Drive-In Delirium: Dead By Dawn (Blu-ray Review)

Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
Review Date: Aug 23, 2019
Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

Various

Release Date(s)

Various (July 3, 2019)

Studio(s)

Umbrella Entertainment

Film/Program Grade: A-
Video Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-

Review

[Editor’s Note: This is an Australian REGION FREE Blu-ray release]

A popular trend among various home video labels nowadays is to compile a collection of movie trailers and present them on disc as the main feature rather than as an extra. Notable favorites include both the 42nd Street Forever and Trailer Trauma series. Umbrella Entertainment has taken a stab at this extremely niche market previously with four Drive-In Delirium releases: ’60s and ’70s Savagery, Maximum ’80s Overdrive, The New Batch, and With a Vengeance. Today, we’re taking a look at their newest collection, Dead by Dawn. With a total of 167 trailers, it’s certainly a monumental set of vintage marketing materials to cull through, but if you enjoy watching them, this collection is right up your alley.

Split into two parts with the option of watching everything all at once, there is a pre-show, an intermission, and a post-show, all of which contain vintage commercials and drive-in advertisements. In Part 1: The Final Chapter, which contains 76 trailers (all chapter divided), there’s It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Monster That Challenged the World, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Black Scorpion, Zaat (aka Blood Waters of Dr. Z), Night of the Lepus, Willard/Ben, The Food of the Gods, King Kong (1976), The Swarm, Jaws 2, Something Waits in the Dark (aka Screamers, Island of the Fishmen), Spasms, Slugs, Maniac (1963), The Old Dark House (1963), The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Gorgon, The Deadly Bees, The Mind of Mr. Soames, See No Evil (aka Blind Terror), Assault (aka In the Devil’s Garden), Asylum, Virgin Witch, Horror on Snape Island (aka Tower of Evil), Dracula A.D. 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The Legend of Hell House, The Cars That Ate Paris, And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians), The Devil Within Her (aka I Don’t Want to Be Born), Exposé (aka House on Straw Hill, Trauma), Prey (aka Alien Prey), The Last Wave, The Shout, Killer’s Moon, Terror, The Medusa Touch, Next of Kin (1982), Rawhead Rex, Gothic, The Lair of the White Worm, Black Sabbath, Death Laid an Egg, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Five Dolls for an August Moon, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, The Fifth Cord, Short Night of Glass Dolls, The Bloodstained Butterfly, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, The Case of the Bloody Iris, The Blood Spattered Bride, Death Smiles on a Murderer, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, Night Train Murders (aka Last Stop on the Night Train), The Pyjama Girl Case, Watch Me When I Kill (aka The Cat’s Victims), Suspiria, The Bloodstained Shadow, Absurd (aka Horrible, Anthropophagus 2), Madhouse (1981), Blind Date (aka Deadly Seduction), Stage Fright (1987), Opera (aka Terror at the Opera), Nightmare Beach (aka Welcome to Spring Break), Beyond the Door (aka Devil Within Her), The Night Child (aka The Cursed Medallion), The Other Hell, Night of Terror (aka Burial Ground), The Man from the Deep River (aka Sacrifice!), Eaten Alive (1980), Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (aka Stranded in Dinosaur Alley), Cut and Run, Survive!, and SS Experiment Love Camp (aka SS Experiment Camp).

In Part 2: A New Beginning, which contains 91 trailers (all chapter divided), there’s The Maze, 13 Ghosts, Psycho, Homicidal, The Premature Burial, Strait-Jacket, Wait Until Dark, Games, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Play Misty for Me, Images, Black Christmas, It’s Alive, It Lives Again, Drive-In Massacre, The Hex Massacre (aka Island of the Damned, Who Can Kill a Child?)/Lucifer’s Curse (aka The Chosen, Holocaust 2000), Rituals (aka The Creeper), Scalpel, The Changeling, New Year’s Evil, Motel Hell, Night Warning (aka Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker), Hell Night, One Dark Night, Psycho II, Creepshow, The Evil Dead, The Incubus, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, Blood Beat, Of Unknown Origin, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Scream for Help, Special Effects, The Stuff, Silver Bullet, Crawlspace, Maximum Overdrive, Neon Maniacs (aka Evil Dead Warriors), The Majorettes (aka One by One), From a Whisper to a Scream (aka The Offspring), The Believers, American Gothic, Scarecrows, Return of the Living Dead Part II, Nightmare at Noon (aka Death Street USA), Cutting Class, After Midnight, Intruder, Luther the Geek, Wanted: Mr. Xmas (aka Deadly Games, Game Over), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Blow-Up, Candy (1968), Eugenie, Deep End, Ciao! Manhattan, Immoral Tales, Pets, The Working Girls, The Kidnap Lover (aka Kidnapped Coed, Date with a Kidnapper), C.B. Hustlers, The Pom Pom Girls, Vampire Hookers, Mailbu High, Centrespread, The Devil’s Honey, 9 1/2 Weeks, Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), Casino Royale (1967), Bananas, Love Thy Neighbor, Man About the House, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, Jabberwocky, The End, Caddyshack, Airplane!, S.O.B., Zapped!, Eating Raoul, Strange Brew, Valley Girl, Better Off Dead, Clue, Teen Wolf, My Chauffer, Back to School, The Princess Bride, and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. At the end are trailers for the Drive-In Delirium releases ’60s and ’70s Savagery, Maximum ’80s Overdrive, and The New Batch as well.

The video and audio quality is much better than what you might expect. While some of the drive-in advertisements are occasionally low grade, all of the trailers have been HD-sourced. They’re not squeaky-clean as they do still contain instances of scratches, speckling, and other types of film damage, but they’re quite presentable and stable throughout. The sole audio option for everything is English 2.0 DTS-HD with no subtitle options. Each trailer’s soundtrack is mostly clean and clear with next to no real interference, other than occasional distortion and light crackle, which comes hand in hand with the quality of the trailers themselves.

Only one extra is included (other than the reversible inner sleeve with slightly alternate artwork and a list of all of the trailers), which is Bride of VHS Delirium, a sequel collection of Australian VHS-sourced previews. There are 60 in all (making for a grand total of 227), including a set of Palace Films VHS intros and interstitials, The Beyond, Cannibal Apocalypse (Cannibal in the Streets), Creepers (aka Phenomena), The Dark, Epitaph, The Evictors, The House on Sorority Row, I Spit on Your Grave, L.A. Crackdown, Madman, The Mutilator (aka Fall Break), Night of the Zombies, Rape Squad (aka Act of Vengeance), Savage Man Savage Beast (aka Savage Temptation), The Slayer, Splatter University, Squirm, Trapped (aka Baker County, U.S.A.), Dario Argento’s World of Horror, Bloody New Year, Blood Theatre, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, The Initiation, Spookies, The Return of Count Yorga, Tenebrae (aka Tenebre), Demons 2, Reborn (1981), Sole Survivor, Android, The Lost Empire, Prisoners of the Lost Universe, Battle for the Lost Planet (aka Galaxy), The Brother from Another Planet, Hamburger: The Motion Picture, Pinball Summer (aka Pick-up Summer), Stitches, Hot Dog: The Movie, Waitress!, Stuck on You!, The First Turn-On!!, Feelin’ Up (aka Getting Together), The Princess and the Call Girl (aka The Fantasies of Miss Jones), Blackout, The Guardian (1984), Family and Honour (aka Don’t Mess with My Sister!), The Professor (1986), Golden Needles (aka The Chase for the Golden Needles), Diva, Ms. 45 (aka Angel of Vengeance, Rape Squad), Pray for Death, Rage of Honor, The Retaliator (aka Programmed to Kill), Feel the Heat (aka Catch the Heat), Survival Game (1987), Commando Squad, Double Revenge, Rage to Kill, and Snake Eater. Of the trailer collections in this set, I found this one to be the most enlightening and entertaining due to the obscurity of some of the titles.

There’s not much more I can do to recommend this set. It certainly gives you a peek at a lot of different films that you might not otherwise have been aware of (as well as some old favorites), and thanks to Drive-In Delirium, you’re likely to queue up your various streaming devices and Blu-ray and DVD wishlists with new titles to check out. Yet another great collection.

– Tim Salmons

Tags

13 Ghosts, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Absurd, Act of Vengeance, action, After Midnight, Airplane!, Alien Prey, American Gothic, And Then There Were None, Android, Angel of Vengeance, Anthropophagus 2, Assault, Asylum, Australia, Australian, Back to School, Baker, Baker County, Baker County USA, Bananas, Battle for the Lost Planet, Ben, Better Off Dead, Beyond the Door, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Black Christmas, Black Sabbath, Blackout, Blind Date, Blind Terror, Blood Beat, Blood Theatre, Bloody New Year, Blow-Up, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Disc, Bride of VHS Delirium, Burial Ground, Butcher, Caddyshack, Candy, Cannibal Apocalypse, Cannibal in the Streets, Casino Royale, Catch the Heat, CB Hustlers, Centrespread, Ciao! Manhattan, Clue, comedy, Commando Squad, Crawlspace, Creepers, Creepshow, cult, Cut and Run, Cutting Class, Dario Argento’s World of Horror, Date with a Kidnapper, Dead by Dawn, Deadly Games, Deadly Night, Deadly Night Part 2, Deadly Seduction, Death Laid an Egg, Death Smiles on a Murderer, Death Street USA, Deep End, Demons 2, Devil Within Her, Diva, Don’t Mess with My Sister!, Double Revenge, drama, Drive-In Delirium, Drive-In Delirium Dead by Dawn, Drive-In Massacre, Eaten Alive, Eating Raoul, Epitaph, erotica, Eugenie, Evil Dead Warriors, Exposé, Fall Break, Family and Honour, fantasy, Feel the Heat, Feelin’ Up, Five Dolls for an August Moon, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, From a Whisper to a Scream, Galaxy, Game Over, Games, Getting Together, Golden Needles, Gothic, Hamburger: The Motion Picture, Hell Night, Holocaust 2000, Homicidal, Horrible, horror, Horror on Snape Island, Hot Dog: The Movie, House on Straw Hill, I Don’t Want to Be Born, I Spit on Your Grave, Images, Immoral Tales, In the Devil’s Garden, Intruder, Island of the Damned, Island of the Fishmen, It Came from Beneath the Sea, It Lives Again, It’s Alive, Jabberwocky, Jaws 2, Kidnapped Coed, Killer’s Moon, King Kong, LA Crackdown, Last Stop on the Night Train, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Love Thy Neighbor, Lucifer’s Curse, Luther the Geek, Madhouse, Madman, Mailbu High, Man About the House, Maniac, Massacre in Dinosaur Valley, Maximum Overdrive, Motel Hell, My Chauffer, Neon Maniacs, New Year’s Evil, Next of Kin, Night of Terror, Night of the Lepus, Night of the Living Dead, Night of the Zombies, Night Train Murders, Night Warning, Nightmare at Noon, Nightmare Beach, Nightmare Maker, Of Unknown Origin, One by One, One Dark Night, Opera, Pets, Phenomena, Pick-up Summer, Pinball Summer, Play Misty for Me, Pray for Death, Prey, Prisoners of the Lost Universe, Programmed to Kill, Psycho, Psycho II, Rage of Honor, Rage to Kill, Rape Squad, Rawhead Rex, Reborn, Return of the Living Dead Part II, review, Rituals, Sacrifice!, Savage Man Savage Beast, Savage Temptation, Scalpel, Scarecrows, sci-fi, science fiction, Scream for Help, Screamers, See No Evil, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, sex, sexploitation, Short Night of Glass Dolls, Silent Movie, Silent Night, Silver Bullet, Slugs, Snake Eater, SOB, Sole Survivor, Something Waits in the Dark, Spasms, Special Effects, Splatter University, Spookies, Squirm, SS Experiment Camp, SS Experiment Love Camp, Stage Fright, Stitches, Strait-Jacket, Stranded in Dinosaur Alley, Strange Brew, Stuck on You!, Survival Game, Survive!, Suspiria, Teen Wolf, Ten Little Indians, Tenebrae, Tenebre, Terror, Terror at the Opera, The Believers, The Beyond, The Black Scorpion, The Blood Spattered Bride, The Bloodstained Butterfly, The Bloodstained Shadow, The Brother from Another Planet, The Cars That Ate Paris, The Case of the Bloody Iris, The Cat’s Victims, The Changeling, The Chase for the Golden Needles, The Chosen, The Creeper, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Cursed Medallion, The Dark, The Deadly Bees, The Devil Within Her, The Devil’s Honey, The Digital Bits, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, The End, The Evictors, The Evil Dead, The Fantasies of Miss Jones, The Fifth Cord, The First Turn-On!!, The Food of the Gods, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, The Gorgon, The Guardian, The Hex Massacre, The House on Sorority Row, The Incubus, The Initiation, The Kidnap Lover, The Lair of the White Worm, The Last Wave, The Legend of Hell House, The Lost Empire, The Majorettes, The Man from the Deep River, The Maze, The Medusa Touch, The Monster That Challenged the World, The Mutilator, The Night Child, The Offspring, The Old Dark House, The Other Hell, The Pom Pom Girls, The Premature Burial, The Princess and the Call Girl, The Princess Bride, The Professor, The Pyjama Girl Case, The Retaliator, The Return of Count Yorga, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The Shout, The Slayer, The Stuff, The Swarm, The Working Girls, Tim Salmons, Tower of Evil, Trapped, Umbrella Entertainment, Valley Girl, Vampire Hookers, Virgin Witch, Wait Until Dark, Waitress!, Watch Me When I Kill, Welcome to Spring Break, western, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, Who Can Kill a Child?, Willard, World of Horror, Young Frankenstein, Zaat, Zapped!