Raselom Has Risen From... The Keep!!

There haven't been many more frustrating cases of films on home video than Michael Mann's The Keep (though I can think of a couple).  There has been no DVD release in the US and no blu-ray release anywhere in the world.  It wasn't until 2017 that we got any kind of non-bootleg release, only in Australia, in 2017.  But it was an old fullscreen rip, and even the legitimacy of that disc is highly questionable (it has a UPC and is listed in the usual catalogs, but doesn't credit a distributor anywhere on its packaging).  Only now in 2020 do we at least have something in proper widescreen thanks to Via Vision finally taking hand of Paramount's unreleased catalog titles down in Australia.

Update 7/23/20 - 1/10/25: If you were wondering if Paramount licensing The Keep to Via Vision was an indication of floodgates opening and more to come, I'm pleased to confirm it.  How about a proper, 4k restoration on a 2-disc special edition set from Vinegar Syndrome?  Yup, they've really caught a big fish this time!

And it's worth caring about, because The Keep is pretty neat.  It reminds me a lot of Michele Soavi's The Church and The Sect, from its "dreamlike" logic to its vibrant score (in this case, famously by Tangerine Dream).  It's a wildly ambitious tale, based on a novel by F. Paul Wilson, about Nazis who set up base in an ancient Romanian keep inhabited by an ancient evil.  An imprisoned Jewish scholar comes to see the being in the castle as "a hammer" to eradicate the Nazis, although it seems to have a corruptive effect on the already oppressed locals.  And to further complicate matters, Scott Glenn plays a sort of fellow cosmic warrior who lives to battle the being in the keep, and he's got a laser staff.  Yeah, it's an odd story, in that it attempts to deal with very heavy, deadly serious content like the holocaust and the morality of war, but does it with space vampires and Ghostbusters-style special effects.  Meanwhile, Mann's shooting the thing like a music video with lots of dry ice and slow motion.  Photographically, it's a weird dark fantasy... again, very much like Soavi's work.  The advantages Mann has, though, are major studio production values and a terrific cast including Das Boot's Jorgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne and Ian McKellan.  You can feel the ideal blend of high and low-brow that Mann is shooting for, but it just gets so damn silly.

A lot of the blame for that is typically laid at the feet of Paramount, who forced Mann to heavily cut down the theatrical cut.  Fans have spent decades crying for something more complete, fueled by photos and low quality footage of deleted scenes from alternate TV edits, the trailer, and a supposed director's assembly cut.  Another blow was that, even before these cuts, visual effects artist Wally Veevers died during production, so a number of effects sequences are compromised and a final dramatic showdown couldn't be completed.  Plus, anyone who's read the book knows the film's taken some liberties.  But honestly, I'm not so sure a director's cut would help all that much.  Much of what I've seen described online seems to be additional exposition explaining what's already evident in the film if you're paying attention, and a couple more fights that would've done more to hurt the pacing than anything.

For one thing, I've seen the extended ending, and while I understand it's closer to the book, it doesn't fit as well with the alternate version of the story that is Mann's film.  In the movie, Glenn's character is just an unrelatable third party who detracts from the more meaningful climax between McKellan and the monster.  As it is, he interacts so little with the plot that when he does, it feels like an arbitrary deus ex machina breaking up the drama.  And I rather suspect all the additional scenes, which fans hope would flesh his character out and make the film gel and feel more coherent, would just take the film further off the rails.  The fact that Glenn's giving a detached, robotic performance in order to seem alien saps the life out of all his scenes anyway.

Oh well.  Ultimately, I think this cut, flawed as it is, is pretty much the best cut possible... or at least, an ideal director's cut would only make minor alterations, and leave a lot of the famously missing sequences as "deleted scenes."  That could go some way towards explaining Mann's continued reluctance to go back and re-edit the film all these years later, if he feels we've already juiced the footage he managed to get as much as he could.  Plus, there's the question of what film elements still exist, if any, and apparent difficulties licensing Tangerine Dream's music.  Up 'till now, anyway, it all lead to this weird little Australian DVD being the best we've managed to get in 2020. And even Vinegar Syndrome's fancy new, 4k special edition starts off with the above disclaimer that they could only license the same, theatrical cut.  But it sure does look better.

1) 2020 Via Vision DVD; 2) 2024 VS BD; 3) 2024 VS UHD.

A quick glance at the screenshots and you can immediately see why Via Vision couldn't, in good conscience, release this on blu.  But it was nice to get this on an anamorphic DVD, at least, after all those years.  The Keep had a couple of laserdisc releases; a fullscreen one in the 80s and a widescreen one in the 90s.  I suspect this is taken from the same master as the latter.  The picture is presented in 2.36:1, and looks good in motion.  Colors (when there are any) are bright and attractive.  You mostly notice the restricted resolution when you struggle to read the on-screen captions, but even before clicking through these screenshots to view size, you can see the soft edges around everyone and everything.  Looking up close, then, is when the compression artifacts, digital noise and haloing really jump out at you.  Even for a DVD, this feels like an old master.  But honestly. we'd all have been thrilled if it came out in 2001.

BUT IT'S GARBAGE NOW!!  Ha ha  No, it's still fine for an older DVD.  But Vinegar Syndrome's new UHD, restored from the original camera negative in Dolby Vision HDR, is playing on a whole new level.  The framing's been slightly modified to 2.40:1, actually pushing in very slightly tighter.  Haloing and noise are of course cleared away, and the colors are far stronger with nice, deep blacks.  That caption... still looks a little soft, especially on the BD, but it's much clearer than the DVD.  Grain is fine, but may be a little soft, too, especially in that first, dark shot.  It's still a first class presentation worthy of an ambitious film of this type, and I'm delighted to have the upgrade; but I wonder if this restoration is Paramount's handiwork rather than VS's.

The DVD's trailer.

The DVD audio is just the one basic stereo mix, which is mostly clean, but you'll notice a little hiss if you pump up the volume.  VS has graduated us to DTS-HD, the hiss is gone, and it's generally sounding more robust. There are no subtitle options on Via Vision's DVD, but Vinegar Syndrome has added English HoH ones.

The only extra on the DVD is a fullscreen trailer, but you may want to check it out, as it offers glimpses of alternate takes and scenes.  Via Vision has also included reversible cover art that hides the ugly blue ratings logos slapped all over the outside, so that's nice.

Vinegar Syndrome has found a proper widescreen version of the trailer, added an additional TV spot, and, oh, just a proper special edition's worth of brand new extras.  First there's a very good expert commentary by film historian Matthew Aspery Gear.  He does speak rather slowly and with a lot of pauses, but he's quite well informed, able to dutifully spell out differences between the original novel, the film we're watching, and Mann's first draft screenplay.  Then there's a series of excellent interviews with the producer, Wilson (who's very candid about his feelings for how the film turned out), two of the effects artists (one is audio only and rather brief, but still informative), one of the composers/ member of Tangerine Dream, and the actor who played the monster himself.  Fans won't want to miss a word of any of it.  There's also a stills gallery and reversible artwork.  And if you sprung for their fancier, limited edition, you also got a slipcover, rigid outer box, and a 44-page booklet with notes by Bilge Ebiri & Caroline Golum, as well as a reproduction of a vintage Mann interview from Film Comment magazine.

Apparently The Keep has been so in demand that Vinegar Syndrome sold out of their full 12,000 run within two days of it going up for pre-order!  But if you missed out, don't be too disheartened (or sacrifice too much of your retirement fund to some EBay scalper), as Imprint has already announced their 4k Ultra HD/ Blu-ray set for "early" 2025.  And maybe they'll have some nice exclusives.  Plus, if you still want more, there's always that elusive documentary called A World War II Fairytale: The Making of Michael Mann's The Keep.  It was started independently way back in February 2011 and put up for crowd-funding support on IndieGoGo in late 2015.  Well, after all these years you may've assumed it withered on the vine, but I've looked into it and it's still kicking.  They'd just posted on Facebook when I first made this post in 2020 that they were in post production and working through Covid lock-down to finally finish their film.  And they just posted a new teaser trailer roughly two weeks ago.  So it might still be a while, but at least in 2015, they said they'd be releasing it on BD.  So there's more to look forward to.

The Stone Tape On Disc

Admittedly, the upgrade potential was low for this one.  Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape was shot entirely on, appropriately, tape.  But I've still been eagerly awaiting the day I could replace my DVD with a blu, and this Christmas, we got it.  101 Films has released a fancy, boxed special edition, as part of their Black Label series.

One of the treats of a Kneale story is that the pseudoscience isn't just meaningless exposition to rush through as quickly as possible to justify your set pieces; it's fascinating material to enjoy in its own right.  The debate here over whether a ghost is self aware, and thus presumably trapped in perpetual self torment, is a sad, relatable notion on its own terms, not just the motivation needed to push the drama between the main characters along.  Another trademark Kneale quality is his rich, witty ensemble casts.  The Quatermass serials may be titled "Quatermass," but he's always got a team of strong characters who contribute just as much, sometimes more, to the resolution of the story.  And those qualities are never stronger than they are here, one of his best works, and a sort of off-brand Ghost Story for Christmas (it's a ghost story, made for the BBC and aired on Christmas, but lacks the official on-screen branding).

The BFI first released The Stone Tape on DVD in 2001.  It was then reissued by 101 Films in 2013, both as a stand-alone and a double-bill with Ghostwatch.  Now, in the case of Ghostwatch, 101 rather notoriously dropped all the extras from BFI's special edition, so the prevailing wisdom was to stay away from the 101 disc.  But that's not the case with The Stone Tape, which retained BFI's excellent commentary.  And now 101's is the definitive release with their new blu-ray, a packed special edition released in a fancy boxed limited edition as part of their Black Label series.  Oh, and all of this is in the UK.  Here in the US, we just had a not necessarily official, barebones DVD from Sinister Cinema.

2001 BFI DVD top; 2024 101 Films BD bottom.

As I said up top, unlike the other Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Stone Tape was shot on tape (no, not even the exteriors, as the BBC often split their productions, a la Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, etc).  Consequently, I wasn't expecting any revelations from seeing this arrive on blu.  101 even asks, right on the back of the case, that we "please approach the technical quality of this upscale with empathy."  Yeah, upscale.  So is this just the DVD with less compression noise?  No, there are some differences, starting with the aspect ratio.  BFI's disc was 1.27:1 and 101's is a more correct sounding 1.35:1.  But it's not just a little vertical pinch being fixed.  101 actually mattes it down a little, and crops a sliver off he right-hand side, so we've actually got a little less picture now... yay?  Well, hopefully we can trust 101 that it was always supposed to be framed a little tighter.

What else is different?  Well, the blu is a bit brighter, particularly in the shadows.  That might be an attempt to bring a little detail out of this very detail-free footage.  But if it is, I don't think it does; so it's more of just a slum, arbitrary distinction.  Is there any definitive improvement?  Yes.  The colors seem to bleed slightly less.  And both discs are interlaced (broadcast television tape?  There was never going to be anything they could do about that), but if you look closely, you'll see the combing is a finer, and therefore less destructive to the root image, on the blu.  And yes, there is slightly less compression noise.  That might almost make the film look too smooth at first glance, since there's such a lack of detail inherent to the source.  But no, we don't actually want any video noise cluttering up the picture.

101 also bumps the original mono track up to lossless LPCM, and theirs is the first release to throw in optional English subtitles.

But the big victory comes in the special features.  BFI just had one, but pretty great, special feature: an audio commentary with Nigel Kneale, in discussion with Kim Newman, who proves to be the absolutely ideal moderator to get Kneale talking, informed and curious.  They do a good job staying focused on what's on screen, though they also take a couple interesting detours into subjects like Kneale's issues with Halloween 3 and what his Creature From the Black Lagoon film with John Landis was going to be like.  But apart from some text stuff, that was it.

Again, 101 keeps the commentary, but they've added a whole lot more.  First is an expert commentary.  I was wary, but they knew their stuff and were lively without being jokey or otherwise annoying.  They have a video essay by Kneale's biographer, which also exceeded my expectations.  It's shot a little weird, but he's got the goods, hangs around the island Kneale grew up and even includes some recording of an exclusive interview with the man.  The same biographer also turns up in 101's new documentary, which is about 45 minutes and talks some appreciators not involved with the production, like Mark Gatiss, who makes the new Christmas Ghost Stories for BBC, the producer of Ghostwatch, and two guys who made a Stone Tape radio play for the BBC in 2015.  They talk to a guy who wrote a book about folk horror, who seemed like he wasn't going to have much to add, but it turns up he did a lot of research on the science(?) behind Kneale's script and quotes some obscure sources.  But the best part is that they've got the sound recordist from the original crew (not exactly the highest rank, but uniquely relevant to this project) and star Jane Asher, who still has a lot of enthusiasm for the project.

And the swag is real with this one.  101's Limited Edition comes in a thick, hard box, with a massive 193-page reproduction of the original screenplay, another 32-page booklet with essays by Andy Murray & John Doran, three art cards, and reversible artwork for the amary case.  Sadly, however, I have to point out another set where the back paper fails Grindhouse Mike's "will it fit in the box" test.  But that's my sole, tiny gripe against this extremely welcome release of one of my favorite (non)ghost stories.

The Faculty's First A-List Disc

Let's follow up one new Scream Factory 4k Ultra HD Collector's Edition with another.  But this time, instead of them revisiting a past Collector's Edition and bumping it up to UHD, this is their first crack at the title.  And specifically, that title is The Faculty, Robert Rodriguez's zany high school space invasion horror movie that's (mostly... we'll come back to this) been relegated to barebones DVD and blu-ray releases that've seen more time in bargain bins than prime shelf space or end caps.  This promises to be the film's first A-list disc, so let's see.

I called The Faculty Robert Rodriguez's movie, but really I associate this much more with its writer, Kevin Williamson.  Fresh off two big Hollywood horror hits - Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, the creative hierarchy of which should've already let us know his material needs a strong director - Williamson gave us what I actually consider to be his greatest work.  Afterwards, he decided to direct himself and helmed the massive stink-bomb Teaching Mrs. Tingle and then slunk off into sequels and television (did you know he created Dawson's Creek?) leaving behind a reputation of a one-hit wunderkind.  Like he had one clever idea to briefly revitalize slashers and that was the extent of what he had to offer.  But I'd argue this at-the-time box office flop proves he has more magic in him and that this deserves a serious re-appraisal.

...Of course, it should also be noted that this was made by his second strongest director.  Williamson is clearly in his element with another high school setting, and the cast is a constant barrage of, "oh wow, they're in this, too?"  Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Josh Hartnett, T-1000 Robert Patrick, Usher, Bebe "Lilith" Neuwirth, Clea DuVall, Shooter McGavin himself Christopher McDonald, Piper Laurie and a surprisingly good performance by Jon Stewart.  There's also a now unfortunate cameo by Harry Knowles, as if to remind us we're still in skeevy Weinstein territory.  And sure, big studio teenage horror can be pretty corny, especially in this period, but a big part of what puts this high school Invasion Of the Body Snatchers (a film regularly referred to within this movie, a la Scream's meta-text) is how it mashes together the stereotypes with the stuff Hollywood usually tries to traipse around, from a more realistically depressing depiction of life in the teacher's lounge to the envelope pushing notion that our heroes have to keep snorting a harmful, heroin-like homebrew drug to stave off the evil adults.  The Faculty is clever and keeps reaching more outrageous heights its peers didn't dare for.  Unlike most of its peers, it holds up surprisingly well.

The Faculty was originally released on DVD by Buena Vista all the way back in 1999.  Not only was it barebones, as I mentioned earlier, it was non-anamorphic, so it's completely useless today.  And you know you're in trouble when Echo Bridge is the one to escort this film into HD, via their BD in 2012.  It's a Miramax title; you know how sketchy their home video history has been.  It's been passed around to Lions Gate and Paramount, but their discs have been generic barebones, too.  That's why I imported Paramount's Japanese blu, which actually includes some special features.  But now I can put it behind me (or should I?) because Scream Factory has just restored the film in 4k for their fancy, new Collector's Edition.

1) 1999 BV DVD; 2) 2012 Paramount BD; 3) 2024 SF BD; 4) 2024 SF UHD.

Starting with the aspect ratio, every release is 1.85:1 except the DVD, which is 1.82:1.  Every disc has basically the same framing, except the DVD cuts a little bit off along both sides.  It's also, again, non-anamorphic, though, so it's really just here for some historical perspective.  The initial blu is a general improvement beyond just fixing that.  It clears up a lot of ugly compression and removes what looks like an old master's edge enhancement, though maybe it still shows some much more subtle hints of tinkering.  At least we've move into HD.  But grain is just faintly hinted at and the colors are super pale.  You could make an argument for some of the color timing - the sky in the first set of shots being genuinely blue, for example - but Mr. Hartnett looks downright sickly in the second set of shots.

And the fact that the new, Rodriguez-approved (for what that's worth) color timing brings it back to the DVD's suggests it was always supposed to look like that.  I guess they shot that first scene at golden hour or something.  Anyway, the colors are much more attractive on the new blu, even before looking at the triple-layer UHD, then the faded old blu.  Now all tinkering is definitely 100% gone and the fine grain is here, especially on the UHD (it doesn't pick up so well on the included BD).  This is easily the best The Faculty's ever looked.

The DVD had optional English subtitles, which the BD dropped in favor of Japanese ones.  I checked, though, and the US blu-ray didn't have any subs at all, so they were dropped for every American BD.  Well, until Scream Factory brought them back, that is.  The DVD also gave us a choice between 2.0 and 5.1 mixes, which the initial BDs dropped down to just the 5.1, albeit now in lossless DTS-HD.  The Japanese blu also a lossless Japanese stereo mix.  And Scream Factory has happily given us the choice again, both the English 2.0 and 5.1, both in lossless DTS-HD.  So they've hit us up with everything we could've hope for.

Except, maybe, in the very light extras department.  The DVD had a fullscreen trailer, and that's it.  That's more than the US blus had, though, which is the whole reason I imported.  They have the fullscreen trailer and a crazy widescreen trailer under the title Parasite, but far more importantly, they have over twenty minutes of on-set interviews with the cast and crew.  This is clearly EPK stuff, so it doesn't go that deep, but it isn't padded out with clips from the film, and they include a lot of people, from Rodriguez and Williamson to most of the stars.  Japanese subs are burnt in, but hey, it's good stuff.  I'm glad I went to the trouble of importing - it even comes in Parasite obi strip.

Rodriguez in one of the Japanese-exclusive interviews.

And Scream Factory?  Surprisingly for something billed as a Collector's Edition, it just has two new interviews.  One is a brief chat with the production designer, which is mostly played over clips from the film because they seem to only have low quality webcam footage.  And the second is with effects artist Greg Nicotero, who always does great interviews.  I'm very pleased to receive both, don't get me wrong, but I'm surprised that's all there is.  Maybe Rodriguez's asking price was too high to get him to jump on here, but they didn't even include the old interviews from the Japanese blu.  Heck, they didn't even throw in the trailer.  It does at least come in a slipcover and include reversible artwork, though; and it came with a poster if you pre-ordered it direct from Shout.

So it's a pretty light Collector's Edition, but it is an excellent presentation of a film that was in real need of some additional love on home video.  In short, a good addition to any collection, but it'll leave you wanting more.

The One and Only Silent Night, Deadly Night Is Back

Silent Night, Deadly Night is one of the most famous and infamous slasher films out there. I mean, under Friday the 13th and Halloween, but it's pretty much right at the top of the tier under those. The fact that it spawned four sequels and a remake surely helped, but the fact that it wound up generating such a huge controversy that it got pulled out of the theaters is probably a bigger reason. But it's not just the film that's been controversial over the years, the recent blu-ray release from Anchor Bay has generated a lot of ire among collectors for its own reasons.

Update 4/28/15 - 12/8/17: Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays! Updating with the brand spankin' new, Scream Factory 2-disc blu-ray Collector's Edition. Oh, and Code Red Catch-Up isn't actually finished.  I just got busy this week and then had to do this update.  But I've got 3 more CR's sitting here on my desk, ready to go after this post. 🎅

Update 12/25/24: It's Christmas - time to celebrate with an all new, UHD upgrade of horror's most notorious seasonal slasher!  Let's just hope we won't be disappointed once we unwrap it, right?

The iconic imagery of a killer Santa Claus is a huge part of this movie's success, which is interesting because it's far from the Christmas themed horror movie... or even the first one to specifically feature a killer in a Santa suit.  Black Christmas, To All a Good Night, the classic segment from Tales From the Crypt, and even the similarly titled Silent Night, Bloody Night all precede it; and Don't Open Till Christmas was playing in theaters the very same year. But I guess this one's television ads played before the wrong angsty parents, because they protested and got the film pulled. Curiously, longtime Hollywood star Mickey Rooney got on board with the movement, saying, "How dare they! ...The scum who made that movie should be run out of town."¹ But then he later wound up starring in Silent Night, Deadly Night part 5.

At any rate, it's a pretty good, little movie. It is also a very pure slasher film, in that it follows all the "rules" and stays very true to the elements of a traditional 80s slasher film. It's got a simple but effective concept, good lines, a nice look, some creative kills and Linnea Quigley, But one thing it does a little different than the norm is follow the killer for the entire film, rather than giving us the standard "good girl" protagonist. Eventually, our heroes turn out to be a pair of nuns who've known the killer since he was a little boy, including the very stern and downright frightening Mother Superior, excellently played by Lilyan Chauvin. Most of the film plays it pretty safe, and while well executed, doesn't try to stand out from its peers; and in the long run it's a little too much of a generic slasher to be really great. But the fact that it's so well crafted from at least some of the performances to the music that have kept it popular among horror fans for decades.

So Anchor Bay, when they were the reigning kings of horror DVDs, first released Silent Night, Deadly Night as a double-sided "flipper" disc with Part 2 in 2003. They later reissued it as a 2-disc set, and Arrow released it in the UK. All of these releases were a little disappointing though, because they were light on extras compared to how beloved and anticipated this particular film has always been, and because their transfers were based on an edited print, with most of the violence reinstated from a much lower quality source. It was murky and grungy, but it was the best they could do. So when Anchor Bay announced an uncut blu-ray special edition taken from a high quality source, people got excited. But... they never technically said it wasn't going to be another composite cut, which it was. And then when Scream Factory announced their uncut blu-ray special edition taken from an brand new 4k scan done by Sony with the original camera negative, people got excited again. But... they never technically said it wasn't going to be another composite cut either, and, well:

Scream also made the interesting decision to give us two discs with both cuts.  That way, you can watch the edited theatrical cut in 4k quality without the seams and dupey inserts.  But the theatrical cut is really gutted.  It's about six minutes difference, and frankly, more than half of the movie's highlights.  So if you really wanna watch the theatrical cut, you do you.  But for me and most fans, Silent Night, Deadly Night is likely going to be a composite cut for now and forever... something only further reiterated by Scream's latest 2024 release, which gives the film an updated 4k scan on a proper UHD disc.  But more frustratingly, not only do they still not have the elements to restore the unrated footage - which fair enough, I think we all expected - but they haven't even put the composite cut on UHD, only the theatrical!  So, basically, we're expected to buy a UHD and only watch the included unrated BD (which does, for the record, utilize the new scan), or the crap censored version.  Why, Scream Factory, why?!?

1) Anchor Bay 2003 DVD; 2) Anchor Bay 2014 BD; 3) Scream Factory 2017 theatrical BD;
4) Scream Factory 2017 uncut BD; 5) Scream Factory 2024 theatrical BD;
6) Scream Factory 2024 uncut BD; 7) Scream Factory 2024 theatrical UHD.

4) There's no theatrical shot of this scene, 'cause it's not in the theatrical cut.
5) ibid.

7) This shot's not on the UHD either, again, because it's not in the theatrical cut.

So, right off the bat, the two Anchor Bays are a little different. Their BD has been accused of being an upconvert, but seeing them right up against each other, I'm relieved to say that this isn't the case. In other words, Anchor Bay didn't just take the files they made the DVD with and slap them onto a BD. It's not a lovingly restored new scan, but someone's done something to try and make it look a little better, at least.  The main difference you'll note is the color. In the top shot, the whites and reds look crisper on the blu, while the DVD's still a bit green.  But the difference is especially apparent in the low quality composite footage.  Look how Anchor Bay nicely white balanced that second shot. Sure, it still looks like the kind of crap that you should never find on a blu-ray; but it's better than the DVD.  Scream Factory mentions that they spent time matching the colors of the inserts to match the rest of the film, and I don't disbelieve them.  But Anchor Bay already did that for their blu, and Scream seems to have just essentially replicated their work.

But where does Scream Factory's new disc stand out?  In all of the 79 other minutes!  AB's blu was a mild upgrade on their DVD, they dialed down those nasty compression splotches and all; but Scream is playing in a whole other ballpark.  Their 2017 1.85:1 framing is basically the same, but otherwise, it's like a brand new film with so much more photo realism than we've see before.  And yes, the uncut and theatrical cuts are essentially identical (except for those dang inserts, of course).  They didn't leave themselves a ton of room for improvement on their new 2024 scan, but one thing you'll notice right away is that, while it's still perfectly framed at 1.85, it's clearly pulled back to reveal a little more along all four sides.  Besides that, the only noteworthy difference between the 2017 and 2024 BDs is the color timing.  Like in these sets of shots, Santa's suit is decidedly more orange in the new transfer.  But it's a tough judgement call to say which version is better.

It does look best on the UHD, though.  The suit still looks brighter red than the 2017 edition, but more red than orange.  It's essentially the best of both worlds.  Resolution is also naturally improved.  Comparing the two BD transfers again, it's really a tie.  One speck of grain will be clearer on one disc, and another will be on the other.  But it's all much better resolved, with smoother, less pixelated edges on the true, 4k disc.  It's just a shame I'll never have cause to watch it because it's heavily cut.

Maybe the only reason I can think of to hang onto the AB blu-ray is if you're a big surround mix lover, because they bumped the DVD's old mono track up to a Dolby TrueHD 5.1.  But frankly, it wasn't much.  It was still kind of flat and basically like the movie's always sounded.  And, of course, it's revisionist.  Scream Factory has dumped the 5.1 and gone back to a purist DTS-HD mono (in 2.0, of course) on both the 2017 and 2024 releases.  I'm a little surprised they didn't throw in both for those fans who've gotta have that 5.1; but I don't miss it and far more pleased to have the mono back, now in HD, the best audio option yet.  Oh, and every release except the DVD does have optional subs (AB even has Spanish, too).

But if you're on the fence about double-dipping with the same old SD insert footage, consider the extras. Like I said, the DVDs came up short: essentially just an audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier, Jr. It was good, but just one non-video interview. Well, there was also an insert/ booklet with notes, a stills gallery and "Santa's Stocking of Outrage" which sounds awesome but was really just another gallery, this time of quotes from protestors. Even the trailer or the notorious TV commercial would've been nice, but nope.  Just coal in that stocking.

Now, the AB blu-ray still wasn't the loaded special edition fans want, but in addition to porting over all the DVD extras, they did get an audio commentary. It features writer Michael Hickey, composer Perry Botkin, editor/ second unit director Michael Spence and co-executive producer Scott J. Schneid. And it's pretty good. I saw some people knock it, but I think they were just salty over their other disappointments with the disc. It's not one of the great commentaries like the ones by John Carpenter or Bruce Campbell; but between the four of them they keep it pretty lively and informative.

 

But count on Scream Factory to seize the special features day!  Yes, they have all the old extras from both the DVD and the newer AB commentary.  Even that dumb "Santa's Stocking of Outrage." But oh yeah, also a whole bunch of new stuff.  We have a brand new commentary by Billy himself, Robert Brian Wilson, along with producer Schneid, back for more.  Then all those guys - Hickey, Schneid, Spence, Botkin and Wilson come back for a great little 45 minute documentary, with co-producer Dennis Whitehead, too.  My only complaint is that some of these do incorporate some repetition.

You know what's less repetitious, though?  All the other new extras with different people.  How about a 20+ minute on-camera interview with Linnea Quigley?  Okay, it looks like it was shot with a cellphone before cellphone cameras were invented.  But still, it's great to finally get her on disc with this film.  And I love when they go back and track down the old locations now.  This one's no Horror's Hallowed Ground, but it's still a treat.  And finally - finally! - the infamous TV ads that cause all the uproar are here.  In fact, we get the theatrical trailer, two TV spots, a radio ad and even a VHS trailer.  Plus Scream's set comes in a slip cover, and I usually hate their comic book style revisionist artwork, but this is one of their best.  But of course I prefer the reversible cover with the original art that we also get.  Oh, and if you ordered the "deluxe" version directly from Scream's site, you didn't just get an 18"x24" poster (they roll them now!) but an 8" Billy figure - holy crap!  I didn't spring for it, but that's pretty wild.

2024 did net us some additional extras, in addition to carrying everything from the previous editions forward, but it's a little underwhelming.  The Hysteria Continues join up with expert Amanda Reyes for an expert commentary on the theatrical cut, in an effort to give us some reason to watch their new UHD.  And we get two more interviews with Schneid and Spence, who've already been featured heavily on previous editions.  The most fun/ rewarding of the new lot is probably a short featurette, which again talks to Schneid and Whitehead (look, nothing against these guys; in fact, it's great to have them on these discs, but how many times can we dip back into the same well?), but this time they tackle a fresher topic, looking at merch from the film, including comic books, soundtrack albums, and the board game.  By the way, I've played that game, and it's too simple/ easy (we won it in like 10 minutes on the first try), so it probably needs some additional house rules to make it interesting.  But they did a good job with the art and all the little pieces and everything, so fans should get a kick out of it.  But anyway, back to Scream's release, that's it for new content, but it does come in a nice slipcover with the beloved traditional artwork.

And since Part 2 comes in the Anchor Bay set, let's take a quick look at that, too; not that the film's any good really. An unbelievable bulk of the film - a good, solid half! - is just footage from Part 1. It basically goes through the entire first film again, using the exact same film, from beginning to end. The only difference is that this time, we keep cutting away every so often to Ricky, the younger brother of the killer in the first film, who's now grown up and recounting the tale to a psychiatrist. Finally, at the end, he gets out and goes on a killing rampage just like his big brother. And none of that new story is anywhere near the quality of the original. But at least it's a direct continuation of the story, unlike subsequent films, which wound up being pretty disconnected.  And some of the crazy line deliveries ("garbage day!") have earned this one its own, distinct cult following, so there's that.

Yes, this IS a screencap from Part 2.
I told ya, a huge, huge chunk of it is just footage from Part 1.

Like the first one, AB gave this an anamorphic widescreen image, slightly letterboxed to 1.85:1. So that's good news.  It's got the trailer, a stills gallery, and best of all, an audio commentary by writer/ director Lee Harry, co-writer Joseph H. Earle and actor James Newman. They're actually quite plugged into their movie, even though so much of it isn't theirs. I daresay, in fact, I'd rather watch the movie with the commentary on than off anytime.  But for those who are more appreciative of this film, it's worth noting that Part 2 has since been released as its own Collector's Edition blu-ray from Scream Factory, and as a double-feature BD, still paired with the first one, from 101 Films in the UK.

Silent Night, Deadly Night may not be the best yuletide horror movie ever (Christmas Evil, anyone?), but it's one of the most popular, and it sure is fun to watch with the family gathered together on Christmas Eve night.  But this latest edition is annoying.  Scream continues their tradition of only wanting to pay for a single cut of a film onto UHD, and relegating other versions to BD only (see also: Lifeforce, Army of Darkness, Exorcist 3, etc).  That's especially frustrating in cases like this one or Nightbreed, where the cuts they leave off are the most desirable versions.  scream used to impress by including multiple cuts even when barely warranted; now it seems the pendulum has swung in the other direction, and some of these 4ks are starting to feel like quick cash-ins on the excellent work they did before.

But, now I'm starting to get a little too negative, because no matter how you slice it, their new 3-disc release is easily the best edition of Silent Night, Deadly Night going.  If you've already got the 2017 edition, I'd consider this a very low priority to replace.  But if you don't already own this film, yeah, there's no reasonable argument to be made that the 2024 isn't the one to buy.


¹Schanie, A. (2010) Movie Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder and Mayhem In the Film Industry. Clerisy Press, p 108.