Blood Diner (Vestron Video Collector’s Series) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Jackie Kong

Cast: Rick Burks, Carl Crew

Release Date: September 27, 2016

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

In order to raise an ancient Egyptian goddess, two cannibalistic brothers use their restaurant to add something special to the menu in ‘Blood Diner’.

Accompanying the Blu-ray debut of ‘Chopping Mall’ (which you can read our review of here) is the wonderfully gory and hilariously over the top ‘Blood Diner’ which makes its high definition debut on Blu-ray as the second entry in the Vestron Video Collector’s Series Limited Edition release lineup. ‘Blood Diner’ follows two cannibalistic brothers who after retrieving the limited remains of their deceased uncle to guide them set out on a mission to awaken an evil Egyptian Goddess from a dark religion practiced eons ago. Fortunately their popular Vegetarian restaurant makes the perfect cover for mixing in some of the extra body parts and flesh the brothers seem to have large quantities of on hand lately. Directed by Jackie Kong (Night Patrol) and featuring a cast comprised primarily of lesser known talent, ‘Blood Diner’ is a ridiculously over the top, bloody good time and finally open for business once again on glorious Blu-ray.

Brought to life with a miniscule budget (Director Jackie Kong refers to the production budget in the supplemental material as having been similar to the catering budget of a standard film), and initially unleashed upon audiences in 1987, ‘Blood Diner’ is a wonderfully silly and wildly gory cult classic that wisely opts for embracing its low budget nature and its goofy and often downright hilarious over the top sequences will leave you rolling in laughter amidst the consistent flow of blood. As a genre fan who was unfamiliar with this little 80’s gem prior to this review, I would strongly urge fellow genre fans who might have also missed this one and appreciate goofy horror comedies to make sure to give this one a whirl when you find the opportunity to do so.

Most longtime fans of the blood soaked good time that is ‘Blood Diner’ will likely want to make sure to grab a copy of the new Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray release to add to their collection, even with the fairly high price. The Blu-ray release delivers wonderful high definition video and audio presentations in addition to some solid extras including a brand new feature length retrospective look at the making of the film in ‘Killer Cuisine’ plus more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). The impressive quality, great new extras and of course the almost unbelievable fact this goofy 80’s gore fest is actually available on Blu-ray at all should make this a definite must own for many of the film’s fans.

Overall, anyone who is a fan of the bloody and hilariously ridiculous ‘Blood Diner’ will likely want to make certain to grab a copy of the new Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray release of the film. The BD release delivers solid high definition video and audio presentations in addition to some wonderful new extras and should be a definite must own for the majority of diehard fans. Those such as me who might not have had the pleasure of ‘Blood Diner’ before now may want to consider looking into the possibility of renting the disc if they don’t want to drop the cash on a blind purchase; I can’t imagine a better way to experience this one for the first time than with this great Blu-ray release.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Blood Diner’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty outstanding as a whole and delivers a consistently sharp, detailed and warmly colored presentation that still retains plenty of grain and other mild elements representative of its source film. It holds up admirably even during the numerous fast paced and/or darkly lit and heavily populated sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is fairly gorgeous high definition video presentation that should largely please fans of this 80’s cult classic.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless Monaural 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless monaural soundtrack sounds pretty wonderful for what it is and provides a fairly crisp, clean and detailed audio presentation from start to finish. Capturing the film’s score and often silly auditory effects beautifully and never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously with other audio elements to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a solid Monaural 2.0 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that should thrill most fans.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Blood Diner’ includes a number of entertaining and informative extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Jackie Kong’, in addition to a new Feature Length look at the film created specifically for this release: ‘Killer Cuisine: The Making of Blood Diner’ which includes detailed interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew, plus more (running approximately 65 minutes in length). We are additionally treated to an ‘Archival Interview with Project Consultant Eric Codin’ (running approximately 8 minutes), and a ‘Still Gallery’ (approximately 6 minutes). A couple of ‘Theatrical Trailers’ (approximately 5 minutes combined), ‘TV Spots’ (approximately 2 minutes in total), and ‘Radio Spots’ (2 minutes altogether) for the movie are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

‘Blood Diner’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray As Part Of The Limited- Edition Vestron Video Collector’s Series from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Purchase your copy today by clicking on the Amazon cart Icon immediately below!