Friday the 13th (1980) 4k

Posted in Friday the 13th 4k with tags , , , on March 27, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Friday the 13th (1980) 4k

Upon its release from Paramount the 4k for Friday the 13th drew very mixed reactions. It’s an either you love the 4k or you hate it with the more in the middle reviews being the minority. The biggest complaint were that night scenes were too dark and it was impossible to see anything. I think you really need to check your settings as at no point did I ever struggle to see anything happening onscreen. I think people were just so use to the brighter VHS, DVD and blu-ray.

First up let’s look at the setting. The film isn’t set in an area with a lot of lights. Friday the 13th was a low budget film filmed with low lighting. There are scenes where it’s pitch black but than you’ll see someone walking down a path and you can see them. I can name a few 4k that were a lot darker at night such as the Fog, Madman and Dirty Harry. Of those 3 titles I’d say the Fog and Dirty Harry in particular were a lot darker at times. Some of the complaints about not being able to see things were present on Dirty Harry. At times it was pitch black and unless closeup shots you couldn’t see much. At no point did I have that issue with Friday the 13th. But yet Friday the 13th drew so many complaints. I can’t say for certain but the 4k release of Friday the 13th Part 2 was quite a bit brighter even a tad bit brighter than the blu-ray and way brighter than the blu-ray in an upscale. My guess is Paramount brightened the print a bit and played it safe (it’s a terrific scan though) due to the complaints over the 4k for the original.

I’ve come across reviews with people mention watching the movie during a bright and sunny day or with all the lights on. One, why would you wanna watch a horror movie like that? But I digress, but two yeah if you watch the 4k in those conditions it’ll probably look a lot darker. The day scenes do have a slightly dimmer look, but yet it still retains that summer atmosphere. The day scenes don’t get many complaints. It’s simply the night scenes. Upon comparing the 4k to the blu in 1080 again the 4k is quite darker. Usually that’s the case but not in all. The original Halloween 5 blu-ray is a tad bit darker than the 4k and 4k scanned blu-ray. While the 4k is a vast improvement over the original blu-ray released by Anchor Bay than re-released by Scream Factory in the Halloween Collection. So the 4k isn’t always darker but upon comparing the 4k for Friday the 13th to the blu-ray in 1080 those night scenes aren’t just a tad bit darker, they’re much darker. However, even with the 4k being darker we can still make out the cabins. We simply see what we’re supposed to see.

There’s a little more atmosphere in my opinion as for all we know Mrs. Voorhees could be hiding in the shadows whereas on the blu-ray being far brighter we can see everything in the room. I’m on the side of the 4k was outstanding. It’s a horror film. It should be dark at night.

However, despite the fact I loved the 4k I also can’t fully recommend it due to so many subpar reviews. I can just say I had absolutely no issues seeing anything. Again in those darkest scenes we’re seeing what we’re meant to. But at no point did I struggle to make out faces or detail. I suppose it might be a little jarring at first as it is much darker than past releases. It’s not a tad bit darker. It’s a lot darker but I feel again it gives the film a lot more atmosphere and tension but due to the mixed reviews I can’t fully recommend it.

This might be a case where for some upscaling the blu-ray might be the better option. It’ll be darker than in 1080, but a little brighter than the 4k. This is a situation where you can’t really rely on reviews. For every positive review there’s one negative. I just took a chance and hoped for the best. I’m more than happy with getting the 4k.

I do think settings might factor in. The conditions it’s watched in as well. I already cited films that were a lot darker. Yet nobody complained. Only Friday the 13th, which is why I think Paramount probably brightened the 4k of Part 2.

So this is a situation where you just have to go with your gut. For every review that’s positive, you’ll get a negative. I thought the 4k looked great.

4k- 4.5/5

Audio- 4.5/5

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Friday the 13th TV edits

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Edits with tags , , on March 23, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s a collection of death scenes from the first 5 Friday the 13th films I found on YouTube from network Australian TV. Some are as expected. Some a tad bit more violent than expected.

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I Know What You Did Last Christmas (2025)

Posted in I Know What You Did Last Christmas with tags , , , on March 18, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

I Know What You Did Last Christmas

Looking up some information on I Know What You Did Last Christmas when it was first announced many thought it was some kind of joke. Part of the reasons people thought it was a joke not only due to the title but also due to some mock posters. Only if that were true and this film was actually a joke. Anybody that’s ever read my reviews or essays or even had a conversation with me about film will know that I don’t like to just trash a film. There’s a lot of effort that goes into making a film. Perhaps more so on a low budget film. Nobody sets off to make a film that’s gonna be hated by the majority. Even with the worst of films I try my best to find something positive to say. But there’s films that make that very hard and I have to be honest. I can’t say something good to simply not trash a film. The best thing I can say about this film is a few of the actresses were quite attractive. To say this film was bad would be a major understatement. This isn’t bad movie fun. This isn’t a film you can sit back and laugh at. This isn’t Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Last Slumber Party or Hell of the Living Dead. Bad movie fun. This film is just simply bad. I Know What You Did Last Christmas is absolutely horrendous from the opening to the closing of the film.

Despite its title it’s not that much like I Know What You Did Last Summer. In fact the basic plot or what there is of a plot is basically any 80s or 90s slasher film. Many of these films feature a death due to someone not paying attention, a prank gone wrong or reckless behavior. This one has some sort of prank where a girl froze to death. The script was written by C.M. Wright and his script should be studied on how to not plot a script or create characters. The plotting and characters are terrible and I know many will say well slasher films aren’t known for those things. Kind of true. You have to go based on the style of the film. The better slasher films as a whole no many don’t feature great writing or characters with exceptions of course such as Black Christmas and Halloween to name a couple that are well written with strong characters, but in general even the better written slashers films they’re fair enough for within their style. Wright’s script makes even the worst written slasher films comparable to the script for Casablanca.

When the movie starts we sort of just jump right into the plot or again what there is of a plot. A group of friends receive letters from an unknown person inviting them to a house. So logically they all just show up. I mean who doesn’t do things like that? Seems as if this has something to do with their past. There’s absolutely zero setup. Therefore the drama between the characters fails on every level. There’s no real introduction to the characters. It feels as if when the movie is already a good 20-30-minutes into it but those scenes were left on the cutting room floor. To compare it to the movie it got its name from. It’s basically if I Know What You Did Last Summer cut out the whole first act and the movie started when it was one year later. Now, many films sort of jump into the plot like Saw and as the movie goes on we begin to get details. C.M. Wright sort of forgot that part. While yeah as the film goes on details are mentioned but it’s almost if it was simply added in last second.

The great thing about the horror genre is you can get away with a simply ok screenplay. When you have a script like the Exorcist that’s great, but horror can work with simply fair at best writing as you can still make a suspenseful and scary film, but director Gregory William Randolph Jr makes an even bigger mess out of the production. There’s zero suspense, the pacing is awful as the film runs at just 70-minutes long, but to be honest that’s 70-minutes too long. The death scenes are subpar. Granted there wasn’t a lot of money here, but have we learned anything from filmmakers like Bob Clark and John Carpenter? A prime example of a film that feels graphic but isn’t would be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tobe Hooper stages some of the most graphic death scenes and yet there’s very little in the way of actual gore. Randolph Jr just simply makes a bigger mess out of the awful screenplay. If the script should be studied on how to not write a film, the direction should be studied on how to not make a film.

There’s really nothing to recommend about I Know What You Did Last Christmas as from start to finish the film is absolutely atrocious. This truly does make many bad films look like Casablanca. Outside of some attractive actresses I Know What You Did Last Christmas is a complete failure on just about every single level. The best part of the film were the closing credits.

2/5

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USA Network Saturday Nightmares: Friday the 13th

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s the intro, preview, plus bumpers and commercials from an airing of Friday the 13th on USA’s Saturday Nightmares. At the end there’s a promo for Friday the 13th Part 2, which aired the following week. Oddly some of the promo shows scenes from not just Part 2, but 3 as well.

Love this YouTube channel. An insane amount of awesome uploads.

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Friday the 13th: A New Beginning USA Network Promos

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , on March 12, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s a few promos from the USA Network.

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USA Timeout from Terror: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Promo

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , , , on March 11, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

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HBO Promo: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

Posted in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood with tags , , , , , on March 10, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

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Friday the 13th Cable Promos Vol. 2

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Once again a shout out to the YouTube channel for these uploads.

Watching these promos makes me wanna pop in my copies. Watch the promo then start the movie. Kinda recreate the 90s cable vibe. Only with much better quality.

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Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006)

Posted in Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006) with tags , , , , , on March 7, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006)

Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes is the 3rd film in the series and was released 12-years after the 2nd film and 18-years after the original. The 2nd film wasn’t really connected to the original film and should be seen as its own film. I suppose it’s a loose reboot sequel. The 3rd film ignores the 2nd and is a direct sequel to the original film. One of the main characters is Bunt Wallace a character from the original and some of his siblings return in Ashes to Ashes. Lance Henriksen also returns reprising his role of Ed Harley in visions from Bunt. Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes was made for the Sy-Fi network when it was still Sci-Fi and that should tell you all you need to know. Most of the films made for Sy-Fy are rather awful though a couple work on the so bad it’s good level, but most are quite poor if I’m gonna be totally honest.

The best scenes in Ashes to Ashes would be the flashback scenes from the original film as Ashes to Ashes is quite poor. I didn’t expect much of anything from Ashes to Ashes. I hoped for one of those so bad it’s good films but it ended up being just a subpar film with shoddy CGI. I like the fact the film does tie in with the original but that’s really all that I liked outside of the footage from the original. Ashes to Ashes isn’t the worst film I’ve ever seen, not even close. I suppose it’s somewhat watchable but it can also be quite a chore to get through. Even when it’s kind of watchable it’s at no point very good.

The townspeople summon the demon Pumpkinhead when they learn the local mortician (Doug Bradley) instead of cremating the bodies of their loved ones, he’s just been dumping in a swamp and harvesting their organs to sell.

The screenplay was written by Jake West and Barbara Werner and while the idea itself isn’t too bad, but the writing is quite shoddy from start to finish. Characters also are quite weak. The concept might not be bad, but just about everything in the script is.

Co-writer Jake West also directs and the pacing of the film isn’t very good as there’s stretches where nothing really happens and while sure the writing can get a lot of the blame, but West never sets any real tone, there isn’t any suspense and the longer Pumpkknhead is off camera it can be a chore to stay focused. Though even when Pumpkinhead is on screen it isn’t very exciting either, but it’s a little something.

Whenever I write a review or essay on a film I never wanna trash a film. It’s a lot of work and fact is nobody sets out to make an awful film. But I also have to be honest. Unfortunately there’s really very little positive I can say. When the best scenes is footage from the original, there’s a problem. Like I said Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes isn’t anywhere near the worst film I’ve ever seen. At no point is it a very good film but sort of watchable but as it goes on I found it quite difficult to get through.

Too bad Doug Bradley and Lance Henriksen are wasted in a subpar film.

2.5/5

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Friday the 13th (1980) USA Network Commercial Breaks from 1993

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , , , , , on March 6, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s a batch of commercials from a 1993 broadcast of Friday the 13th from 1993. I really love watching these. Kind of like a Time Machine.

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Revenge of the Ninja (1983)

Posted in Revenge of the Ninja with tags , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Revenge of the Ninja

Released in 1983 Revenge of the Ninja is the 2nd film in the Ninja trilogy with the first being Enter the Ninja (1981) and the last being Ninja III: The Domination (1984). None of the three films are connected and each film is entirely its own. The only connection besides ninjas would be Sho Kosugi who appears in all three films, but is a different character in each film. Revenge of the Ninja was released by the Cannon Group and they made a number of super fun films with some duds here and there. Revenge of the Ninja for me sort of falls in the middle of both.

I doubt anybody goes into a film from Cannon expecting a deep plot (though they may surprise you from time to time). But even for Cannon Revenge of the Ninja has less plot than most and it’s quite easy to forget just what the whole film is about. Cho (Sho Kosugi) leaves Japan for the United States after the murder of his family with the only survivors being his mother (Grace Oshita) and his son Kane (Kane Kosugi). Cho opens up a doll shop, but unknown to him it’s a front for his business partner importing heroin hidden inside the dolls. After the betrayal it leads to a deadly showdown.

The screenplay was written James R. Silke and this was his first produced screenplay. Most of his credits were with Cannom such as Ninja III: The Domination, King Solomon’s Mines (1985) and the Barbarians (1987), which was directed by Ruggero Deodato and starred twin brothers David and Peter Paul (Twin Sitters). The screenplay is a bit dull and as mentioned it’s quite easy to forget what the plot is all about. Characters aren’t all that interesting either so it’s kind of easy to zone out in between the action, which thankfully there’s enough to sort of make up for everything else. There’s some really odd twists in the film that are quite silly and I have to think that was exactly the point.

Revenge of the Ninja was directed by Sam Firstenberg who was at one point one of Cannon’s go to filmmakers as he also directed Ninja III: The Domination, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Also for Cannon he directed American Ninja, Avenging Force and American Ninja 2 with all three starring Michael Dudikoff. Some of Firstenberg’s other credits include American Samurai (also for Cannon) and lastly Cyborg Cop and Cyborg Cop 2. I’ve seen quite a few films by Sam Firstenberg and while he wasn’t a master of his craft, but you could more or less expect a fun time at least with his Cannon work with my favorite of his films probably being Ninja III. Revenge of the Ninja is sort of a mixed bag. The action scenes are quite fun, but when the film focuses more on story or characters the pacing can be a little sluggish.

Overall Revenge of the Ninja for me was a very average film and very much a middle of the road film from Cannon. It’s not my least favorite by any means, but nowhere near my favorite. By many though Revenge of the Ninja is considered the best of the trilogy as well as being one of Cannon’s best and even if I don’t feel the same I do however understand why. The action is saving grace here as when there isn’t any at some point I begin to zone out a bit. Sho Kosugi makes for a strong hero and I quite like some of his films, but for me Revenge of the Ninja is simply just fair.

Don Shanks appears as the Native American the Chief and Shanks in 1989 would portray Michael Myers in Halloween 5. There’s a fun fight scene with Sho Kosugi and Don Shanks which I dubbed Sho Kosugi vs Michael Myers. Too bad nobody made that movie.

 3/5

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Scream 7 (2026) Review NO Spoilers

Posted in Scream 7 with tags , , , , , , on March 1, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

NOTE: I rushed this review to get it up. At some point I’ll rewrite the review and go into more detail.

Scream 7

Going into Scream 7 I was quite excited as not just a fan of the series, but the return of Neve Campbell as well as Kevin Williamson writer of the first 2 films as well as Scream 4. Williamson not only returns to write, but also direct which is his first directorial effort since Teaching Mrs. Tingle back in 1999, which wasn’t a bad film but perhaps among his lesser efforts even if still fair. While I enjoyed Scream 5 and Scream 6 I do think the first 2 as well as the 4th were overall better and perhaps it wasn’t just Williamson’s involvement but director Wes Craven as well. Despite my initial excitement for over Scream 7 it is the 7th film in the series and that has to cause some concern. While the Friday the 13th films, Halloween and so forth may have remained enjoyable, but Scream while having similar aspects also differs and it might be a little harder to keep Scream as enjoyable. I mean even a lesser Friday the 13th is still quite fun and I suppose the same can be said about Scream but Scream is more than just a body count film.

Scream 7 was a troubled production, which lead to a rewrites and some of these issues impact the film. Originally Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega were part of Scream 7, but Barrera was fired and Ortega ended up dropping out. Christopher Landon was set to direct but eventually he dropped out, now enter Kevin Williamson returning and due to cast changes Scream 7 went through a major rewrite. The screenplay was written by Gary Busick and Kevin Williamson and while Scream 7 doesn’t feel disjointed but you can tell there were rewrites. 

The opening scene while effective really makes no sense with the rest of the film. Chad and Mindy seem a little out of place. My guess is they played a much larger part in the original draft, but due to rewrites their plot line was altered. Even Gail seems out of place as there’s really nothing for her to do except more or less recite the same basic dialogue as she did in past films. While I again enjoyed the 5th and 6th film, but I was neutral on the characters. Basically if they return that’s fine, but if they don’t that’s fine as well. I didn’t dislike the new characters but I wasn’t as invested in them. Scream 7 though probably has the weakest characters of the series. Tatum was similar to the Carpenter sisters and Chad and Mindy with if she lives for an 8th film that’s fine, but if she’s killed off that’s fine as well. The script also plays heavy on nostalgia with some scenes sort of recreating scenes from ghe original film but we kind of already did that in Scream 4. The nostalgia callback to past characters really doesn’t make a lot of sense with the reveal of Ghostface, which is easily the worst motive of the entire series. It really makes absolutely zero sense. You’re just left with really?? That’s the motive behind the killings in Scream 7???? I was hoping for one last twist, but no. The motive behind it was the actual motive with nobody else pulling the strings.

However, there’s a lot that Scream 7 gets right. As mentioned this was the first film directed by Kevin Williamson since Teaching Mrs. Tingle in 1999. But Williamson handles the production like a seasoned director. The kill scenes are graphic and some of the best of the series. Scream 7 is also a lot more sinister. Williamson takes the series in a semi new direction. This isn’t the fun, playful and scary Scream. The satirical nature of the series is kind of there, but not really. It’s a much more straight forward approach. While the Ghostface reveal was awful, but the scenes with Ghostface prior are some of the best as Ghostface is pertains at their most imposing. Again, this isn’t the playful Ghostface, it’s more sinister, which started in Scream 4, but this one Ghostface has little use for games. Outside of some video calls, there’s only 1 phone call from Ghostface. If anything Ghostface is more Michael Myers during the attack scenes. 

The return of Neve Campbell was very much welcomed and this might be Campbell’s best performance in not just the Scream films but in her career. In my opinion Neve Campbell is the ultimate scream queen and I loved every moment with Neve.

The biggest issue franchises have is at some point it gets stale even if still enjoyable. But rarely ever are any of these franchises successful at keeping to the core of the structure while adding in new elements and the film doesn’t resemble past films as it’s just too different. Scream 7 is able to still remain a Scream film despite more or less losing the satirical nature and playfulness. Style wise yeah Scream 7 very much differs without feeling like a film that doesn’t belong. It’s hard to explain as style wise it’s kind of unconnected yet still feels like Scream.

Scream 7 is a film that’s gonna draw mixed reviews. Again this isn’t the satirical and scary Scream, it’s a much more straight forward approach with a more sinister tone than past films. While the new characters weren’t all that strong, Chad, Mindy and Gail really don’t add much, but Scream 7 is still a solid film. It has its issues with the biggest being the awful reveal, which even positive reviews such as mine state. But despite the issues which do hinder the film to a degree, but Scream 7 is a solid entry with some great kills and suspense as well as the more sinister tone than past film.

3.5/5

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Quick update.

Posted in Uncategorized on February 27, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

I’m still gonna post the content that I from reviews to YouTube videos. But I’m gonna add something new. I’ve always been fascinated by unsolved cases. Maybe it’s the writer in me letting my imagination run away with me.

There’s a ton of blogs and sites for that. My writing won’t be as polished as I write fiction and movie reviews and essays. But I think I can do just good enough on the true crime. Mainly just the facts of the case, theories and I’ll chime in some of my thoughts.

I’m currently working on something. Can be ready in a day or 2. Perhaps a year. Basically there’s no timetable. As for how much I’ll post about unsolved cases. That will also vary. My main focus is film. So basically I might post unsolved crimes a couple of times a week then nothing for months. It’ll all vary.

But I should have something coming soon. I always wanted this blog to be more than just 1 genre of film. More than just film which is why I have some book/comic reviews as well. It’s far easier to post the unsolved crimes here than create a new page.

So yeah the unsolved crime posts won’t be as polished as other writings. But as long as it’s decent and gets the job done. That’s fine with me.

Thanks!

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TNT Saturday Nitro Friday the 13th TV Promos

Posted in Friday the 13th TV Promos with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s a pair of promos for a marathon featuring the first 4 Friday the 13th movies from a TNT Saturday Nitro airing on January 14th, 1996. The promos are basically the same only 1 video is a little longer.

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The Devil’s Rejects 4k

Posted in The Devil’s Rejects 4k with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

The Devil’s Rejects 4k

Lionsgate released the Devil’s Rejects on 4k in October of 2025 to go with the 20th anniversary of the movie. Many were unhappy with the fact the 4k was the R-rated theatrical cut and the blu-ray that comes along with it was also the R. I thought the blu would be the unrated directors cut, but no. Apparently the directors cut footage wasn’t saved. This also happened with many of the Saw films on 4k though on those while the 4k were the R, Lionsgate did have the blu-rays with the unrated and did some tweaking to the blu-rays. My question is why couldn’t Lionsgate do the same with the Devil’s Rejects? That would still disappoint some as most of the people that would buy this would be for the 4k. Also why not include HD inserts with the 4k? We’ve had DVD releases with VHS inserts, we’ve had blu-ray releases with SD inserts. I know the argument from some is the HD inserts wouldn’t look good with the 4k. I disagree. Blu-ray is still a terrific format. It’s not like we went from VHS to 4k. Blu-ray is still and always will be a solid format.

When Scream Factory released Silent Night, Deadly Night on blu-ray that had VHS inserts. But when the 4k came out, the 4k was only the theatrical. When I watch the movie I start with the 4k but switch to an upscale of the unrated blu-ray than back to the 4k to finish. While the footage even on an upscale is rough though does look a little better than regular 1080, but point is having HD inserts on the 4k wouldn’t distracting so I don’t quite understand why Lionsgate didn’t include HD inserts. More importantly why wasn’t the footage kept? That goes for the Saw films as well. Granted Lionsgate couldn’t see into the future and see one day there would be blu-ray than 4k, but technology is always advancing. Most lost and destroyed film is from the silent era. While yes all decades have a couple of films that were lost or destroyed but this makes absolutely zero sense in the home video era to destroy footage.

Many people cancelled their pre-orders of the Devil’s Rejects and others that planned to get it at some point ended up passing. Odds are that didn’t have a huge impact on sales but the question is though is the 4k worth it?

As I’ve mentioned Lionsgate could have added HD inserts but honestly while I prefer the unrated cut but the R is still highly effective. Despite a 2-minute difference it doesn’t change the film as much as some people make it out. Some act as if the R is unwatchable. This isn’t like My Bloody Valentine (1981) where the theatrical is vastly inferior to the unrated. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) like Rejects also has 2-minutes difference between the R and UR, but the 2-minutes added in the uncut Silent Night, Deadly Night make a big difference. Again I prefer the unrated directors cut of the Devil’s Rejects but the R is still extremely effective. Even prior to the unrated versions of My Bloody Valentine and Silent Night, Deadly Night you can see how edited they were. The Devil’s Rejects however doesn’t suffer. Too many people are being overly dramatic. Again even if the unrated cut of Rejects is better, the R-rated theatrical is still highly effective.

The Devil’s Rejects was shot on 16mm and the argument is those films don’t benefit from the 4k format like 35mm. I remember the early days of blu-ray the comments made about 16mm to 4k is akin to those that said black & white movies wouldn’t benefit from HD and you might as well stick with your DVD. That was proven totally false. The 4k format like blu-ray before it and DVD before that is meant to retain as much of the original look as possible on home video. 4k isn’t meant the films to look brand new. It’s again like the formats before it meant to retain as much of the original look as possible. I’ve seen a couple of films shot on 16mm out on 4k and no as a whole they aren’t the upgrade that you’d get with 35mm, but these 16mm films on 4k do bring an upgrade and can look terrific.

The 4k for the Devil’s Rejects retains everything that Rob Zombie was intending with the gritty exploitation style of the film. Absolutely nothing is lost on the 4k format and if anything further enhances the gritty look. Again 4k like the blu-ray and DVD are simply meant to preserve as much of the original look as possible and the 4k for Rejects very much does that. Like I said when it comes to films like the Devil’s Rejects on 4k it’s akin to the comments on how B/W isn’t meant for blu-ray.

The biggest drawback is again the lack of the unrated directors cut. There’s absolutely zero reasons why Lionsgate couldn’t include HD inserts. It would look totally fine. The drop in quality wouldn’t be that noticeable. If SD inserts could be included on blu-ray there’s no reasons why HD inserts couldn’t be included on the 4k

I can’t stress enough that while I do prefer the unrated cut, but the R-rated cut is extremely effective. It’s not like the film was edited down to PG-13. The edits for the R isn’t butchered like My Bloody Valentine or even Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. The Devil’s Rejects even in an R and a hard R-rating.

4k- 5/5

Audio- 4.5/5

Extras- 4.5/5

The Film- 4.5/5

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Friday the 13th Novelization by Simon Hawke

Posted in Friday the 13th (1980) Novelization with tags , , , , on February 23, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Here’s the Friday the 13th novelization written by Simon Hawke first published in 1987.

The Simon Hawke novels which are for the first 3 and part 6 go for crazy money so unless you’re willing to spend 300 or more the digital uploads are the next best thing.

I provided the link to the novel for the original.

https://archive.org/details/friday-the-13th-simon-hawke

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Me and my dog.

Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

I have a couple of things I’m looking to post plus a couple of new ideas. But until then. Here’s me and my dog. His name is Reinhardt. He was a rescue. Already named.

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Murder by Phone (1982)

Posted in Murder by Phone (1982) with tags , , , , on February 19, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Murder by Phone (1982)

Murder by Phone originally went under the title of Bells, but the wise choice was made to change the title as Bells is kind of a lame title. The Murder by Phone title is kinda silly, but it does kind of get you interested whereas Bells I would just ignore it. While not exactly a rare film as it’s easily found online and while not a lot of votes but has over 1k votes on IMDb. But it’s not the most talked about film and to some degree kind of forgotten. I have no idea how the film performed during its theatrical release as I’ve been unable to find any numbers. Murder by Phone received a VHS release by Warner Home Video 2-years after its theatrical release and the VHS was later reissued in 1998 so it’s not a film with much of a home video release and I’m kinda surprised it’s not even rarer than it is.

The plot of the film is just as silly as the title. Somebody is placing phone calls and when the person on the other end answers an electric charge is sent thus killing them. Nat Bridger (Richard Chamberlain) ends up investigating as the first victim, he’s a friend of the family. As Nat investigates, he gets caught up in a cover up while the killer begins to target him.

The title, the concept of the movie is kinda silly but the film is played totally straight. The screenplay was Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack and John Kent Harrison and this is kind of tough to write as a straight thriller and while it does work, but at times the film can repeat itself and the death scenes are all the same. But there isn’t much room for creative death scenes unless you add a supernatural element. The script does turn out better than maybe it should have with the concept and while generally well written it does suffer a bit from again kind of repeating itself.

Director Michael Anderson takes no liberties and directs the film with a serious tone. Some of the issues are more with the script like the death scenes as there isn’t much Anderson can do with the exception of framing the scenes a certain way. Murder by Phone is generally well made and at times quite intriguing, though there are some pacing issues and towards the final act the film does run out of steam.

Murder by Phone while released in 1982 was apparently filmed in 1980. I don’t know when it was shot if it was before or after slasher films such as Friday the 13th and Prom Night, but Murder by Phone very much has a slasher like feel just without a killer using a knife or sharp object. Perhaps the success of Halloween in 1978 gave the filmmakers the idea or perhaps the slasher feel wasn’t intentional.

Murder by Phone has a surprisingly solid cast and crew with some familiar names. Director Michael Anderson directed Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Logan’s Run (1976) and Orca (1977). He also directed the miniseries the Martian Chronicles (1980), which starred Rock Hudson.


Screenwriters Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack wrote the Gauntlet (1977), Code of Silence (1985) and Pale Rider. Butler also wrote Brannigan (1975) as for Shryack he wrote Hero and the Terror (1988) and Turner & Hooch (1989). John Kent Harrison had a writing on the cult classic Shock Waves (1977))

The cinematographer was Reginald H. Morris and some of his credits are the TV horror film When Michael Calls (1972), the Food of the Gods (1976) and Empire of the Ants (1977) both directed by Bert I. Gordon. He also has credits on the classic Black Christmas (1974) directed by Bob Clark and also directed by Clark, Morris has credits on Murder by Decree (1979) and A Christmas Story (1983).

The cast is led by Richard Chamberlain and John Houseman and both are quite solid and really help sell the material even if again a bit silly.

While again the plot and title are a bit silly, but everything here is played straight and it more or less works. While watching the film I was able to believe in the world created and nothing felt silly or over the top. The biggest issues are the death scenes being the same each time out and the film does run out of steam by the final act. Overall Murder by Phone is simply average, but very much watchable. It’s better than what most people would probably expect.

3/5

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Staying Alive (1983)

Posted in Staying Alive (1983) with tags , , , , , , on February 17, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

Staying Alive

As a child in the 80s I watched a lot of different films, but my go to genre was horror. But in the 90s when I got cable that’s when I started to branch out a lot. I watched a crazy amount of cable mainly in the early to mid 90s. While I still watched a lot of horror films, but that’s when I began to branch out. I’d watch almost anything. There’s films I watched that that I really had no interest in like Saturday Night Fever, I really have no idea why I watched it, but I could say that about a lot of films I watched back in the 90s. I guess I was always an explorer with film. I quite enjoyed Saturday Night Fever. Living in Brooklyn and even after I left I was often in the area Saturday Night Fever was filmed. Then there’s the soundtrack. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of disco outside a few songs, but the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is absolute fire! It’s without a doubt one of my favorite soundtracks. Despite the fact I liked Saturday Night Fever (I even ordered pizza at the window of the pizzeria that Travolta did in the movie) and despite how much I absolutely love the soundtrack by The Bee Gees I never got around to seeing Staying Alive. For some reason I just had very little interest. I’ve come across the movie on cable but never bothered to watch it. After revisiting Saturday Night Fever after over a decade I figured might as well check out Staying Alive. It took me a little while, but I finally sat down and watched it.

Staying Alive isn’t the failure it’s been described as. Actually it was quite successful. On a budget of about 22-million, Staying Alive made 64-million (apparently 127-million worldwide) it opened at number 1 and and spent a total of 9 weeks in the top 10. So it’s hardly the failure it’s been dubbed. Though with that said Saturday Night Fever made 94-million and 237-million worldwide against just a 3-million dollar budget. That was in 1977 so Saturday Night Fever sold a heck of a lot of tickets! With John Travolta a star on the rise, disco at its height of popularity and an incredible soundtrack it was a massive success. Since Staying Alive made nowhere near the same money it’s unfairly called a dud when it was anything but despite the drop. However, while Saturday Night Fever mainly drew positive reviews whereas Staying Alive was a critical failure. But that doesn’t change the fact it was indeed a box office hit.

Staying Alive is set 6-years after Saturday Night Fever and Tony Manero (John Travolta) has left Brooklyn and is now living in the city (Manhattan) and aspires to be a Broadway dancer.

What might surprise some people is Staying Alive was co-written, produced and directed by Sylvester Stallone. Norman Weiler writer of Saturday Night Fever was the other writer. Sly also makes a brief cameo. Staying Alive does kind of stick out in Stallone’s career. When I found out he directed it I was kind of shocked. It’s not the type of film I think of when I think of Sly. Staying Alive was Stallone’s 4th film as a director. His directorial debut came in 1978 with Paradise Alley and he followed that up with Rocky II (1979) and Rocky III (1982). As mentioned Sly also co-wrote the screenplay. My guess is he when he was hired he did a rewrite of the script. All six Rocky films were written by Stallone, but he has a lot of writing credits and most of those he did rewrites on. They weren’t his movies like the Rocky films. When it comes to Stallone’s writing and directing career he’s great but not in the traditional sense. First up the screenplay for Rocky is outstanding. It’s without a doubt one of my favorite screenplays, but what makes the films that Stallone wrote so good is he understands what his audience wants. That also applies to him as a director. I mean look he isn’t Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder, but Stallone makes fun movies. Again he knows what his audience wants and he delivers that as a writer and director for the most part. But Staying Alive is quite different than the norm when looking through his directing and writing credits. As a director Stallone does well. It’s not his best directing credit, but I do think it’s a much better film than given credit for. The script isn’t bad either but it does have some flaws.

The most interesting aspect of Saturday Night Fever is everybody was kind of a jerk. There aren’t many films I can think of that are highly or semi highly regarded where nobody was all that likable. I mean the characters are likable to a certain degree, but they were kind of well jerks. Throughout the film you do see a different side of Tony but he’s still kind of a jerk. In Staying Alive it’s 6-years later and Tony is a little more mature. He’s quite different here but it makes sense as he’s older and away from the people he hung around and he’s grown. While I think Saturday Night Fever is the overall better film but I did like Tony more here. However, there are some issues. He’s kind of a jerk to Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes) while their relationship is casual, but she deeply cares about him, but he at times blows her off in favor of Laura (Finola Hughes). He’ll go back to Jackie but bail on her again. I do think that’s a little problematic as it’s hard to root for Tony at times when he’s so insensitive to Jackie’s feelings. Whereas in Saturday Night Fever being a gritty urban drama these aspects are fine. During the course of the film Tony has his redemption with Jackie, but still it’s a tad bit hard to get behind him at times. Tony’s struggle to make it on Broadway while interesting, but a little rushed and therefore the underdog story doesn’t totally hit the mark.

John Travolta was nominated for an Oscar for Saturday Night Fever and rightfully so as he was terrific. He takes a character that’s kind of a jerk but makes him feel very real and again throughout we do see another side of him. While perhaps Travolta isn’t quite on the same level as Saturday Night Fever, but it’s another solid performance in his career, which has to be one of the oddest. As there ever been an actor with so many highs and lows throughout a career? Like I said sometimes it’s a little tough to root for Tony with how things go with Jackie, but despite that you still do like Tony as Travolta very much has a charm about him in both movies. Even though I liked Tony a little more here, but Saturday Night Fever is still the better film but with a few changes here and there I do think Staying Alive could have been a slight notch below.

While Saturday Night Fever is a terrific urban drama, but I do think a huge part of its success and continued success is the soundtrack, which is again one of my absolute favorites. Staying Alive has some good songs, but it just doesn’t compare with Saturday Night Fever. There’s several songs by The Bee Gees which were ok. I’m a Perry big fan of The Bee Gees but I don’t think the Staying Alive soundtrack were among their best work. None of the songs are bad or anything, but they just don’t hit like Saturday Night Fever. The rest of the soundtrack was performed and or written by Frank Stallone. Most of his music is pretty good and I had no issues with the songs by Frank Stallone. He also appears in the film and his song with Cynthia Rhodes was possibly the best sound on the soundtrack. But again, the music just doesn’t hit the way it did in Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever is epic and I stand by my comment that it’s a big reason for the success and continued success for Saturday Night Fever. Staying Alive has a good but not great soundtrack. It’s good but can’t carry the film the way the music did in Saturday Night Fever.

Besides John Travolta the only returning cast member was Julie Bovasso as Tony’s mother. Originally other cast members were supposed to be part of the sequel but that all changed in rewrites. While at the end of the day all you needed was Travolta but I would have liked to have seen the other cast members return even if it was just one scene.

Overall Staying Alive I think is better than its reputation. It’s not as good as Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack is alright but nowhere near the epic level of the soundtrack for the original. Staying Alive is easy to dismiss but I really don’t think it was bad at all. The film works as a sequel and as its own film.

3/5

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The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)

Posted in The Strangers: Chapter 2 with tags , , , , on February 16, 2026 by The Late Night Horror Drive-In

The Strangers: Chapter 2

When the original film came out I went in with very low expectations, but I found the Strangers to be a solid film. While it may not go down as one of the genre greats, but it was an effective little film. The Strangers: Prey at Night was a decent enough film. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original, but it wasn’t a bad film, though tries a little too hard with the use of 80s music, but again it was a fair enough film that’s mostly enjoyable. After a several year hiatus saw a new trilogy of films starting with the Strangers: Chapter 1. All three films in the series were set to be directed by Renny Harlin a very polarizing filmmaker. Harlin has his fair share of fans, but also a lot of detractors. While I wouldn’t rate Harlin as one of my favorite filmmakers but I do enjoy some of his work such as Prison, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger. All solid films that I quite enjoy. But at this stage in his career I was a little weary. The Strangers: Chapter 1 wasn’t terrible, but it’s the very definition of average at best. It’s one of those films where I wouldn’t say I was ever bored, but I can’t say I was ever really entertained either. When the first film in a series or in this case first film in a reboot to relaunch the series turns out poor or just average that’s typically not a good sign of things to come. There’s exceptions to the rule, but there aren’t many sequels or sequels after a relaunch that I found to improve over an average or below average film. My expectations weren’t super high for Chapter 1, but they weren’t for the original film and I was pleasantly surprised. But the same couldn’t be said about Chapter 1 and despite having fairly low expectations Chapter 1 even if I find it just average still managed to underwhelm. So my expectations for Chapter 2 were even lower and the trailer didn’t do much to change that.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 isn’t the exception to an average or below average prior film, but I did find Chapter 2 to be a slight improvement over Chapter 1 even if still an average film overall. Chapter 2 isn’t anywhere near as good as the original and not as good as Prey at Night, but again I do think it’s a tad bit better than Chapter 1. Most of the reviews range from average to below average and I can’t defend the film from its detractors as I myself found it average, but it’s not a bad film just simply put an ok one.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 was written by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland and the script is fairly simple as it’s sort of long chase scene with breaks spread out. The problem here is there’s some backstory for the strangers as kids, but problem is these scenes add absolutely nothing except set up a 3rd film. Removing the scenes wouldn’t feel like anything is missing and more importantly we don’t need any sort of explanation. While as a series goes on motiveless killers might need an explanation, but if handled properly nothing is needed. Regardless the backstory adds absolutely nothing to the film except slowdown the pace. Almost every local is set up as a possible suspect with some being a little too obvious. This isn’t Scream or anything of the sorts. We don’t need suspects. We can easily assume any local could possibly be the strangers and that alone should work. However, the script is still fair enough even if nothing great.

As director Renny Harlin gets the film off to a solid enough start as the strangers chase after Maya (Madeleine Petsch) around the hospital and into the morgue. While this is very much horror filmmaking 101 it’s a fairly effective sequence. After that Harlin keeps the film just fair enough at least for me. While I wasn’t gripped or anything, but I found it more than watchable. However the entire film is almost unraveled by the boar scene. While the blame is more on the writing, but what an absolutely silly and absurd scene that made me laugh when the response intended by Harlin was the exact opposite. The Strangers: Chapter 2 does kind of repeat itself at times, but it’s not easy to keep chase scenes suspenseful. But I do think Renny Harlin gets a little more out of Chapter 2 than he does with Chapter 1. There are pace issues as there’s very little in the way of story, but again I do feel Harlin got just enough out of the production to keep it watchable minus the silly boar scene. Though I will say by the end I did feel as if it was dragging too much and the film only clocks in at 90-minutes with the final 8-minutes being closing credits.

Overall the Strangers: Chapter 2 is an average entry into the series. I easily get why so many dismiss it, but I found it an ok film that’s a slight improvement over Chapter 1. I can’t really recommend the Strangers: Chapter 2 unless you really liked Chapter 1. For those that found Chapter 1 average or below average, odds are you’ll find Chapter 2 the same. Even if I found it to be an improvement, it was just slightly at that. So while I didn’t love the film, but I did find it a just passable late night viewing.

3/5

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