Donald Pleasence · 1980s

6 Donald Pleasence movies from the 1980s on 4K Blu-ray, ranked S to D by transfer quality. 3 S-Tier picks including Prince of Darkness, Phenomena, Escape from New York.

Decade

All 15 1960s 3 1970s 5 1980s 6 1990s 1

Year

All 6 1980 0 1981 2 1982 0 1983 0 1984 0 1985 1 1986 0 1987 1 1988 1 1989 1

Escape from New York(1981)

7.0/10

dir. John Carpenter

S-Tier

S-Tier from Shout Factory. There are multiple packaging options but the discs are identical across the standard edition, steelbook, and collector's edition. If you're new to this one and the black levels look crushed, that's normal. It was shot almost entirely at night on a low budget, and Carpenter himself has said that's just how it looks. The Eagle Pictures Italian release is a better-looking transfer for anyone willing to import. The steelbook art is a love-it-or-hate-it situation, some people think it looks more Mad Max than Snake Plissken.

Shout! Studios · Collector's Edition

Phenomena(1985)

6.8/10

dir. Dario Argento

S-Tier

S-Tier Arrow Video 4K with a 4.0 score. Argento's insect-horror from 1985 with Jennifer Connelly. Arrow and Synapse both released a version, and the only real difference is the box art, with the Synapse cover being widely considered worse. Argento collectors are buying Arrow's to match their other Argento boxes.

Arrow Video · Limited Edition

Prince of Darkness(1987)

6.8/10

dir. John Carpenter

S-Tier

S-Tier StudioCanal 4K with a 4.5 score. Carpenter's second Apocalypse Trilogy entry. Scream Factory did a steelbook at $45 USD which people thought was too much, and the price eventually dropped to $34.99 USD. The StudioCanal 4-pack has better color accuracy but zero special features, while Scream Factory's has Atmos but messed up the colors.

StudioCanal · Collector's Edition

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers(1988)

6.2/10

dir. Dwight H. Little

C-Tier

C-Tier Shout Factory 4K. Michael Myers returns. The Halloween franchise on 4K from Shout Factory has been comprehensive if not always well-transferred.

Shout! Studios · Collector's Edition