Films
/
A Shriek in the Night (1933)
A Shriek in the Night (1933) poster

A Shriek in the Night (1933)

Mystery, Thriller, Horror • 1h 6m

Director: Albert Ray

Cast: Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark, Purnell Pratt, Lillian Harmer, Arthur Hoyt, Louise Beavers, Clarence Wilson, Maurice Black, Jim Farley, Cyril Ring, Dick Rush, Tiny Sandford, Philip Sleeman

Best English-friendly & video release

 · updated 10 months ago

Overview

Rival newspaper reporters Pat Morgan and Ted Rand find themselves unraveling the mystery behind the death of a millionaire philanthropist who fell from his penthouse balcony. When it is discovered that the plunge was not an accident, the building's residents come under suspicion. Soon, the body count begins to mount as three more murders occur by strangulation.

Release details

Featured Lists
Length
66 mins
Type
Movie

Featured in Pre-Code Films

See more →

Director: Marion Gering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Leo McCarey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray Nov 10th

Directors: Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK MoC Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

MoC Blu-ray offers both restored and an unrestored tracks

Director: Edgar Selwyn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Sources: ibb.co (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Warner Archive Blu-ray is 4K restoration from nitrate projection elements

Germany Filmjuwelen Blu-ray is AI upscaled https://ibb.co/album/mCJ7RQ

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Frank Capra

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony Frank Capra Boxset Blu-ray

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 4 DVD

Director: Lloyd Bacon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive DVD

Director: George W. Hill

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive DVD

More from AlphaVideo

See more →

Director: J. Farrell MacDonald

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Quality: 2005 AlphaVideo DVD
Longer Footage: 2013 WB The Wizard of Oz (1939) 3D 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Blu-ray Disc 3

Director: Frank O'Connor

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Grapevine OOP DVD or AlphaVideo DVD

Additional Info:

UCLA has the complete 16mm safety print but no new restoration available yet

Director: Clarence G. Badger

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo DVD

Director: Maurice Tourneur

Video format: DVD

Best Video:

AlphaVideo or Kino Lorber OOP or Grapevine OOP DVD

Video Notes:

No comparison available

Directors: Thomas H. Ince & Reginald Barker & Raymond B. West

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OOP Grapevine or AlphaVideo DVD

Director: Maurice Tourneur

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US AlphaVideo or Film Detective DVD

Director: Roscoe Arbuckle

Video format: DVD

Best Video:

AlphaVideo DVD

Director: Robert Flaherty

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo DVD

Director: Charles Swickard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo DVD or Image Entertainment Treasures from the American Archive DVD

Video Notes:

AlphaVideo DVD or Image Entertainment Treasures from the American Archive DVD no comparison available

Director: Edwin S. Porter

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo DVD

Sources: bitratiovideo.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Bitratio Blu-ray coming soon

More Mystery on Blu-ray

Director: Doug Liman

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal Blu-ray but slightly filtered and DNR'd

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering; WB 4K early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed. Comparison between Criterion and WB.

Best Audio:

6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Alexandre Aja

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Lionsgate Limited, France ESC, or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray?

Video Notes:

Germany Plaion is reportedly better than UK Second Sight.

Not sure about the US Lionsgate or France ESC.

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Austria NSM Blu-ray
Director's Cut: US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Austria NSM Blu-ray
Director's Cut: France Metropolitan Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Metropolitan got better picture (higher bitrate + better grain + more detail) than Lionsgate

Best Audio:

Director's Cut: US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Director: Glen Morgan

Best English-Friendly:

2008 Canada TVA Films Blu-ray

Best Video:

2022 Germany Nameless Media 3-Disc Edition Blu-ray

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.

Lionsgate and the upcoming Imprint have the same discs.

Best Audio:

Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the "Original 5.1" as lossy Dolby Digital, which is very different from the AC3 on the original DVD.  This new "Original 5.1" may in fact be a downmix of the Atmos track.  FWIW, the original DVD AC3 still sounds very good.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

BD LPCM 5.1

Audio Notes:

The DTS-HD on the UHD has been dynamically compressed, has had its center channel boosted, and surrounds lowered (typical modern nearfield mix for soundbars).  Very different from the BD and DVD tracks.  The BD LPCM is basically just a lossless version of the DTS and AC3 from the original DVD (the AC3 actually being the superior mix on that particular release).

Director: Roman Polanski

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

2011/2025 WB Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

2011/2025 WB Blu-ray for correct audio (2010 release has audio issue)

Director: Rose Glass

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

A24 4K Blu-ray

Best Video & Audio:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray 

Video Notes:

Markedly better encoding on Plaion than A24 and without any low-pass filtering

Director: Gus Van Sant

Best English-Friendly:

US Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video & Audio:

French Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Shout! Factory and Carlotta use the same scan https://slow.pics/c/Wcn5YFlw, the Carlotta has two extra bonus features

Edit history

1 edit

Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 10 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.