Dead Kids DVD/blu-ray

Dead Kids aka: Strange Behavior - 1983

DVD UPC/EAN # 790594234225; 081227149734; 081227402532; 081227198831; 5050606310459; 654930307397; 5055201802040
Blu-ray/DVD Set UPC/EAN # 663390000113(US/CA); 9341005006927(AU)

South Street Films/Endeavour Productions - 99/101 min.

Cast: Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher, Dan Shor, Fiona Lewis, Scott Brady, Charles Lane, Dey Young, Arthur Dignam, Marc McClure, Beryl Te Wiata.
Screenplay: Michael Laughlin, Bill Condon; Cinematography: Louis Horvath; Editor: Petra Von Oelffen; Original Music: Tangerine Dream; Makeup and Special Effects: Craig Reardon; Producers: John Barnett, Antony Ginnane; Director: Michael Laughlin.

In a small Chicago suburban town, a police chief and his son get caught up in a nasty experiment that programmes teen-agers into killers. Auckland's Remuera district is standing in as the "small American town", and Auckland's Avondale College as the "friendly Galesburg College". You will probably spot One Tree Hill, when it still had a tree. Not a great film - either scriptwise or technically, but worth a watch for those who enjoy the genre and it is enjoyable observing the dress styles, old cars and dance styles of the 1970's. This US/NZ co-production was the first NZ "thriller" feature film.

Censor Rating: R 16 - Review Rating: C+

Dead Kids Trailer
Official MP4 Trailer


CLARIFICATION - In all markets, except the U.S., the title of the film is 'Dead Kids'. In the U.S. the title is 'Strange Behavior'. The theatrical World Premiere of 'Dead Kids' occured April 1983 in Auckland, however 'Strange Behavior' had a limited U.S. theatrical release during the fourth quarter of 1981. The March 2014 twin-pack described below is the first U.S. release with the film's original title.

AVAILABILITY OF COPIES

No known source for either new or used PAL VHS copies. New NTSC copies can be found for about $10us. Used NTSC copies will sell for about $6us.

The DVDs are a new digital transfer with widescreen 2.35:1, enhanced for 16x9. R0 PAL DVDs are sold by Aro Video for $20nz and from Australian sources for under $20au. The R0 PAL extras are: Introduction by producer, Antony Ginnane, two short deleted scenes, stills gallery, two related trailers, plus trailers of other films that Ginnane is selling.

New R1 DVD copies will cost about $18us. Special features include: optional commentary track with writer Bill Condon, and actors Dan Shor and Dey Young; Two deleted scenes; theatrical trailers; isolated music score; photo gallery. There are spoken English and Spanish DD 2.0 soundtracks. There are no subtitles.

An All Regions 2.35:1, enhanced for 16x9, 1080p24 blu-ray version, transferred in HD from the original negative, became available starting 11 March 2014. It is packaged with an R0 480p NTSC DVD version. This 2-disc set is selling for about $22us. The Blu-ray has a spoken English DTS-HD Master 1.0 soundtrack. The DVD has a spoken English DD 2.0 soundtrack. In addition to including the commentary track used on the previous dvd, the Blu-ray has a new commentary track by the writer/director Michael Laughlin. There is also a 20 minute 1.78:1 featurette, ' The Effects Of Strange Behavior', an interview with Makeup Effects Artist Craig Reardon; a TV 'Strange Behavior' trailer (1:30) and a widescreen 'Dead Kids' trailer (3:00). The previous dvd's "deleted Scenes" have been edited back into the movie with this latest offering. There are no subtitles on either the Blu-ray or DVD. The extras have an English DD 2.0 soundtrack.

Starting 23 March 2016, a Region B Blu-ray is being offered by Australian resellers, selling for $20-30au. The tech specs, except for the region code, are the same. Extras include the two commentary track options mentioned above, 'The Effects of Strange Behavior'(20:32) and 'A Delicious Conversation with Dan Shor'(45:00) featurettes and the two trailers mentioned above.

There is a combo set of a blu-ray of the movie plus a CD of the soundtrack scheduled for an Australian and New Zealand release in June 2022.

Although the 1986 UK video version was uncut the 1993 Vipco release was cut by 26 secs by the BBFC to remove shots of Pete Brady vertically cutting his wrist with a knife, as this was classed as an imitable suicide technique. The cuts were expanded to 41 secs for the 2004 DVD release though the 2008 Optimum DVD restores around 14 secs via a different edit.

Aro Video of Wellington

DealOZ North American DVD price comparison site

DealOZ North American Blu-ray price comparison site

EZYdvd.com.au - A source for the Blu-ray/CD set

$20 Blu-ray sale at distributor


STREAMING AND DOWNLOADING

Amazon US

Amazon DE

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Amazon Prime CA

Vudu Rentals or Purchase

Google Play US Rental or Purchase

Microsoft US - Buy or Rent - SD & HD


WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog - Click to find the nearest Library that has 'Dead Kids'.

WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog - Click to find the nearest Library that has 'Strange Behavior'.


SOUNDTRACK ON AUDIO CD

Limited edition CDs and LPs of the Tangerine Dream soundtrack are scheduled for releases in the US and Australia between April and June of 2022. For details go to: deadkidsCD.html

MP3 clip from this title's soundtrack

SOUNDTRACKS VAULT - Link to MP3 samples of all titles


REVIEWS

M. Enois Duarte Blu-ray Review at HighDefDigest

DVDCompare - DVD versions

DVDCompare - Blu-ray versions

Michael Den Boer's Blu-ray Review at 10Kbullets

Adam Tyner's Blu-ray Review at DVDTalk

Eric Cotenas' Blu-ray Review at DVD Drive-in

Mondo Digital Blu-ray Review

Glenn Erickson's Blu-ray World Cinema Paradise Review

Jeffrey Kaufman Blu-ray Review

Reviews at Letterboxd.com

Dennis Schwartz Review

HK Film News Review

Scary Minds Review

Moria Review

MRQE Reviews

IMDB Viewer Comments

Links to 75 reviews from IMDB

Yet more Hollywood-in-New Zealand. Actually set in an American Midwest town although filmed in Remuera and environs. Fair example of the stalking-nighttime-killer genre. (Nicholas Reid - 'A Decade of New Zealand Film')


MISC. INFO and LINKS

VIDEO VAULT - Links to trailers and clips for all titles.

Internet Movie Poster Awards

New Zealand Film Archive Info

Information at IMDB

The production title was 'Shadowland'. Australia, New Zealand and theatrical foreign title was 'Dead Kids'. 'Strange Behaviour' was the original limited (June 1981) US theatrical release to World Northal. 'Small Town Massacre' was a VHS video re-titling in the US. The 1983 theatrical world premiere was under the 'Dead Kids' title and was in Auckland.


NZVideos Logo

Alphabetical List * Chronological List * News * Buy-Sell-Rent * DVD List * Blu-ray List * Streaming List

What is A New Zealand Feature Film * First Choices * Books * Misc * Links * Directors* Soundtracks




Comments, suggestions or questions are welcomed at info@nospamnzvideos.org, but delete the nospam portion before sending