Silent Rage Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)

Silent Rage is a 1982 slasher film directed by Michael Miller (Street Girls, Jackson County Jail, Class Reunion, & The Burning Zone). This was Chuck Norris’s first horror film & feature produced by his company Topkick Productions. It grossed $10.5 million worldwide at the box office. It was remade in 2009 under the title “Indestructible”. In a small Texas town, John Kirby (played by: Brian Libby from The Octagon, Dreamscape, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, & Heat) goes on a killing spree. Sheriff Daniel “Dan” Stevens (played by: Chuck Norris from Missing in Action Trilogy. The Delta Force 1/2, Invasion U.S.A., & The Expendables 2) & his deputy Charlie (played by: Stephen Furst from Animal House, The Unseen, The Dream Team, & Babylon 5) arrive at the scene of the crime. They arrest the unstable killer but they are forced to shoot him after he escapes custody.

John is transferred to to an institute where he is seen by Dr. Thomas “Tom” Halman (played by: Ron Silver from Timecop, The Arrival, The Entity, & Blue Steel), Dr. Phillip Spires (played by: Steven Keats from Death Wish, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Gambler, & Black Sunday) & Dr. Paul Vaughn (played by: William Finley from Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise, Eaten Alive, & The Funhouse). Tom doesn’t want to experiment with this deranged monster after he dies but his associates use their formula on him behind his back. After seeing their work have brought the man back to life Tom starts to take interest in the patient. Dan reconnects with his old girlfriend Alison (played by: Toni Kalem from The Sopranos, American Strays, Sister Act, & The Wanderers) who also happens to be Tom’s sister. The doctors are trying to play god but they picked the wrong subject to test their work on. Tom realizes he made a huge mistake & he wants to end all of this dangerous science. John escapes the institute & he’s looking to continue his serial killing ways! What have they done? Can Dan save the town from pure evil????

Silent Rage is my all time favorite Chuck Norris feature! They were scared to promote it for what it was so they called it an action thriller or science fiction at the time. Let’s be honest, it’s an 80s slasher film. This is basically Chuck Norris vs. Michael Myers, there’s nothing wrong with that. It still had a decent amount of action to keep all those die hard fans happy but it’s a really dark production compared to most of his other work. Norris is not known for his acting but he does have really good supporting cast to elevate his overall performance here. John Kirby is a great villain, he is one of Norris’s best cinematic enemies of all time! Since it’s been marketed to different genres all these years, it’s fairly unknown to the horror community which is a shame because it’s so much fun & a very entertaining entry to the slasher sub genre. It does have some unintentional humor but it’s part of it’s charm. I wish more action stars made stuff like this in 80s, HIGHLY recommended!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer definitely looks better than the previous version available in the triple feature release with Blind Fury & White Line Fever. It’s the best it’s ever looked on the home video. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track captures all the action, suspense, dialogue, & the music in their highest quality. It includes English SDH subtitles.It has no extras on it but it does have a limited edition retro VHS style slipcover. Mill Creek Entertainment offers a cheap & affordable blu ray that will hold up with the rest of the 80s slashers in your collection. It’s available right now at Walmart exclusively & everywhere else starting on January 15th, check it out!!!!