A modest box-office hit from 1985, Tom Holland’s campy vampire film Fright Night achieved cult status thanks to home video and airings on cable, and helped pave the way for other films, such as The Lost Boys. To tie-in with the video release of the recent remake by Dreamworks, Twilight Time (licenced from Sony Pictures) brings this beloved classic to Blu-ray in a limited run of 3,000 units.
Fright Night (1985)
Studio: Twilight Time
US BD Release Date: December 13, 2011
Original Release Year: 1985
Rated: R
Running Time: 106 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Subtitles: English
Movie: 4 out of 5
Welcome to Fright Night..... for real.
One evening, while making out with his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) and watching the late night creature feature series Fright Night on television, teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) spots what he thinks is a coffin being loaded into the vacant house next door. The next day, he sees a prostitute exiting a taxi cab and entering the house next door. When the woman is found dead by police, Charley becomes suspicious, until that evening he sees his new neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), begin to transform into a vampire. This prompts Charley to contact the police, who laugh him off after questioning Dandridge’s roommate, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark). Fearing for his life, Charley asks his friend, “Evil” Ed (Stephen Geoffreys), what he can do to protect himself from being attacked by a vampire. As a last ditch effort, he approaches the host of Fright Night, Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell), seeking his protection. Peter Vincent is a former actor, best known for his Van Helsing-type roles in Hammer Studios-style vampire movies, many of which play regularly on Fright Night.
Tom Holland’s directorial debut is a genuinely fun horror film, filled with campy humor and wonderful performances, notably Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell. Sarandon is devilishly charming as the vampire next door, often delivering his lines with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. McDowell is also charming as the down and out actor that has been so typecast as a vampire killer that he must now assume that persona as his new career or risk being killed. William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse show their comedic talents (both would later star in sitcoms on the FOX network) in these early roles, but the weak link in the cast is Stephen Geoffreys as “Evil” Ed, whose line delivery can be rather annoying, at least until his transformation into a slave vampire. The make-up and visual effects hold up fairly well for a film made 26 years ago, much to the credit of Richard Edlund (Ghostbusters).
Video: 4 out of 5
As part of a licensing deal with Sony Pictures, Twilight Time brings Fright Night to Blu-ray in a spectacular 1080p transfer using the AVC codec, preserving the film’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and minted from a recent 4k resolution master. While not exactly eye candy, the transfer is an extremely faithful representation of how the film appeared in theaters in 1985. Detail is exceptional, revealing textures in fabrics as well as the talcum powder in Roddy McDowell’s hair. Blacks are deep, while colors are consistent and realistic, never bleeding.
Audio: 4 out of 5
Like the video, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a faithful representation of the film’s original matrixed stereo surround soundtrack, but with increased fidelity and dynamic range. What was originally a front-heavy mix remains so, with limited use of surrounds and LFE. Dialogue is intelligible and clear, and Brad Fiedel’s synth score has never sounded better.
Special Features: 3 out of 5
Like most Twilight Time releases, the bonus features are scarce but what is provided is very good.
Isolated Music Score: Brad Feidel’s score, in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo.
Theatrical Trailers: Two, almost identical, trailers are provided, in a cropped 1.78:1, 1080p transfer and DTS-HD Master Audio mono.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Unfortunately, only 3,000 copies of the Blu-ray are being made available, direct from Twilight Time. Fans will want to act fast on this one, if they are not already sold out, as the video and audio are well worth the list price of the disc.
US BD Release Date: December 13, 2011
Original Release Year: 1985
Rated: R
Running Time: 106 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Subtitles: English
Movie: 4 out of 5
Welcome to Fright Night..... for real.
One evening, while making out with his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) and watching the late night creature feature series Fright Night on television, teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) spots what he thinks is a coffin being loaded into the vacant house next door. The next day, he sees a prostitute exiting a taxi cab and entering the house next door. When the woman is found dead by police, Charley becomes suspicious, until that evening he sees his new neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), begin to transform into a vampire. This prompts Charley to contact the police, who laugh him off after questioning Dandridge’s roommate, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark). Fearing for his life, Charley asks his friend, “Evil” Ed (Stephen Geoffreys), what he can do to protect himself from being attacked by a vampire. As a last ditch effort, he approaches the host of Fright Night, Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell), seeking his protection. Peter Vincent is a former actor, best known for his Van Helsing-type roles in Hammer Studios-style vampire movies, many of which play regularly on Fright Night.
Tom Holland’s directorial debut is a genuinely fun horror film, filled with campy humor and wonderful performances, notably Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell. Sarandon is devilishly charming as the vampire next door, often delivering his lines with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. McDowell is also charming as the down and out actor that has been so typecast as a vampire killer that he must now assume that persona as his new career or risk being killed. William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse show their comedic talents (both would later star in sitcoms on the FOX network) in these early roles, but the weak link in the cast is Stephen Geoffreys as “Evil” Ed, whose line delivery can be rather annoying, at least until his transformation into a slave vampire. The make-up and visual effects hold up fairly well for a film made 26 years ago, much to the credit of Richard Edlund (Ghostbusters).
Video: 4 out of 5
As part of a licensing deal with Sony Pictures, Twilight Time brings Fright Night to Blu-ray in a spectacular 1080p transfer using the AVC codec, preserving the film’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and minted from a recent 4k resolution master. While not exactly eye candy, the transfer is an extremely faithful representation of how the film appeared in theaters in 1985. Detail is exceptional, revealing textures in fabrics as well as the talcum powder in Roddy McDowell’s hair. Blacks are deep, while colors are consistent and realistic, never bleeding.
Audio: 4 out of 5
Like the video, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a faithful representation of the film’s original matrixed stereo surround soundtrack, but with increased fidelity and dynamic range. What was originally a front-heavy mix remains so, with limited use of surrounds and LFE. Dialogue is intelligible and clear, and Brad Fiedel’s synth score has never sounded better.
Special Features: 3 out of 5
Like most Twilight Time releases, the bonus features are scarce but what is provided is very good.
Isolated Music Score: Brad Feidel’s score, in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo.
Theatrical Trailers: Two, almost identical, trailers are provided, in a cropped 1.78:1, 1080p transfer and DTS-HD Master Audio mono.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Unfortunately, only 3,000 copies of the Blu-ray are being made available, direct from Twilight Time. Fans will want to act fast on this one, if they are not already sold out, as the video and audio are well worth the list price of the disc.
