Night (1996)

“Your VCR is warm.”

From the start, Night feels like a passion project: messy but with moments of pure vision. Director Glenn Andreviev’s vampire opus is filled with personal influences and borrowed ideas centered around a riff on vampire mythology. Looking at Genn’s other work, you’ll see his passion for restoring silent-era films and preserving their legacy. He combines these two interests into a robust zero-budget feature with over-the-top performances. Set around Long Island, NY, the self-taught filmmaker provides a time capsule of mid-90s anxieties and nostalgia. 

The film begins with a fedora-wearing vampire named Garring (Richard Cutler, The Deed to Hell) slaying buxom Alana (Annemarie Bain, Vampire Vixens from Venus) in her apartment. After her funeral, she materializes in front of her boyfriend David (Michael Riccio, Dance Flick) in a revealing negligee and a taste for blood. Naturally, he calls his priest Father Donlevy (Richard Breitfeller, Searching for Bobby D). All the while, we’re following around loose cannon Margot (Jillanne Smith, When), a vampire hunter tracking down Garring. Donlevy and Margot convince David to help them kill Garring so they can allow Alana to rest in peace. 

In 1933, Garring and his wife Monica (Inga Zupancic) were a dynamic power couple whose virtuous lifestyle was a cover for bootlegging operations. Their mysterious suicide pact brought to light their nefarious ways. Now, Garring runs skeezy crack houses. To him, this venture seems like the easy way to earn a buck and bite hookers on the side. When his victims start piling up, Margot hopes to convince the authorities of the walking dead. If she can prove Garring is behind the killings, then she won’t be branded a delusional fanatic. 

While Night loves to play around with gory killings and overbearing monologues, its central story is Margot’s redemption tale. Her life is a twisty mix of paranoia that only intensified once she got in league with Donlevy. In searching for Garring, she’s lost her husband and the trust of her sister Veronica. Father Donlevy is the moral compass here, calling out Margot, whose tactics are drawing too much attention. Their relationship is tenuous at best. 

From the start, the feature seems like a goofy horror outing you’d see on local cable stations. When Alana showed up in a nightie, I almost checked out myself. However, Night becomes unhinged when the hunters enter Garring’s crypt. We’re treated to several respectable kill scenes using cheap but effective prosthetics. Those are the best kind, right? Gory stab wounds, blood spurts, and torn flesh look fantastic, with the amateur players selling every moment. 

Performances are wooden, but these players are committed to their jobs. Lengthy exchanges are often fraught with timing issues and dropped lines. The camera rolls through it all as we see them recover and continue with the scene. The weakest link is the director, Glenn Andreiev, as Douglas, the crypt caretaker. In real-time, you can see his eagerness sabotaging his line readings. Richard Cutler gives Garring plenty of gravitas as the bootlegger who menaces about town. I love his scene with the crack house junkies parading around their wares. Jillanne Smith imbues Margot with drive and desperation as the character literally deals with her demons. The film's high point is her taking on beefcake vampire Terrence, screaming, “Get the Holy Water!”. 

Night is a fascinating gem of mid-90s SOV horror deserving of a midnight movie audience. Andreiev’s weird characters and heightened gore make it an exciting and, at times, terrifying watch. For a director whose passion is preserving lost films, I’m pleased his lost feature gets the release it deserves.   

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Night arrives on Blu-ray, thanks to VHShitfest and OCN Distribution. The Region Free disc is housed in a transparent keep case with a reversible artwork sleeve. Loading the disc presents the VHShitfest logo before landing on the Main Menu screen. You’ll see some scenes from the film playing adjacent to typical navigation options. When you hear the ticking clock, you’ve made it! 

VHShitfest resurrects Night with a new transfer from the master Hi-8 tapes. The original 1.33:1 aspect ratio is retained in the AVC-encoded 1080p HD image. The presentation's hallmarks are analog fuzz layered over washed-out colors and heavy shadows. Tracking lines and janky edits plague the image, though they all add lovely character to the presentation. Dark scenes are challenging to read, so I advise cutting the lights off before popping in the disc. 

On the audio side, Night receives a healthy DTS HD-MA 2.0 audio mix. Dialogue is reasonably clean, but some on-camera mics barely pick up exchanges. However, closer interactions improve the presentation quite a bit. The audio drops out often for dramatic effect or scene cuts, so don’t worry about a disc error. Music is by Nicholas D. Kent, who scored many of Glenn’s projects. Here, a choice of creepy synth tunes is pitch-perfect and adds a constant dread. 

VHShitfest and OCN Distro properly treats Night with new and archival bonus materials. I recommend starting with the interviews before moving on to the commentary track. 

• Audio Commentary with director Glenn Andreiev and actor Richard Cutler
• Interview with Director Glenn Andreiev (HD 22:07): As a kid, Andreiev made home movies before becoming transportation captain for Street Trash, where he saw his future in filmmaking. The director happily details his work on Nght and seems excited to speak about it.  
• Interview with Actor Richie Cutler (HD 10:46)  Interviewed in front of his physical media collection, the actor speaks candidly about his experiences acting in the film. 
• Super 8 Short Film (SD 1:52) Several scenes from Andreiev’s Super 8mm collection are presented.  
• Teaser Trailer (SD 1:54) This proof-of-concept trailer was produced before the film was shot. After shooting the trailer in Hi8 video, Glenn was convinced to shoot the feature in the format as well. Most low-budget horror flicks were going straight to video stores, so why not shoot in this format to save time?
• Trailer (HD 0:52) 

Glenn Andreiev’s Night riffs on the vampire mythos with an exciting blend of crime noir and gorehound playfulness. Committed performances and surprisingly solid practical effects keep the feature moving even as the pacing slows. Knowing this film was unreleased gives it a unique appeal for SOV fans. VHShitfest and OCN Distribution bring the film to Blu-ray with a solid A/V package that retains the dingy analog patina from 1996. New and archival features give fans an excellent look into the production. For Fans Only