Customer Reviews

Wes Craven's Chiller

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I don't normally write too many reviews, but I felt that I had to warn people before buying this particular DVD release. If you are in the store and see Wes Craven's Chiller released by "Quality DVD," walk the other way. As a movie I'd give this about 3 stars, maybe 3.5 stars. Its a decent story, with decent acting, basically it is an all around decent 80s psychological thriller.

The premise is that Marion Creighton (Beatrice Straight) is the mother of Miles Creighton (Michael Beck). Ten years ago he "dies" from a failed liver transplant. The doctor's can't do anything to save him and she decides to cryogenically freeze her son till one day when medical science has advanced enough to help him. Ten years later he accidently starts to thaw when his "freezer" mechanically fails. The doctor's of the time are capable of saving him. However, Miles isn't exactly the same anymore...

Miles quickly begins to terrorize the people around him. His loving mother, who is too overwhelmed with happiness at his return, doesn't realize it until it is too late what he's become. The movie also stars Paul Sorvino as Reverend Penny, a close family friend and one of the first to question the return of Miles.

Anyway, this DVD release is nearly unwatchable. Imagine someone took an original VHS copy of Chiller, watched it a hundred times, let the neighbors dog pee on it, stuck it out in the sun for a year, then locked it in an attic for another decade, then pulled it out without bothering to dust it off, used a composite connection (I'm talking the F connector) hooked it up to a theater projector, setup a tripod with their grandmother's 3 decade old camcorder, and filmed the movie being projected, and then and only then transferred the horrendous copy remaining to a digital format, slapped it on a DVD and called it "Quality."

The irony isn't lost on me. Seriously, the video is horribly washed out and even pixelated, the audio is barely legible at parts, this is made worse by the lack of subtitles and/or closed caption for the hearing impaired, therefore meaning that you will actually miss parts of conversations, expecially when Stacy is speaking. For God sake the movie actually had video frames "ripple" like an old abused VHS tape.

If you like this movie or are even interested, DO NOT buy the "Quality DVD" release at any price.

I wonder what it must feel like to work for a company like "Quality" and go home at the end of the day after producing such a low quality product like this. I can't imagine that you would feel too proud. End rant.

This is a great little film. It's let down considerably however from both poor picture and sound quality. Imagine a poor video recording from that video being watched repeatedly and you have some idea as to how poor this DVD quality is. Hence the rating. The film is a 3 or 4. The DVD quality is 1, simply because I cannot rate it 0.

My version was released by FRONT ROW ENTERTAINMENT, but like my fellow reviewer, this version is disastrously transferred. I agree that it looks like it was taped from either the tv movie or a VHS. The sound supposedly digitally remastered is definitely not!!! At any rate, if you can suffer through the technical travesty, CHILLER is an okay little movie, which doesn't really show Wes Craven's directorial skills. The premise of the cryogenic gentleman resuscitated, but without a soul, could be an interesting movie, but both the writer and Mr. Craven don't fill it out with enough characterization or suspense to sustain it. Michael Beck in an early impersonation of Johnny Depp, brings little real malice to his role; the late Oscar winner Beatrice Straight tries to outdo Bette Davis in her poorly developed role; Paul Sorvino gamely tries to evoke some sympathy as the Reverend Penny; Laura Johnson is wasted in her role as the corporate climber who regrets her allegiance to Beck; and Jill Schoelen (Popcorn) as the young Stacy does little to impress either. I wouldn't buy a copy of this movie, if all the versions are as poorly transferred as this one!

The sound track on this DVD was so horrendous I couldn't stand to watch it. What would be the point? I couldn't understand anything they were saying. I might have thrown out the disk and kept the case to use for a different disk, but the outer sleeve was all wrinkled and messed up. The whole thing went directly into the garbage can after about 20 minutes of trying to watch it. Other than that it was great.

This rating system doesn't seem to accept less than one star, or I would have given it zero.

I admit it . I couldn't believe the guys who said the quality was low.
In fact, they were kind in their reviews. Suffice to say that I couldn't watch it up to the end, due to the constant frozen images and the sound...well,forget it. Pity really, because the story is very good. I wonder if any of the sellers does have a good DVD transfer. I'm ready to pay much more to have a decent copy

Ugh! The movie has a good storyline but the quality of this particular DVD is below inferior. No wonder is so cheap!!! Ugh! Could hardly see the movie.

A corporate executive named miles takes dies and is frozen cryogenically. The hope is that he can be revived in the future. It's a succes,but he comes back a changed man.

The pros
Decent story with some interesting concepts about life and death. Some solid acting by Michael Beck and a few good scenes that really show how he has changed into a new person. The version I have is region free so I guess that's a plus.

The cons

Horrible picture quality and the sound was just as bad. They should have at least tried to fix up the picture quality a bit and done something with the sound. The acting wasn't that great to be honest. It wasn't horrible,but nobody besides MICHAEL BECK really stood out in my mind. The version I got had no extra features at all. It would have been nice to try and hear the director or somebody give some insight into this picture. I'm glad I watched this for free. Having WES CRAVEN'S name on the box may fool some. Don't be fooled it's not that good.

LEGACY's edition of CHILLER has been trimmed from its original 105 minutes to 87 (this may actually be a GOOD thing!)


After an endlessly extended revival sequence in Wes Craven's 1985 TV movie, the dead man doesn't awake until 25 minutes into the story (an even longer wait if TV ads are factored in). During a board meeting, one actress clearly has more smudged mascara on her right eye, but exiting the room she appears to be wearing none at all. Only one of several continuity goofs in this tedious clunker.

The first victim of reanimated company CEO Miles is an older exec whose position is eliminated during that meeting, but the fellow croaks from nothing more nefarious than a staircase ascent and his bad heart.

Later, Miles huddles by a roaring fire in an overheated room, unable to warm himself. The point being he was defrosted not only sans a soul but with ice cold blood in his veins, literally and figuratively. By this film's halfway point it's blatantly apparent that more than Miles' soul has gone AWOL: so has the viewer's interest in watching the rest of this tripe.

Paul Sorvino as the priest is wasted, but so is your time if you stay tuned until the end. "Chiller" is ultimately an unmitigated disappointment for Wes Craven fans.

Not only is LEISURE ENTERTAINMENT's edition of CHILLER a poor transfer, the running time has been trimmed from its original 105 minutes to 90 (this actually may be a GOOD thing!)


After an endlessly extended revival sequence in Wes Craven's 1985 TV movie, the dead man doesn't awake until 25 minutes into the story (an even longer wait if TV ads are factored in). During a board meeting, one actress clearly has more smudged mascara on her right eye, but exiting the room she appears to be wearing none at all. Only one of several continuity goofs in this tedious clunker.

The first victim of reanimated company CEO Miles is an older exec whose position is eliminated during that meeting, but the fellow croaks from nothing more nefarious than a staircase ascent and his bad heart.

Later, Miles huddles by a roaring fire in an overheated room, unable to warm himself. The point being he was defrosted not only sans a soul but with ice cold blood in his veins, literally and figuratively. By this film's halfway point it's blatantly apparent that more than Miles' soul has gone AWOL: so has the viewer's interest in watching the rest of this tripe.

Paul Sorvino as the priest is wasted, but so is your time if you stay tuned until the end. "Chiller" is ultimately an unmitigated disappointment for Wes Craven fans.

Miles Chreighton (Michael Beck) had himself cryogenically frozen after his death. Something goes awry 10 years later, and Miles thaws out prematurely. Doctors bring him back from the dead. Alas, Miles left something back in the freezer- mainly, his soul! Now, he's a complete sociopath w/ sadistic, homicidal tendencies! This comes in handy as he re-takes his place as head of the family corporation, where Miles ruins the lives of his partners / employees, while molding the company in his own selfish image. Anyone in his way is either crushed or killed. Miles is quite the business executive! Can he be stopped before others are destroyed? Watch and find out! Beatrice Straight (Poltergeist) plays Miles' blissfully ignorant mum, and Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) plays a preacher who suspects something just isn't right. Considering some of Wes Craven's other bombs, CHILLER isn't bad at all...