Dan O'Banon
Cast: Chris Sarandon, Jane Sibbett, John Terry, Laurie Briscoe, Robert Romanus

The late writer/director Dan O'Bannon directed far too few movie for my tastes, the man helped bring Alien (1979) and Lifeforce (1986) to the big screen as a writer, he directed the seminal 80s punk rock zombie flick The Return of the Living Dead (1986), but would only go on to direct one more feature film, the Lovecraft adaptation, The Resurrected (1991). Adding insult the film was taken away by the  producers in the final stages of post-production after disagreements, after which it was dumped straight-to-video without a proper cinema release.

The film opens where it ends, with private eye named John March (John Terry, Zodiac) walking in on gruesome bloodbath scenario at the local asylum, from there he goes back to his dimly lit office and in time horned noir fashion recounts the story of how it came to be he was investigating the curious case of Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night), beginning when a gorgeous woman named Claire Ward (Jill Sibbett, TV's Herman's Head) walks into his office and ask the P.I. to look into what her reclusive scientist husband has been up, hes been holed up away a crumbling family estate, performing some bizarre and mysterious experiment. .

March tracks Ward down to the remote Gothic mansion out in the country and interviews him under the false pretense of being some sort of government regulator concerned about possible chemical contamination emanating from the home. March cannot help but help but notice the foul stench that permeates the area, while Ward offers little insight the private eye later asks the town folk nearby about the place and learns a bit of the sordid history associated with the Ward family, particularly his 18th century ancestor, a diabolical chemist named Joseph Curwen (Sarandon again in a tasty dual role), who sought to discover the secret to immortality. It seems that ward has found his journals and is continuing his work, experiments that apparently require more raw meat than the average diner uses in a month, it also requires loads of fresh animal blood, sourced from a local slaughterhouse. 

I long ago read Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and this seemed to be to be quite faithful to the source, with the exclusion of updating the era and introducing the noir-ish private eye as the narrator of the story, and it works very nicely, in fact this is one of the truest Lovecraft cinema-adaptations yet, more so than any of Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft tales, which I also love, but if you ask me this Lovecraft entry is right up there with those. 

The gooey and grotesque special effects creations from Todd Masters (Demon Knight) and his team are awesome, they all do not hold up in crisp HD image but if you love rubbery special effects there's a lot to love, some seriously demented stuff winds up onscreen right here, including deformed experiments gone wrong and hideous transformations, making  this an easy go-to for lovers of practical creature design and gooey gore. 

The cast is strong, Sibbett and Terry do good work as the suffering wife and persistent private eye, at times I felt Terry comes across wooden, but then again maybe he's just going for the stone-cold private eye thing. Sarandon does a lot of the heavy lifting here is a tasty dual-role as both the wealthy scientist Ward and his 18th-century ancestor in flashbacks, he plays maniacal and insane very well, with more than a tinge of creepiness, at times he reminded me of Jefferey Combs as Dr. Herbert West, which was fun. Also be on the lookout for Robert Romanus from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) as one of March's investigators. 

This movie deserved so much better than to be dumped straight-to-video, it's a Lovecraft adaptation shrouded in mystery, grue and intrigue, the Gothic subterranean set pieces look great and the special effects are worth the price of admission all by themselves. The only dig I have is that it can be a bit long in the tooth at moments, it goes off the boil to a simmer for a few too many minutes, but it didn't drag the film down much, it just lagged from time to time.  

Audio/Video: The Resurrected (1990) (aka Shatterbrain) has not been an easy to find move through the years, released on an open matte full frame DVD that has been long out of print, the film was released a few years back on a German import media book Blu-ray release and streamed on Netflix for a brief time before evaporating from the streaming service. Now we have a proper Region A release from distributor Scream Factory, sourced from a brand new 2K scan from the film’s vaulted interpositive film elements, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen and it looks solid, a bit on the grainy side, but that was not unexpected considering this is a low budget early 90's productions. Colors are impressive, shadow detail is adequate, ski tones looked good, and there some nice fine detail to the image, which is nice, love those practical special effects from Todd Masters, some super icky stuff happening here. 

Audio on the disc by way of an English DTS-HD 2.0 - not 5.1 as advertised on the sleeve - it's a clean crisp presentation, dialogue is crisp and clean, the music score from Richard Band (Re-Animator) comes through strong, with a nice eerie title sequence score and some atmospheric music throughout that amps up the tension. Optional English subtitles re included.

While not branded as one of Scream Factory's Collector's Edition this single-disc Blu-ray is absolutely stuffed to the gills with special features, porting over nearly all the Red Shirt Pictures produced extras from the German import Blu-ray, minus two German language commentaries and a German audio reading of the Lovecraft short 'The case of Charles Dexter Ward', and a whopper of an 84-page booklet. Scream Factory and Red Shirt also offer up two brand new extras, interviews with actress Jane Sibbett and S.T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft. This all adds up to over two hours worth of extras for this one, it might not be a CE but it should have been, if they'd thrown a slipcover on this one and labeled it a CE no one would have complained. 

The release comes in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the a-side is a new illustration from artist Justin Osbourn,  which to be I didn't much care for,  looking like a riff on another Lovecraft adaptation, Stuart Gordon's From Beyond. However, the reverse artwork is fucking fantastic, also by Osbourn, which was featured on the German Blu-ray, glad they were able to offer it here as an alternate artwork! The one-thing I wish we could have gotten for this release was a workprint version as assembled by Dan O'Bannon, it exists, probably only on VHS, but I would have enjoyed seeing what his original vision was. 

Special Features: 
- NEW 2K transfer from the film’s vaulted interpositive film element
- NEW Claire’s Conundrum – an interview with actress Jane Sibbett (15 min) HD 
- NEW The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward – an interview with S.T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft (24 min) HD 
- Audio Commentary with producers Mark Borde and Kenneth Raich, screenwriter Brent V. Friedman, actor Richard Romanus and make-up effects artist Todd Masters
- The Resurrected Man – an interview with Chris Sarandon (16 min) HD 
- Abominations and Adaptations – an interview with screenwriter Brent Friedman (18 min) HD 
- Grotesque Melodies - an interview with composer Richard Band (10 min) HD 
- Lovecraftian Landscapes – an interview with production designer Brent Thomas (8 min) HD 
- Human Experiments – an interview with special effects artist Todd Masters (16 min) HD 
- Deleted and Extended Scenes from the Workprint (18 min) HD 
- Home Video Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Japanese Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Photo Gallery (8 min) HD

That The Resurrected (1991)is now available on a proper looking and reasonably priced HD format for fans in the U.S. is a reason for rejoicing! If you're a Lovecraft fan you need it, this is one of those under seen horror gems just waiting to be discovered, or re-discovered as the case may be, highly recommended, great to see the other Dan O'Bannon film get some love from Scream Factory! 

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: BORDELLO OF BLOOD (1995) (Blu-ray Review)

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: BORDELLO OF BLOOD (1995)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gilbert Adler
Cast: Erika Eleniak, John Kassir, Corey Feldman, Dennis Miller, Angie Everhart, Chris Sarandon

Synopsis: Wisecracking private eye Rafe Guttman (Dennis Miller, Joe Dirt) investigates some strange happenings at a titillating bordello on the edge of town. It seems owner Madam Lilith (Angie Everhart, Jade) and her luscious cohorts want more than money… they want blood! Soon Rafe finds himself up to his neck in a den of hungry vampiresses and battling the Reverend Jimmy Current (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night, Child's Play), a slick televangelist with an unstoppable talisman.

While Tals From The Crypt Presents: Demon Knight was in my opinion an under valued gem of the nineties horror cinema the follow-up from the Tales from the Crypt factory, the truly awful Bordello of Blood is an uninspired mess of a movie. Again, we have an ensemble cast of actors which on the surface would seem to indicate good times are about to be had, but how wrong you are. We have '80s golden boy Corey Feldman as Caleb, a low-life loser who disappears after a trip to a whorehouse which is disguised as a funeral home. His sister Catherine (Erika Eleniak, Baywatch) hires a wise-cracking private investigator named Rafe Guttman, played by comedian Dennis Miller, to look into her brother's disappearance. 

As it turns out the brothel is run by a vampire queen named Lilith (Angie Everhart), who is being controlled by the pint-sized Vincent (Phil Fondacaro, Ghoulies II) who somehow possesses the blood-filled key from Demon Knight, which grants him control over the lustful and blood-hungry vampire, and her vampyric legion of whores. Throw into this mix the Reverend J. C. Current (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night), a rock n' roll evangelical who has some sort of unholy allegiance to Vincent and Lilith. Of course Caleb has been turned into one of Lilith's blood-sucking minions, with Feldman really hamming it up in a fun sort of way, say what you want about him, I still loved him at this point, even if the best years of his career were starting to slip away rather steadily.  

Watching it right after Demon Knight it is hard not to see that the budget was stripped away, it feels cheap, and the humor is uniformly corny and awful. Bordello of Blood is just a clunky, vampire-comedy with blood pumpig through it's veins. Feldman is clearly having a blast vamping it up, and why not, it must have been fun to play the role of a vampire after slaying them in The Lost Boys. Then we have Sarandon who was an iconic vamp in the classic Fright Night, here hamming it up as the guitar-slinging preacher. Angie Everhart is a gorgeous woman,a great choice for the busty blood-drinker, but she goes from vampy to campy maybe a little too fast. Then we have Dennis Miller as the wise-cracking P.I. hired by Catherine to find her missing brother. I both love and hate Dennis Miller, the once funny SNL alum is now a right-wing shill, but in the nineties I loved his stand-up comedy, his wry sarcasm, his holier than thou schtick worked for me and he was one of the reasons I was looking forward to this movie back in the day, and I think I even liked the damn movie the first time I watched it, but now... woof. 

Watching the making of doc we're told that Miller was paid a million dollars by the producer to appear in the damn movie, a role he didn't want in the first place, which is quite evident. He is on autopilot delivering what turned out to be mostly ad-libbed lines of dialogue, which partially explains the disjointed nature of the movie, everyone seems to be in a different movie with a slightly different tone. On the plus side, if you are a fan of Miller's stand-up there's some enjoyment to be had, but as a movie with an ensemble cast this is a mess. On the plus there are ample amounts of nude, blood-sucking vampires, but the story is straight-up shit, the comedy is corny and the production feels cheap from the start. 

Audio/Video: Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory looking a little softer than the Demon Knight Blu-ray, but not too bad all things considered, there's just something about movies from the nineties that looked cheap. Audio options on the disc include both 2.0 stereo and a 5.1 surround options, both are crisp and clean, well-balanced and free of distortion, I prefer the stereo to the anemic surround option. 

Onto the bonus features we have a new audio commentary with Co-Writer/Producer A.L. Katz which I have not listened to as of yet. worth the price of the disc alone is the 36-minutes behind-the-scenes doc with Actors Corey Feldman, Angie Everhart, Erika Eleniak, Co-Writer/Co-Producer A.L. Katz, Editor, Second Unit Director Stephen Lovejoy, and Special Effects Creator Todd Masters. Its sort of a free for all as the cast and crew speak about the problems on set, the conflict of personalities, and what a dick Dennis Miller was on-set. The Blu-ray includes a reversible sleeve of artwork and a slip cover with a new illustration by Justin Osborne. 

Special Features
- NEW Audio Commentary With Co-Writer/Producer A.L. Katz
- NEW Tainted Blood: The Making Of Bordello Of Blood – Interivews With Actors Corey Feldman, Angie Everhart, Erika Eleniak, Co-Writer/Co-Producer A.L. Katz, Editor, Second Unit Director Stephen Lovejoy, and Special Effects Creator Todd Masters (36 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD 
- Video Promo (3 Mins) HD
- Still Gallery (6 Mins) 

Bordello of Blood is a mess of a bad movie, but as someone who loves a trashy movie now and again I did enjoy it for what it is, a bad movie. On the whole it is not too far removed from the occasional awful episode from the Tales from the Crypt TV series, which despite my fondness for it was at times not that great. Where I feel Demon Knight is not given it's proper due as one of the better horror entries from the decade, Bordello of Blood deserves it's reputation as a bad movie, which is not to say it is not fun, just poorly produced and dumb. Scream Factory have brought it to Blu-ray with a nice transfer and decent extras, the making of doc is the highlight of the disc, more so than the actual movie itself. 2/5

THE SENTINEL (1977)

THE SENTINEL (1977) 

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: September 22nd 2015 

Rating: R

Region Code: A

Duration: 92 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with optional English SDH Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Michael Winner

Cast: Deborah Raffin, Beverly D'Angelo, Christopher Walken, Cristina Raines, Burgess Meredith, Chris Sarandon, José Ferrer, Jerry Orbach, Eli Wallach. John Carradine, Ava Gardner, Martin Balsam, Arthur Kennedy, William Hickey, Tom Berenger

Young fashion model Alison Parker (Cristina Raines, Nashville) is the mistress of a shady lawyer named Michael Lerman (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night) whose wife just jumped from the fifty-ninth story of her apartment building under mysterious circumstances. He seems ready to settle in with Alison but she's looking for her own apartment, you get the feeling that maybe she might be having doubts about her taste in men, but he seems supportive of the idea. Realtor Miss Logan (legend Eva Gardner) shows her a gloomy Manhattan brownstone with a magnificent view of the ocean, the only other tenant seems to be a reclusive blind priest who lives on the third floor, the blind Father Holleran played by b-movie legend John Carradine (Seven Doors of Death). 

The ridiculously low rent-controlled price seems a bit too good to be true, but you have to strike while the iron is hot, so Alsion  moves in right away where she quickly encounters an eccentric old man named Charles Chazen (Burgess Meredith, Burn Offerings) and his pet companions, a cat named Jezebel and a yellow canary named Mortimer. Later he introduces her to a few of the other eccentric neighbors, notably a pair of sinister lesbians played by Sylvia Miles (Midnight Cowboy) and Beverly D'Angelo (the National Lampoon Vacation movies). In a very strange scene D'Angelo's character who furiously double-clicks her mouse, eyes rolling back in her head with delight, while Alison looks on in quiet horror, before dismissing herself. Now I cannot watch any of the Vacation movies with the thought of D'Angelo I think of her rubbing one out, she's also seen nude in several more disturbing sequences. 

Shortly after arriving at the brownstone Alison's father passes away, which causes her a great amount of psychic pain, including memories of walking in on her father in the act of a perverse threesome with a pair of whores when she was a teenager, the surreal scene ends with the young Alison opening up her wrists in the bathroom at the horror of the sinful sight. She now finds herself haunted by the apparition of her father who shows up inside her apartment one night, she attacks him with a kitchen knife slicing off his nose and stabbing his eye, with some gruesome special effects gore from legend Dick Smith (The Exorcist). This encounter ends with her  fleeing the apartment in only a night slip, screaming in the street, which lands her at the hospital under a suicide watch.  

Alison speaks with Miss Logan (Gardner) about her inability to sleep at nigh because of the noisy neighbors, particularly one who paces back and forth in the apartment above her own, causing the light fixtures to eerily swing back and forth. Miss Logan, to her surprise, kindly informs her that no one else lives in the apartment except for the priest, she even goes so far as to come back to the brownstone with Alison and show her the vacant apartments. Confused and shaken by the strange events Alison begins to deteriorate mentally, on a shoot for  new commercial she's off her game and faints, crashing through a pane of glass nearly ruining the shoot. 

In the background we have a few other stories happening, Alison's boyfriend Michael is being investigated by Det. Gatz (Eli Wallach, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ) and Det. Rizzo (Christopher Walken, The Prophecy)  whom suspect his wife's suicide may have been staged, they hassle Michael and also draw parallels to the mental state of his current girlfriend Alison. To his credit Michael is not all bad, he seems to be the only one who believes that something is happening to Alison aside from a nervous breakdown, and he is the one who uncovers the conspiracy of the Catholic Church, though his fate does reveal a darker side to his nature, he is a lawyer after all. 

There's also a priest who seems to guide Alison back to the Church, her faith having lapsed years earlier, played by actor Arthur Kennedy, in a restrained but pivotal role. Something notable about the movie is what a fantastic cast of actors are present, so many familiar faces, aside from those mentioned previously we have appearances from Jeff Goldblum as a fashion photographer (The Fly), Jerry Orbach (Law and Order) as a commercial director, Martin Balsam (Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho), Deborah Raffin (God Told Me To) as Alison's best friend, Jose Ferrer (The Swarm), William Hickey (Christmas Vacation) as a cat burglar,  and if you're quick you might spot Tom Berenger (Major League) who shows up right at the end. 

Now The Sentinel is not a movie I have a lot of nostalgic fondness for, I didn't catch it until my early thirties, which is actually a lot longer back than I'd care to admit, but the point being that this '70s slice of supernatural cinema holds up without the benefit of having seen it in my youth, which is great. There's that strange seventies atmosphere and weirdness throughout it right up to that fantastic finale with her neighbor (a seething Burgess Meredith) leading the deformed minion of Hell against her, the demons are portrayed by actual circus freaks afflicted with deformity, it's unnerving stuff and brings to ind the Tod Browning classic Freaks.

The Sentinel is obviously Universal's exploitative stab at some of that fat Exorcist and Omen cash that was flowing freely through the cinemas at the time, the Italians weren't the only ones cashing in, but this does comes off more along the way of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond by way of Polanski's The Apartment, or maybe the Dan Curtis possession movie Burn Offerings, and none of that is bad, I loved it. Sure, the movies a little kitchsy and clunky, and the score is a bit of let down, but what a great cast to carry it through, it moves slower than a modern audience might appreciate but as someone who grew up in the '70s I have an appreciation for a supernatural slow-build with some truly frightening highlights, which this delivers time and time again. 

Audio/Video: Creepy classic The Sentinel 91977) arrives on Blu-ray for the first time from Scream Factory with a brand-new HD transfer from he interpositive and it looks surprisingly good with a fair bit of grain in the darker scenes and some minor print imperfection such as white speckling and scratches do show up from time to time,but all things considered this is a nice upgrade from the previous standard-def version. Colors are nice and skin tones are natural in appearance, not a lot of depth to the image but a fairly crisp presentation without any notable digital manipulation. Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with optional English SDH subtitles, clean and crisp but that Gil Melle score is pretty bland stuff.

Onto he extras on the disc we should begin by noting that while this is not one of the Scream Factory Collector's Editions, so we don't get a ton of new stuff but they do manage to squeeze quite a lot onto the disc beginning with  a new video interview with assistant director Ralph S. Singleton (director of Graveyard Shift (1990)) who speaks of breaking into the movie business working as a PA on the Captain America TV Pilot before becoming an assistant director for Michael Winner on the revenger Death Wish (1974)with Charles Bronson (White Buffalo) before joining him on the crew of this movie, he's very respectful of Winner whom he credits for helping launch his career. 

Unfortunately there aren't any other interviews but the disc is well-stuffed with audio commentaries, beginning with a somewhat candid one from actress Cristina Raines moderated by Sean Chains of the Hill Place Blog, here she reveals to having not ever watched the movie before, owing it to the awful experience she had onset with director Michael Winner, she goes out of her way not to be overly negative but it becomes clear she was not happy on-set and has a very low opinion of the man, at the end implying if she had to do it over again, she would not. 

The second commentary comes from writer/producer Jeffrey Konvitz who wrote the novel the movie is based on and whom co-wrote the screenplay with director Michael Winner. The commentary is moderated by Nathaniel Thomspon of Mondo Digital, and Konvitz also comes across as not being a fan of the director and many of the casting and directorial choices he made. He speaks about writing the novel and the follow-up novels, which thus far have not been made into movies, but he holds out hope that since the remake rights for the movie have been optioned something will happen shortly, including writing a new entry in the series. 

Director Michael Winner offers a solo commentary and it's a bit on the dry side with a lot of talk about his career and more of an observational commentary, it was the driest of the three options and the one that put me to sleep. I would have appreciated more of an informed fan commentary to be honest, someone from the outside with a more horror-nerd perspective that from he inside, this must not have been an easy set to work on, at least that's what I gathered from the commentaries.

Extras are finished-up with a a scratchy full frame theatrical trailers, an assortment of TV spots and three still galleries featuring movie stills, lobby cards and posters, plus black and white press photos. Unfortunately no new video interviews with stars Christina Raines, Chris Sarandon or Beverly D'Angelo, the latter of whom I would have loved to hear discuss her infamous masturbation scene!

Special Features:

- NEW 2015 High Definition transfer of the film from interpositive!
- NEW Audio Commentary by actress Cristina Raines
- NEW Audio Commentary with writer/producer Jeffrey Konvitz
- NEW Interview with assistant director Ralph S. Singleton (24 Mins) HD
- Audio Commentary with director Michael Winner
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 

- TV Spots (3 Mins)
- Movie Stills Galleries (3 Mins) 

- Black and White Press Photo Gallery (3 Mins) 

- Lobby Cards and Posters Still Gallery (3 Mins)

The Sentinel is truly one of my favorite supernatural slices of cinema, for those of you who haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and check out this cult-classic now. This is a movie I've been wanting on Blu-ray since the format emerged and Scream Factory have done a nice job with the HD presentation, highly recommend for fans of supernatural '70s cinema. 3.5/5

Blu-ray Review: FRIGHT NIGHT (1985)

FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) Blu-ray

Label: Twilight Time
Region Code: Region FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 106mins
Video: 1080p 16:9 Widescereen (2.35:1)
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Director: Tom Holland
Cast: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Roddy McDowell

I was all of twelve years old when I caught director Tom Holland's FRIGHT NIGHT in the cinema in 1985, some might think this young but I think twelve was a very appropriate age for one to properly enjoy this awesome 80's vampyric tale of young sexuality. At that age I definitely had an interest in girls but I also still had one foot firmly planted in adolescence. For example, at that age I would still sprint home after school to catch the latest episode of the THUNDERCATS, even though I was pretty rapt by the sci-fi action adventures of Lion-O an his battles on Third Earth against the ultimate evil of Mumm-Ra I would also run to window for a sneaky-peak of a pretty neighbor girl by the name of Heidi O'Claire when I would hear her voice outside. This was just the beginning of what would become many unrequited teen crushes and these cursory pangs of sexual curiosity put me in nearly the right frame of mind to understand the character of Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale, TV's HERMAN'S HEAD), a pretty average teenager with a love of Hammer-esque Gothic horror films which he views during the late-night showings of the TV program Fright Night hosted by washed-up b-movie actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell, THE PLANET OF THE APES). It's up in his room with Fright Night on in the background that Charley's making out with girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse, TV's MARRIED WITH CHILDREN) who's right on the verge of giving into Charley's demands for sex that he becomes distacted by the arrival of his new nextdoor neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon, THE PRINCESS BRIDE) and his live-in carpenter Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark, HOUSE II) who seem to be moving a coffin into the basement. This bit of oddness proves too much for young Charley to ignore and he forgoes losing his virginity to spy on the neighbors instead, WTF? Sure, Amanda Bearse may not the most stunning beauty the 80's had to offer but what the fuck is he thinking? Apparently Amy doesn't think much of this deflowering snub either as she storms outta his room and the next day at school smashes a burger into his face, and rightfully so,  much to the delight of Charley's pal Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffrey's, 976-EVIL) who cracks one of his classic catch phrases, "You're so cool Brewster, I can't stand it!". Geoffrey's plays the awkward, social misfit looking for acceptance so well here, it's definitely a stand-out performance from a young man who would soon go onto to takes lead roles in gay porno like GUYS WHO CRAVE BIG COCK ...I wonder what that one's about?

Later that night Charley hears a blood curdling scream come from next door after witnessing a memorably gorgeous woman enter the home and the next day when he catches a news report about a murdered prostitute he realizes its the same woman. It's the following evening while peeping the neighbors  REAR WINDOWN style that Charley actually witness's Jerry about to exsanguinate a woman with his fangs and eerily long fingers on full display. Alarmed at the prospect that a vampire is living next door Charlie attempts to tell his mother who attributes the incident to an overactive imagination spurred by too many horror films and a lack of sleep. When he tells Amy she thinks it's a ploy to win her back, which flatters her and when he goes to Evil Ed the misfit thinks he's surely flipped his wig but is only too happy to offer some vampyric folklore in exchange for a few dollars. At his ropes end Charley resorts to calling the authorities to report that Dandrige may be behind the recent spate of prostitute murders. However, when he accompanies  Det. Lennox (Art Evans, DIE HARD 2) to confront Jerry he loses all credibility once he mentions the "sleep of the undead" and the embarrassed officer can't leave the premises soon enough.

A bad situation gets even worse when Charley shockingly discovers that his own mother has invited Jerry over for drinks despite his warnings, and we all know that a vampire can't enter your house without permission. With that layer of protection now gone the already nervous teen breaks into a flop sweat and really starts to lose it. His worst fears are realized when Jerry pays him a visit later that night threatening the teen to forget about what he' seen but Charley outright refuses and drives a wooden pencil into the vamps hand, the injury reveals Dandrige's true hideous self and he flees but swears vengeance upon the meddling teen.

With no where else to go Charley contacts the local horror-host Peter Vincent played with perfection by Roddy McDowell who summons equal parts Peter Cushing and the the theatrics of Vincent Price, it's a brilliant portrayal and a loving nod to horror-hosts and Hammer films, it's really is a large part of why I'm so enamoured with this film. Like those before him Vincent sends the boy away, believing that he'sa rather unfortunate nut case. When Evil Ed and Amy discover Charley plans to murder his neighbor it's they whom finally convince the actor to help if only to appease their delusional friend. Eventually all four end up on the doorsteps of the vamp's home which is drenched in a creepy fog, with Charlie the only one not knowing this is a staged event Jerry only too willingly drinks the "Holy Water" and though he passes this ultimate test Charley still refuses to believe, he protests but is told to leave before he further embarrasses himself or any further harm comes to his friends, but when Peter Vincent takes out a cigarette case for a smoke he sees in it's mirror that Dandrige casts no reflection. He quickly makes for the front door trying not to attract attention but is obviously quite shaken, which does not go unnoticed by Charley or Dandrige. Once outside Charley demands to know what he saw and Vincent begrudgingly confesses just before speeding off.

Walking home that night the trio of friends discuss the incident amongst themselves, Ed, still a non-believer, chooses to take a shortcut through an alley alone, all the while mocking Charley's fears,  but he finds himself cornered by Dandridge and succumbs to the vampire willingly when offered the life without ridicule he so craves. With Ed now among the vampire's acolytes Dandridge turns his attention to Amy, chasing the two teens into an 80's discotheque where he abducts Amy after glammering her. Jerry Dandridge is truly one of the most suave 80's vampires ever, the guy is just super-smooth, great hair, a great dancer, rocks a sweater and is an apple snackin' maniac which just tickles me for some reason. It's set-up early on that Amy bares a striking resemblance to one of Jerry's former lovers and he plans to turn her into a blood-sucker and deflower the young virgin, much to the chagrin of Charley who I have to say had his chance earlier.

Desperate and without an alternative Charlie once again enlists the help of the frightened Peter Vincent in an attempt to rescue Amy from the vampire Dandrige. It's here that we get one of my favorite scenes in the entire film with Peter Vincent facing off against Evil Ed now a shape-shifting vampire who takes the form of a wolf which leaps towards the horror-host just as Vincent thrusts a stake through his chest, the dying beast crawls under a stairwell and gruesomely transforms from a snarling beast into a pathetic looking creature then into the innocent looking Ed, all the while emitting an unnatural and unnerving wail as a sympathetics Peter  Vincent looks on with tears tears streaming from his eyes, pained by the tragic death of a young person.

Pretty typical of my favorite 80's films the special effects are mostly in-camera and practical done by a couple of guys who know a thing or two about cool special effects; Richard Edlund (GHOSTBUSTERS) and Randall Cook (LORD OF THE RINGS). Their work here is something wonderful and even under the scrutiny of 1080p still look pretty awesome. The final battle with Dandridge does reveal some cheesy effects work in my opinion but on the whole it's a pretty top notch production.


Blu-ray: Twillight Time's transfer of the film is very nice, presented in 16:9 enhanced widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio track with optional English (SDH) subtitles. The image comes from a near pristine print and is quite pleasing to the eye easily offering better contrast, deeper black levels, and way more fine detail than the standard definition DVD, it's pretty sharp and is surely the best presentation the film is likely ever to see. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio option is very impressive with Brad Fiedel's score getting some sweet surround sound action, it's a very nice audio presentation.

Special features are few but appreciated beginning with an isolated score track featuring the film's excellent score from Brad Friedel, two theatrical trailers and an eight-page booklet with an essay on the film by Julie Kirgo which is a pretty great read on it's own. In lieu of commentary it's noted in the booklet that you can download commentaries for the film by Robert Galluzo and Tim Sullivan at http://www.iconsoffright.com/

Special Features:
- Isolated Score Track
- Original Theatrical Trailers (2:48)
- 8 Page Booklet with essay by Julie Kirgo

Verdict: FRIGHT NIGHT remains not just one of the best vampire films of the 80's but one of the best horror films that decade had to offer, a film that attains it's humor smartly without resorting to lame-brained boner jokes and is just horrific enough to keep he horror fans rapt with some impressive effects work. It's great to see the film make the jump to Blu-ray even in such a limited quantity, it's hard to believe that Columbia Pictures haven't thought to give the film a wider Blu-ray release, there's surely demand for this title so I give it up to Twilight Time for their great taste and superior attention to detail. 4.5 outta 5

Note: Sadly, by the time I was able to review this wonderful release the very limited edition run of 3,000 had sold out completely and is currently available, though at super inflated prices, through Amazon and on Ebay. I was quite impressed with the quality of the presentation and I encourage you check out Twilight Time's other titles which includes a Blu-ray of the Ray Harryhausen film THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) which is also available in a limited run of 3,000 editions so grab it quick, available exclusively through http://www.screenarchives.com/

www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies