Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie Review

Run for Your Lives! It's a MUSICAL!!

Reviewed by Michael Reuben July 9, 2014

Do not insert the Blu-ray of Stage Fright into your player expecting a slasher film, whether frightening, comedic or just plain gruesome. Writer/director Jerome Sable does supply some bloody scenes, but these are almost incidental. His target audience are musical theater fans, the kind who will notice the posters on the wall in the background of the dining room at the Center Stage theater camp for shows called Arkansas! and Bette Midler on the Roof and won't need to have the jokes explained. The same audience will also instantly recognize the leading lady's audition piece as a quotation from The Phantom of the Opera, from which Sable has cheerfully lifted the cursed musical at the heart of his story. Just as Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running hit broke new ground by transforming a horror classic into musical theater, so does Sable want to give Gleeks the experience of being bathed in blood—in harmony. He no doubt understands that hardcore horror fans would rather be mangled by Jason Voorhees than sit through an hour of Stephen Sondheim.

While Sable's effort retains the rough edges of a first-time outing (it might have benefitted from further script development), it's entertaining for its sheer novelty. The film also gains credibility from the presence of Meat Loaf, who became iconic as Eddy in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of the first musical films to smash genre boundaries. In the pivotal role of Center Stage's owner and manager, Meat Loaf understands exactly where to pitch his performance between serious and over-the-top, and he sets an example that the younger cast members follow with enthusiasm.

In the film's prologue, a great Broadway diva, Kylie Swanson (Minnie Driver), is triumphing on stage as Sofia, the lead part in a new musical, The Haunting of the Opera. Her manager and producer, Roger McCall (Meat Loaf), is thrilled, and her young children, twins Camilla and Buddy (Ella Querin and Brian Bridger), think their mommy is wonderful. (The inside joke, of course, is that Driver actually appeared in the film version of The Phantom of the Opera.)

But someone isn't thrilled by Kylie Swanson's success. A figure masked like the Opera Ghost in the play stabs her to death on what should be her greatest night. Ten years later, Roger McCall is barely scraping by, his career in show business reduced to running Center Stage, a theater camp where young hopefuls spend their summers among the similarly inclined, putting on plays and secure from the bullies who consider them weirdos. As the buses arrive for the current season, the cheerful campers express their happy anticipation by (what else?) bursting into song ("Where We Belong").

Camilla and Buddy (now played by Allie MacDonald and Douglas Smith) work in Center Stage's kitchen. Buddy would like nothing better than for both of them to get away from Roger, who has raised them since their mother's death, and do something on their own, far from show business. But Camilla has inherited her mother's voice, and when she learns that Roger plans to revive The Haunting of the Opera for Center Stage's showcase production, she becomes obsessed with singing her mother's part of Sofia. (Roger, as we shortly learn, has his own motives for staging this particular show.)

Camilla's quest for her mother's former role unleashes multiple layers of backstage drama, including an unrequited crush from the audition supervisor, Joel (Kent Nolan), who puts Camilla on the list even though she's technically not eligible, because she's not a camper; a vicious rivalry with the camp's reigning diva, Liz (Melanie Leishman), who thinks the part belongs to her; and a casting couch combat with the play's director, Artie (Brandon Uranowitz). Watching this all from the wings is a mysterious figure wearing the kabuki-style mask that the props department has designed for Artie's new vision of The Haunting of the Opera. Whoever this figure is, he or she professes a hatred of musical theater and is always accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack. (Anyone familiar with Phantom of the Paradise should immediately be reminded of that early Brian De Palma cult classic.) Is this the same killer who murdered Camilla's mother? A copycat? A red herring? A publicity stunt dreamed up by Roger, who has invited a major Broadway producer to the show's opening?

Stage Fright takes its time building up to a grandly bloody finale (although a few individuals are dispatched mid-film, just as a reminder that there are fragments of a horror film buried in here somewhere). Even then, however, director Sable can't resist playing off the mayhem against music hall slapstick that becomes ever more outlandish as the production's manager, David (Thomas Alderson), struggles vainly to keep the show going on, even as the players continue to disappear. Sable even takes the time to set up an elaborate reference to one of the most famous horror films of the modern era (I won't spoil anything by naming it), only to have the setup pay off as a punchline (and a pretty good one, too).

The ending of Stage Fright is pure show business tale, as someone gets their Big Break. But the ending also has a horror aftertaste, because something doesn't seem quite right, as if the murder spree might not yet be over.

Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cinematographer Bruce Chun (Dead Like Me: Life After Death) shot Stage Fright on the Arri Alexa. On the commentary track, director Sable praises Chun's ability to capture effective and artistic shots in the real locations where the film was made. Chun was no doubt aided by post-production on a digital intermediate, where densities, shadows, brightness and contrast can be adjusted.

Magnolia Home Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, which was presumably sourced from digital files, provides a superior image, sharply focused with plenty of fine detail, even in long shots of large crowds of campers at Center Stage all performing a spontaneous song-and-dance number (or swarming the camp office in fear). Colors are slightly intensified beyond realistic, so that the red of blood is especially red, and all of the theatrical campers wear outfits that broadcast "Look at me!" Black levels and contrast are appropriately set, which is especially important for early scenes involving the "traditional" Opera Ghost and later ones involving the same figure with a kabuki makeover.

Although the film is only 88 minutes, Magnolia has used a BD-50. Even with all the extras in HD, the average bitrate is a healthy 30.01 Mbps, which ensures a superior image without artifacts.

Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stage Fright's 5.1 mix, presented on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA, does full justice to the musical numbers, which were sung and recorded live on set by the performers. The orchestra, whether present during an onscreen performance or invisible in the style of a traditional movie musical, plays with full dynamic range and fine fidelity, using the entire speaker array for depth and presence. The rock numbers have an appropriate shriek and snap. The dialogue is clear, although the sung lyrics require more than a single listening to pick up every word. (Alternatively, one can use the "Sing-Along" extra; see below under Supplements.) All of the music and lyrics were composed by Sable and his co-writer, Eli Batalion, who appears in the film as conductor and music master of the Center Stage orchestra.

Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Writer/Director/Co-Composer Jerome Sable and Co-Composer Eli Batalion: The co-writers and long-time friends laugh and joke throughout their commentary, but they also point out many production details along the way, as well as relating tales from the set, including working with Meat Loaf and Minnie Driver, both of whom they considered real catches for filmmakers making their first feature. The pair knows their horror classics well enough to cite obscure details from John Carpenter films, but if there was any doubt that their first love is musical theater, this commentary will lay it to rest.



• The Making of Stage Fright (1080p; 1.78:1; 9:18): The film's producers, Mark Lantos and Jonas Bell Pasht, get their chance to talk about the film. Meat Loaf and Minnie Driver are also interviewed, along with star Allie MacDonald and other cast members.



• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.40:1; 3:43)
• Camilla on Broadway
• X Marks the Spot



• In Memory of a Fallen Camper (1080p; 2.40:1; 1:59): As the opening titles note, some campers were "killed" by the filmmakers when their scenes were removed during editing. This compilation of scenes from the cutting room floor resurrects Bethany (Steffi DiDomenicantonio), a camper who believes she's Liza Minnelli incarnate.



• The Evolution of the Set Design (1080p; 2.40:1; 1:38): A series of conceptual paintings by production designer Oleg M. Savytski, alternating with scenes from the film.



• Stage Fright Sing-Along (1080p; 2.40:1; 17:59): A "play all" feature is included. The individual songs can be selected, with subtitles engaged and a bouncing ball (with the killer's masked face) leading the viewer through the lyrics.
• "Where We Belong"
• "Where We Belong" (Reprise)
• "Sofia's Aria"
• "The Show Must Carry On"
• "Teatro Firenze"
• "Metal Killer's Revenge"
• "Exit Stage Fright"



• Interview with Writer/Director/Co-Composer Jerome Sable and Co-Composer Eli Batalion (1080p; 1.78:1; 17:07): This interview supplements the commentary with additional history of the collaborators' work, including their previous short film, and their influences.



• AXS TV: A Look at Stage Fright (1080p; 2.40:1; 2:57): This is a typical AXS TV promo, in which the trailer is expanded with interview clips from various sources, primarily the "Making of" featurette listed above.



• Trailer (1080p; 2.40:1; 2:08).



• Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment: The disc includes trailers for Nymphomaniac: Volume I, Filth, The Protector 2 and The Sacrament, as well as promos for the Chideo web service and AXS TV. These also play at startup, where they can be skipped with the chapter forward button.



• BD-Live: As of this writing, attempting to access BD-Live gave the message "Check back for updates".

Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While not a masterpiece, Stage Fright is a promising beginning for Jerome Sable and shows both an inventive irreverence and a deep affection for everything being parodied. All of the best takeoffs are done with love. Otherwise, how would someone know the subject well enough to tweak it effectively? But once again, most of the jokes in Stage Fright are at the expense of theater geeks and musicals. If those subjects set your teeth on edge, so will Stage Fright. Otherwise, highly recommended.