Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 5, 2021

Note: This film is available as part of The Dungeon of Andy Milligan.

Lovers of what might be charitably termed Grade Z Cinema have had a number of outstanding releases by a variety of labels over the past few years. Arrow has offered fans surprisingly deluxe-ified (that's a word, I insist) editions of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast and Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection, among others, while Severin Films has gotten into exploring this decidedly odd nook and/or cranny with releases like Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection. Severin's back with more, um, "masterpieces" with this inventively packaged homage to the late Andy Milligan, a kinda sorta auteur whose professional life had more than its fair share of hurdles, and whose personal life unfortunately ended up not being much better. The 14 films (with one bonus film in HD, Toga Party) aggregated in this set are exploitation outings at their "finest" (?), which means those with more patrician tastes are probably well advised to steer completely clear of this release. Those with grittier sensibilities will find some at times oddly entertaining movies and Severin's usual supply of appealing supplements.

In some ways, Nightbirds is one of the outliers in the Andy Milligan set from Severin. While many of Milligan's films had a horror aspect and were ostensibly set in bygone periods (though somewhat variably even within any given film, as some of the commentaries included on various discs get into), Nightbirds is a contemporary drama that is in essence a "two hander" documenting a somewhat bizarre relationship between a guy named Dink (Milligan regular Berwick Kaler) and a gorgeous if somewhat odd blonde named Dee (Julie Shaw). There's a rather interesting power struggle simmering just beneath the surface between these two which slowly becomes more overt, and the film has a kind of dreamlike (nightmarish?) quality that tends to play out in a series of sometimes slightly disjunctive vignettes.

Nightbirds might make for a fascinating double feature with a lesser remembered effort from Robert Altman, That Cold Day in the Park, which would have been a relatively recent release when Milligan was shooting this. Both films offer what amount to homeless men being (supposedly?) cared for by a woman, and both explore some rather roiling psychological waters which results in eventual behavioral fragmentation. Anyone who tends to consign Milligan to near Ed Wood levels of absurdity might be rather shocked at some of the visceral energy Nightbirds offers.

Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nightbirds is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Severin's booklet included with this release has the following information on the transfer:

Nightbirds and The Body Beneath are 2K restoration sourced from their 16mm original camera reversal elements.

While there is some attendant age related wear and tear on display throughout this presentation, this was to my eyes one of the more consistent looking transfers in the Milligan set, offering a nice organic accounting of the 16mm source. The black and white photography is rather evocative in a gritty urban way a lot of the time and is rendered here with generally solid contrast and appealing detail levels. Milligan's challenges in the framing and focus pulling departments are occasionally on display.

Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps due to the fact that so much of Nightbirds plays out as "two hander" scenes in confined quarters, this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track struck me, much like the video component, as one of the more consistent presentations in this set. There's still the same sort of (in this case relatively) slight brightness in the upper registers that may bother some (or lead them to their equalizer, if they have one), but on the whole, dialogue is rendered cleanly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 5:53) is long enough I kind of jokingly wondered if it was the 8mm home movie version.


• Audio Commentary with Actor Berwick Kaler and Film Historian Stephen Thrower

Nightbirds Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is one of the more interesting Milligan films in this set, perhaps because it doesn't attempt to meld interpersonal dysfunctions with more outright horror tropes. There are still some of the usual misfires that tend to accompany many Milligan films, but performances are generally good and the film has a really interesting vignette driven structure. While certainly not at 5 star levels, technical merits are relatively intact, and the commentary track very enjoyable, for those who are considering making a purchase.