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Turning the spotlight on....Fright Night on Blu-ray (1985 Twilight Time)

post #1 of 77
12/5/11 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 

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While I understand the current problems facing the studios in releasing catalog product to the marketplace, I am kind of scratching my head as to why Sony abandoned their plans to release Fright Night on their own and instead license it to Twilight Time.  After all, Fright Night has been one of the most highly requested 80s titles from the Sony catalog.  

 

I think its rather fortunate that the rights to this film fell into the hands of Twilight Time.  I have had the opportunity to view several of their initial Blu-ray and DVD releases and have been completely happy with the quality of their transfers.  

 

Getting my hands on the Blu-ray of the original Fright Night could not have come at a better time.  I just completed my review of the 2011 3D version of the film, and I have to admit, it was a rather difficult watch.  

 

For those of you who have been patiently awaiting the December 13th Blu-ray release from Twilight Time, I have some extremely good news for you.....Fright Night looks INCREDIBLE.

 

I have seen this film on DVD too many times to know what it has looked like.  If you could have only seen my face during the first several minutes of this film...I couldn't believe what I was watching....

 

The film no longer has an aged look with dull colors and muddy blacks.  What I saw here was a total transformation where everything about the picture was now brighter, sharper and with colors that look more realistically balanced. Not a speck of dirt nor debris to be seen anywhere to make this transfer look dated.  In fact, it would be very easy to mistake this as a film made within the past few years. It looks THAT amazing.

 

The Blu-ray DTS-MA track sounds quite pleasing, although I wasn't incredibly won over by its 5.1 separation.  I barely noticed the surrounds were active as the rear channels do very little other than supporting the fantastic score by Brad Fiedel.  And, if you so wish, there is an isolated audio music track that enables you to sit and just enjoy that score.

 

Fright Night is a true horror classic that hasn't lost an ounce of its appeal 26 years later.  Watching Roddy McDowell in one of the most memorable roles of his career as the Peter Vincent "The Fearless Vampire Killer, " or the smoothness of Chris Sarandon in the starring role,  seems like an entirely new experience thanks to this exceptional Blu-ray transfer.

 

I think the feedback from our members is going to be incredibly positive.  You have never seen Fright Night look as good as this!

 

With only a limited 3,000 copies available (once they are gone - they are gone!) I would highly recommend you pick your copy up as soon as possible.  

 

 

 

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post #2 of 77
12/5/11 at 5:25pm
Ronald,
Thank you so much. you made my day. I have been really nervous about this, as I have already pre-ordered 2 copies(one for me, and my brother) adn spent a hefty sum in doing so. Glad to know it looks great.
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post #3 of 77
12/5/11 at 5:29pm
Thread Starter 

Bryan,

 

Trust me.  It looks better than great.  I think it's going to get a lot 

of praise from the HTF membership when comparing it to the old

DVD release.

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post #4 of 77
12/5/11 at 5:42pm
I just can't talk myself into it. Want to see it again but not for the about $40 it would cost me.
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post #5 of 77
12/5/11 at 6:31pm

Well Ron, damn your eyes! biggrin.gif I told myself I wasn't going to buy this Blu-ray. More than once. IMO $35 is just waaaay too much money to ask for a catalog release like Fright Night. However, it is one of my favorite 80s horror films and your gushing about the transfer pushed me right over the edge. I pre-ordered it a few minutes ago. Thanks ALOT!!! laugh.gif

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post #6 of 77
12/5/11 at 7:16pm
A glowing endorsement from the HTF is all you need. What are you people waiting for? Get this while you can!
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post #7 of 77
12/5/11 at 8:35pm

It will be sold out before Christmas. Nice Review. 

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post #8 of 77
12/6/11 at 5:58am
Thanks for the review. Already pre-ordered it and looking forward to revisiting it!

UPDATE: just shipped!!
Edited by Felix Martinez - 12/6/11 at 9:49am
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post #9 of 77
12/6/11 at 7:21am
I see no point in spending $35-40 on this. Twilight Time's license is limited (they couldn't produce any new supplements) and the numbered to 3,000 thing is just a guise to sell as many as possible in the window of time they have to sell it. The license will expire and either Sony will put out a BD themselves or license it to a company where they'll make it available everywhere. Just be patient people. I love this movie as much as the next guy but I'm NOT going to pay the same kind of prices I did when DVD first came out.
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post #10 of 77
12/6/11 at 7:58am
Were DVDs ever that expensive early on? LDs were $35-$40 and rarely budged.
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post #11 of 77
12/6/11 at 9:35am
While I am very excited about this release -vhs and dvd never did this justice-I , too am concerned about the price. One could argue that your paying nearly $20 for WB ARCHIVE OR $25 FOR Columbia mod's with little or no extras. In that respect FRIGHT NIGHT seems like a bargain-but Twilight is a true boutique label that unlike WB or Clumbia-never discount their titles.
I believe that the Sony titles-when the license lapses-will revert back to Sony where Image (doing a fast and furious catalog film repertoire lately) will distribute the samd blu for $8.99!
I'm perplexed by Twilight Time (where is the dvd of the 1983 film of the same name-a little gem)and its selections of films. So far none of them seemed grand enough to be in a boutique window -nor a bargain basement-but they are nothing special. With their original intent of music driven films as their template I'd much rather see Twilight take the troubled Fox films-AT LONG LAST LOVE , ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR 2 , WW AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS -that have music in their tapestry-and gussy them up in stunning Blu -i'd gladly pay $35 for movies i would watch a second and third time. As i know i would with AT LONG LAST (6 TIMES and counting on Netflix ), WW AND DIXIE (wore out my vhs from Max long ago) and especially ALL THIS AND WW2 -for the Beatles songs alone. How many times are you really going to watch THE KREMLIN LETTER? As excited as I was to see this on dvd-the excitedness wore off when I thought of shelling out $35 to see George Sanders in a dress. My FMC dub of it will do just fine.
I applaud Twilight for their efforts-and I'm sure afright night IS GORGEOUS-but to get a thrill for two hours or less you can get the same sensation from a clean , no frills call girl as you do from an impeccably dressed 2000 an hour one. Once the outside wrapping comes off -and your slip your disc in the slot-the satisfaction is the same for the experience of going from the beginning to the climax of a viewing pleasure -its sometimes escaping with a movie-no matter which format(we have all seen movies in many guises)just to reexperience it.
That said-we are all in our own Twilight Time ourselves -all at least at a median age of 40 with families in an economy where $35 is alot to blow.We all, i'm sure, nevr blinked twice when we paid $85 for a much wanted VHS! That-more than anything -was insanity.
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post #12 of 77
12/6/11 at 9:37am
For those of you who have been patiently awaiting the December 13th Blu-ray release from Twilight Time, I have some extremely good news for you.....Fright Night looks INCREDIBLE.



I think they might be ahead of schedule for the 13th, as I just now received my shipping notification.
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post #13 of 77
12/6/11 at 9:57am
THE KREMLIN LETTER is only on DVD, at a less heart-stopping price of $20. DANCEKINGS has a major rights issue thwarting its release, and I wouldn't be surprised if WORLD WAR II and LOVE were in the same boat. To each his own, Louis, regarding rewatchability; I recall DANCEKINGS being a run-of-the-mill Burt Reynolds picture and LOVE, well...
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post #14 of 77
12/6/11 at 12:35pm
Yes-the $20 pricetag is very affordable-I should have researched that. But-when their are hundreds of Blus jampacked with extras (the recent PULP FICTION/JACKIE BROWN) for under $20 its a shame that those arent 10 dollars or less. Like anything else-supply and demand accounts for the pricing here. At a pressing of a limited 3000 copies @ $35 a piece -thats $105,000. With licensing fees, and other running expenses-is there a profit on these dvds/blus for Twilight?
Movies are a very personal taste. And while I a gree DANCEKINGS is a slight litle movie-it does have its charms and its a movie I remember fondly. With novels I tend to read what I think are challenging books-if you are investing that much time in reading-I-imho-want it to be thoughtprovoking. Movies-and I do love classics and difficult films-I tend to rewatch the more frivolous ones. Music-again a more passive form of entertainment-I let wash over me-but again its a personal choice. I tend to always see the glass half empty an half full. Twilight is doing an outstanding restoration of these films (as is Olive-for nearly half the price). But, like their name-their choices are a little sleepy-for me. I simply cannot get too excited over a series of films that have had numerous play on FMC . Which brings us to the idea of the forbidden fruit. I-in my simple way-may want DANCEKINGS , WW2 and AT LONG LAST-simply because I cannot have them-in anyform (if their were vhs copies-i'd be less indignant about them). If I had them here tomorrow by Twilight Time-I'd be excited because of their unavailability. As i would with ALEX AND THE GYPSY , FIRE SALE ,THE BLUE BIRD , CRAZY WORLD OF JULIUS VROODER -to many , some of the worst movies ever made-but I would like the oppurtunity to see them again-because each-in some way -had an effect on me.
Would I pay $35 for a Blu-Bird? Probably -and i would regret it later. Just like I spent $175 on the Elia Kazan boxed set-ebven though i had all but one of them-just to have A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN -a movie I can watch over and over and not feel too guilty. Its a great one
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post #15 of 77
12/6/11 at 1:10pm
Yikes, Louis - paragraph breaks once in awhile please.
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post #16 of 77
12/6/11 at 1:17pm

I recorded both At Long Last Love and The Blue Bird to rewatch off the Fox Movie Channel a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, ALLL went to 4:3 after the credits. The Blue Bird did at least retain the proper aspect ratio throughout (and it was as terrible as I remembered it being).

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post #17 of 77
12/6/11 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis Letizia View Post

Yes-the $20 pricetag is very affordable-I should have researched that. But-when their are hundreds of Blus jampacked with extras (the recent PULP FICTION/JACKIE BROWN) for under $20 its a shame that those arent 10 dollars or less. Like anything else-supply and demand accounts for the pricing here. At a pressing of a limited 3000 copies @ $35 a piece -thats $105,000. With licensing fees, and other running expenses-is there a profit on these dvds/blus for Twilight?
Movies are a very personal taste. And while I a gree DANCEKINGS is a slight litle movie-it does have its charms and its a movie I remember fondly. With novels I tend to read what I think are challenging books-if you are investing that much time in reading-I-imho-want it to be thoughtprovoking. Movies-and I do love classics and difficult films-I tend to rewatch the more frivolous ones. Music-again a more passive form of entertainment-I let wash over me-but again its a personal choice. I tend to always see the glass half empty an half full. Twilight is doing an outstanding restoration of these films (as is Olive-for nearly half the price). But, like their name-their choices are a little sleepy-for me. I simply cannot get too excited over a series of films that have had numerous play on FMC . Which brings us to the idea of the forbidden fruit. I-in my simple way-may want DANCEKINGS , WW2 and AT LONG LAST-simply because I cannot have them-in anyform (if their were vhs copies-i'd be less indignant about them). If I had them here tomorrow by Twilight Time-I'd be excited because of their unavailability. As i would with ALEX AND THE GYPSY , FIRE SALE ,THE BLUE BIRD , CRAZY WORLD OF JULIUS VROODER -to many , some of the worst movies ever made-but I would like the oppurtunity to see them again-because each-in some way -had an effect on me.
Would I pay $35 for a Blu-Bird? Probably -and i would regret it later. Just like I spent $175 on the Elia Kazan boxed set-ebven though i had all but one of them-just to have A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN -a movie I can watch over and over and not feel too guilty. Its a great one

Agreed about the need for some paragraph breaks, Louis. smile.gif

Several of the films you request, have appeared on FMC over the years and / or Netflix Streaming. AT LONG LAST LOVE is on Netflix right now, for instance. So, while there may not be DVDs, they are not unattainable in some form.

As to whether there's a profit for Twilight Time, I'm guessing that like with most things of this nature, if the initial ones are successful, this will prompt more releases. A few clunkers in a row, though, and that could be all she wrote for TT.
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post #18 of 77
12/6/11 at 1:50pm
Paragraph breaks -I tend to write like I speak. I'm sorry about that annd will be careful in the future.I'm sure its annoying to read-and impolite on my part. Thanks
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post #19 of 77
12/7/11 at 6:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Cashill View Post

Were DVDs ever that expensive early on? LDs were $35-$40 and rarely budged.

I shelled out $40 (pre tax) for Carpenter's "The Thing."
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post #20 of 77
12/7/11 at 6:37am
Yep...I paid $35 pretax for The Thing, Vertigo, The Blues Brothers, American Grafitti, and a bunch of others. A lot of those weren't even anamorphic.
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post #21 of 77
12/7/11 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Calvert View Post

Yep...I paid $35 pretax for The Thing, Vertigo, The Blues Brothers, American Grafitti, and a bunch of others. A lot of those weren't even anamorphic.

Considering that those of us who adopted the laserdisc format regularly paid $30-$35 per film and shelled out upwards of $100 for deluxe Criterion editions, and that we now routinely pay under $5 or $10 for new DVDs and Blu-rays, paying an occasional premium price for a quality Blu-ray such as FRIGHT NIGHT isn't so outrageous.
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post #22 of 77
12/7/11 at 9:53am
I used to pay those prices for laserdiscs and DVDs too. The key words are "used to". It's not the 1990's anymore and, until Twilight Time, the days of paying those prices for a single movie were long gone. That being said, I can imagine that with all the costs associated with producing their discs that Twilight Time is charging a relatively fair price for their products but in 2011, $35 is a large price tag for one movie.
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post #23 of 77
12/7/11 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

I used to pay those prices for laserdiscs and DVDs too. The key words are "used to". It's not the 1990's anymore and, until Twilight Time, the days of paying those prices for a single movie were long gone. That being said, I can imagine that with all the costs associated with producing their discs that Twilight Time is charging a relatively fair price for their products but in 2011, $35 is a large price tag for one movie.

It's a large price tag, yes, but again considering how many films I've bought new on Blu-ray for WAAAY below list price...I'm talking an average of $7 or so, paying beaucoup bucks for a couple or three doesn't seem so unreasonable at all. And, if you don't want to hang onto the film, you can figure to sell it eventually on the secondary market for more than the $30-$35 you paid for it.
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post #24 of 77
12/7/11 at 1:42pm
What Jon said. Perfectly expressed. (Sidenote: Interesting that all the wallet-busting DVDs mentioned were Universal.)
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post #25 of 77
12/7/11 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Cashill View Post

What Jon said. Perfectly expressed. (Sidenote: Interesting that all the wallet-busting DVDs mentioned were Universal.)

Thanks, Bob.

Some of my very early DVDs from the late '90s were Universals--FAST TIMES, THE THING, CONAN THE BARBARIAN--but, I can't recall the prices.
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post #26 of 77
12/7/11 at 3:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

That being said, I can imagine that with all the costs associated with producing their discs that Twilight Time is charging a relatively fair price for their products but in 2011, $35 is a large price tag for one movie.

You can pay the price or not pay it. TT is the KING of their little hill. If you refuse to pay the price that's 1 more for someone else who will more than likely want the film a lot more than you. I search for good deals myself, BUT they aren't always available. These Studios & releasing Companies DON'T owe you a sub $10 price point on EVERY release. Sometimes you have to pay the Piper!
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post #27 of 77
12/7/11 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff_HR View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

That being said, I can imagine that with all the costs associated with producing their discs that Twilight Time is charging a relatively fair price for their products but in 2011, $35 is a large price tag for one movie.

You can pay the price or not pay it. TT is the KING of their little hill. If you refuse to pay the price that's 1 more for someone else who will more than likely want the film a lot more than you. I search for good deals myself, BUT they aren't always available. These Studios & releasing Companies DON'T owe you a sub $10 price point on EVERY release. Sometimes you have to pay the Piper!

I don't mind paying the piper on occasion but not for movies that I don't think are a good value at this price point. Also I feel like you're wagging your finger at people who don't want to get this movie because of the price.
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post #28 of 77
12/7/11 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD View Post

Also I feel like you're wagging your finger at people who don't want to get this movie because of the price.

I get the same feeling. However, that wagging finger doesn't apply to me at all because Fright Night could be $10 and I wouldn't buy it. I was speaking in general about today's average price vs. Twilight Time's prices, I even acknowledged their need to charge as much as they do and I definitely never acted entitled to a $10 price tag for every movie. For the record, if there was a movie that I wanted from them, I'd pay the $40 but that's a choice left to every consumer.
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post #29 of 77
12/8/11 at 3:59am
Thread Starter 

I wanted to pop back in here to make something clear about the

original comments I posted...

 

Sony is doing all the remastering.  So, when you see this incredible 

transfer, thank them.  

 

The point I was originally making was that I found it odd that Sony

chose not to market this title on their own given its popularity.

 

 

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post #30 of 77
12/8/11 at 6:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff_HR View Post

You can pay the price or not pay it. TT is the KING of their little hill. If you refuse to pay the price that's 1 more for someone else who will more than likely want the film a lot more than you. I search for good deals myself, BUT they aren't always available. These Studios & releasing Companies DON'T owe you a sub $10 price point on EVERY release. Sometimes you have to pay the Piper!

We get ZERO supplemental features (unless you count the isolated score which only a handful of people ever actually use if we're being honest here.) So we're looking at $35-40 (plus shipping) for a bare bones release. In THIS economy, that isn't close to being a good deal. I could swallow $25 for a bare bones release if I was really that desperate but as I said in my previous post, Twilight Time's license will be limited. It WILL expire. Sony created this transfer, which by all accounts seems to be damn good. So when Sony decides to put this out themselves (or license it to a different company who will attempt to bring this classic film to a wider audience rather than some internet only, 3,000 copy release) it will be cheaper AND you're getting the exact same PQ (and if it's Sony, a better chance at having some bonus material since they own it.)

Think about it, why would Sony not allow Twilight Time to make any new supplements or hand over what they had? They clearly have other plans for it but I would bet they couldn't fit it into their schedule yet. Figuring the remake was going to hit stores soon, they had to capitalize on it somehow so they licensed it out to some small company to make some money. Makes sense to me.

I'm waiting and I suggest you guys do the same.
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