NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2023): Kino, for their sub-label Kino Cult #3, have transferred Phil Smoot's The Dark Power to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "4K Restoration from 16mm Materials". We reviewed the first Kino Cult label Blu-ray release; Jesús Franco's Lorna the Exorcist and second, Phil Smoot's own Alien Outlaw like, The Dark Power, also from 1985. For a 16mm source the 1080P image here is quite strong - on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Plenty of consistent grain and colors are rich and deep. No intrusive damage or distracting marks. There are a lot of outdoor sequences. Visually, I was okay with the modest 16mm-sourced quality in my viewing. I highly doubt it will ever look better than this on digital.

NOTE: We have added 42 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino Cult use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Dark Power has few aggressive moments that come through devoid of depth although the screams are quite piercing. The score was credited to Christopher Deane and Matt Kendrick - their only film composure credits if you don't count Kendrick scoring Sex Sells: The Great Nudie Doughnut Shop War directed by this film's editor Sherwood Jones. The audio was imperfect but suited the presentation. Kino (Kino Cult #3) offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Kino Cult Blu-ray offers two audio commentaries by director/writer Phil Smoot with the cast and crew that I believe were on previous DVD releases. I have not indulged. We also get Heather Buckley's The Terror of the Tar Heel State - a new 26-minute featurette with director Smoot, Mary Dalton, Cynthia Bailey and Eric Mikesall. Phil laments that he would have appreciated larger budgets. There is also a dozen-minute interview with editor Sherwood Jones (Alien Outlaw), and an image gallery. If anything, I would have preferred a piece on the legacy/career of "Lash" LaRue.

Like Alien Outlaw, The Dark Power also has 68-year old Alfred "Lash" LaRue (aka "The King of the Bullwhip"), but in a more prominent role as 'Ranger Girard'. "Lash" made frequent personal appearances at small-town movie theaters that were showing his films during his heyday of 1948 to 1951. He eventually starred in some independent westerns produced by the Ormond Family. I enjoyed Phil Smoot's The Dark Power more than I did Alien Outlaw. It has a better build with the researching element - 'Lash" was quite effective, there is some 80's cheesecake from the college coeds, but the zombie Indian costuming and make-up was severely overdone and hinders any remote suspension of disbelief. The gore was also cranked up unnecessarily. If you are keen on this ultra-low budget Indie-genre then Kino Cult #3 Blu-ray may be up your alley. It's bad but not that bad... really.

Gary Tooze