COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - LOVER'S LANE (ARROW BLU RAY)
Slasher films are often some of the formative films that young horror fans gravitate towards, and depending on your age, the influence of these films may change. As a child of the 80s, slasher films were the titan of horror sub-genres. Ask any millennial horror fan some of their favorite films and they are sure to mention at least one slasher film from the time period. Whether it's well-known franchises like HALLOWEEN or one-offs like THE PROWLER, the 80s and the 90s were the heyday years for the slasher genre. The thing is, slasher films haven’t changed a whole heck of a lot since the mid-90s. After SCREAM, it seemed as if slasher films ran out of steam and the formula had become somewhat stale. While there have been some notable slasher films over the past 15 years, on the whole, the good ones are often few and far between. And even then, they usually get the benefit of the doubt of the fact that most of them aren’t that good, so the bar for success is inherently low. As someone whose horror heart has a close association with the slasher genre, my stark outlook on the genre doesn’t make me adverse to the possibility that there are good ones still out there. From this, we arrive at the newest release from ARROW VIDEO, LOVER’S LANE. Is this mid-90s slasher here to save the sub-genre, or is this just another example of the rampant mediocrity that afflicts so many of these films?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A steamy secret tryst that was brutally cut short on Valentine's Day an unlucky thirteen years ago comes back to haunt the teens who linger around the lovers' lane where the double slaying took place. The County Sheriff Tom Anderson has just about come to terms with the fact that it was his wife who died in another man’s car on that fateful night. His daughter Mandy, who as a four-year-old saw her mother's corpse carried away from the scene, has a different take on things. It doesn’t help that her classmate Michael lost his father to the same hook-handed homicidal maniac in that night's incident. To cap it all off, as another Valentine's Day comes around, reports come through that the man arrested as "The Hook" has just busted out of the asylum.
HOW IS IT?
When it comes to genre films, it can often feel like trends come in waves. Take the resurgence of the slasher genre in the mid-90s. There is “before SCREAM” and “after SCREAM”, and regardless of one’s opinion on the film it is undeniable that the impact it left sent ripples throughout the horror world, some of which are still on full display today. Just like how HALLOWEEN ushered in the slasher era in the 80s, SCREAM took a meta approach to the genre that was on one hand satirizing it while on the other providing a pristine example of what the evolution of the slasher could look like. This in turn influenced slashers at the aesthetic and thematic level, which gave us films like I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, VALENTINE, and URBAN LEGEND. Nestled in between these films are ones such as LOVER’S LANE. A film that has more in common with the others than it may realize, while also providing some interesting nuance that makes for a solid ending even if the journey to that point isn’t all that interesting.
The best way to describe the plot of LOVER’S LANE is a hodgepodge of MY BLOODY VALENTINE with I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. While the film borrows much of its plotting from the former, it’s undeniable that the aesthetic of the latter is on full display here. That makes sense considering this film was written the same year that IKWYDLS was released, and it would take quite a bit of convincing to change my mind that the writers of this hadn’t been aware of that film or the success it achieved. That said, these comparisons aren’t there to make LOVER’S LANE look bad, rather, highlight just how formulaic everything about the film actually is. From the jilted maniac terrorizing the town with a hook to the melodramatic ending, LOVER’S LANE is a paint-by-numbers slasher through and through. On one end, that means that if you aren’t a big fan of the genre then there isn’t much here to change your mind. However, those who fancy themselves connoisseurs of these films will likely appreciate some of the subtle changes to the formula that help the film stand out narratively. I won’t go into too much detail about them as they are largely left for the ending, but suffice it to say that I was genuinely surprised with who the killer was and how things played out.
A solid twist can only take a film so far, ask M. NIGHY SHYAMALN, and that is the Achilles heel of LOVER’S LANE. While many celebrate the film for being the first one to feature ANNA FARIS, that’s sadly the only “first” thing the film achieves. The characters, setup, and setting all feel like something we’ve seen before, and that is because we have. By the time this film was released in 1999, we already had two SCREAM sequels and two IKWYDLS sequels, with a third one of each on the way in the coming 12 months. While it isn’t entirely fair to compare these films just because they share the same sub-genre, it’s almost impossible not to find yourself feeling a sense of deja vu as you watch this given the periodic context around when it was released. As someone who was seeing many of these films in theaters when they were released, it’s not surprising that I wasn’t aware of this one on the shelves of Blockbuster since so many straight-to-video replicas were sitting alongside it. Normally these kinds of comparisons are off-set by some narrative or aesthetic choices, but since LOVER’S LANE is so woefully indebted to those films it is hard to view it as anything more than an average slasher film simply being the victim of being too late to the party.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
LOVER’S LANE is presented in two different viewing options. The original fullscreen aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and a new, widescreen presentation aspect ratio of 1.85:1. For this review I opted for the widescreen version, and overall the presentation looks just fine. ARROW gave the film a new 2K restoration from a 4K scan of the original 35mm negative print. Having not seen the original version on 35mm I can only assume this looks far better than that given the difference in the mediums, and it is worth admiring the context of the time when this was released. Pre-DVD, but near the end of the VHS era. This ultimately explains the fullscreen presentation, and thankfully the inclusion of the widescreen version for modern viewing purposes. Images from the disc are used throughout the review and can be seen below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
LOVER’S LANE is presented with the original lossless stereo audio on both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film. Normally I might nitpick the lack of a 5.1 track given the age of the film, but honestly, it just isn’t necessary here. Most of the action is intimate and save for one fiery explosion there isn’t much need or use for a surround track to augment the visuals here. Another plus, although it’s a common default for ARROW releases, is the inclusion of optional English Subtitles for the hard of hearing.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
The core special feature on ARROW’s release of LOVER’S LANE, aside from a commentary track, is a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film titled, Screaming Teens: The Legacy of Lovers Lane featurette. This centers around the film's two writers as well as two of the cast members as they recall their journey to making the film and then the production process throughout the eventual release. What was most notable about this film is that the two writers were almost reluctantly in a position to create this since their steady gig of selling “movie of the week” films dried up after CBS halted production on them for good. They started writing this in 1997, yet they made no reference to the fact that other films had similar tones to theirs and deferred to saying that this was a riff on the “man with a hook” urban legend. While I’m not inclined to call “BS”, I highly doubt two well-connected writers weren’t aware of the success of other slasher films released before theirs. One other interesting aspect of the release had to do with distribution. The writers sold the VHS rights to Blockbuster which basically covered the production budget, and then kept the rights to DVD which helped the film become profitable in other markets outside the US. What isn’t elaborated on, but would have been interesting to know is why the film took so long to get to Blu Ray after being out of print on DVD for so long. Regardless, these kinds of retrospectives help highlight the humanity behind the horror, and even if I don’t love the movie I still like learning about the process behind its creation. A full list of special features included in this release can be seen below:
Brand new 2K restoration from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Two versions of the film: the widescreen 1.85:1 version and the full-frame 1.33:1 version
Original lossless stereo audio on both versions
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Brand new audio commentary with writer-producers Geof Miller and Rory Veal
Screaming Teens: The Legacy of Lovers Lane featurette with Geof Miller and Rory Veal and actors Matt Riedy and Carter Roy
Original trailers
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lindsay Hallam and double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
LAST RITES
LOVER’S LANE is a formulaic slasher that has moments of innovation sprinkled throughout some rather by-the-numbers genre tropes. While some decent practical effects and a surprising ending do a lot of the heavy lifting for the film, fans of slashers will certainly want to check this one out for completist sakes while naysayers won’t find a lot to change their minds about slasher films overall.
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends over at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review screener for the crypt! LOVER’S LANE will be released on APRIL 25, 2023, and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT or ARROW DIRECT!
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