Over this series of reviews I will be chronicling released from different years of Horrorfest, which originally played in January of 2006. There are as the name suggests eight different films, all dabbling into different elements of horror, gore, and the supernatural. I really enjoy the concept of a horror festival on a national level, and it really gives a chance for aspiring writes of the genre to do something unique and outside the realm of cliché that has engulfed the genre so often.

Although in the past I have rarely seen an independent horror film that has captivated my imagination or even thrilled me, I am keeping my mind open to the possibility that the ever growing Horrorfest really will be the difference maker in the genre. So without further delay, how do these films fare?

Films  

The Gravedancers has a rather random premise, based around exactly what the name entitles, grave dancing. A group of friends go out on a binge after attending a mutual friend’s funeral. After putting a few away the group break into the cemetery where their friend is buried to say a final goodbye. The group soon find a black envelope that contains a poem that encourages people to dance on the grave of the departed as a celebration of their life. The group does just this and things get weird.

They begin seeing visions and hearing noises, but then they even begin getting attacked ghost like forces. The group soon enlist the help of paranormal investigators. It turns out the group provoked three havoc minded ghosts by dancing that night.

The Gravedancers has potential, but in typical horror fashion it doesn’t do much to follow through on it. But not all was lost with this film, while it was polluted with its sexual violence and drab dialogue, I found that the overall ambience was somewhat chilling. Don’t expect much regarding the acting, except for the surprise inclusion of Tcheky Karyo who had a string of hits in the 90’s including Bad Boys and The Patriot. In the end I guess you could twist my arm to recommend this film, just don’t come in with high expectations.

Wicked Little Things also more of a supernatural horror, has a cliché setting but a half decent premise. Back in the early 1900’s a cruel owner of mine subject’s immigrant children to child labour, and after a large explosion many of the children are buried alive. Fast forward to present day Karen Tunny has just lost her husband and moves with her two daughters to her late husband’s home locate adjacent to the mine. There are rumours around that zombies live up near the mine, and the children soon become paranoid. But there paranoia soon turns to reality as the zombie children begin killing locals, and everyone is in a fight for their life.

Again, the film does very little to impress, but considering it for what it is it wasn’t all that bad. I think it was interesting how they made the villains as zombie children, whereas normally they might be spirits or adult zombies. That interesting choice plays out rather nicely in the film, and while there aren’t many thrilling or horrific parts in this film I still felt rather intrigued.

Video  

Brought to us in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 at a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, there isn’t a whole lot of difference with these releases than we have seen in the past with the After Dark titles. The films really suffer in low lighting situations which as with most horror films, encompasses a large majority of the films. So ultimately what we get is smooth and pretty looking daylight scenes where details are evident and sharp, whereas in the night we get grain, and disappointing loss of detail and clarity.

Audio  

Lionsgate brings us these films like all others in the series with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. Both films are rather similar in the audio department, and like most of the other releases in the series as well. These films are very front heavy, and half decent for the dialogue portions. But where the other films suffer these do as well; during scenes of high intensity the screaming seems muffled, and bogged down by noise. Overall I’ll give the films audio department a nod, but there is definitely room for improvement.

Special Features  

The Gravedancers

• Commentary with Director Mike Mendez and Composer Joseph Bishara
• “A Grave Undertaking” Making-of Featurette with Optional Commentary – I was actually impressed with this featurette, there was some cool information. But what I liked most was the option of a commentary on a special feature, kind of cool.
• “Making the Ghosts” making of featurette – Another making of feature that gets a bit more into the creative process of the film making.
• Trailer
• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary
• Storyboard galleries

Wicked Little Things

• Audio Commentary with Director JS Cardone and Lori Heuring – Again, unless you actually liked this movie there is nothing interesting in the commentary, even if you did like the movie I doubt you would get much out of this idle banter.
• Trailers

Final Thoughts  

Neither film was spectacular but surprisingly both weren’t all that bad. Sure they wouldn’t be my first choice in horror, but compared to the mostly disappointing releases in the After Dark Horrorfest series I was surprised to find two films that were decent on one disc. Both of the films had rather decent audio and video transfers as well, the main setback was the lack of features but that has come to be expected. At the end of the day this disc was definitely better than most of the releases in the series and I am inclined to recommend them.

Over this series of reviews I will be chronicling released from different years of Horrorfest, which originally played in January of 2006. There are as the name suggests eight different films, all dabbling into different elements of horror, gore, and the supernatural. I really enjoy the concept of a horror festival on a national level, and it really gives a chance for aspiring writes of the genre to do something unique and outside the realm of cliché that has engulfed the genre so often.

Although in the past I have rarely seen an independent horror film that has captivated my imagination or even thrilled me, I am keeping my mind open to the possibility that the ever growing Horrorfest really will be the difference maker in the genre. So without further delay, how do these films fare?

Films

The Broken is more of a supernatural thriller, bordering on the realm of a Twilight Zone episode crossed with Supernatural. It tells the story of Gina McVey, a regular girl with a regular life. That is until one night while having dinner with her boyfriend and family a mirror shatters for no apparent reason. After the initial surprise no one seems to think much of it; that is until the next day. Gina spots a woman who looks exactly like her, she even drives the same car as her. Curious, Gina follows her look alike into her home where she spots a picture of herself and her father. Shocked and without explanation she storms out of the apartment and gets into an accident, landing her in the hospital. Upon getting out she starts investigating, but everyone around her seems different and she begins having vivid nightmares that confuse the situation even more. But determined to get answers Gina digs into the realm of the supernatural and discovers that entities known as doppelgangers (known if folklore as doubles, or an evil second version of a person). Will she be able to save herself and her family, or are things already doomed?

I rather enjoyed the premise of The Broken, and the lore that it dictates. The concept isn’t completely unique but it plays out as more of a thriller than a horror, which I found refreshing. The plot is rather character driven, and while the acting definitely has room for improvement, our immersion into the story is based completely around the need for Gina’s resolution. The story itself is rather interesting but it does tend to drag on at times, which leaves this thriller rather unchilling at most times. While it won’t be going into any of my all-time favourites list, I do see myself watching it again. Ultimately The Broken is a winner in the independent thriller category.

The Butterfly Effect 3, is the third instalment in the series which kicked off in 2004 with Ashton Kutcher in the lead role. This time around Chris Carmack (The OC, Love Wrecked) plays the protagonist; Sam Reide. Sam works with the police to help capture criminals by claiming to be psychic. Really though, Sam has the ability to travel backwards in time to moments in his life just by thinking it. He inhabits his body of that time period, but has the power to alter the events.

The plot of the film follows his attempts to clear the name of a wrongfully accused murdered, the man on death row for killing his girlfriend. Her sister is convinced that the wrong man is being killed for the murder, and after initial reluctance begins to unravel a web of deceit.

I’ll be honest; I typically hate sequels which play off the original’s success without bringing back the storyline or characters. They take only the concept and generally butcher it; The Butterfly Effect 3 wasn’t an exception.

The movie played out in a rather predictable and uninteresting manner, revolving around ridiculous concepts that have no place in any movies. After witnessing rape, incest, and convoluted storylines I would really love to have my 90 minutes of time back. I don’t know how a concept as cool as time travel and altered reality could fall so short, considering I really enjoyed the first Butterfly Effect. While this film share the same name as the original don’t let it fool you, or spark any interest; this film is filled with weak characters, a weak plot, and a disappointing ending. To be honest the only thing this movie had going for it was Chris Carmack, who’s half decent acting made it bearable at moments, but couldn’t come close to making this movie palatable. At the end of the day I wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone.

Video

The Broken and The Butterfly Effect 3 are brought to us in 1080p AVC MPEG-4 and the transfers on both of these films are relatively similar, both surprisingly decent for independent releases. Crisp and clear in most scenes, there were only a few instances where grain became overly apparent, most commonly during poorly lit interior scenes, or night scenes. Ultimately I was impressed, and compared to many of the other independent release in high definition I think you will be too. While neither is perfect, considering them for what they are I was definitely pleased.

Audio

Brought to us in 5.1 DTS-HD, The Broken and The Butterfly Effect 3 aren’t as well off in the audio department as I felt they were in the video. For the most part both films fare just fine, peaking during conventional dialogue. But as soon as voiced are raised or the score elevates you can really detect the holes in the audio track. Often becoming overly jumbled and front heavy, I was a little disappointed. On the plus side the bass offered some nice touches to the film, and was used rather efficiently. Ultimately I felt the audio could have been a bit better, but all things considering and for the type of release this is; I will give it a slight nod.

Special Features

The Broken

• Miss Horrorfest webisodes – A look into the pinup of the festival, Miss Horrorfest.

The Butterfly Effect 3

• Miss Horrorfest webisodes – again a more insightful look into Miss Horrorfest.

Final Thoughts

The films themselves vary greatly from one and other. I would consider both thrillers, but where one is original and engaging, the other drops the ball completely. The Broken by far being the better of these two films, it’s a little disappointing that you have to get them on the same disc. But I would still recommend checking the disc out, solely for The Broken and completely omitting The Butterfly Effect 3. For those of you out there who plan on buying all the films in the After Dark release, you will be pleased to hear that the video transfer on these films was actually quite decent despite a few minor problems. The audio wasn’t too bad itself but there was definitely room for improvement. At the end of the day I would recommend the purchase of this disc only to those of you who are collectors of the series, otherwise a rental is more than enough.

At first glance Paranormal Activity 2 seems like an interesting blu-ray to review… I always tend to try and invest in titles that will flex the muscles of my home theatre and when we’re dealing with a film that is supposed to look like it was shot with a handheld camcorder it may seem like it’s a sure bet this will be getting a skip on the technical aspects, but if a film is valuable enough and caters to the right market it just might surprise us. Lets see how it does.

Film

The first Paranormal Activity was a surprising effective creepshow made on a shoe-string budget in the director’s own home that became a phenomenon after playing to sold-out midnight screenings in college towns throughout the country. The film expanded its theatre count nationwide and eventually went on to make over $100 million at the domestic box office, quadruple the gross of Saw V, released that same year. It was literally The Blair Witch Project all over again. Obviously, a sequel was immediately given the green light.

Unlike the Blair Witch sequel, the makers of the Paranormal Activity sequel wisely decided to keep it simple. The set-up up is very much the same, only now we are watching the events that precede the original movie involving the sister of one of the original movie’s main characters. The pace is deliberately slow at first, allowing to build atmosphere and the movie really keeps you at the edge of your seat. In fact, you may want to be careful not to fall off, since the film has probably one of the best jump scares that I have ever seen. Period.

If you loved the first movie, you’ll enjoy this one. It’s equally as effective and takes the story in an interesting direction. It’s hard to tell where they’ll go from here, but with another sequel in the works, this appears to be the beginning on a new franchise for horror fans, just in time to replace the Halloween holiday favorite that was the Saw series for the last six years.

Video

Paranormal Activity 2’s video is displayed using the AVC MPEG-4 codec. The video is a bit hard to judge on this film. The film is heavily reliant on its perspective on the content. Camcorder P.O.V. is nothing new in the realm of horror, with such films as “Cloverfield”, “Diary of the Dead”, “REC”, and the two Dowdle brother films “Quarantine” and the yet to be released “The Poughkeepsie Tapes”. However this film differs by using multiple stationary cameras such as a nanny cam or security camera along with the camcorder P.O.V. that we’re familiar with when the main characters walk around with said cam.

The problem with using this style of shooting is the quality is hindered by recreating crappy camera distortion. The film has all the expected effects from noisy images to macroblocking and banding. I believe that the negative aspects of the video quality are a part of the simulated experience.

The main camera that gets taken with the characters is the best quality, but it’s obvious that it was shot on a prosumer camera and unfortunately lands in some of the pitfalls that are associated with consumer cameras such as saturation issues and crushed blacks. However the budget for Paranormal Activity 2 was much higher than the first film so the only reason these cameras were used was a creative decision so even though this film isn’t meant to showcase HDTVs the film looks exactly how it’s supposed to.

Audio

Paranormal Activity 2’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD Master audio in 5.1. The film is front heavy and recreates the experience of only recording audio through the on-camera microphone from each point of view camera. So dialogue and foley all come straight forward from the center speaker. However some of the audio bleeds into the surrounds at times to try and take advantage of the codec but overall things tend to stay in the front.

The low frequencies comes it at times when some artificial rumble is added to sweeten sound effects and sound design, but overall the sound is pretty limited which once again is another example of trying to simulate the experience of watching actual cameras… It works well but it sacrifices the quality that has come to be expected from Blu-rays.

Special Features

Unfortunately there are only two extras on the Blu-ray, “Found Footage” which is basically deleted scenes and a teaser trailer. The lack of anything substantial cuts the overall rating down for the horror community is one of the bigger audiences that still buys movies and care about special features… Think of how many times we’ve seen Evil Dead get rereleased, the only difference is a few extra. Perhaps this is the plan to release an almost barebones version of Paranormal Activity 2 and then in a couple years release a super edition. However that still doesn’t make the lack of extras here any easier to swallow.

Final Thoughts

The fact that Paranormal Activity 2 does a good job recreating the style of camcorder P.O.V. may make it seem like a poor choice when deciding between the DVD and Blu-ray for this film but the lack of special features really drags this film down. Fans deserve to be protected against the double dip that is so notorious in the horror genre however with this near barebones release it’s a fair bet we’ll be seeing some special editions down the road. Hold out or rent it.

Film

Late last year, Hatchet 2 became the first unrated movie since George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead to get a theatrical release across the United States. The reason behind this was due to the MPAA demanding so many cuts to secure an R-rating that director Adam Green decided to go straight to the theatres to make negotiations. The AMC theatre chain were fans of the original movie and agreed to play Hatchet 2 in their theatres unrated. Only days after it was released, the movie was pulled from the majority of the theatres that were playing it. In fact, Canadian AMC theatres never even played the movie passed the first day after their provincial ratings board threatened to fine the theatres playing the movie.

Now the movie has been released uncut and unrated, just as Adam Green had originally intended. After viewing the movie, it’s hard not to side with Adam Green who commented that the MPAA were being unfair when judging his movie. This movie is no worse than any Saw or Hostel movie, in fact; there was definitely more gratutity in this than summer’s equally campy Pirahna 3-D, all of which were released by major motion picture studios.

The movie picks up where the original left off, only now the character of Marybeth is played by scream queen Danielle Harris. Determined to recover the bodies of her father and brother, Marybeth enlists the help of Reverend Zombie played by the Candyman himself; Tony Todd, whose character get considerably more screen time this time around. Reverend Zombie forms a posse and off we go back to the swamps looking for the legendary Victor Crowley, played by Kane Hodder, who some say haunt the area.

Some laughs and lots of over-the-top kills try to cater to the horror buffs. Not to mention the fact that the movie stars some of today’s biggest horror icons; Harris, Hodder and Todd, as well as Fright Night director Tom Holland. It banks on people not taking the film seriously but even when it tries to be tongue-in-cheek or satirical Hatchet II fails to make up for its shoddy acting and horrible dialogue. It’s one thing to try and write dialogue that’s intentionally corny, but covering up lack of talent with the façade that it’s an artistic decision just make the film that much more unbearable.

Video

Hatchet II’s video is displayed in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The video quality is pretty good throughout the film but every now and again we’re hit with some pretty distracting artefacts which include some macroblocking near the beginning. The lack of proper compression is what accounts for the lower rating even though the rest of the film is decent.

The colors of the film are pretty standard and skin tones are natural as well. The black levels aren’t crushed which keeps some of the colour information from getting lost, but some of the noticeable noise sticks around as well and is a bit distracting in the swamp scenes at night.

Audio

Hatchet II’s audio is comes at us using the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio codec. The audio quality is a step up from the video quality. The dialogue is clear and centered while the surrounds take advantage of creating a spooky atmosphere in the eerie environments, such as background noise within the swamp.

The mix is well done and although it gets a bit over-the-top at times, including some really bassy thunder hits that push your subwoofer, the sound really makes up for lackluster video quality.

Special Features

The first thing to note about the extras is the dual commentary tracks, which is always a great way to get some brownie points in this section. First is a commentary with Adam Green, cinematographer Will Barratt, Makeup fx supervisor Robert Pendergraft. The next audio commentary is with Green again, Kane Hodder and Tony Todd. The two commentaries are pretty good listens if you’re a fan; the cast commentary feels more like a conversation which is always a good a nice atmosphere so the commentary doesn’t seem so structured or tiresome. The crew commentary on the other hand deals with more insightful such as behind-the-scenes info with Make-up supervisor Robert Pendergraft explaining some of the gorey effects. The crew commentary is a bit more structured and goes into more depth, but they’re both pretty much on the same par… If you liked the film then it’s a bonus.

With “Behind the Screams” (a 30 minute doc) and the Blu-ray exclusives “First Look: Hatchet 2”and “meet the fx team” videos we’re given a variety of EPK style interviews and footage that go fairly in depth with the production of the film.

The extras are rounded out with promotional material including trailers, teasers, tv and radio spots. We’re given a good selection of bonuses with the majority being HD that will appeal to the fans.

Final Thoughts

The film is definitely directed towards fans of the first film and horror buffs alike. The film feels a bit self-referential and it seems like it wasn’t a concern for the filmmakers to cater to a larger market. The technical aspects of the Blu-ray are good, which helps add value to the disc and with a very expansive selection of extras Hatchet II is a worthwhile purchase for the fans.

Over this series of reviews I will be chronicling released from different years of Horrorfest, which originally played in January of 2006. There are as the name suggests eight different films, all dabbling into different elements of horror, gore, and the supernatural. I really enjoy the concept of a horror festival on a national level, and it really gives a chance for aspiring writes of the genre to do something unique and outside the realm of cliché that has engulfed the genre so often.

Although in the past I have rarely seen an independent horror film that has captivated my imagination or even thrilled me, I am keeping my mind open to the possibility that the ever growing Horrorfest really will be the difference maker in the genre. So without further delay, how do these films fare?

Films

Borderland is a film inspired by the true story of American serial killer, drug dealer, and cult leader Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo. In real life Constanzo kidnapped murdered people for human sacrifice. In the film a group of three college buddies road trip to a Mexican border town to celebrate their college graduation. While in the town the group encounters a bunch of occultist who are looking for humans to sacrifice and what was going to be a weekend of celebration soon becomes a weekend of survival.

Borderland starts out filled with sex, drugs, and partying in typical horror fashion and tries to develop a story arch evolving the characters; this is where the films failures begin. I am baffled why these movies use nudity and partying as a catalyst for horror, not that I am opposed to either, I just can never understand why they have such a dominant place in horror films. I found nothing horrific about the aforementioned. But that is neither here nor there, as the movie progresses things begin to pick up and there are some rather gruesome and thrilling scenes involving machetes, voodoo, and drugs. At the end of the day this film had potential and wasted it, but ultimately I found it enjoyable enough to consider watching it again, in the distant future.

Crazy Eights goes in a completely different angle, and combines a few different elements of the genre for an overall decent film.

After the death of a mutual friend, six childhood friends reunite for the funeral. While together the group end up on a journey through a long abandoned childhood home, but instead of the pleasant memories they hope to find they are confronted by a mysterious dead girl who will ultimately lead them to their disturbing fates.

First things first I have to point out was the disappointing acting, I mean I didn’t expect a lot from a movie that features a porn star, but you really don’t get much out of anyone. But luckily enough the plot was interesting enough to carry itself, and with the right cast this movie could have been half decent. But I am still happy with the result, and this was definitely one of the better movies out of the After Dark Horrorfest releases.

Video

Lionsgate brings us these films in 1080p/AVC  MPEG-4 to mostly receptive results. If you have read any other of my reviews on the After Dark films, you will begin to notice complacency with regards to the video quality of these films. They all suffer from the same issues, grain in low light situations, and rather pleasing results in high light. The problem with this is, as with most horror films they take place almost completely in low light situations. So what we end up with is a lot of grain, and an almost bi-polar feeling when in comparison to the perfectly crisp and relatively impressive daylight scenes.

Audio

Brought to us in 5.1 DTD-HD Master Audio, both of these films seem to take a step up with comparison to some of the other After Dark releases. While both remain rather front heavy, they don’t boggle down during scenes of heightened noise, ie screaming. They remain mostly crisp and clear throughout, and even make decent use of ambient noise considering it being front heavy. Ultimately I was rather impressed with these titles in the audio department; my only major complaint comes from the aforementioned front heavy scenes.

Special Features

Borderland

• Rituales de Sangre – A nice little look into the true story of the inspiration behind this film. As you will discover it is rather loosely based but still interesting.
• Audio Commentary – A nice perspective with some interesting notes into the filmmaking by the Directory, star, and other crew
• Inside Zev’s head – The director’s diary with production notes and other interesting tidbits
• Miss Horrorfest Contest Webisodes – For the After Dark Horrorfest there is a competition for the miss horrorfest pinup to represent the festival, this interesting feature gives us a slightly more in depth look

Crazy Eights

• Miss Horrorfest Webisdoes – Continued from the special features of Borderland, we have more look into the finding of Miss Horrorfest

Final Thoughts

Of the two films on this disc Crazy Eight’s was the better one, but that doesn’t mean Borderland was all that bad. Sure the movie started of typically, but if you stick with it, it actually turns out to be half interesting. I would overall recommend this disc, and amongst all of these Horrorfest releases this disc is amongst the top two, and probably the only other one actually worth watching. The audio and video of these releases are half decent, but mostly impressive as far as independent releases go. Finally, the special features are probably the best on Borderland than any other release in the After Dark releases, and Crazy Eights follows suit with its disappointing collection of features. Ultimately I would recommend checking these films out as they give a decent impression of the After Dark films.

Over this series of reviews I will be chronicling released from different years of Horrorfest, which originally played in January of 2006. There are as the name suggests eight different films, all dabbling into different elements of horror, gore, and the supernatural. I really enjoy the concept of a horror festival on a national level, and it really gives a chance for aspiring writes of the genre to do something unique and outside the realm of cliché that has engulfed the genre so often.

Although in the past I have rarely seen an independent horror film that has captivated my imagination or even thrilled me, I am keeping my mind open to the possibility that the ever growing Horrorfest really will be the difference maker in the genre. So without further delay, how do these films fare?

Films

The Graves follows the story of two sisters, Megan and Abby Graves who are going on their last road trip together before life takes them in different directions. The pair stops in Arizona which eventually leads them to Skull City, a former Gold Mining town which is rumoured to be haunted. After some initial intrigue the sisters soon discover that the town and its inhabitants are purely insane. Tourists are getting slaughtered by blunt weapons and no one seems to care, including me.

The films seemed to have some appeal in the beginning but that was quickly put to rest as it played out. The story itself is flat, dull, and well… boring. The story becomes repetitive quick, and the enormous villain isn’t even scary, especially considering he can be outran by just about anyone in the film. But instead they all die by his hammer in the same fashion as one and other. Nothing made this movie bearable; everything from the acting to the plot was disappointing on all levels. Let’s hope Zombies of Mass Destruction can save this disc.

Zombies of Mass Destruction is the second film in this double feature release, and I can tell you without further delay that it is the better of the two, but still nothing to be gawked at. I am a huge fan of zombie films dating back to the original Romero films, and up to present day winners like AMC’s The Walking Dead. So to put it bluntly I am extremely critical of zombie films, and the genre has been put to shame one time to many by poorly done, overly clichéd releases. Will Zombies of Mass Destruction be any different?

The premise is pretty simple; an island community is under attack by flesh eating zombies and with nowhere to run the only option is fighting back. The film itself is an interesting mix of comedy, satire, and excessive gore. Somehow the filmmakers even throw politics into the mix, hence the pun in the title. I will say that I was surprised by the film, but not always in good ways. When compared to the big guns out there, this film is completely unpolished and more of the top than usual. I like my zombie films to focus on character development, a feeling of claustrophobia, fear, doubt, and revelations. Whereas this movie goes the complete opposite, you never learn to feel for any of these characters and the writes alienate so much different religious groups, and even sexual orientations. The movie has no real focus and does poorly to create any suspense or horror, another independent failure.

Video

These two releases have a few differences in the video department, the winner being Zombies of Mass Destruction. I’ll speak on that film first, which during well lighted scenes is extremely well rounded and clear. But during night scenes the film seems to go bi-polar and completely drops the ball. The color becomes washed out, the grain becomes horrendous, and all details become lost. At the end of the day Zombies of Mass Destruction is passable but nowhere near impressive. The Graves on the other hand does very little to impress. Large portions of the film are filmed on a handheld so you can’t expect much out of it, but very little is done to touch it up. This is most apparent during night shots, which encompasses a large portion of the film which is mostly grainy and washed out. The only time I felt there was any quality in the video was during well light day shots, and nothing more.

Audio

Both films are brought to us in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and both films fall short in the audio respect. In this case Zombies of Mass Destruction is the worse of the two, and is extremely front heavy, and becomes incredibly drowned out during any scenes of heightened volume, overall a harsh soundtrack. The Graves on the other hand didn’t leave me with as much complaints, my major one being the ambient noise brought on by the handheld camera. Ultimately neither film impressed me in the audio department.

Special Features

The Graves

• Audio Commentary with Brain Pulido – Probably more interesting than the film itself, but that isn’t saying much.
• Audio Commentary with Francisca Pulido and Adam Goldfine – To be honest this audio track would have better been omitted, there is nothing of vague interest mentioned here.
• The Graves: Behind the Screams – I always like to get a look behind the scenes, and while this isn’t very in depth it does give you a nice feel for what went into the movie.
• Sound Designing The Graves – A rather dull feature that touches into the audio aspects of the film.
• Plan to Actual
• Spot The Gnome
• Auditions
• Trailer

Zombies of Mass Destruction

• The Making of Zombies of Mass Destruction – A rather un interesting look into the making of the film, which features a short dialogue and some more pointless information.

Final Thoughts

Both of these films were disappointing, and for different reasons. One was boring, predictable and completely unpolished. The other had its moments but butchered the zombie genre even more than has already been done. Both films had half decent video transfers and disappointing audio ones. The special features are what you would expect from a release of this calibre, weak. With all things considered this disc is completely disappointing, and I wouldn’t recommend it even as a rental.

Film

Guillermo Del Toro has been a director I’ve admired for some time now, but I ashamed to admit that I had not seen his debut film Cronos in its entirety until receiving this blu-ray to review. Naturally, I was pumped because I had already had my eye on this Criterion Collection release.

The movie did not fail to meet my expectations. It tells the simple story of a young girl and her grandfather who discover an antique device with a sinister secret. Designed and cast by an alchemist watchmaker, the Cronos device holds the secret of immortality and the film follows the obsession with living forever. The story is very intriguing and is one of the most original retellings of the vampire mythology. It also has a good natured sense of humor and is expertly filmed. It is an excellent early attempt by a fascinating filmmaker who showcases his love of the classic horror directors by emulating their style but puts his spin on it to make this film truly unique.

If you’re a Ron Perlman fan then this film is an important watch to see the first collaboration with Del Toro, many years before they would make Hellboy. His performance is pretty campy and carries some great levity to the dark notions laced throughout. When comparing this to his later work, Del Toro shows that he’s consistent… his characters are thought out and he’s always visually interesting, whether it’s shot composition or art design. Cronos displays a great start to a great career.

Video

Cronos is displayed using the AVC MPEG-4 in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The movie starts off with some softness and grain is prevalent but as the movie progresses the blemishes are less noticeable. The negative seemed free of scratches or dust, but that may have been digitally removed; either way it’s not noticeable.

Colours are a bit faded and the skin tones are slightly reddish. The palette has a bit of an amber cast to them during the beginning of the film, but the colours begin to become more neutral and cold as the film goes on which matches the main characters descent into chaos. The black levels are more in the gray range, but the film manages to maintain its detail in the highlights and shadows without anything getting crushed.

The film has been significantly cleaned up for this release, which is expected for a Criterion disc and it’s great to see it how it was intended, which if you watch the interview that follows Geometria in the special features, Guillermo Del Toro expresses how much it means to him to be able to showcase his previous work as he intended and it’s no doubt that that applies to this blu-ray transfer for his first film.

Audio

Cronos’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The booklet within the case has a bit of a write-up on the process used to clean up the audio: “The stereo soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from 35mm LT/RT magnetic soundtrack. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated audio workstation.” . The film may have swooping stereo pans and low frequency roars to make your house’s foundation crack, but it’s a very crisp representation of how the film should’ve sounded.

The dialogue is clean and obviously isn’t hard to follow for if you’re reading this review then you’re probably watching the film with English subtitles. The score is also very dynamic and takes full advantage of the limited mix and really showcases that you don’t always need a 5.1 or 7.1 mix to have a good sounding disc.

Special Features

The extras on Cronos hit me in two places, the amount of special features is pretty decent, but they’re quality extras… So part of me is happy that the disc gains the well-deserved value for having some thought out special features, but it also made me crave more… especially from one of the most visually innovative and creative directors, I expected more in depth coverage on the work of Del Toro.

The first extra which should be highly anticipated is a short film from Guillermo when he was first entering festivals. Geometria is a short that follows a kid who is dreading his geometry test and evokes help from a demon to try and take the easy route out… besides the film being dubbed with Guillermo doing all the voices, including the mother’s, the film is actually really fun. From the old school contrasted coloured lighting reminiscent to old Italian horror films to the very exaggerated gore factor which screams Dario Argento.

Next up is a series of interviews which includes Guillermo, cinematographer Navarro and Ron Perlman reminiscing and also a great piece called “Welcome to Bleak House” which has Guillermo walking around his “man cave” which is decked out with classic toys, memorabilia, statues and antiques that range from the crazy to the occult, while covering fantastical fairy tales to new age artwork.

To get more in depth with Guillermo’s vision we’re given an audio commentary with the man himself and a second commentary with producers: Arthur H. Gorson, Bertha Navarro and co-producer Alejandro and the extras finish off with a photo gallery which includes photos of a young Guillermo Del Toro and pre-production stills of the chromos device being built. The highlight of the photo gallery is the fact they include high quality scans of each page from the alchemist’s journal for the hardcore fans to recreate to make the ultimate prop replica… Have I started doing it myself? Perhaps….

Final Thoughts

The film is one of the most original retellings of the classic vampire story and with a visionary at the helm it’s no surprise the film has been released within the Criterion Collection. The audio and video quality is great in context but won’t be used to showcase the home theatre, but that’s not its purpose. With a decent amount of special features, this will please the fans but may be suitable for a rental to the newcomers.

Film

The movie centers on an over-worked social worker, played by Renee Zellweger, whom saves a young girl from her parents who try sending their daughter to hell by cooking her in an oven. She decides to adopt the little girl herself, but quickly realizes that not all is as it seems when her love ones start to die in very mysterious ways.  What starts out like a thriller becomes a horror film pretty quickly.

Like director Christian Alvart’s Pandorum, the movie moves at a very casual pace, letting the viewer connect with the characters and eventually resulting in more than a few surprisingly suspenseful moments. The story isn’t a new one. It seems like there is at least one “creepy kid” movie out every other Halloween, but this one was a pleasant surprise. The film is also helped by strong performances, especially from the supporting cast that includes Jodelle Ferland and Ian McShane. Bradley Cooper is particularly effective in his role as a smug child psychiatrist. Although I’m not a huge Renee Zellweger fan, her performance was convincing enough to make me begin to feel for her character.

Unfortunately, the movie opened on the same week as the equally entertaining Let Me In, the first new Hammer horror title, but both films were ignored by audiences who held out to see Paranormal Activity 2 and the final Saw movie instead. Both films entire combined box gross was just over half of what PA2 made in its first three days just one week later. So it’s no surprise that this film was rushed to home media release.

Case 39 provides a fairly interesting watch for the casual viewer and horror fans should enjoy an interesting new approach to an overdone story and the surprisingly effective results. A game cast and a confident director really make the difference and maybe this flick will find a second life on Blu-ray.

Video

Case 39’s video is displayed using theMPEG-4  AVC codec and in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The video quality suffers from a pretty grainy image and the light contrasted image doesn’t help hide the problem…  The image is fairly hazy with the black levels ending up a bit gray and the highlights are blown out slightly as well. The colour grade of the film is a muted colour palette with a slight blue tint that exacerbates the hazy image.

The video is free of artefacting and is a fairly clean transfer; however the softness of the image lacks detail and sharpness in anything but close-ups. Although the film doesn’t lose any impact from the lesser video quality, it’d be nice to have a solid video presentation to increase the value of the Blu-ray to those who may be on the fence.

Audio

Case 39’s audio comes at us using the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio codec. The audio presentation is a lot better than the video quality, but the mix is nothing special. At times the mix sounds subdued and a bit quiet, but the score and sound design pops at times to give life to this flat mix.

The mix is front heavy and the surrounds are only really used a few times with some sound effects panning around to create some atmosphere, but overall they’re underused. The dialogue is clean and audible, but there’s a few instances where it gets buried a bit under other elements and becomes harder to hear. Every now and again the mix shows a bit of range, but the inconsistencies really make this a average audio track.

Special Features

All of the special features are in SD on this release, which is a bit of a disappointment… However considering this film has been completed for years now it’s not surprisingly that the bonus features would be in SD.

On first look the extras on Case 39’s disc are oddly Stieg Larsson sounding with “Inside the Hornets’ Nest” and “Playing with Fire”, but on closer inspection they’re just labeled on what they cover. Including a scene that involves many hornets and some behind-the-scenes footage of burning down a set and the importance of the house façade built for the scene.  The rest of the extras consist of a couple more behind-the-scenes featurettes with some clips of EPK interviews and a substantial amount of deleted scenes which include some interesting pieces such as alternate deaths  and a different ending… Most of which make sense… The alternate ending is more audience friendly and felt like it was simply made to be a back-up in case the studio disproved the ending that ended up being the theatrical ending and the other scenes simply were unnecessary. Some of them are worthwhile, while others were simply fat cut out.

Final Thoughts

Case 39’s main target audience are people who enjoy the occasional horror film, it is an interesting take on a plot that has been done a million times before, however with just average video and audio presentation the Blu-ray for Case 39 would be a better rental than purchase, especially with the underwhelming special features.

The two movies in question here are House of Wax (shares the name of Vincent Price’s 1953 film but in fact is not a remake) and Thirteen Ghosts (which is in fact a remake of the 1960 film).

Films 

Let’s begin with House of Wax. When I first saw Paris Hilton in the billing I wrote this film off, which as an unbiased, impartial reviewer is completely inappropriate. But based on her past so called “acting” roles I couldn’t help but think what kind of road I was about to travel down. But teamed with an otherwise respectable cast including Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, and Jared Padalecki I was ready to dive in unbiased.

The film opens with a scene taking place in 1974, a woman crafting a wax sculpture in her kitchen while her son calmly eats breakfast. Her husband then enters with a hysterical and seemingly violent baby whom is strapped and taped into his high chair. Upon scratching his mother he is slapped in the face and we fast forward to 2005.

A group of teenage friends are road tripping to a pivotal college football clash in Louisiana. Among them are Carly (Cuthbert) and troubled brother Nick (Murray), Carly’s boyfriend Wade (Padalecki), dating couple Paige (Hilton) and Blake (Robert Richard) and sixth wheel Dalton (Jon Abrahams). En route the group decide to set up camp for the night where they are visited by a strange pickup truck which overlooks the group whilst shinning its brights. Eventually leaving after Nick smashes his headlight with a bottle, the group heads to bed. When morning arrives Wade discovers his fan belt is damaged and he won’t be able to make it to the game. He and girlfriend Carly hitch a ride into a nearby town Ambrose to get a replacement part while the rest of the group head onwards to the game.

After some exploration through Ambrose, an apparent ghost town the two stumble upon a mechanic who invites them to his home to get a fan belt. After realising this man was the owner of the truck who was overlooking them the previous night Carly begins to become suspicious. It comes too late as Wade has already fallen victim to the mechanic.

The rest of the story follows the stalking and frantic attempts of escape for the group in standard horror fashion. Ultimately I couldn’t help but be impressed with this film. The story offers some unique twists on a typical horror endeavour, and there are constant thrills which kept me on the tips of my toes. The sets are chilling, and with exception of Paris Hilton the acting is top quality as far as horror films are concerned.  I recommend this film to fans of the genre, more so to its targeted young adult age group.

The second film in the combination is Thirteen Ghosts; the 2001 remake of the 1960 film of the same name, the aforementioned Starring Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Lillard, and Shannon Elizabeth.  Seems like a pretty standard cast for a teenage movie back in the early 2000’s, so immediately I question what kind of a movie this is going to be.  Well, let’s find out…

The film begins with a group of ghost hunters in pursuit of a spirit known as The Juggernaut. Several of the ghost hunters are killed, but Dennis (Matthew Lillard) is amongst the survivors. Arthur (Tony Shalhoub) the nephew of the now deceased leader of the group of ghost hunters is now the heir of a new mansion. Of course this isn’t just any mansion; it is constructed of mostly glass with phrases in Latin inscribed all over. Arthur’s two children begin exploring the mansion and not before long they encounter several ghosts.  Dennis then informs Arthur and his family that there are twelve violent ghosts whose souls are trapped within the mansion. When the front door locks and there is no escape the group must band together to solve the mystery of the house.

The plot of the film sounds more like a Scooby Doo episode than anything, but I can assure you that such violence and gore would not be found in Scooby Doo. The plot plays out a lot like House on Haunted Hill (remade in 1999 based upon a William Castle film as well) which is extremely linear and predictable. But the variety of Ghosts and their back stories are rather interesting and give us the slight bit of depth that is needed to make this film half decent.  In conclusion; Thirteen Ghosts is by no means a good horror film, but is entertaining enough to be watched more than once.

Video 

Presented in 1080p 1.85:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG4 both film’s transfers are pretty similar, but a slight edge goes to House of Wax. In the previously mentioned film the details are much crisper, and the darks are a lot sharper.  Both films are shot in mostly dark settings, and the grain is ever present in such low light situations. This leads to an unspectacular transfer but still on par with many similar releases.

The House of Wax uses a bluish green tint for its transfer, so a lot of the colors appear washed out, most apparent in flesh tones. But as I mentioned before the details in House of Wax can be rather impressive, especially on the facial features of the cast.

Thirteen ghosts as previously mentioned, has a less satisfactory transfer, but nonetheless pretty decent. While the overall transfer can be soft throughout, I have to say I enjoyed the crispness and facial details. My main complaint as far as Thirteen Ghost’s is concerned lies within its constant graininess.

Ultimately, both films give a decent video transfer and are a big step up from their DVD versions.

Audio  

Warner Brothers has included a 5.1 PCM audio track for both films, and with all things considered I’m very impressed. Given the material Warner did all that they could, there isn’t exactly a bunch of scenes in which to flex its audio muscle, but when the occasion arose I heard it.

In The House of Wax, where there is more dialogue than anything else, it came out quite crisp and clear. There were however a few scenes in which the channels were tested, namely in the climax where you hear screams, and a fire engulphing a building. Overall a very spooky atmosphere, I was impressed.

Thirteen Ghosts is on just about the same page as far as the audio goes. But there were a few more occasions in which the surround could have been utilized, but overall it came out being a flatter track; it could be very mono sounding at times. With the different spooky atmospheres and ghosts encountered throughout I really thought the audio could have played with our minds a bit more, but at the end of the day it wasn’t very rich.

In conclusion: The House of Wax gets a slight nod in terms of audio transfer, but both got the job done with the material given.

Special Features 

Neither film does much in terms of special features, which will leave hardcore fans disappointed. The House of Wax has a bit more materials involved; the most interesting is the look into the visual effects of The House of Wax. Thirtreen Ghosts didn’t come packed with much either, but the Poltergeist Profiles and the making of documentary were both interesting material, albeit not very long.

• Creative team commentary
• Gag reel
• Theatrical trailer
• Featurette: Thir13en Ghosts Revealed
• Ghost Files: A Haunted Houseful of Poltergeist Profiles
• B-Roll and Bloopers Video Cast Commentary
• From Location: Joel Silver Reveals House of Wax
• Wax On: The Design of House of Wax
• The House Built on Wax: The Visual Effects of House of Wax
• Alternate Opening: Jennifer Killed

Final Thoughts 

Both films are targeted to a younger audience of horror film movie goers, who are used to hack and slash as opposed to psychological.  I found House of Wax to easily be the better of the two, but Thirteen Ghosts was just good enough to be called decent and the combination of the two turns out to be a worthwhile purchase for fans of the genre. Both films are quite identical in terms of their video transfers which were rather decent, but I found that House of Wax made better use of its audio track. Neither film came with too much features; nor were the ones given all that impressive. At the end of the day I would recommend this disc to those of you who love to throw in a movie for a decent thrill without having to use too much brain power; but don’t expect Oscar material.

Film

The film opens in the vast deep space of our universe, where a race of alien creatures are forced to abandon their dying world. Riding solar winds the race of aliens make their way to Earth in hopes to inhabit a new planet, eventually landing in San Francisco. The gelatinous creatures assimilate with whichever they come in contact with, initially plant leaves; one of which is brought home by Elizabeth (Brooke Adams). The next morning her boyfriend becomes emotionally unattached and after seeing a doctor played by Leonard Nimoy the problem appears to be widespread. After some investigation and interesting sequences we determine the alien’s intentions; to replicate and replace human beings. The aliens are only able to replicate humans when they are asleep and once fully formed the original human body turns to dust. The ultimate goal: to replace the human race. Of course this is met to some resistance as the film follows the exploits of a group of humans who try to stop the plot. It proves rather difficult when they realise they can’t determine who is friend and who is foe, leading to its suspenseful conclusion.

What I like most about The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the change in context from the original. While most of the place remains intact and the characters as well, the focus on the story changes from a communist allegory to a character driven plot. The battle becomes that of the mind; fear and paranoia. To compliment this dark and psychological ambience is an impressive score that really adds to the overall atmosphere of this film that manages to keep you captivated throughout.

While the plot of the story is quite unique I feel that it alone would not have made this a decent film, but instead it’s a combination of several aspects. The cast; all very well suited for their roles, take what could otherwise be deemed as bickering and annoying characters and make them human. The score; ominous and dark this soundtrack gives you a great science fiction vibe and keeps you well involved. But first and foremost I enjoyed the cinematography often consisting of hand held cameras. The inclusion of these scenes made me feel more involved in the film.

What I enjoyed most about this film is the energy it gives. I felt the story is more about us then the characters at hand. The sub context of the film and the thoughts it evokes really take the driving seat and the specific plot seems to be a medium. Sure, some people will see this movie as a glorified Twilight Zone episode; and while it is far from being considered one of my favourites, I feel there is more to it and is worth checking out.

Video

Presented in 1080p 1.85:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG 4, Invasion of the Body snatchers makes its way to Blu ray with an above average video transfer. Considering the film is over 30 years old I was quite pleased. There were of course a few draws mostly regarding the age of the film; but it is more than made up for with sharp levels of contrast and great details. The best of the scenes are in the daylight, and they tend to suffer in low light situations, which do encompass much of the film. This is countered very nicely though with its bright colors and skin tones. I remain very pleased with the overall quality of the transfer, especially considering the age of the film.

Audio

MGM has included a5.1 DTS HD audio track that leaves very little to be desired. The strong point of the audio track has to be within the vocals which are always clearly delivered and emphasized. The channels are all very well utilized and equally used to make for an extremely even channel separation. The sound effects of the film are brought to life, and the musical score performed by Denny Zeitlin comes of extremely ominous and ever present. The audio track of this film is sure to please fans, and I doubt it will be bettered anytime soon.

Special Features

The features of this film don’t offer anything more than the latest DVD release of the film, and taking into account their disappointing nature I’m surprised they didn’t spruce up in this department for the Blu ray release. There are a small scattering of interviews with the cast and crew, as well as a look into the cinematography and sound effects. Like I mentioned before, there is a lot left to be desired in respects to the special features, so don’t hope for anything more than it’s previous release.

• “Re-Visitors From Outer Space, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod”
• Practical Magic: The Special Effect Pod
• The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod
• The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod
• Trailer

Final Thoughts

The concept of the film is quite unique, and is executed rather well. There are of course some draws to the film but for the most part I remain quite impressed. My main complaint is the pace of the film, which at times can drag on but if you stick around it becomes worth the few drawn out scenes. The video transfer on this film is generally positive considering the age of the film, but I was left wanting more. The audio is a shade better than the video and left me quite satisfied. The low point of this disc is the collection of features, which hardly kept me entertained. Still at the end of the day I would recommend this disc for fans of the film, but otherwise I would stick with a rental.

http://moviemarbles.com/blurays.php?brid=130