The Vampires Night Orgy, Still Featuring Zero Orgies

Why do I love pitting Mill Creek against Code Red so much? I think because you know there's going to be a really sizable difference, and that's always fun. This isn't one of those, "no, if you magnify the actress's hair to 300%, you can see the compression is slightly better in the shadows" situations. I mean, those are worth doing, too, if you're trying to decide between two recent releases, and I already know I've got some close call blu-ray vs. blu-ray comparisons coming up. But tonight I'm looking for something drastic. Tonight I'm looking at Code Red's brand new HD transfer of The Vampires Night Orgy versus Mill Creek's release included in their Pure Terror 50(!) movie DVD pack.

Update 12/21/15 - 10/19/25: VNO upgraded to 4k?!  Well, it's a 4k scan on a 1080p disc, but still - who'da thunk it?  And it's almost (not quite) as drastic a comparison.

Don't let the title fool you; there's no orgy in this movie. It's not a campy movie, it's not a softcore sex movie, and it's light-years away from Nudist Colony Of the Dead or any of those similarly outrageously titled flicks. It's actually an earnest, serious, genuinely creepy and atmospheric horror movie. You can't blame shady American distributors for saddling it with an inappropriate cash-in title, though; it's a direct translation of the film's original Spanish title, La orgía nocturna de los vampiros. But it's actually a fairly smart, subtle film. It's not full of gore or special effects at all, but it's still tightly paced and thoroughly engaging. The dubbing doesn't do it any favors, but the best performances still shine through, and the story itself pulls off being both scary and fun as a group of tourists find out the small village they're staying in is populated entirely by vampires.

Vampires Night is another film by Leon Klimovsky, a film he made in 1974, shortly before The People Who Own the Dark, so it makes sense that Code Red was currently selling the two blus as part of the same bundle of brand new releases. Code Red had previously released it on DVD in 2013 as a double bill with another Klimovsky film, Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf. Before that, it had been languishing in unenforced copyright hell on tons of public domain DVD releases, including of course, Mill Creek's. But now that Code Red is sadly no longer with us, who but Vinegar Syndrome has picked up the mantle, restoring this film to 4k in a 3-disc set of Spanish horror, along with Demon Witch Child and Paul Naschy's Curse Of the Devil.

1) 2010 Mill Creek DVD; 2) 2015 Code Red BD; 3) 2024 Vinegar Syndrome BD.

Give Mill Creek credit; they preserved the film's 2.35:1 aspect ratio.  Well, almost.  It's 2:30:1; and Code Red's is 2.34:1.  That's a pleasant surprise.  But before we get carried away, it's non-anamorphic (I left the negative space around the second Mill Creek shot so you can see) and looks like mud. Also the colors are washed, and it has a little less picture on all four sides. Code Red's blu is infinitely crisper, more colorful and detailed.  On Mill Creek's disc, it's hard to tell what's happening in the night scenes, which is rough because creeping around at night is more than half of this picture. But on Code Red's blu you really appreciate how well lit the night scenes are; it's actually very impressive.  And Vinegar Syndrome's new 4k scan is another leap forward.  The colors are much more natural (Code Red's is very blue), and for the record, it's exactly 2.35:1, and there's even more detail in the shadowed areas.  This was scanned from the original 35mm camera negative; and I'd guess Code Red was taken from a print.

Code Red bumps up Mill Creek's English mono track to DTS-HD, and it's clear and robust for the most part, but the music suffers and breaks up at high volume points.  The music definitely takes a hit.  It sounds better on VS's DTS-HD track, but it's still a little rough, which is probably more down to the film itself rather than the disc.

More excitingly, Vinegar Syndrome has also included the original Spanish audio, also in DTS-HD.  The sound on this one is a little less tinny.  But more importantly, we finally get both language options.  And VS has included two sets of subtitles: a faithful translation of the original Spanish track and one that transcribes the English dub.

Extras-wise, there had never been anything but the theatrical trailer, though it's kind of a fun one, so worth I'm glad they included it. Mill Creek, of course, has nothing.

But now Vinegar Syndrome has walked onto the field, things are different.  First and foremost is an interview with star Jack Taylor.  He reminds us this was over fifty years ago and he's starred in many movies, so unfortunately he doesn't have too many memories to share.  But he still has a few interesting things to say, and it's definitely nice to hear from him.  Next up is expert Ángel Sala, who gives us a casual backstory of this film's history, though it's obvious he hasn't watched this film in a long time, stating that we don't know why Fernando Bilbao's character is killing people, even though it's spelled out explicitly multiple times in the story.  And finally we have Victor Matellano, a contemporary Spanish horror director who fills in some more historical details, bolstered by the fact that he's actually met Klimovsky.  All told, it's about 45 minutes worth of stuff that's definitely worth the watch, especially since this film is so little known.  Disappointingly, VS has dropped the trailer, but they offer reversible cover art that incorporates all three films in the set.

One last point is that while there's no orgy in this film, there are a few bits of nudity. Apparently, there is an alternate version where those scenes were re-shot with clothing, so they could sell it in different markets. Although even the clothed version has a bit of nudity in it (the peeping tom scene at about the 37 minute mark). But still, fans always want to know, is this the clothed or unclothed version of the film? Well, I'm happy to report both the Code Red and Vinegar Syndrome blus have the nude scenes.  It's a bit of a shame VS didn't include the clothed scenes as an extra, since they did that for another film in their set, but we can use the Mill Creek DVD to see the difference:

Ultimately, I'd recommend this movie to pretty much anyone. I'd always passed over the film because of its title and it didn't seem to have many people speaking up for it. I was half expecting some kind of cheapo Wrestling Women Vs. The Aztec Mummy piece of junk, but it's actually a quite well-crafted traditional horror movie with some surprises, fantastic locations and fun moments. The way the townspeople swarm on a victim is sometimes almost like a zombie movie. And Vinegar Syndrome has definitely come up with the best edition of the film to date, treating all three films in its set with the most respect, so this is a great one to roll the dice on and blind buy.