Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, Vamp and The Hills Have Eyes.
The first thing I noticed about these DVDs is that they open with old school original trailers for other movies in the Midnight Madness Series. This made me extremely happy. I'm a sucker for trailers and seeing these older ones brought me back to my youth of renting all sorts of scary movies from the local video store. Still I haven't seen half of the movies in the Midnight Madness Line so it's a safe bet that I'll be buying all of them, DVD and blu-ray.
The blu-ray portion of the series is kicked off with some pretty high profile titles including Hellraiser, Children of the Corn, Dead Heat and the titles we're covering below.
First up is the sequel to one of the scariest movies of all time, Hellraiser. This time we learn more about the infamous puzzle box and go right to hell itself in Hellbound: Hellraiser 2.
Hellraiser 2 debuts on blu-ray with an unrated version and unfortunately not much else. I love the movie and really wish we could have gotten some special features with it. I might have to dig down through my old Anchor Bay dvds for any supplements.
As far as picture goes, it's not perfect as it should be. There is grain, some muddy spots but to be honest, I kinda like my classics not looking perfect. It adds character, makes you remember that these are the good old boys of horror and not the new school of (mostly) lame movies.
Fortunately, the movie overcomes the faulty picture. I enjoyed revisiting the movie as I hadn't seen it in a few years. It really is one of my favorite horror sequels and I'm glad to finally have it on blu-ray.
I'll give the movie 10/10 but the lack of any special features, despite the awesome trailers that precede the film, means the blu-ray gets a 6/10.
Still great for a scare though!
Speaking of old school Wes Craven's first film also makes its debut on Blu-ray. I had actually never seen this one before but I did enjoy it. It's pretty dated and the picture on the blu-ray is extremely grainy. We're talking about a movie that's over 35 years old and probably spent a lot of the time in a can somewhere. I don't know that anyone really thought to keep a movie about cannibalistic desert people in pristine condition. Still, considering, it looks rather well.
The Hills Have Eyes disc is the only one of the three we're talking about that has any special features and it has a lot. Audio commentary, 2 featurettes, alternate ending, trailers, tv spots, behind-the-scenes photos and much more. It makes you wonder why they loaded up this release but not the others. It was interested to see the much talked about alternate ending which is a little touchy feely for the movie to be honest.
The recent remake sticks pretty close to this one, actually it expands upon it, so if you saw that you'll know what to expect here. It's still a rather intense and fun little film. To think Wes Craven followed up with the awful Last House on the Left is a little mind boggling.
I personally love horror movies about creepy people living in the wild who attack unsuspecting people and The Hills Have Eyes fits that perfectly.
The Hills Have Eyes gets a solid 8/10!
Lastly is a little gem I have never heard of before. A stripper vampire movie with Grace Jones (who doesn't have a single line if I'm not mistaken). How I'd never heard of this is beyond me but I know I liked it. Vamp!
It's not particularly scary. It's more of a camp type horror so you'll have more fun watching it than the desire to check over your shoulder. The picture is pretty gorgeous. Really a nice transfer. The best of the bunch so far. Unfortunately, no special features for this one either which is a shame. I'd have enjoyed some kind of supplements for the film.
If you're looking for something that is going to scare you, Vamp isn't what you want. Still, there is fun to be had in this flick that really screams 80s. It would make for a fun time yelling out jokes while you watch it. You do get a bit of everything with this. Nudity, gore, 80s comedy, 80s hair, Grace Jones turning into an insane looking vamp.
Definitely worth the watch.
Vamp pulls an 8/10 from me. I only wish there were some features to go along with it.
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, Vamp, and The Hills Have Eyes are available now.
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