| Video: The Dark illuminates DVD courtesy of Shriek Show/Media Blasters. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The print used for this transfer was a theatrical print, as it still contains the "cigarette burns". Because of this, there are some noticeable defects from the source material, such as black and white spots. The picture is fairly stable, but the opening credits did appear to be shifting slightly from side-to-side. There is a mild amount of grain visible on the image and I noticed some noise when horizontal lines where on-screen. And while most of the film takes place in the dark, of course, the image is never overly dark. The film looks slightly washed-out at times, but for the most part, the colors are fine.
Audio: The DVD carries a Dolby 2.0 stereo audio track. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Despite the "used" look of the film, there is no hissing or "pops" on the audio track. The stereo effects are negligible for most of the film, save for "the dark, the dark" coming from the front channels.
Extras: The Dark contains a few extras. We start with an audio commentary featuring director John "Bud" Cardos, "fan" Scott Spiegel (probably best known as the co-writer of Evil Dead 2), and someone named Walt (?!). Despite the fact Cardos is at least 70 years old, he remembers a great deal about this film made over 25 years ago. He talks about the trouble with the script and what it was like to come in after Hooper had been fired (for being a week behind schedule after 2 days). He talks about the actors and the locations in great detail. Walt asks many questions about The Dark and Cardos other films. The commentary is entertaining, but the speakers veer away from The Dark too often. (But, given the quality of the film, I'm not surprised.) Also, Spiegel is apparently sitting too close to his mic, as his speech is loud and distorted. The DVD also has an interview with Cardos (13 minutes), in which he discusses The Dark (repeating many of the things from the commentary), as well as some of his other films, such as Kingdom of the Spiders and Mutant. He also talks about his early days in Hollywood. The DVD has two trailers, one is a 2-minute trailer for The Dark, while the other is a 30-second spot (looks like a TV spot) for a double-bill of The Dark and Beyond the Door II. |
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