The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

Night of the Vampire Hunter Distributor: Astro Filmworks (Germany) Region: 2 (PAL) Ratio: 1:77:1 Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

What? Surely you cannot have missed issue three of Firelight Shocks and our feature on this very movie accompanied by a very positive review indeed! Basically, this is a low, low budget vampire film with lots of gore, loud music and surprisingly good acting. Filled with energy and a splatter crammed finale, Night of the Vampire Hunter should appease anyone looking for a bit of alternative horror thrills. If you want more information than that then you'll just have to buy our fanzine I'm afraid... What I will say, however, is that it's very nice to see Night of the Vampire Hunter (or Night Shade) get a DVD release. When I got my VHS copy for review months ago, I must admit that I never thought I'd see the movie presented in a special edition disc with lots of lovely extras. So kudos to Astro Filmworks, and indeed Ulli Bujard (the director of the film) for ensuring that this movie gets the bells and whistles treatment. Ulli is a hell of a nice guy and I'm really happy to see Night of the Vampire Hunter in this format. Well done!

EXTRAS: Man oh man! Now this is a 'special edition'! I only wish I spoke German because there are no subtitles on this disc. Firstly there is the film - presented in its 1:77:1 widescreen ratio, the picture is exactly what you would expect from a film on this budget. Still, the new format allows for the outdoor scenes to be a little brighter and it's a little unfair to compare the visuals on this film to a big budget studio movie. The sound meanwhile sounds fine - all in all, I certainly can't complain about the job done on bringing this film to disc. There are two commentaries on this DVD, the first (spoken in German) is by the director and the producer, and the second (also spoken in German) is courtesy of cinematographer and one of the lead actors. There are also two trailers on this disc. Independent filmmakers will no doubt love the Behind the Scenes segment of this DVD, which lasts twenty minutes and shows some special effects being prepared, some lighting being arranged and the actor's rehearsing their lines. This lasts for just under twenty minutes and is fun to watch. Also enjoyable is the film's premiere. Okay so I can't speak German but it is great to see Ulli on stage spouting out his enthusiasm to an audience who are sitting watching the film in a large multiplex cinema! In case we forget this, the camera sweeps past a poster advertising Mel Gibson's The Patriot every so often. Along with all of this, there is also a brief 'making of' documentary, and a great slide show which allows us to see some storyboards and behind the scenes malarkey. This is definitely a disc for those who enjoy seeing new genre filmmakers at work, and if you don't speak German I'm still pretty sure you'll be able to follow the film and enjoy the carnage on offer. If you do speak German then you've got two commentaries to enjoy and a whole slew of fine extras. Definitely a disc to take a chance on - you can also win a copy of the Night of the Vampire Hunter DVD on this very web page! For more information check out: www.astro-film.de and also the Coffeebeans web site from our links page.