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Released by: Kino Studio Classics
Released on: September 6th 2016.
Director: Gene Wilder
Cast: Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Dom DeLuise, Jonathan Pryce, Paul L. Smith
Year: 1986
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The Movie:
The late, great Gene Wilder directed, starred in and co-wrote tis 1986 MGM production in which he plays a man named Larry Abbot. Larry makes his living doing voice work on a popular horror and suspense radio show called The Manhattan Mystery Theater. He and his girlfriend/co-worker, Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner), have just decided to tie the knot, even announcing as much to the press. Things get a bit tricky for the couple when Larry's nervousness results in a speech impediment - which is obviously not good for a man in the radio business.
Enter Larry's uncle, Dr. Paul Abbot (Paul L. Smith). He figures the best thing for Larry to do is to run off with his blushing bride to be to visit the old family home and get away from it all for a while. And so our couple does just that, they travel to the aged Abbot estate to enjoy some time together, completely unaware that a man dressed in a maid's outfit has recently been murdered and that a werewolf my very well be prowling the premises. When Larry finds out that he's set to inherit a vast fortune being willed to him by his Aunt Kate (Dom DeLuise), it soon becomes clear to all involved that someone is hoping to take him out of the picture - permanently.
This one isn't deep but it is a whole lot of fun. The movie goes at a nice quick pace and watching Wilder and Radner (in the final film they'd make together) is just flat out charming. These two had great chemistry and it's clear in every frame they share together that they really did enjoy working with one another. The performances are overdone, but they should be, it's in keeping with the period style and flair that Wilder uses to great comedic effect in the picture. Of course, complimenting Wilder and Radner are some fun supporting players like Jonathan Pryce and Paul L. Smith, not to mention a scene stealing Dom DeLuise, a completely ludicrous casting choice for the character of Aunt Kate!
Wilder's film features plenty of references to classic horror pictures, and it features a similar vibe to that which you'd find in a lot of the old Universal films, the Wolfman films being probably the most obvious point of reference here. The movie looks great as well. Lots of shadowy interiors inside the old Abbot home lend themselves to the highjinks that ensue and the camerawork does a fine job of accentuating this. Throw in a fine instrumental score from composer John Morris and some great wardrobe and costume selections, and yeah, this one shapes up quite nicely.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Haunted Honeymoon looks great on this AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. Colors are very nice and black levels are definitely solid. The scenes that take place indoors often times lean towards shadowy and dark, clearly intentional but even here there are no problems with crush while shadow detail remains solid. Texture is also pretty strong and nicely improved over the old DVD release. Sometimes the picture looks a bit soft but this is an eighties movie so it's sort of in keeping with the movie's aesthetic.
The English language DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo track sounds just fine, offering up clear dialogue without any noticeable background hiss or noise and the incredibly eighties sounding score has pretty impressive range. The levels are well balanced, the score sounds good and there are no problems here to complain about. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided.
Extras are limited to a trailer and bonus trailers for The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and Life Stinks. Static menus and chapter selection are provided.
The Final Word:
Haunted Honeymoon isn't the film that either Wilder or Radner will be remembered for but it is a pretty entertaining comedy/horror spoof with a fun cast that moves at a good pace. Kino's Blu-ray release is light on extras but it looks and sounds very nice. It's hard not to have a lot of fun with this one.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
