Hellnight Freeze after Opening Movie

[hugeclocktowerfan]

Hellnight will freeze on a black screen and not load the main menu after playing the opening movie. This is on a SCPH-7001 NTSC console using a retail PAL disc that is spotless. Booting it normally or PAL>NTSC will cause the freeze, however pressing R1 to boot or playing it from the File Explorer causes it to play properly. That'd be fine if my TV could support the PS1's PAL signal, which it unfortunately cannot.