Sweet Sixteen - Susan Strasberg

directed by Jim Sotos
USA 1983

Melissa (Aleisha Shirley) is the new girl at school in a small town (her father [a slumming Patrick Macnee] is an archaeologist excavating a local Indian burial ground) and having a hard time fitting in (despite some frontal nudity in the film's opening shower scene). It seems that every guy who takes an interest in her winds up getting offed (most of the film's victims are men). While the local sheriff (Bo Hopkins) thinks he has a psycho-killer on the loose and also has to deal with racial tensions, his daughter Marci (Dana Kimmel, FRIDAY THE 13TH 3-D) decides to play Nancy Drew. Things come to a head when Melissa's mother (a slumming Susan Strasberg) invites everyone to Melissa's Sweet Sixteen party. Though advertised then and now as a slasher film, SWEET SIXTEEN plays more like a small-town mystery thriller. There's a lot going on for a slasher film, there's tension between the locals (lead by Don Stroud in redneck mode) and the Native American population, TV movie of the week popular high school girls ostracizing the new kid, family tension, a godawful 70's throwback theme song, suggestions of the occult what with the burial ground and Melissa's set of Tarot card (the theatrical cut begins with a more gothic horror atmosphere which is nice but ultimately does not fit the rest of the film).

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: September 1983 (USA)

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DVD Review: Code Red DVD (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Code Red DVD Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:27:57
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.83 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Code Red DVD Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical Cut (16:9; 4.6 Mb/sec; 1:27:39) • Introduction with Aleisa Shirley and Scott Spiegel (4:3; 1:32) • Audio commentary with Aleisa Shirley and Jim Sotos moderated by Scott Spiegel • Interviews with Aleisa Shirley and Bo Hopkins (4:3; 19:37) • Press Kit Gallery • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 2:02) • NIGHTMARE trailer (4:3; 2:38) • STUNT ROCK trailer (4:3; 2:32) • RITUALS trailer (16:9; 0:53) • BALALAIKA CONSPIRACY trailer (16:9; 3:52) DVD Release Date: October 14th, 2008 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

Both the director's cut and theatrical cuts of the film on this disc are both darkish and a bit soft which is endemic of the original cinematography but there is also a disclaimer stating that the original negatives no longer exist. The director's cut is anamorphic and progressive.

The full theatrical cut is an extra on the disc. The most noticeable difference is a more atmospheric title sequence than that of the director's cut (the shower scene from the director's cut does not appear here). Though anamorphic, it is interlaced and probably from a video master (its a bit grainier but also a tad sharper than the director's cut). Framing is slightly different vertically but doesn't make much of a difference. (Audio on both versions are hissy but both are significantly better than the quality of the audio commentary which has been so noise reduced that its painful to listen to with star Aleisa Shirley and director Jim Sotos moderated by Scott Spiegel (Shirley and co-star Bo Hopkins provide onscreen interviews as well).

- Eric Cotenas

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