Frightmare Blu Ray Review (Troma)

Frightmare (aKa The Horror Star and Body Snatchers) is a 1983 slasher film written and directed by Norman Thaddeus Vane (The Black Room, Midnight, You’re So Dead, Club Life, and Taxi Dancers). It was executive produced by Henry Gellis (The Mechanic, Busting, The New Centurions, and Shadow of the Hawk). It had an estimated budget of $120,000. Drama students which includes Stu (played by: Jeffrey Combs from Love and a .45, Re-animator franchise, The Frighteners, From Beyond, Doctor Mordrid, Castle Freak, and House on Haunted Hill) decide to pay tribute to their favorite horror star Conrad Radzoff (played by: Ferdy Mayne from The Fearless Vampire Killers, Conan the Destroyer, Howling II: … Your Sister Is a Werewolf, Night Train to Terror, Warlock: The Armageddon, Knight Moves, and Where Eagles Dare) by stealing his body from his crypt for a farewell party. They fail to realize their violation of the tomb has triggered powerful black magic, and Conrad hasn’t taken his final bows yet!!!! Troma Entertainment has always been an underrated distributor. They picked up some gems back in the day besides their own productions and I personally consider this one of them. This is Norman Thaddeus Vane’s best effort behind the camera. He takes advantage of the popularity of the slasher sub-genre at the time. Frightmare has an interesting concept and script. Ferdy Mayne does his best Christopher Lee impersonation as horror icon Conrad Radzoff. Ironically, Lee was considered for this before Mayne but his rates must have been out of their budget. It’s a great performance of a once horror star that’s kinda been forgotten but this new found attention brings him back better and more evil than ever. He’s not afraid to be campy and over the top in this. A very young Jeffrey Combs as Stu is one of the leads in this. This was a few years before he blew up with the classic Re-animator and he already shows his talents in Frightmare. This probably helped him get that role to be honest. He stands out from the group of friends that continue to make mistakes. He’s one of the reasons to check this out. The rest of the supporting cast includes Luca Bercovici (Drop Zone), Nita Talbot (Puppet Master II), Leon Askin (Hogan’s Heroes), Jennifer Starrett (A Man Called Sloane), Barbara Pilavin (Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence), Alan Stock (Poison Ivy), Carlene Olson (Fraternity Row), Scott Thomson (Police Academy franchise), Donna McDaniel (Angel), and Chuck Mitchell (Porky’s franchise). The supernatural elements make this slasher so much more interesting than a good amount that was being made at the same time. It has a more creative setup but it somehow sat on the shelves for 2 years before it was released so it was already under the radar when it finally got it’s shot unfortunately. It has a great balance of comedy and horror, it should have been bigger than what it was. The kills, violence, and gore are good for the most part but they could have been a little more brutal. This is what happens when a party turns into a nightmare. Frightmare is a blast and it gets very suspenseful during it’s finish. It has solid replay value to it and it deserves a new audience so hopefully this helps it out because it’s very underrated. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Troma! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer is the same 2K restoration from Vinegar Syndrome from 2021 from the original camera negative. It still looks amazing and Vinegar Syndrome is one of the best when it comes to this. That’s why Troma’s relationship with them is very important because they get to use their work later on for re-releases. I owned the older DVD and this blows it away. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track on the disc. The audio shines when it comes to the score but it does have it’s moments when all hell breaks loose. All of the dialogue is very clean, the killing is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. The first “Audio Commentary” is an archival interview with director Norman Thaddeus Vane that plays during the entire film. It has another “Audio Commentary” with David Del Valle and David DeCoteau. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with The Hysteria Continues. Lots of detailed information and inside stories are included in all of these. They have something for everyone. It has the little over 2 minute “Lloyd Kaufman’s Very Personal Intro” with Debbie Rochon from the original DVD home video release. It has the “Original Theatrical Trailer”‘ for The Horror Star. It has a little over 2 minute “Artwork Gallery”. It has the little over 21 minute “Man With A Camera”. It’s an interview with DP Joel King that was originally done for the Vinegar Syndrome release. He chats about his career and how he got started in the business. He talks about living in James Dean’s apartment back in the day. He tells a few personal stories here including fighting with Notre Dame players in a liquor store. It lead to him moving up in the industry. He shares experiences on working on other projects. He brings up some of his favorite scenes from Frightmare and his techniques for it. He almost got fired after this first week of shooting the independent horror feature. The rest of the extras are not related to Frightmare, they are more about Troma. It has the almost 6 minute “A Gory Lesson from The Set of Meat for Satan’s Ice Box”. It has the almost 2 minute “Tromatized” music video from Abbie Harper and directed by Lily-Hayes Kaufman. It has the under a minute “Radiation March”. This might be the most used special feature of all time for home video. It has the little over a minute “Troma in Times Square”. It has the little over a minute “TA in 4K!”. It has “Coming Distractions” which features 9 different “Trailers” from Troma. Troma carries over all of the bonus material for Frightmare including the Vinegar Syndrome stuff here. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!