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.

Piranha 1, People 0

Ever since doing Halloween 3, I've been eager to take a look at another one of Scream Factory's 4k steelbook reissues.  I already explained it there, but in brief, Scream's been re-releasing a lot of their titles in steelbooks, and most of them are the same discs in new packaging.  But a couple times, they've used the steelbook as a happy excuse to also create a fresh 4k scan of the film.  Double-dips can be a pain, unless you're "money is no object" rich, but restorations are always a good thing, and restorations of one of Joe Dante's horror classics are even better!  Plus, it has been almost ten years since the previous edition, so that's not too excessive.

Update 9/8/19 - 11/6/22: Sure, Update Week is for updating articles with older, missing discs.  But what am I gonna do when a new release comes out during Update Week?  Not add it 'till afterwards?  Madness.  Scream Factory's new UHD release of Piranha came out out and I've got it right here.

1978's Piranha is, obviously, a Jaws rip-off.  But it's also distinctly its own thing.  There are actually more films in Roger Corman's official Piranha franchise (five) than in Jaws' (four).  Certainly, it apes a lot of Jaws' selling points, i.e. it's selling the unsettling scares drawn from the lethal sea-life that's lurking beneath the surface while we swim.  And the conflict between the protagonists trying to get the business man to cancel the grand opening of his water park, but who refuses despite the risks to the public is a total rehash of Roy Scheider trying to get the mayor to close the beach on the fourth of July weekend.  But it has a draw and appealing aspects that Jaws doesn't.  It has Dante's unique sense of humor, a rambunctious plot by John Sayles and a delightful cast of character actors including Bradford Dillman (Compulsion, the Dirty Harry movies), Dick Miller, Paul Bartel, Barbara Steele, Kevin McCarthy, The Dick Van Dyke Show's Richard Deacon and Keenan Wynn.  It certainly references and echoes Jaws in a lot of ways, just like a billion other knock-offs have done, but this is also a very different viewing experience.  This is a Joe Dante movie.

Piranha's had plenty of home video releases on disc.  Even limiting it just to the US, there was an initial DVD in 1999, which was already replaced by 2000, and has been repackaged in several variant covers in a short amount of time.  There's the "plain" Roger Corman Classics cover, the burgundy band Roger Corman Classics cover, the Director's Series gold-framed cover, and then in 2003, a Roger Corman Classics boxed set that includes Piranha alongside three other films.  They all seem to be the same 20th anniversary special edition disc, however, released by New Concorde with a nice collection of extras but a fullscreen presentation.  We didn't get a real, substantive change until 2010, when Shout Factory took it into the HD age.  This was before they had the Scream Factory, so they just released this under a Roger Corman's Cult Classics collection.  This edition was finally widescreen and included additional features.  And then, in 2019, they upgraded it again as a Scream Factory steelbook with a fresh 4k scan of the original camera negative and the most extras ever.  The most, that is, until 2022, when Scream released it again as an all new BD/ UHD combo-pack with an even fresher 4k scan, and more extras.  Or, at least, one more extra.

1) 2010 Shout; 2) 2019 SF BD; 3) 2022 SF BD; 4) 2022 SF UHD.

What we have here is a subtle but easily appreciated series of upgrades.  The colors are a little flatter on the 2019 edition, but they look more natural than the older disc, which looks like they just artificially boosted the saturation.  Still, I could see someone preferring and even making a decent case for the older disc's colors.  But that's the only area where it can compete.  The aspect ratio has been corrected from 1.78:1 to 1.85:1, and that's just not adding mattes.  The 2019 scan actually has additional picture information on all four sides, although the bulk of it is on the left and right.  The hazy over-exposure in some of the exteriors (think of McCarthy on the lake) are to some degree just baked into the film itself, but it's definitely toned down and looks better in the second version.  Grain (which is barely visible on the old disc) and detail were much more clearly captured; you could finally read the "US" on the Colonel's lapel.  Considering they're both technically the same resolution BD discs, it's a very satisfying boost in clarity.

But now we get to jump to a whole new resolution: a 3840p UHD, with Dolby Vision/ HDR to boot.  And it should be noted this release boasts a new 2022 restoration.  I was expecting the 2019 version just slapped on a higher res disc with HDR, but no, this is apparently another, even newer scan.  Indeed, the 1080p BD included in the 2022 set is itself visibly different than the 2019 disc.  It's darker and the colors are ever so slightly more separated.  Minor damage, light the white fleck right behind Dillman's butt in the first set of shots has been removed.  The grain is better rendered.  And then of course, that's even better on the UHD, with edges benefiting the most, where jagged edges of pixelation on the BD are turned into smooth, natural curves.  And the colors are stronger, in a few scenes I thought perhaps a little too much; but for the most part they're perfectly natural and breathe more life into the film. 

Every edition covered here provides lossless versions of the original mono audio track, but the original blu lacked subtitles, which the subsequent editions add.  So that's a welcome touch as well.

The original DVD provided some of the best extras, and thankfully they've all been ported over to both blus.  We get a terrific audio commentary by Dante and producer Jon Davison, who thankfully remember everything.  They're very funny and not afraid to acknowledge the film's shortcomings, but they also have a ton of information about all aspects of the production and an appreciation for all the finer points.  Never a dull moment.  These guys also then provide some additional commentary over some behind the scenes footage.  Then there's some deleted scenes and outtakes and of course the trailer, plus a booklet.  Then, Shout added some nice additional bonuses in 2010, including a slicker retrospective featurette and extra scenes shot for the television version.  They also add some extra galleries, a TV spot, radio spot and even the Trailers From Hell version of the trailer by Jon Davison.

Now, the 2019 steelbook unfortunately ditches the booklet, but more than make up for it with a new, second audio commentary by Roger Corman himself.  This isn't as good as the Dante/ Davison one, and disappointingly, he doesn't really comment on Piranha at all.  Instead, this is an in-depth career overview where the moderator interviews Corman about himself, walking him chronologically through every step of his career.  Fortunately, Corman's a fascinating guy and a charming talker, so it's an interesting listen (especially if you've never seen the Corman's World documentary) even if they neglect the film at hand.  Anyway, I don't think Corman could've added much to the thorough features the film already had.

And the new 2022 release?  It has everything from the previous releases, plus an all new on-camera interview with Dante.  Now, Dante already has his commentary, he's interviewed in the retrospective and he comments on the behind-the-scenes footage.  So he's already quite prominently featured.  If I could've picked one person from the film to wrangle up for an interview on this disc, it wouldn't be him.  But on the other hand, Dante's always fun to listen to, and this is a fun, well shot and tightly edited piece.  So it's a nice addition, just nothing amazing.  This release also comes in a slip cover and features reversible artwork.  And if you ordered directly from Shout's website, you could have also sprung for an additional 18"x24" rolled poster and a limited edition (1000 copies) set of 5 enamel pins.

So I hope nobody feels too put out double-dipping in 2019 and triple-dipping this year.  By 2018 or so, you have to expect almost every film remastered in 4k for 1080p BD will return in Ultra HD, and it's actually a sad thing that some won't.  You have to credit Shout/ Scream, too, for remastering the film another time, and commissioning a new interview with Dante, to give us a little more bang for our UHD buck.  Three versions across a twelve year span isn't so outrageous, and we come out with a new, definitive Piranha.  Who wouldn't want that?

Abrahams & the Zuckers Week, Day 3: Police Squad!

Today's entry may not be in the Paramount Presents line like Airplane!, but it's still an unexpected release from their back catalog I was delighted to see.  2020 has also turned out to be the year Police Squad! debuts on blu, the television project Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker tackled directly after Airplane! in 1982.  Of course, their entree to America's small screens didn't turn out to be the success their smash hit on the silver screen had set them up for.  But thankfully reruns and home video have allowed us to reevaluate.

Because this series certainly was soundly rejected upon its first arrival.  ABC cancelled Police Squad! after only four episodes.  The final two episodes, already filmed, eventually aired with summer reruns.  But besides the anecdotal evidence that I happen to think it's brilliant (although that should be enough for everyone), I think the fact that it was still nominated for two Emmys, and went on to spin off into a series of beloved feature films, speaks to the fact that there's something special happening here.

Leslie Nielson is back, this time in lead role of Dt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad, "a division of the Los Angeles police department," parodying M Squad and similarly stiff cop shows of the 50s and 60s.  It's Airplane! except instead of airport disaster movies (and a lot of Zero Hour!) it's cops, with the exact same style of puns, sight gags and non-stop one-liners.  But here I think it's even a little stronger, perhaps because it's more focused, tackling individual 25-minute mysteries rather than having to stretch to an entire feature with outside film parodies (i.e. the Saturday Night Fever, From Here To Eternity material, which feel like mismatching sources), or maybe it's just the inherently satisfying "murder of the week" formula that's been the appeal of countless police procedurals for decades.

Of course, what really matters most is that the writers consistently pack a wealth of clever material into each episode and the cast is ideal.  And fun fact: two of the episodes are directed by none other than Joe Dante, which yes, also means you can expect a fun supporting role for Dick Miller.  They also took on additional writers to help keep the ideas flowing, including regular collaborator Pat Proft, their frequent producer Robert K. Weiss and most surprisingly, Batman's Robert Wuhl.  Even with all the extra hands on deck, the show does rely on a lot of recycled gags in its very short lifetime (there's running gags, and then there's just recycling the same ideas over and over), so one wonders how well the series would've borne out had it lasted for multiple, full seasons.  But (un)fortunately, we'll never find out.  We've just got these six strong episodes.

Police Squad! debuted on DVD back in 2006 as a fairly decked out special edition, making it a compelling reason to replace your VHS tapes or laserdiscs.  It was repackaged in a DVD boxed set with the Naked Gun films not too long ago, but there's only been the one, basic disc.  And if you'd asked me to name a series that was likely to languish on DVD forever, Police Squad! might not have been my first pick, but it would've been up there.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see it hit blu-ray in 2020, first in Australia via Via Vision, and then here in America, direct from Paramount and CBS.

2006 US Paramount DVD top; 2020 US Paramount BD bottom.

I've read complaints that they didn't restore the series and create new masters.  This means we're essentially looking at the same thing, except in HD instead of SD.  The 1.33:1 framing is exactly the same, the color timing's all the same, etc.  There is a very slight vertical stretching that's corrected, which means the blu has slivers more information along the top and bottom, but it's literally two pixels difference each.  I'll take it, but it's not exactly a mind-blowing enhancement.  More noticeable, at least, is the increase in clarity that comes with the high definition.  The image is distinctly sharper, detail like small print is easier to discern, and we can actually see the film grain.  It's a little blocky, but looks surprisingly good given the presumed age of the master.  Perhaps the biggest benefit, though, is that the DVD was interlaced, which the blu-ray handily fixes.

Surprisingly, the DVD actually gave us the choice between the original mono tracks and new 5.1 remixes.  Seems a bit excessive, but as long as they've preserved the original audio, hey why not?  They also included optional English subtitles, so there was really nothing to complain about.  And happily, the blu-rays have kept everything from the DVD: both sound options and the subtitles; they even bumped the 5.1 mixes up to DTS-HD.  But the mono tracks, unfortunately, are lossy.  According to online specs, however, both audio tracks are lossless on the Australian Via Vision discs, so it might be worth considering the import.

Speaking of keeping everything from the DVD, the Paramount blu-ray also hangs onto all the extras (and for the record, so does the Via Vision).  Three of the episodes have commentaries: two by Abrahams, the Zuckers and Robert Weiss, and one by Robert Wuhl.  There's a just under ten-minute interview with Leslie Nielsen, amusingly clearly shot at the same time as his Airplane! "Long Haul" interview, as he's sitting in the same airplane seats.  And there's a neat collection of fun, short odds and ends, including a brief look at some footage shot to tie the episodes together for a planned Police Squad! movie (not to be confused with Naked Gun, this would've just edited the episodes together into a feature-length film), audition footage, a gag reel and a photo gallery.

So it's far from cutting edge, but this is still a very welcome and unexpected upgrade.  And believe it or not, this and Airplane! aren't even the only Abrahams/ Zucker catalog titles to get revisited in HD in 2020.  But before we get to that, I've gotta talk about these Naked Gun movies...