Midnight Horror Review: Forever Knight: The Complete Series

*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Does anyone actually remember there being a "Crimetime After Primetime" lineup airing on CBS during the 1992-1993 season late-at-night after the local news?

I was an eleven-year-old in 1992 and I have no memory of any television shows airing that late. Then again, I had a curfew in 1992 and wasn't allowed to stay up late on school nights." Weekends were a completely other story as I would stay up past midnight to watched the edited versions of Tales of the Crypt on Fox.

Anyway, the first season of the cult Canadian vampire series Forever Knight aired on CBS during their "Crimetime After Primetime." After the entire lineup was cancelled to make way for Late Show with David Letterman, the second season moved to syndication and the third & final season aired on the USA Network.

Mill Creek Entertainment recently released Forever Night: The Complete Series DVD set (TV-14; 52 hrs 43 mins; $64.98) featuring all 70 episodes! There are no special features or bonus extras.

Forever Knight is a reworking of the television movie Nick Knight starring Rick Springfield that aired on CBS in 1989. For the series, Geraint Wyn Davies took over the role of Nick Knight, a vampire who works at as a nighttime detective for the Toronto police. He was born in A.D. 1200. As adult, he was forced to fight in the Crusades to avoid facing a murder trial which he was being accused of killing his love, Gwyneth. He returned to Europe after the Crusades where became a drunk. Eventually, he meets the vampire Janette DuCharme (played by Deborah Duchêne) and along with her master, Lucien LaCroix (played by Nigel Bennett), they seduce him into becoming an immortal. After many many years of killing innocent humans, Nick turns his back on being a vampire and goes on a quest to redeem himself.

As a cop, Nick Knight uses his supernatural abilities to protect the innocent and to capture the bad guys. The only human who knows of his "curse" is medical coroner Natalie Lambert (played by Catherine Disher). And of course his maker LaCroix knows all about Nick's past and will do anything to make sure he stays a vampire forever.

Final Thoughts

I didn't realize how much I missed the '90s until I started watching Forever Knight on DVD. I remember watching the syndicate reruns on the weekends during the late '90s. At that point in time, I was a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and coincidentally the spinoff series, Angel, had the same basic plot of Forever Knight - a vampire seeking redemption by helping others.

Unlike many of the "complete series" releases from Mill Creek Entertainment, the box set for Forever Knight is made from heavy cardboard instead of flimsy cardstock. The only problem I have with this is that the tiptop where it opens and closes is made out of the flimsy cardstock and doesn't stay shut. There are 12 discs total in this set which are stored in cardstock dividers with two discs per divider. I actual don't have a problem with this as none of the discs were dislodged during shipping. However, the discs could get scratched easily.

The video and sound qualities are pretty decent but nothing's been remastered. All the episodes are in their original 1:33:1 full frame. Like I already mentioned, there are no special features or extras, not even a commentary.

Overall, Forever Knight: The Complete Series is a must-have for any "Knight" fan. Personally, the series itself deserves a 5 out of 5 rating but due to my slight dislike for the packaging and the lack of any extras, I'm giving the DVDset a 4 out of 4 rating.