The Film (3.5/5)

After the shocking suicide of one of his patients, Dr. Bill Capa (Bruce Willis) has lost the desire to practice and seeks an escape from New York. He travels to LA to visit his best friend Dr. Moore (Scott Bakula). While visiting he sits in on one of his group sessions, which just happens to have five disturbed people. Later that week Moore tells Capa that he has been getting strange phone calls and death threats. And all the signs point to someone in the group.

Moore is later murdered and Now Capa finds himself stuck with the group, harassed by a temperamental cop (Ruben Blades), and a strange woman (Jane March) who starts a hot love affair. But soon it becomes clear that Capa is the next target on the killer’s list.

COLOR OF NIGHT (1994) is a strange hybrid of giallo visuals and the popular erotic thrillers of the 1990’s. While I’m not a big fan of erotic thrillers, this movie is heads to toe a giallo made in States with a big Hollywood star and a terrific supporting cast. Director Richard Rush (FREEBIE AND THE BEAN, THE STUNT MAN) and company push the limits of arthouse design and still manage to pack in action elements to please Bruce Willis fans. The film does suffer from pacing issues, and a long runtime.

The film was also marked by critical distaste and a poor box office take home. It also happened to be a film that was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Razzie for its ending title song. Even taking the Razzie for worst film of 1994. Also, since its release it has been known in two different versions. The second of which being a sleazier Director’s cut that runs 140 minutes. With all this bad history, I was expecting a more problematic misfit.

But COLOR OF NIGHT is an above average thriller with some breath-taking visuals. There is no mistaking that it’s a bad movie, but it goes so far with how wild it is. There are gender bending subplots, over the top outbursts, car chases, a nail gun shoot out, a random strip tease on a helicopter, baffling “sexy” one-liners, a rattlesnake in a mail box, someone giving a blow job to a pistol (in the Director’s cut), and of course some hilarious unsexy sex scenes.

The cast is completely game, and all turn in fine performances. Bruce Willis is down playing the outlandishness of the script and has some nice character bits. Scott Bakula (TV’s Quantum Leap) makes the most of his limited screen time and has a death scene that would make Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci proud. Rounding out the cast is fine character parts for Lance Henriksen, Brad Dourif, Lesley Ann Warren, and Jeff Corey.

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

COLOR OF NIGHT comes with two audio tracks for both cuts. The 5.1 Surround track is nearly perfect with no hiss or pops. The musical score and action sound effects were finely tuned and came out clearly on my home theater system. The 2.0 Stereo mix is slightly softer. There is an overall quiet tone. But it still sounds fine. The Director’s cut comes with English subtitles, but the theatrical version is missing them.

The 1080p picture looks fantastic on both discs. The Director’s cut has the edge in sharpness. The black levels and focus both being clear as day. A huge improvement over the previous DVD versions. The stunning visuals are here with all the beauty. The only downside is the nighttime scenes do suffer from some minor color balance issues.

Extras (3.5/5)

Kino includes both the theatrical and the longer (and sleazier) Director’s cut. Both come with audio commentaries. The Director’s cut has Richard Rush on. This is the livelier of the two, with some insight into the making of the movie and the behind the scenes drama. The Theatrical cut has screenwriter Matthew Chapman. Chapman is very straight forward with his involvement with the film. But sadly, the track runs out of steam fast.

Rounding out the disc is me trailers for other Kino Lorber titles and a photo gallery.

Overall (4/5)

COLOR OF NIGHT is one of the most enjoyable American gialli that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. One of the wackiest and most visually appealing, this is one hell of a fun bad movie. Highly Recommend!