The Wrong Door: Collector's Edition – Visual Vengeance (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 1990
Directors: James Groetsch, Shawn Korby, Bill Weiss
Cast: Matt Felmlee, Loreal Steiner, Jeff Tatum, Jeannine Bourdaghs, James Bullock, James Groetsch, Chris Hall, Robin Keller, Beth Korby, Shawn Korby, Brad Perrin, John Rosten, George Wade, Bill Weiss, Eric Westerlund, Katie Witt

Release Date: November 28th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 73 Minutes 32 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $34.95

"Ted Farrell has lived for mysteries and drama his whole life. While a college student he proves to be a sound designer with a knack for audio thrillers - but his life is about to imitate his art. Fate places him at the doorstep of a beautiful young woman who will soon end up murdered and in his car with no explanation. His night and his sanity quickly spiral out of control as he races to avoid becoming the next victim of the killer on the loose." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand new director-supervised 2K HD transfer from the original Super 8mm film elements".

The Wrong Door comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.2 GB

Feature: 11.5 GB

Though some minor debris still remains, what remains is minor and never intrusive. That said, this is one of Visual Vengeance’s stronger transfers. Flesh tones look correct, colors look very good, the image looks crisp, compression looks good, and there does not appear to be any digital noise reduction. It should be noted that when it comes to the darker/nighttime scenes, of which there are many, the image does not look as strong as it does for the daytime/brighter scenes.

Audio 3.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. Audio plays a significant role in the story at hand, and it is clear that a lot of work went into the sound design. That said, the audio sounds great, dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include The Wrong Door Visual Vengeance trailer (45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Now Hiring Visual Vengeance trailer (1 minute 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Film Threat review for The Wrong Door, original storyboards gallery with music from The Wrong Door, image gallery with music from The Wrong Door, original unedited Muther Video VHS intros (16 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), TV episode: The Gale Whitman Show (21 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Super 8 short titled The Pizza Man (8 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Super 8 short titled Raiders of the Lost Bark (1 minute 41 seconds, no dialog, projector sound), alternate director’s cut of The Wrong Door (66 minutes 33 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Chris Gore titled Distributing The Wrong Door (13 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Matt Felmlee (20 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Bill Weiss (36 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Shawn Korby (20 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director James Groetsch (20 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled Men Make Movie, If Not Million$ (43 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Bill Weiss and Shawn Korby, an audio commentary with James Groetsch and producer John Schonebaum, reversible cover art featuring original VHS art, 'stick your own' VHS sticker set, a 2-sided Insert, a collectible folded poster, a limited-edition ‘do not disturb …the disturbed!” door hanger (first pressing only), and a limited-edition slipcover (first pressing only). 

Other extras are trailers for Scream Queen, Ozone Attack of the Redneck Mutants, and Vampires and Other Stereotypes.

Summary:

The narrative revolves around a man who is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he becomes entangled in a murder when he becomes the target of the killer because of what he saw.

Though The Wrong Door is a collaborative effort from three filmmakers who made it while attending a filmmaking school. The result is a surprisingly cohesive film in which the tone and look of the film are constant. That said, The Wrong Door has all of the hallmarks of a do-it-yourself production, with many of those involved in its making taking on multiple roles.

The Wrong Door is a film made by those attending film school. The premise of a protagonist who is studying sound design at film school makes perfect sense. It starts off as a story about a student who has put off his class project until the night before it is due. Quickly transforms into a Hitchcockian ‘Wrong Man’ scenario. That said, without giving away too much about The Wrong Door’s major plot twist, I will just say that the events that unfold the night the protagonist witnesses a murder ultimately play a role in his final class project.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where The Wrong Door does not achieve its goals. The premise is superbly realized, a well-constructed narrative does a great job building tension, and a solid twist ending perfectly brings everything together. The most memorable moment is a scene where the protagonist, who’s driving, looks in his rearview mirror and sees a dead body in his backseat. Another strength is the use of sound, and when it comes to the performances, the cast is all very good. Ultimately, The Wrong Door is a well-made suspense film that far exceeds the sum of its parts.

The Wrong Door gets a solid release from Visual Vengeance that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an abundance of extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer