The New Kids Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
The New Kids is a 1985 horror film produced & directed by Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th, A Stranger is Watching, Spring Break, & DeepStar Six). It was written by Stephen Gyllenhaal (Grassroots & Homegrown). It was produced by Andrew Fogelson (Blue Thunder, Just One of the Guys, Spring Break, & Wrong is Right) & Barbara De Fina (Goodfellas, Casino, Cape Fear, The Last Temptation of Christ, & The Color of Money). It had an estimated budget of $6 million & it only grossed $199,108 at the box office in the states. When Abby (played by: Lori Loughlin from Full/Fuller House, Amityville 3-D, The Night Before, & Secret Admirer) & Loren McWilliams’ (played by: Shannon Presby from Crazy Times, Five Mile Creek, & Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer) parents are killed in an accident, it is decided that they will live in the small town in Florida with their uncle Charlie (played by: Eddie Jones from Year of the Dragon, Sneakers, The Believers, & A League of Their Own) plus their aunt Fay (played by: Lucy Martin from Law & Order). They own a gas station & a small amusement park, both of which share the property.
Loren & Abby start making friends quick at their new school. Loren gets into a relationship with the local sheriff’s daughter Karen (played by: Paige Price from All the Right Moves & Silent Madness). Abby begins seeing a guy named Mark (played by: Eric Stoltz from The Fly II, Pulp Fiction, Some Kind of Wonderful, & Anaconda) but trouble starts happening when Eddie Dutra (played by: James Spader from The Blacklist, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pretty in Pink, & Less than Zero) with his gang that includes Gideon (played by: John Philbin from The Return of the Living Dead, Point Break, Children of the Corn, & Tombstone), Moonie (played by: David H. MacDonald from Joy of Sex), Gordo (played by: Theron Montgomery from Walls of Glass), & Joe Bob (played by: Vince Grant from Dracula: Dead and Loving It & Taking Lives) harasses her at school. Loren defends his sister & it makes things much worse. They terrorize their home & kidnap Abbey taking her to the amusement park where Loren is forced to retaliate against his new enemies. Can he save his family & get revenge from these creeps who are ruining their lives????
Sean S. Cunningham is no stranger to the revenge sub-genre, he produced the 1972 classic The Last House on the Left. After doing some slashers & comedies, he decided to take his own stab at directing one with The New Kids. The script builds all the tension & it keeps the suspense going while they two groups go at each other. This is definitely my favorite Lori Loughlin role & performance, it’s honestly the best one in her entire career. She proves that she can do much more than television & comedy in this. Shannon Presby was solid in The New Kids but I think someone else would have made the movie even better for that lead role. The true highlight here is James Spader as the villain, he steals the show & he’s the reason to check out this film. This psychopathic scumbag is pure sleaze & he will do anything to torture this family. It had a real good supporting cast that includes Eric Stoltz, John Philbin, & Eddie Jones that boosted the overall quality of the production. It starts out as a drama then it gets really dark. The New Kids is highly under-rated, it’s an 80s horror flick that doesn’t get brought up much. It’s available on blu ray for the very first time thanks to the great folks at Mill Creek Entertainment who keeps resurrecting all these older back catalog titles from Columbia Pictures & Sony Pictures in HD. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talks about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer looks much better than all the other previous home video releases. Don’t expect reference quality with this but it’s the best it’s ever looked especially for being an older master. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is solid. It has English SDH subtitles. The dialogue is very clean, all the suspense is elevated here, & the music has a decent boost on this. It’s definitely an upgrade from before when it comes to sound. It has no extras on the disc. The coolest thing about this release is the retro VHS slipcover plus it has different artwork underneath it. As always, Mill Creek releases are always priced great so this is a no brainer when it comes to adding this to your collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
Better than expected