Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

One Dark Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 16, 2021

The MVD Rewind Collection is living up to its name in more ways than one, by revisiting this 1983 film that has also had a prior release on Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red. This intermittently spooky offering traffics in the hoary plot trope of an innocent having to spend the night in a "haunted" location, though in this case, the poor potential victim isn't aware that the place is haunted, at least initially. Meg Tilly portrays a high school girl named Julie Wells who, in a perhaps misguided attempt to be accepted by the "Mean Girls" at her place of learning, accepts a "dare" to camp out at the local mausoleum. Unfortunately for Julie and the girls who are trying to play a prank on her, there's a malevolent spirit on the loose with telekinetic powers. Can Julie's hunky boyfriend come to the rescue in time? What do you think?

As stated above, One Dark Night had a previous release on Blu-ray in 2017 by Code Red (that is now going for some pretty substantial pocket change). My colleague Brian Orndorf's One Dark Night Blu-ray review is a great resource not just for a plot summary, but in depth descriptions of many of the Code Red supplements, all of which look like they've been ported over to this release. Screenshot comparisons are also encouraged for those interested in seeing any differences between the two releases.

One Dark Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

One Dark Night is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the MVD Rewind Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. (Interestingly, and perhaps saliently, Code Red also is listed on the back cover.) There's no technical data that I could see on the cover, and I'm assuming this was culled from the same element and/or master as the Code Red release, as judging solely by screenshots, the two look extremely similar if not outright identical. In that regard, however, it's kind of interesting that Brian's review states that the Code Red version came with a preliminary warning about the shape of the elements, while this one doesn't. Also, in the latest iteration of my mantra "different reviewers means different opinions", I'm not quite as forgiving as Brian was of some of this presentation's issues, which include noticeable and at times pretty bad damage (see screenshot 19), but also recurrent frame instability (beyond even what looks like "normal" telecine wobble), as well as a few other anomalies like occasional warping. The palette looks reasonably secure throughout, though densities tends to ebb and flow, seemingly without a lot of "logic" (e.g., some scenes at the school look nicely vivid, while others appear fairly wan and, comparatively speaking at least, desaturated). Detail levels are still often commendable, with things like the fine ribbing on Adam West's sweater or even some of the make-up effects offering precise renderings of various items.

One Dark Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One Dark Night features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that sounds (no pun intended) like it's more or less the same as what Brian described on the Code Red release. There's some age related wear here, and due to some of the variations seen in the video presentation, with audio showing a bit of damage at some of the same places the video is especially weathered looking, I'm wondering if different elements had to be utilized to cobble things together. That said, the track doesn't offer any huge obstacles, and dialogue is rendered cleanly. There's a bit of crackling that accompanies some of the low end effects. Optional English subtitles are available.

One Dark Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with co-writer/director Tom McLoughlin and producer Michael Schroeder can be accessed under the Setup Menu. This is an enjoyable chat with the two discussing their "adventures" early in their careers. I'm assuming this is the same commentary track listed in Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review.

• Audio Commentary with co-writer/director Tom McLoughlin and co-writer Michael Hawes can be accessed under the Setup Menu. This is another interesting listen and has some fun anecdotes, including how McLoughlin had to coach Adam West not to fall into Batman: The Complete Series speech patterns. As above, I'm assuming this is the same commentary track listed in Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review.

• Cast and Crew Interviews include:

  Interview with co-writer/director Tom McLoughlin (HD; 16:15). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with actress E.G. Daily (HD; 32:03). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with actress Nancy Mott (McLoughlin) (HD; 10:53). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with cinematographer Hal Trussell (HD; 18:15). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with production designer Craig Stearns (HD; 10:40). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with producer Michael Schroeder (HD; 14:42). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.

  
  

  Interview with FX crew member Paul Clemens (HD; 17:07) reveals a bit of an authoring boo boo. If you click on the link for this interview in the Cast and Crew Interviews menu, you'll actually get the Schroeder interview, directly above. You can access this by clicking the Play All option and then chapter skipping ahead to this final chapter. For information on the "actual" Clemens interview, see Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review.

• Behind the Scenes Footage (SD; 38;53) has some fun candid stuff that fans will enjoy.


• The Paul Clemens Scrapbook (HD; 3:28). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.


• Alternate Director's Cut / Work Print Version (SD; 1:29:55). See Brian's One Dark Night Blu-ray review for more information.


• Trailers includes One Dark Night (Trailer) (HD; 2:16) and One Dark Night (TV Spot) (SD; 00:29), along with trailers for other releases from the MVD Rewind Collection.

Additionally this new release also offers a slipcover, a reversible sleeve for the keepcase insert, and a folded mini-poster housed in the keepcase.

One Dark Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As Brian gets into in his One Dark Night Blu-ray review, One Dark Night takes a while to "get there", but once mayhem starts seeping through the cracks of the mausoleum, the film manages to work up sufficient amounts of angst. For such a lowly budgeted feature, the effects are surprisingly good (and listening to the commentary tracks provides some interesting information on how the filmmakers were able to overcome budgetary constraints to provide some decent scares). With the Code Red release going to considerable dough, those with an interest in this film will find this release a welcome "rewind" addition. Technical merits encounter some passing obstacles, but the supplementary package is outstanding. With caveats noted, Recommended.