Horror on Blu Pt. 1: Classics
Posted October 26, 2009 12:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With Halloween around the corner, CityNews.ca film opinionist Brian McKechnie has hunkered down with a slew of horror movies on Blu-ray to see what titles are worthy of upgrading to high-definition. In Part 1 of his 5 part series he looks at his favourite classic titles available.
A well-made horror film that is also truly scary is something of a rarity these days. Films from the 70s and early 80s set the bar and inspired an entire generation of filmmakers to take a crack at this genre (for better or worse). So, to my surprise, when I went hunting for classic horror titles on Blu-ray, I had a hard time finding some of the more obvious choices. The Exorcist, for one, is not available. Same goes for Rosemary’s Baby, Jaws, Night of the Living Dead, and Evil Dead. A Nightmare on Elm Street was only released in Canada (by Alliance Films) and is almost impossible to purchase now (I’m told we can expect a new set next year when the remake hits theatres). The original Halloween, Amityville Horror, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Hellraiser, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Omen (which is only available as part of a box set) can be found online at places like Amazon but are not easily found on store shelves. And because I am only one person on a limited budget I could not bring myself to buy another copy of Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn.
Here are some classic picks I did find and think are worthy on Blu.
Poltergeist (1982) – IMDb / Amazon
WOW! That was my first reaction when I started watching Poltergeist on Blu-ray. This is one of my all-time favourite films and, although some wouldn’t put it in the horror genre, I find it just as freaky now as it was the first time I saw it. The 1080p high-definition picture is crystal clear (there are a few artifacts from the original source but it’s barely noticeable) and the DolbyHD 5.1 soundtrack had me hearing things I never did before. Written and produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist is a near flawless film about a family being haunted in their own home when one of their children is taken to the “other side”. The special features is sadly one of disc’s downsides. Besides the Digibook packaging that includes pages of photos, bios and facts from the film, the only other feature is the documentary They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Revealed. It would have been great to have a commentary with Speilberg and Hooper or at least some updated interviews with them.
Final verdict: The movie has stood the test of time and has never looked so good. This title alone is worth upgrading to Blu-ray for.
Fun fact: There is a glaring jump cut at the 34-minute mark. I never noticed this before and it really sticks out in high-def. After doing some research, I’ve learned that this cut is on all home video releases and exists because Pizza Hut forced the filmmakers to remove a negative reference made by one of the film’s characters.
Friday the 13th Part 1 (1980), Part 2 (1981) and Part 3 (1982) – IMDb / Amazon
I often lump the first three Friday the 13th films together because they make a perfect night of viewing. The high-def picture and sound is impressive on all three titles but they haven’t gone overboard and removed all the grain or scratches – which is good because they’re supposed to be dark and grainy. Part 1 is credited as being “Uncut” for adding an extra 12 seconds of footage (I’ve seen the original cut so many times and I didn’t notice this extra footage at all), and Part 3 is in 3-D and comes with two pairs of 3-D glasses. Gimmicks aside, one thing for sure is that in all three films there is a serial killer on the loose murdering young, horny camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. What makes these titles worth owning is the solid special features that Paramount has given its fans on these discs (most are in high-def too).
The first part has commentary with director Sean S. Cunningham and the cast and crew, the featurettes’ Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th, A Friday the 13th Reunion, The Man Behind the Legacy: Sean S. Cunningham, Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part 1, and more. Part 2 has the second part of Lost Tales from Camp Blood and the featurettes: Inside Crystal Lake Memories and Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions. Part 3 wraps up the Lost Tales from Camp Blood featurette and also adds the featurettes Fresh Cuts: 3D Terror, Legacy of the Mask, and Slasher Films: Going for the Jugular.
Final verdict: If you’re a fan of the Friday the 13th series you would have upgraded to Blu-ray and added these to your collection by now. If not, do yourself a favour and pick them up.
Night of the Creeps (1986) – IMDb / Amazon
One of my favourite B-movies ever is arriving on Blu-ray just in time for Halloween this year. The film starts in 1959 when a slug-like alien experiment lands on earth, infects a college student and turns him into a zombie. Jump ahead to 1986 and a couple of geeky college kids discover and thaw out his frozen body as part of an initiation ritual to get into a frat. Chaos ensues as more people are infected with the slimy slug creatures jumping from host to host and turning everyone into zombies. Night of the Creeps successfully mixes sci-fi, horror and comedy with some of the best one-liners to grace the screen. The cast is wonderfully campy, especially Tom Akins who plays the local detective. Having only ever seen this on a crappy VHS copy I’ve had since high school, the Blu-ray release blew my mind. The image shines and the new 5.1 DTS-HD sound mix is awesome.
For me, the disc’s biggest selling point is the special features. Two separate commentary tracks by writer/director Fred Dekker and cast, original theatrical ending, deleted scenes, and making-of the featurettes Birth of the Creeps, Cast of the Creeps, Creating the Creeps, Escape of the Creeps, Legend of the Creeps, and Tom Akins: Man of Action will please all fans of the movie.
Final verdict: Night of the Creeps has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray until now. If you’ve never seen it, now is your chance. Run to the store and buy it immediately!
An American Werewolf in London (1981) – IMDb / Amazon
I jumped up and down like a kid when I heard An American Werewolf in London was coming to Blu-ray. Even with its c
ampy overtones and John Landis humour (he wrote and directed it), it is by far one of the best werewolf movies ever made, thanks mainly to the make-up effects by Rick Baker (who won an Oscar for his work on it). Although not the cleanest picture for a Blu-ray release, it still looks better than the DVD release and maintains the original feel of the film. The sound is good too, given the source material. The special features alone are worth buying this title: There is a feature-length documentary called Beware the Moon, which looks at everything from the original idea to critics’ reactions; the Baker featurette I Walked With a Werewolf; commentary with David Naughton and Griffin Dunne; an interview with Landis; outtakes; and more.
Final verdict: This title is a true classic – its many good features on top of that make this hard to pass up on Blu-ray.
Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition (1992) – IMDb / Amazon
I admit I am not the biggest fan of Army of Darkness. I don’t like the whole medieval setting and find it’s more annoying than fun. I am, however, a fan of Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and the first two Evil Dead films. I understand how much Army of Darkness means to its legion of fans so while not overly joyed to watch it again, I figured I ought to include it in this series. Ash (Campbell) battles evil forces in the Dark Ages with a chainsaw for a hand and a shotgun in the other in order to find the Necronomicon and get back to his own time. It’s gory, funny and campy. The Blu-ray release looks and sounds perfect and I doubt it will ever get any better. The features are slim though with the featurette Creating the Deadites (in HD) being the only big one. An alternate ending is also included and it does take use of the interactive U-CONTROL feature to see production photos as the film plays.
Final verdict: If you own one of the many versions on DVD (like the Director’s Cut) you may want to hold off on upgrading until a version with more features makes it way onto Blu-ray. If you are a true Deadite, the quality of the image and sound might be worth it to upgrade today.
Child’s Play (1988) – IMDb / Amazon
The first Child’s Play is still one of the best killer doll movies ever made. Not being an overly popular film, I had low expectations for what Fox Home Video would do with the high-def transfer. To my surprise they actually put some care into this and it has an amazing picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. The film is about Good Guy doll Chucky who gets possessed with the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), turning Chucky into an evil little killer. The cast and effects are top notch and Chucky is one creepy-looking doll. The Blu-ray release comes with a regular DVD of the film and special features on both discs include commentary with actors Alex Vincent and Catherine Hicks, and Chucky designer Kevin Yagher; commentary with producer David Kirschner and writer Don Mancini, the featurettes A Monster Convention, Chucky: Building a Nightmare, and Evil Comes in Small Packages. There is also a vintage featurette entitled Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child’s Play.
Final verdict: If you don’t own a copy of Child’s Play on DVD and you’re a fan then this is a no-brainer. It’s also a future-proof disc, even if you don’t have a Blu-ray player yet.
Fun fact: According to the IMDb, the working title of Child’s Play was Blood Buddy.
Let me know what classic horror films you’re enjoying on Blu-ray. Comment below or email brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com with your suggestions.
Top image: Still from An American Werewolf in London. Courtesy Universal Home Entertainment.
