DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) (Blu-ray Review)

DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) 

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: March 22nd 2016 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, 2Stereo .0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Ethan Embry, Katharine Isabelle, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Steve Railsback, James Marsden, William Sadler

Synopsis: In the halls of Cradle Bay High School, something sinister is happening… something dark… something disturbing. Sure, the "Blue Ribbons" – the clique that's at the top of the food chain at Cradle Bay – appear perfect in every way. But underneath their clean-cut, well-mannered facades lurks a shocking secret – one that a group of Cradle Bay High's outsiders and rebels must uncover in order to save their school, their town... and their own lives.

Not sure why but I always thought this movie was an erotic thriller of some sort along the lines of Wild Things so I just never made time to watch it, but since it landed on my doorstep I decided to give it a watch. I am pleased to see that I was wrong about what sort of movie this is,  what it is is a teen sci-fi thriller not too dissimilar from something akin to The Faculty, wherein teens at the local school begin to change is dramatic way, assimilating to a certain preppie way of thinking, but the origins this time out are not alien in nature, but this turns out to be a decent '90s teen riff on something along the lines of The Stepford Wives, as burnouts are transformed into straight-a student who go a little nuts when they get turned on. 


A year after the death of his brother teen Steve Clark (James Marsden, X-Men) and his family move to the island community of Cradle Bay, a nice place with a good school, the sort of place where the usual clicks apply. Case in point we have the "Blue Ribbons", a group of A-students who are popular, the usual array of jocks and pom-pom shakers who look down and frown upon the alternative culture kids at school. If you're a stoner, burnout or grunge-afflicted teen you are cannon-fodder for the true blue bullies who love to give the alternative kids a lot of grief, These burnouts and waste-oids are the ones that new-kid Steve finds himself hanging with, namely a trio of losers named Strick (Nick Stahl, Sin City), U.V. (Chad E. Donella, The Final Destination), and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes, The Ice Storm). Stahl is pretty great as the would-be leader of the misfits teens, his character offers a memorable monologue as he gives Steve a verbal tour of the class system at the school. His sidekick U.V. is slightly less memorable, but a young Katie Holmes gives off some serious sexual heat as the bad girl, I've never thought much of Holmes but damn if she didn't stir me up a bit, but those stoner-grunge girls of the '90s always did it for me. Also notable is the appearance of a pre Ginger Snaps (2000) Katharine Isabelle as the younger sister of Marsden's character.


I have always heard this movie described as an extended version of an X-Files episode and that's not too far removed from the truth, shot up North in the Land of Maple Syrup the film shares an aesthetic that was popular on TV and in teen movies of the time, plus director David Nutter was a veteran of the X-Files himself having directed several episodes. The science fiction element comes by way of the school psychologist, Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood, Steve from Cincinnati) who runs the Blue Ribbon program at the school, a program that somehow turns burnouts into icy A-student preppies overnight, and with that revelation things begins to smell rotten in the village of Cradle Bay. Dr. Caldicott  is surgically molding the Cradle Bay teens into perfect students, but aside from the usual teen-asshole behavior one might associate with the over privileged and elite the students begin succumb to homicidal tendencies when they become aroused by the opposite sex. The fat that an aroused teen is a dangerous things is certainly no shocker, but these horny kids take it a bit too far, though the gore is kept in the shadows, there's not much here for a gore hound.

Disturbing Behavior holds up pretty swell for a late-nineties teen thriller, helped by a strong cast of young Hollywood hopefuls who have since gone onto varying degrees of success, spearheaded by a young James Marsden, someone I like but don't think he ever landed the right role, at least not the one that would propel him to stardom. I don't exactly love his turn as Cyclops in Bryan Singer's X-Men movies, but I do sort of love him in The Box. This might be my favorite Nick Stahl Role, too. Well-written and funny, but neutered to a degree when the movie studio took the film away from director Nutter and re-edited it, but his performance shines through the hackneyed edit. Holmes as the dark teen cutey makes for a good love interest, she doesn't get a lot to chew on but her top-shelf talent shines through just the same. The movie also has appearances from William Sadler (Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight) as a school janitor, the village idiot who is aware of the dark side if Cradle Bay and is doing something about it, and keep an eye out for Steve Railsback (Lifeforce) as the local sheriff who turns a blind eye to the carnage the Blue Bloods inflict on the burnout teens, his role doesn't add up to much, but it is always a blast to see Railsback onscreen, even in a nothing role.

Disturbing Behavior arrived on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in the original 1.85 aspect ratio with a new 1080p HD transfer looking pretty good all the way around, it is not the most skin-pore porn high definition image but it is decently clear with some modest depth and the skin tones look accurate It comes with choice of English language DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 and Surround 5.1 with some good atmospheric use of the surrounds, the '90s alternative-rock soundtrack . Special features include an audio commentary from director David Nutter, a half-hour of deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer for the movie.

Special Features
- Audio Commentary By Director David Nutter
- Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending with Optional Director Commentary (25 Mins) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 

If you enjoyed the teen sci-fi thriller The Faculty there's bound to be something here for you to love, a fun if slightly stilted teen riff on The Stepford Wives with some good sci-fi thrills wrapped-up inside a clever script with a very nineties-centric soundtrack highlighted by the inclusion of Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta", which was a song you could escape on '90s alternative radio. The movie is horribly dated by the ninetis fashions and music, but just as I am nostalgic for '80s horror there are probably a lot of '90s horror fans who love this movie more than I ever could, but this was still a fun watch and the new Blu-ray from Scream Factory is sure to please fans of the movie, and maybe win over a few newcomers. 2.5/5

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: DEMON KNIGHT (1995) (Blu-ray Review)

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: DEMON KNIGHT (1995) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 93 Minutes
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, 2.0 DTS-HD MA Stereo with Optional Englisg Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Ernest Dickerson
Cast: Billy Zane, Brenda Bakke, CCH Pounder, Jada Pinkett, John Kassir, Thomas Haden Church, William Sadler

Synopsis: A mysterious drifter known as Brayker (William Sadler, Iron Man 3) possesses the last of seven ancient keys that hold the power to stop the forces of darkness and protect all humanity from ultimate evil. But the human race is safe only so long as Brayker can evade the demonic Collector (Billy Zane, Titanic) who has gathered the other six keys. In his obsessive quest for the key, the Collector rallies an army of ghastly cadavers against Brayker and the inhabitants of a run-down hotel. Armed with automatic weapons, sacred blood and sadistic humor, Brayker and the strong-willed Jeryline (Jada Pinkett-Smith, Gotham) must lead the other guests in a gruesome battle against the Collector and his evil horde of ghouls.

Too often I find myself having conversations with horror fans who have nothing kind to say of nineties horror, I count myself among them. There's always a few noteworthy nods to Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness, The Blair Witch Project, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness and so on, but  very rarely does anyone mention Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight as one of the highlights of nineties horrors, and that's a low down dirty shame in my opinion.

Demon Knight is a ton of horror fun, starring William Sadler 

(The Shawshank Redemption) as Brayker, a man on the run and a force of good. He has in his possession an ancient key filled with the blood of Christ that the demonic forces of evil want for themselves. It seems they need it to unleash their Evil across the Earth. Evil incarnate here is faced by Billy Zane (Dead Calm) as The Collector - not to be confused with the Marvel character. Zane offers a deliciously manic performance which was pure joy from beginning to end, he is unhinged in the best possible sense of the word. Both men arrive at a decommissioned church which now serves as a hotel, in Wormwood, New Mexico, which is where the battle between good and evil will unfold, now the inhabitants of the hotel becoming unwilling combatants, forced to fight for the forces of good or give into the seductive power of evil. Billy Zane is the sort of charismatic guy that everyone is drawn to, he knows your inner-most secrets and desires. When things don't go his way and the key seems to be slipping from his grasp he goes off the deep end, first he punches a hole through the sheriff's head, which is a fun moment of gore, and then he slices open his own hand, spilling a fluorescent green demon-blood which he splashes on the ground. From those glowing-green pools arise glowing green-eyed demons who lay siege upon the hotel, while The Collector tries to turn and seduce various inhabitants of the hotel towards evil.

The ensemble cast is damn good, we have CCH Pounder (Bagdad Cafe) as the stubborn hotel proprietor, Jada Pinkett Smith (Gotham) as an ex-con hired on as help, the venerable Dick Miller (Gremlins) as a local drunk and Thomas Hatden Church (Sideways) as the local misogynist jerk. Brenda Bakke (L.A. Confidential) appears as the hooker with a heart of gold, and Charles Fleischer (the voice of Bugs Bunny) pops up as an irate postal worker. A great cast all around and they're all turning in strong performances, no one is phoning it in, but none more so than Billy Zane as the charismatic, sarcastic and straight up seductive face of evil. 

The special effects are top notch, this one is loaded with way more gore than I had remembered from previous viewings, and it looks splendid in HD! Arms are ripped off, faces are destroyed, and there are loads of green goo and awesome demonic creature designs, the look of the creatures are very cool, and when one of  kid is transformed into a demon it looks like something straight out of John Carpenter's The Thing.  Demon Knight is a sorely underrated horror entry, loaded with some good gore, wry humor and an action packed demon-siege movie, all of which makes this one Hell of a good time.

Audio/Video: Demon Knight arrives on Blu-ray for the first time in North America from Scream Factory with a very pleasing AVC encoded transfer that is quite a step up over previous standard definition incarnations. There's a nice clarity and crispness to the image with nicely managed grain and some shining moments of fine detail. Onto the audio we have the choice of DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo or 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. The original stereo track sounds great, well balanced and with some power behind it. The surround options offers some discreet use of the surrounds with demonic siege upon the decommissioned church with crackling thunder throughout, it's a good surround track. 

Onto the extras we have two new audio commentaries, the first from Director Ernest Dickerson moderated by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, Dickerson speaks proudly of the movie with some nice insights into how he came onto the movie and making it. The second commentary comes by way of Special Effects Creator Todd Masters, Visual Effects Supervisor John Van Vliet, Special Effects Coordinator Thomas Bellissimo, And Demon Performer Walter Phelan. The team speak about the technical aspects of making some of the great effects from the movie, what it was like on set, with the usual fun array of behind-the-scenes stuff, the special effects guys always give us fun commentaries.

The highlight of the Blu-ray for me was the 40-minute Under Siege: The Making Of Demon Knight – featuring interviews with Director Ernest Dickerson, Co-producer A.L. Katzm Screenwriters Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris, And Mark Bishop, Stars Billy Zane, William Sadler, Brenda Bakke, Charles Fleischer and others. Zane is a blast as he recalls the cast and crew and the reputation of the movie, plus it's a blast to see William Sadler and the legendary Dick Miller, the latter of whom recalls flubbing his line in the scene with the roomful of nude women. It's a great making of doc, offers a lot of insight into the making of the movie. 

There's also a Panel Discussion From The American Cinematheque Featuring Director Ernest Dickerson, Actor Dick Miller And Special Effects Maestro Rick Baker, a gallery of images and the theatrical trailer for the movie. The disc comes in a standard Blu-ray case with a sleeve of reversible artwork, on side featuring the theatrical poster art and the other being a newly commissioned illustration from regular scream contributor Justin Osbourn, there's also a slipcover featuring the Osbourn illustration.

Special Features
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Ernest Dickerson moderated by Michael Felsher
- NEW Audio Commentary With Special Effects Creator Todd Masters, Visual Effects Supervisor John Van Vliet, Special Effects Coordinator Thomas Bellissimo, And Demon Performer Walter Phelan
- NEW Under Siege: The Making Of Demon Knight – Featuring Interviews With Director Ernest Dickerson, Co-producer A.L. Katzm Screenwriters Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris, And Mark Bishop, Stars Billy Zane, William Sadler, Brenda Bakke, Charles Fleischer And More (39 Mins) HD
- Panel Discussion From The American Cinematheque Featuring Director Ernest Dickerson, Actor Dick Miller And Special Effects Maestro Rick Baker (10 Mins) HD
- Still Gallery (68 Images) (6 Mins) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins)

I hope this new Blu-ray brings some much deserved love to this under valued nineties entry, when we speak of nineties horror this is a title that doesn't come up often enough, a very solid and action-packed demon-siege movie that has gone under the radar for far too long. Scream Factory have put together a very nice Blu-ray release with a solid transfer and excellent extras, this is a high recommend. If you've not seen it or have dismissed it I suggest you give it watch. 3.5/5