Grindhouse's The Beyond Truly Goes Beyond

There have been a few delays and push backs, but Grindhouse's new blu-ray special edition set of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond has finally reached my doorstep. But it's been worth it, because you know what they say about rushing greatness. Grindhouse originally released this on DVD through Anchor Bay in a very cool, special edition collector's tin in 2000. But now, fifteen years later, it's time to see how they've topped themselves.

Update 3/31/15 - 4/30/25: Wow, my first update to span a full decade.  I can't believe I've been at this that long already; it doesn't feel like it.  Anyway, y'all know what this is; we're taking a look at Grindhouse's new 4k restoration 6-disc UHD/ BD/ DVD/ CD mega-set.

The Beyond, of course, is pretty much THE Lucio Fulci film. I mean, hardcore zombie or giallo fans might prefer Zombi or Don't Torture a Duckling. And serious long-term fans who've watched all his classics a dozen or more times might have slowly edged City Of the Living Dead up over this through the years. But by and large, The Beyond is generally considered his masterpiece. Set in New Orleans, the plot is practically indescribable. Hell just literally breaks loose and every horrific supernatural thing that can go wrong does go wrong, from spider attacks to psychics to zombies. It's very gruesome and thankfully takes itself entirely seriously; but it's still got a very colorful, fantastic tone that gives the proceedings a soft, inoffensive edge. It's just great music and great lighting capturing one captivating set-piece after another. And giving this film almost an action here with David Warbeck gives the film a bit of adventure film flavor.  It's pretty much the ultimate.

1) 2000 Grindhouse DVD; 2) 2011 Arrow DVD; 3) 2015 Grindhouse BD;
4) 2025 Grindhouse BD; 5) 2025 Grindhouse UHD; 6) 2025 Grindhouse DVD.

The 2.32:1 anamorphic DVD looked pretty fantastic when it was released in 2000, but as time passed and technology improved, it was starting to look a little stiff. There's no denying us fans were hoping for a new 2k or 4k scan in 2015, since it's pretty much the crown jewel in Grindhouse's catalog. But even using the old HD master, their first blu showed us how much better the film could look. A color re-balance certainly helps a lot here, but it's just a cleaner, more natural and detailed image all around. With a wider, 2.41:1 AR, we also seem to have a little extra picture information on all four sides.  Oh, and Arrow's 2.35:1 DVD (which, for the record, is the corrected version, not the original recalled one with the black & white intro) leans more towards the red, closer to Anchor Bay, but milder, and keeps that extra info around the edges.

On this new 4k version, which you can watch with the intro properly sepia-toned or in full color, Grindhouse has settled on 2.39:1, and it's clearly the most colorful version.  Even if we just compare the 1080p blus, rather than the Dolby Vision/ HDR UHD, The Beyond has a bolder, more saturated look.  Just look how blue that morgue is now.  Grain is much better captured here than on the old blu, which was far ahead of the DVDs, but still somewhat patchy and pixelated.  Also, just for fun, and perhaps to show off how impressive their new restoration is by comparison, Grindhouse has included an SD/ DVD transfer of the 7 Doors of Death cut, too.  It's 1.50:1, with the sides lopped off.  Even for DVD, it's soft, with grain only represented by vague lumpiness, and presumably taken from an old tape master, with color timing closest to the AB disc.  It's a fun curiosity piece.  But the UHD is gorgeous.

A lot of times, Italian horror has been given to us in English dub only, and we had to wait for fancier re-releases to get our choice of the English or  Italian tracks.  But Anchor Bay gave us both right away, including the original English mono, a stereo and a 5.1 mix, plus the Italian mono with optional English subtitles.  What can I say, The Beyond's always been recognized as special.  Interestingly, Arrow kept all three versions of the English audio, and the subs, but ditched the Italian track.

In 2015, Grindhouse brought it back, bumping up the English mono and 5.1 mixes to DTS-HD, but keeping the Italian lossy.  There was also some discussion on the blu-ray.com forums of little pops in the audio of the original English mono track. I've listened for myself and yup, I do hear them. And I can also confirm that they're not there on Anchor Bay's mono track. It's a little disappointing, and I do wish they weren't there; but it feels very minor especially within the context of the audio track generally feeling much fuller and stronger overall.  And anyway, it's been cleaned up on the new 2025 set, so forget about it!  Now we have the original mono, stereo, 5.1 and Italian mono all in DTS-HD, and the English subtitles.  Some online listings mention two sets of English subs - standard and SDH - but the SDH are not actually on here.  It's just the one set of "dubtitles" that match the English audio, plus subtitle tracks for two of the audio commentaries.

...And perhaps most notably (although I don't want to under0state just how excited I am to finally get both mono tracks lossless), Grindhouse has included The Composer's Cut!  Strictly speaking, it's the same cut of the film, but it's been entirely re-scored by original composer Fabio Frizzi with all new music.  It's a little calmer and more noodley - I prefer the original myself - but it's interesting to hear the variations.  Fans should be excited to at least check it out once.  And Grindhouse gives us the best of both worlds, because we get the choice, with the new track also in DTS-HD 5.1.

But let's talk about extras! If you weren't already bowled over by Grindhouse's updated presentation of the film itself, you certainly will be by the massive amount and quality of features they've delivered. There's so much, in fact, I've decided to itemize everything on the original DVD and each subsequent set:

Anchor Bay DVD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Images From the Beyond: a collection of stills galleries (less interesting) and video (more interesting), including a short interview with Fulci, a short clip of David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl at a convention, Darvid Warbeck speaking at a convention, and Lucio and Warbeck doing a Q&A
• US, International and German trailers
• The opening sequence in color
• Necrophagia music video
• Easter Eggs) 7 Doors of Death trailer and a trailer for Cat In the Brain (there also seems to be another highlight-able link for a third easter egg on the second page of special features that doesn't actually work)

Grindhouse BD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Intro by Catriona MacColl
• 48 minute documentary on the making of The Beyond
• A 2-part phone interview with Fulci
• Interview with Larry Ray
• Interview with Catrina MacColl
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Gianetto De Rossi and Manrizio Trani
• Footage of Catriona MacColl speaking at a convention
• Footage of David Warbeck speaking at a convention
• Interview with Terry Levene
• The opening sequence in color
• US, International and German trailers + US rerelease trailer
• US TV spots
• US re-release radio spot
• An overwhelming number of stills galleries
• 14 bonus trailers for Grindhouse's other titles
  
• Easter Eggs: the full set of Images From the Beyond extras (some of which are duplicated on disc 2 of this blu as well), a series of brief interviews (23 minutes worth) from Paura, the 7 Doors of Death trailer, a 10+ minute audio track of whispering and moaning(?), the Necrophagia music video, and a brief but nice featurette comparing location shots from the films to footage of them as they look now

Grindhouse UHD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Commentary by Sergio Salvati
• Commentary by Gianetto De Rossi
• Intro by Catriona MacColl
• Intro to the Composer's Cut by Fabio Frizzi
  
• Interview with scholar/ director of Fulci for Fake Simone Scafidi (over an hour long!)
  
• Interview with Fabio Frizzi about the new Composer's Cut
• Footage of Frizzi and his band performing the Composer's Cut live, with an introduction by Bruce Campbell(!)
  
• 48 minute documentary on the making of The Beyond
• A 2-part phone interview with Fulci
• Interview with Larry Ray
• Interview with Al Cliver
  
• Interview with Catrina MacColl
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Newer interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Michele Mirabella 
• Interview with Dardano Sacchetti
• Interview with Giorgo Mariuzzo
• Interview with stuntmen Ottaviano Dell'Acqua & Massimo Vanni
• Interview with Ugo Celani
• Ugo Celani outtake
  
• Interview with Pino Colizzi
• Interview with Michele Romagnoli
• Interview with Emanuele Taglietti
  
• Interview with Gianetto De Rossi and Manrizio Trani
• Footage of Catriona MacColl speaking at a convention
• Footage of David Warbeck speaking at a convention
• Footage of Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck speaking together at a convention
• Footage of Lucio Fulci and David Warbeck speaking at a convention (a separate, 46 minute video, not the short one from Images From the Beyond)
  
• Brief footage of Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck at yet another a convention
• Interview with Terry Levene
• The Beyond In the Age of Aquarius, a new 40-minute featurette talking to Terry Levene and editor Jim Markovic on the 7 Doors of Death cut
• Terry Levene outtake 
• Jim Markovic outtake
• US, International and German trailers + US rerelease trailer
• US TV spots
• US re-release radio spot
• More 7 Doors of Death spots
  
• An overwhelming number of stills galleries
• The bonus trailers for Grindhouse's other titles
• All the old Easter Eggs: the full set of Images From the Beyond extras, the interviews from Paura, the 7 Doors of Death trailer, that 10+ minute audio track of whispering and moaning (yes, it's back), the Necrophagia music video, and the location featurette

Everything in purple is new to the blu-ray and everything in red is new to the UHD.  That is an increasingly massive and impressive load of features. You might even say overwhelming. Many of the interviews are quite lengthy and they're all substantial. Grindhouse has linked up with Freak-O-Rama, who've done a bunch of excellent features for high profile Italian horror titles from Scorpion and Code Red, among others.  And you might recall that UK's Shameless Screen Entertainment released a blu-ray of The Beyond in 2020 with a bunch of exclusive extras, including a new commentary and an interview with actor Michele Mirabella, who had never been on a Beyond disc before.  Well, Grindhouse licensed those and they're all here on the new 2025 set.  The only extras of note they didn't snag are Arrow's, so let's look at those.

Arrow DVD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• A second commentary by Antonella Fulci (Fulci's daughter) and moderator Callum Waddell, which I'd recommend to hardcore fans only.
• Intro by Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Q&A session with Catriona MacColl
• Interview with Terry Levene (perhaps it's worth noting that Grindhouse trimmed over a minute out of Naomi Holwill's opening animation, so theirs is technically shorter, though the actual interview length is the same)
  
• Interview with Gianetto Di Rossi
• 25 minute featurette where Roberto Forges Davanzati, Daria Nicolodi, Antonella Fulci, Dario Argento, Giannetto De Rossi and Sergio Stivaletti remember Fulci (not the same as the one on GH's disc; this set of different interviews purports to come from a future Paura part 2).
  
• Interview with Catriona MacColl
• The opening sequence in color
• International trailer
• Easter Egg: Darren Ward remembering David Warbeck - a brief (4+ minutes) interview with the director of Warbeck's final film, Sudden Fury

Their collection is pretty impressive in its own right. Some of what's here stems from the old Anchor Bay release, and a little of what originated here got ported to the Grindhouse set. But still everything in blue is exclusive to the Arrow release, which as you can see, is most of it. Admittedly, some of it is pretty redundant. Both discs interview Cinzae Monreale, for example, the actress who played the blind woman. They're different interviews, filmed at different times in different locations; but naturally she winds up saying most of the same stuff in both. You'll hear some of the same anecdotes almost word for word from Catriona MacColl - her stuff was already getting redundant on the Grindhouse disc, now it's more. But other features, like the exclusive interviews with cameraman Roberto Forges Davanzati or the Darren Ward easter egg, are more original and rewarding even if you've already got the Grindhouse set.

Here's how it looks in the dark.

And usually I don't devote too much space to the packaging, but how can I not here? The original DVD release came in a very cool tin case. Inside, it also had six international poster replicas and a chapter insert of cardstock, and a fat, 48-page booklet. And it was a numbered limited edition of 20,000 copies. Holy cow, it's crazy to think 20,000 was a tight limited pressing in the days of Twilight Time making 3000 of even their Oscar-winning titles, and Code Red still shifting units of a blu they only made 1000 editions of two years prior.

Anyway, it might seem hard to top that DVD tin, but I think Grindhouse at least equaled it. Their blu-ray set comes in a very cool, glow in the dark slipcover. You've gotta charge it up under some strong light; but when you do, it looks pretty great. It also comes with a slimmer booklet and a bonus CD of the film's soundtrack, which has also been remastered. That's something a lot of fans would pay the cost of this blu for all on its own.

Meanwhile, the Arrow set comes in their usual (in those days) windowpane slipcover with reversible artwork inside, a substantial, 32-page blu-ray sized booklet and a fold-out poster.

And now Grindhouse's UHD set is a thick, side-loading slipbox housing a fancy book designed to resemble the book of Eibon, which looks really cool, but unfortunately houses all the discs in cardboard sleeve pages.  Pray you don't get any scratched!  Anyway, there's also a 100-page full-color book, which includes multiple essays and gallery pages, but also Sacchetti's complete, original treatment.  And they include another soundtrack CD, this time of the new  Composer's Cut score (hang on to your previous soundtrack CD for the original score, which thankfully came in its own separate sleeve, so you can just slot it into this box).  And if you ordered one of the first 3,500 copies direct from Grindhouse you got a fun bit of swag: the Eye of Eibon(!), a creepy little eyeball that always looks up no matter how you turn it.

The new set's a little pricey ($66.66), but with all its versions (with the intro in color or sepia, the Composer's Cut, your choice of English or Italian, the 7 Doors of Death cut), this massive 6-disc set looks like it'll be the definitive release of this true horror classic for a long time to come.  And you can't say it doesn't include enough content to justify the expense.  Before the update, I used to recommend picking up the Arrow, too, for their exclusive extras; and you still might want to if you're a die-hard collector, or the sort of hardcore fan who has the mark of Eibon tattooed somewhere on your body.  But at this point, Grindhouse's edition is so exhaustive, it would take the dedication of a druidic scholar to come away from it wanting to watch any more special features.

Brimstone & Treacle & Brimstone & Treacle

Here's a release I've been alternatively excited for and nonplussed by leading up to its release.  I'm referring specifically to Vinegar Syndrome's new UHD of the 1982 film Brimstone & Treacle, although I'll be covering both films here today.  Just for a start, this is a brand new 4k restoration and special edition of a film I never thought would get one.  I mean, an audio commentary by Sting?  Holy cow!  And I'd forgotten, until I went back to my old MGM DVD for this review, that the previous release was non-anamorphic, so it was especially in need of an upgrade.  On the other hand, it's a remake of a another, better film from just five years earlier, which would seem to render the whole endeavor utterly pointless?

The original Brimstone & Treacle is Dennis Potter's 1976 Play for Today that was banned and went unseen until 1987 (ironically making the remake the version people got to see first).  Michael Kitchen (Dracula AD, Mrs. Dalloway) plays a grifter who cons his way into the household of Denholm Elliot (Raiders Of the Lost Ark, Blade On the Feather), where he and his wife care for their invalid daughter.  Little do they suspect that the man they've invited in is the literal devil and their daughter being completely cognitively impaired doesn't deter his designs on her.  Yeah, the material's pretty edgy and you can see why the BBC would've taken issue with it.  But it's also some of Potter's sharpest writing and wonderfully acted.

Ultimately, I would say the remake is not pointless, but it should be primarily of interest to those who already have the original.  It's definitely interesting to see the what sporadic, sometimes seemingly arbitrary, changes they decided to make while otherwise sticking line for line, beat for beat to the original.  Some of those changes may've been landed upon casually during the filming, but others required some definite intent in the planning stages.  And all the little "whys?" can be a fascinating puzzle.  For the most part, they weaken the story being told.  One or two changes really undercut the story's inherent power.  Unfortunately, it would be a spoiler to lay into the biggest ones, but a couple smaller, but still weakening alterations include taking out the entire political subtext re: The National Front, and swapping it for some silly business about working for a religious greeting card company, or changing the nature of the father's tryst, which makes it more PC but far less dark and shameful, to the point where you'd wonder why anybody but his wife would be traumatized by it.

But then, since most of it is so similar - right down to the recasting of Elliot in the same role - anyone familiar enough with the first version can easily take all that as written and just enjoy what they get right the second time around, appreciating what the original would've looked like had it been shot on 35mm.  There's one additional line of dialogue I quite like.  But I'd hate to think of people approaching Brimstone & Treacle story from the 1982 end.  It would've been a shame even beforehand, but it's especially so since the ban on the original was lifted in 1987, and it was released on DVD by 2 Entertain in 2004.

2004 2 Entertain DVD.

This DVD sports an interlaced, fullscreen (1.29:1) transfer, which is to be expected, since this is a television broadcast presumably shot on videotape, though I imagine it could look at least a tiny bit better if restored for HD today, especially if the exteriors were shot on film, which was frequently the case with the BBC.  The AR should probably be tweaked to 1.32:1 or so, a modern scan might clean up a little noise and the higher resolution should at least clean up a little compression smudginess along the edges.  But basically, you can see why this has been left as a DVD-only title so far, and I wouldn't hold off purchasing it waiting for the unlikely upgrade.

The audio is the original mono track in Dolby Digital, and happily they have included optional English subtitles.

And more good news: it's not barebones!  It's basically got one extra: a vintage half-hour made-for-BBC program called Did You See? that aired when BBC lifted their ban and aired Brimstone in the 80s. At first, it looks a bit doofy: a panel discussion with three finger waggers about whether the show should be seen.  But they actually have a reasonably and surprisingly smart discussion on the matter, and far better still, the program also includes separate interviews with key players including Potter himself, the producer, a journalist from The Guardian and the head of BBC programming, and those - -especially Potter - are invaluable.

And that takes us to the remake, which was released on DVD in the UK by Prism in 1999 and here in the US by MGM in 2003.  Both are barebones and, as I mentioned at the top, non-anamorphic.  So this new special edition 4k restoration on a BD/ UHD combo-pack from Vinegar Syndrome is pretty essential, at least for anyone who considers this film to be essential at all (although it should be noted a 2009 anamorphic DVD was released in the UK in the interim). 

2003 MGM DVD top; 3035 VS BD mid; 2025 VS UHD bottom.

Despite being non-anamorphic, the MGM DVD has almost the same, proper aspect ratio: 1.63:1, compared to Vinegar Syndrome's 1.67:1, which just very tiny slivers of extra picture along the sides, and barely adjusted vertical framing.  The old DVD has some gentle color bleeding and edge enhancement, but for an old non-anamorphic DVD, it holds up to the VS release better than you'd expect.  Still, Vinegar Syndrome has a clearer image with corrected colors and proper film grain, especially on the 4k.  The new restoration makes the picture quality look especially impressive, which is important, since that's one of the few things the 1982 version has going for it.  It's basically a lesser-written piece with fancier photography, so thankfully that fanciness shines.

MGM gives us the original Dolby stereo track, with its fancy Police soundtrack, and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.  VS bumps that up to DTS-HD and keeps the English subs, while dropping the foreign language options.

And they did not skimp on the extras either!  First and foremost is a partial audio commentary by Sting and director Richard Loncraine (Richard III, The Haunting of Julia).  It sounds like they recorded a traditional commentary, but they left a lot of dead air, so VS just trimmed it down to a tight, involved talk that runs about half as long.  It was absolutely the right decision; it's a don't miss track.  Then there's an additional on-camera interview with Loncraine (a bit redundant), a good one with the production designer, and a featurette with two experts who are okay, but repeat a lot of information from the Did You See? program nearly word for word, and generally just feel like a couple of guys with a passing interest in Potter who looked some stuff up online before recording.  In other words, it's a decent explainer for newcomers, but fans won't learn much.  Both this and the MGM disc also have the trailer.  But only VS's edition includes a 16-page booklet with notes by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.  It also has reversible cover art, and if you ordered the limited edition, an exclusive slipcover.

Conclusion: Vinegar Syndrome has given the remake a brilliant edition I'm not at all sure it warrants, but it makes me happy.  Again, how could I pass up that commentary track?  But for anybody reading this who's not already in the paint for this movie, I cannot stress enough how much more I recommend the 2 Entertain of the original Brimstone & Treacle instead.

The Latester and Greatester Night Of the Creeps

Night Of the Creeps came out right on the cusp of me getting a blu-ray player. So it's one of those last titles I bought the DVD of instead, and then quietly regretted it for years. I'd keep looking up online blu-ray prices online every so often, hoping it would suddenly go on sale for some bargain basement price... Who wants to double-dip on a DVD they just bought new for a simultaneous release with no new features or anything? But it was also annoying being stuck with the standard def version of a favorite horror film I'd grown up on since I was a kid. Well, finally, Umbrella Entertainment has come along with a brand new blu-ray edition, which isn't all that far beyond the Sony's 2009 blu-ray. But it is an improvement, the best edition yet, and that was enough for me to shake loose the old DVD.

Update 5/1/16 - 8/19/19: Another new edition??  Yes, Scream Factory has picked up Night Of the Creeps so they could release it this summer with a giant action figure or whatever.  Or you can also just buy their new 2-disc set by itself... but would you want to?  It's Update Week, so there's literally no better time to find out!

Update 4/2/25: Scream Factory circles back around to bring us Creeps in 4k.  It's a proper UHD release, with a couple new extras to boot, but they dropped something significant.

Night Of the Creeps is pure crazy, 80's fun. Slugs from outer space turn a bunch of college students into homicidal zombies. It's full of fun set pieces and shifting tones, but it never loses sight of its characters, or stepping too far into the comedy that it stops being effective as a horror film. Tom Atkins steals the show as a Mike Hammer-esque detective who's finally gone off the deep end, but the three young leads, including European Vacation's Jason Lively, are all charming and well-rounded enough to carry the heart of the picture. Round that off with a great supporting cast, including Dick Miller and David Paymer, a catchy soundtrack, clever script and the special effects work of KNB, and you've got yourself a genuinely great movie.

It's a delicate balancing act that takes some serious talent to pull off, but first time director Fred Dekker rises to the challenge. He went on to create another masterful blend of humor, heart and horror with Monster Squad, but that one's a little too kiddie for me. It's like a well made Disney film; I can appreciate how well made it is on all these different levels, and even laugh at some of the jokes; but give me something a little edgier and more adult. And in fact he already had given it in Night Of the Creeps. Unfortunately his third film, Robocop 3, was a colossal misfire and he hasn't directed since.  It's such a shame, because the world could've used a string of similar, smart and atmospheric cult films over the past two decades.

And he has started making a bit of a comeback working with Shane Black, co-writing a TV movie called Edge and the latest Predator sequel/ reboot, The Predator.  Okay, that one didn't turn out quite as many of us had hoped, but most recently he's done a short film called Dent that's fun and weird in the best way.  Somebody give this man another shot at a feature!

Night Of the Creeps took forever to come out on DVD; especially for such a beloved cult title. This was one of those titles where the laserdisc kept going for good money, because it was still the best release there was, well into the 2000s. I remember being really excited to find a bootleg of a high quality TV rip that also included the original ending, which was different than the one that had played on cable and VHS for all these years. So when the special edition DVD/ blu-ray was finally announced for 2009, with a heap of extras and the original ending restored, I was through the moon. And even more so when it turned out to be the official debut of Dekker's Director's Cut, with the original ending (and that's the only difference, by the way, between it and the regular theatrical cut). So I've got that DVD for us today. Then even better, I've got Umbrella's 2016 region B blu-ray special edition (which is also of the Director's Cut), with a little something extra over the US Sony blu.  Still not enough?  Okay, how about Scream Factory's latest 2019 2-disc BD set?  It's two discs because they include the director's cut and the theatrical cut, which includes the other ending most of us grew up on.  And finally, we've got Scream Factory's (mostly) upgraded 4k restoration on UHD.  One thing, though, Scream's done what they've been making a habit of lately, and dropping the additional cut that they'd originally included on their 4k upgrade.  So now we get the director's cut, but that's it.  No more theatrical.

Well, at least this time they picked the right cut.

1) 2009 Sony DVD; 2) 2009 Sony BD; 3) 2016 Umbrella BD;
4) 2019 Scream Factory theatrical BD; 5) 2019 Scream Factory director's BD;
6) 2025 Scream Factory BD; 7) 2025 Scream Factory UHD.

So we see that these subsequent Umbrella and Scream Factory blu-rays, at least until 2025, are essentially the same as the Sony.  Same framing (slightly matted to 1.85:1), same colors... same original master. And that's alright, because Sony made a pretty high quality release the first go around, so we weren't exactly gasping for an improvement.  Of course, they both trump the DVD, as there's naturally a compression difference. Detail is much clearer and more accurate here, with visible film grain as opposed to the digital mushiness on the DVD.  There's a bit more of a shift on Scream Factory than there was between Sony and Umbrella, but it's hard to declare one objectively better or worse than the others, and it's the kind of distinction you'll only see in zoomed-in screenshots anyway.

But in 2025, Scream Factory went back to the OCN for an all new 4k scan, and... even then it's not hugely different.  While still 1.85:1, you can see that the framing has shifted slightly in some shots.  Above, for instance, you'll notice the tops of the Ts are now visible in that "BETAS ARE BETTER" sign in the second set of shots.  And the colors have been adjusted.  In the first set of shots, you can watch that middle guy's sweatshirt turn more orange, and in general a purplish hue has been pulled to give more natural whites and greys.  That's a subtle improvement.  And the resolution is smarter.  Even just comparing the two BDs, edges are cleaner and grain goes from mushy to sharp.  And on the UHD, every speck of grain is fully accounted for, something you couldn't say for the earlier transfer, as impressive as it was for its time.  The upgrade may not be enough to make casual fans feel the spring for a new edition, but it is unquestionably an upgrade, so purists should be pleased.

There's an important distinction in the audio department, as well.  Sony's DVD, Sony's BD and Umbrellas BD, all feature a remixed 5.1 track, with the latter two in lossless DTS-HD.  Scream Factory (on their 2019 and 2025 editions) has the same track, too, but they're also the first to restore the original stereo track, in DTS-HD as well.  So that's pretty sweet.  All five sets also have optional English subtitles.

And now it's time to talk extras! Sony's release (both their DVD and blu have all the same bonus content) is pretty packed. There are two audio commentaries, one by Fred Dekker and one by the four lead actors, the latter of which is fun but pretty light on content. Every time Steve Marshall starts to an anecdote or bit of information, the rest of the cast interrupts him to keep laughing and kidding around. Then there's a great hour-long documentary, which is broken up into five sections and winds up interviewing pretty much everybody involved including Dekker, producer Charles Gordon, stars Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins & Steve Marshall, editor Michael Knue, effects artists Howard Berger, Robert Kurtzman & David Miller, and composer Barry De Vorzon. Then there's a featurette just dedicated to talking with Tom Atkins about his entire filmography, film by film. Then there are several deleted scenes used in the extended television version, plus the alternate ending most of us were familiar with before the director's cut. Plus there's a subtitle trivia track and the original theatrical trailer.

A shot from Dekker's incomplete film, Baton.

All of that, right down to the trivia track, has been carried over to the Umbrella release. All it's missing are a couple of autoplay bonus trailers and an annoying commercial for blu-rays. But it has one really nice new addition. It's a 32 minute HD featurette called Creator Of the Creeps, and it's primarily a sit-down interview with Dekker. This was made more recently than the other extras, but yes, he does cover a lot of the same ground he does on his commentary and in the documentary. But he has some new stuff, too, including his script for House. And one of the best parts is that, in both his previous commentary and interview on the doc, he talks about how a lot of the ideas and a couple of the lead characters for Night came from an independent science fiction film he started shooting but never finished called Baton. He only shot about five minutes of it, he says, but we get to see some of it for the first time here in this feature. So it's a little redundant, but still a pretty great new feature, and it's exclusive to this release. Umbrella's blu also has reversible cover art, with the original art shown above and this crazy original piece [right] on the reverse. Both of Sony's covers suck, so Umbrella gets an extra point there, too.

Horror's Hallowed Ground rocks!

But then a new contender came to town.  Scream Factory has everything from the Sony release, except technically for bonus trailers and the alternate ending, because of course, they have the entire second disc with that ending attached to their theatrical cut.  Then, they've also come up with a whole bunch of new stuff.  Mostly what they've added is a series of upbeat HD on-camera interviews, with Jason Lively, Alan Kayser who played The Bradster, Ken Heron who played the 50's kid who becomes the first zombie, Vic Polizos who played the coroner, Killer Klowns' star Suzanne Snyder, who played a bit part as a sorority sister, and editor Michael Knue.  They're all tightly edited and include many people left out of the documentary, so these are very rewarding additions.  Then there's a brand new episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds, where they revisit almost all of the film locations, with Dekker and Lively showing up to add some additional backstory.  This version also includes reversible artwork and a slipcover that finally uses the classic cover art.  Kudos to Scream for not sticking us with more cheap comic book art.  If you look at all the covers up top of this page, you can watch the artwork slowly evolve from terrible to excellent.

Oh, and of course, you could've sprung for the deluxe limited edition version with the 8" action figure, plus a (rolled, not folded) poster and second slip cover.  About the only thing it doesn't have is Umbrella's still-exclusive Creator Of the Creeps.

And in 2025, yes, Scream carries over everything from before and adds even more, though honestly, it feels like they're stretching now.  First up is an audio commentary, which is almost more of a fan commentary than an expert one, by two younger filmmakers.  They engage in a lot of casual small talk and delve into some cliche commentary sand-traps like debating physical special effects versus CGI.  A lot of the info they provide is taken directly from the preexisting special features, and they get some things wrong in the transition.  But on the plus side, they have Suzanne Snyder along with them.  As you can imagine, she can't carry a whole commentary by herself, seeing as how she only has roughly 20 seconds of screentime in this.  But she has some good memories and a good attitude, so the three of them provide an easy listening experience, even if we're not learning anything new at this point.

And while they still don't have Umbrella's Creator Of the Creeps, they've conducted their own exclusive interview with Dekker called A New Breed of Terror, which runs just about as long.  And while they've ditched the theatrical cut, they did throw in that ending as a deleted scene.  This new release comes in a slipcover, too, which is better than those old ugly covers, but as good as the classic artwork from their last slip.  You could get a second, alternate slipcover (but it's worse) if you ordered it direct from Shout, which also would've netted you two posters and yes, another 8" Detective Cameron action figure, this time decked out in his white formal-wear dance attire from the famous dream sequence.

So yeah, we can no longer complain that Night Of the Creeps isn't well represented on home video.  I didn't recommend replacing your Sony blu for the Umbrella just for their one featurette, but now in 2025, there's no question which is the definitive version, and I think we've progressed enough now that it's worth upgrading to the UHD.  Getting both cuts in 4k would've been ideal, but this is the next best thing, with the preferable cut in 4k, the alternate ending as an extra, the most features and both audio tracks.