I’m going to be quick and short with this review. I’ve already reviewed the film Fender Bender when it premiered on Chiller TV from Scream Factory. You can read that review here: Fender Bender Review. This time, I want to quickly discuss the new Blu-ray coming out from Scream Factory on October 4th. Is it worth picking it up? Well, if you liked the movie like I did, then yes, it really is. However, even if you didn’t enjoy the movie, you might be wise to still give the Blu a chance. Read on to see why…
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 91 min
ASPECT RATIO: 2.35:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0
LANGUAGE: English
SUBTITLES: English
REGION: A/1
RATING: NR
PRODUCTION DATE: 2016
RELEASE DATE: Oct 4, 2016
PLOT SUMMARY
THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS.
He stalks the streets. Remorseless. Brutal. Bloodthirsty. When his prey is at its most vulnerable, he appears. And when night falls and all is quiet… he strikes. Prepare for the next driving force in horror… Fender Bender, “a scary, suspenseful slasher [that’ll] keeps you on pins and needles throughout” (Bloodydisgusting.com)!
Seventeen-year-old Hilary has just received her driver’s license… only to have her first accident shortly thereafter. Innocently exchanging her personal information with the remorseful stranger behind the wheel, Hilary returns home for a quiet evening with friends. But when the man she so readily handed all of her information to reveals himself to be something much darker and sinister than she could imagine, Hilary finds herself in a head-on collision with terror.
From writer/director Mark Pavia (Stephen King’s The Night Flier), Fender Bender is an intense crash-and-slash thriller that brings you back to a time when the boxes on the shelf at your local video store beckoned you with masked, knife-wielding maniacs and a twisted sense of morals.
BLU-RAY OPINION
The biggest attraction right away with the new Blu-ray of Fender Bender is the feature titled “Retro VHS“. They have painstakingly replicated the film into a 4:3 aspect ration, with VHS grain and audio glitches. It’s an amazing job and something that you really have to check out. I loved the opening “Coming Up” intro and the new Scream Factory retro logo is pure 80s sugar. This is an awesome idea and it worked out wonderfully. Nevertheless, I do still find it funny that we are now taking awesome looking films and trying to make them look bad again. Hilarious, but fun. As for the regular presentation of the film, the quality is a pleasingly clear, wide shot film with solid audio.
The feature that really surprised me on this Blu-ray is the 38-minute “Slashback” Trailer extravaganza. Featuring 22 trailers of Scream Factory’s slasher library, this feature is a love note to any fan of slasher flicks and retro trailers. You’ll be in heaven with this feature. I know I was.
As for features related to Fender Bender, there was a short Behind-The-Scenes Featurette with the cast and crew that ended up being enjoyable. You also have a trailer and TV spot for the film. Another treat is not one, but two audio commentaries from the director and producer.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- “Retro VHS” Version Of The Film In Which You Can Watch The Film In A Re-created Mode That Takes You Back To The 1980’s And The Heyday Of VCRs
- “Slashback” Trailer Reel – A Collection Of Vintage Scream Factory-branded Slasher Previews
- Director’s Commentary
- Producer’s Commentary
- Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
- Original Trailer And TV Spot
VERDICT
Because I enjoyed Fender Bender so much, I really got a kick out of this Blu-ray release. Retro fans are going to go head over heels for the VHS cut and the trailer feature was bliss in slasher form. I can’t recommend this Blu-ray enough. Great job Scream Factory and Director Mark Pavia.