Hell Night: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Hell Night: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Many of the horror classics have already been released on Blu-ray and 4K, but there are sooooooooooo many more classic “cheesefests” that have never even been given the chance. 1981’s Hell Night is one of those films that has been bounced around from studio to studio with most of us never really thinking the movie would ever be released again. Years ago Ancho Bay held the rights to the film, but those right were relinquished to who knows what after a while, and whoever owned the rights seemed reluctant to ever release the movie on DVD or Blu-ray ever again. I personally thought that all conversations about releasing Hell Night has ceased, until Scream Factory announced later in 2017 that they were going to be releasing the much awaited film after some negotiations had been underwent for the slasher.

Hell Night is really not THAT deep of a film, but it was an early 80s slasher starring The Exorcist’s Linda Blair and one of those movies that made an impact on the gore fests of the 80s. The plot is simplistic, but very much in line with the films of that day. A group of college age fraternity/sorority pledges are forced to stay in a “haunted house” for the night and after being regaled with the story of how the dilapidated mansion’s previous owners were murdered in their sleep with a lone child missing to this day. No one knows if that child really did escape, or was murdered along with the rest of the family, but for one night only, 4 pledges are forced to made it through till dawn in order to become a part of their specific sorority/fraternity groups.

Marti (Linda Blair), Jeff (Peter Barton), Seth (Vincent Van Patten) and Denise (Suki Goodwin) are the four pledges this year, and they’re locked inside of the old mansion over night this year. It seems this is a yearly trial for new pledges, and Fraternity head Peter (Kevin Brophy) has a few tricks up his sleeve. His whole goal is to make their night in the haunted mansion a night to remember, and he has a few digital tricks up his sleeves to make their night just a little bit uncomfortable. However, his plans are just like mice and men, and soon complete devastated when the lone survivor of the horrible murders shows up to wreak his vengeance on the nubile young college students. Soon Marti, Jeff, Seth and Denise are fighting for their lives as a brutal killing machine tries to end them in the same way his father ended the lives of HIS family some 20 years ago.

Hell Night is a pure cheese fest, but it fits in quite well with the slashers of the 80s. Gore, nubile teenage bodies trying to get into too much naughtiness (although very much tightly contained compared to much of the nudity that shows up in your average 80s horror film) Hell Night is a bit unique in that some of the character display some sort of sense in their effort to get out of situations. Too many times you see characters tripping over their own feet, or trying to go toe to toe with the monster, but in this one we see Seth ACTUALLY getting out of the trap and going straight to the police (although the police DO fall into the cliche of ignoring the young man’s pleas) as well as arming himself with a shotgun and trying to save his friends that way. Jeff and Marti also are more than screaming victims as they try and extricate themselves from the situation (unsuccessfully I might add) instead of just scream while the monster runs around slaughtering them.

Still, the film does follow many of the traditional 80s horror tropes, with the villain miraculously surviving gunshot wounds and becoming supernaturally unstoppable in his march to the finish line. That being said, the biggest pull for Hell Night is the inclusion of The Exorcist’s Linda Blair as a cute, chubby cheeked, college student. The star of the 1970’s supernatural horror film is charming and cute, adding a sense of sexiness to her character without being overly sensual. She’s just a relatable scream figure, adding just enough seriousness and charm to her persona while still adhering to the standard slasher tropes that we all know and love.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

As stated by a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie, Hell Night was given a 4K remaster, but the source elements were in rocky condition and they were only able to use a 35mm print for the remaster. This print was missing a few minutes of footage, so some SD footage was inserted into the new master and color timed as best as possible to match the 35mm print, despite the rough nature of the 35mm print. Still, Hell Night has NEVER looked this good, and definitely is a big improvement form my almost 20 year old Anchor Bay DVD that I have stuck away in the cabinet. There’s plenty of print damage and speckles on the print, but the soft looking film is actually quite revealing in comparison. Close ups show the most improvement, although long shots are still more than a bit soft by today’s standards. Colors are kind of greenish and show off the fake red blood of yesteryear, and blacks seems a bit murky at times. There are some green vertical lines that come and go throughout the movie, but overall this is a solid improvement from the 480p sources we’ve had up until now (even though it definitely is not a movie that would rival a new release).






Audio:

Scream Factory has kept the original 2.0 Monorail sound track for the Blu-ray, and it replicates the old 80s film’s ambiance quite nicely. The track is kind of dated and rough sounding compared to modern tracks, but it is fairly clean ad well replicated, with only minor harshness to the mix for an 80s film. Dialog is straight forward and strong, but the high end of the screams and treble areas show some harshness and sharpness that is indicative of the time period. There is very little ambiance in the two front channels, but the eerie score and shrieks come through appropriately enough considering the age and budget of the movie. It’s not going to blow you away, but Hell Night’s 2.0 Mono mix is more than capable of replicating the theatrical experience.






Extras:

• New 4K Scan of the film taken from the best surviving archival print
• interviews with actors Linda Blair, Peter Barton, Vincent Van Patten, Suki Goodwin, Kevin Brophy and Jenny Neumann
• Audio Commentary with Linda Blair, Tom DeSimone, Irwin Yablans and Bruce Cohn Curtis
• Original Theatrical Trailer & TV spots
Blu-ray Exclusives
• interview with Director Tom DeSimone
• interview with Producer Bruce Cohn Curtis
• interview with Writer Randolph Feldman
• Anatomy of the Death Scenes with Tom DeSimone, Randolph Feldman, Make-up artist Pam Peitzman, Art Director Steven G. Legler and Special Effects artist John Eggett
• On Location at the Kimberly Crest House with Tom DeSimone
• Gothic Design in Hell Night with Steven G. Legler
• Original Radio spot
• Photo Gallery featuring rare, never-before-seen stills

Final Score: ​

Hell Night is not a FANTASTIC horror movie, but it is a fun movie that really embodies the lighthearted gore fests of the 1980s. Part of me recognizes the fact that the movie isn’t THAT great, but I really do enjoy the living tar out of the movie no matter the cliches and tropes that it embodies. Linda Blair is a treat to view, and the 80s acting is right on part with everything I love about the time period. It makes it all the sweeter that this is a movie that NO ONE thought would ever make it (the DVD being 18 and a half years old right now) and Scream Factory’s 4K restoration at least giving us a solid representation of what the old film has to offer. The extras are simply fantastic, and I’m loving the fact that Scream Factory is doing Blu-ray/DVD combo packs these day as well. It’s a solid release (despite the rough source material for the video and audio) and well worth a horror fanatic’s time in my opinion.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Linda Blair, Peter Barton, Vincent Van Patten
Directed by: Tom DeSimone
Written by: Randy Feldman
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 2nd, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I can't remember if I saw this or not.. It's been too long. .Will check it out.

 

[commanderichardson]

when doing a REVIEW BLURAY it would help if you stated if the BD under review.....has ENGLISH SUB-TITLES........or not......example : HELL NIGHT which has...but no mention in the Review...

 

[Michael Scott]

we'll definitely keep that in mind Commanderichardson in future reviews. As to your question. I glanced at the disc really quick and Scream Factory only gave one Subtitle track. An English one

 

[commanderichardson]

we'll definitely keep that in mind Commanderichardson in future reviews. As to your question. I glanced at the disc really quick and Scream Factory only gave one Subtitle track. An English one

Thanks....my hearing is so poor and I guess I am not alone unfortunately ....your Reviews are great otherwise.....bye.