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Summer of Horror 2018

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     Horror has become a sort of big deal in home video. I'd like to pretend it always has been, but in the early years of VHS, fans would be lucky to get uncut, original OAR'd versions of their favorite films, and only with the DVD boom did we start really getting such things. Oddly, while those in the more mainstream side of things promote streaming and the death of physical media those of us who skew more to the cult, classic, and horror side of film viewership see some of the greatest and more elaborate releases ever released.

      We have new labels popping up to take advantage of the new found excitement (MVD Rewind/MVD Classic), and older labels bringing out new films with exciting promise (Unearthed Films, with their latest American Guinea Pig film). This summer, even before the run up to Halloween we have seen a huge bounty of horror releases on Blu-ray, and many of them have been covered here, but some times it gets to be so many, and I want you all to know about them that I decided to come up with this article to deal with some of Summer 2018's best horror releases.

 

In the Mouth of Madness

Director - John Carpenter

Cast-Sam Neill, Jurgon Prochnow

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Scream Factory could very well at this point be considered the "House of Carpenter".  Some John Carpenter films have had solid releases at this point, but Scream Factory has gone above and beyond to make sure that the director's films both small and large have gotten the treatment they all deserve, and only a few titles are left in his oeuvre that have not undergone the "Scream" treatment. In July they released 3 titles, and fortunately, we just got our hands on them. One of them, is easily in my top 3 of the director's work, the 1993 film In the Mouth of Madness.
 

     In the Mouth of Madness has Sam Neill (POSSESSION) playing John Trent a fraud investigator for an insurance company who is tasked with finding Sutter Cane (Jürgon Prochnow)a famous best-selling author of horror fiction who has gone missing with the manuscript for his latest book.   Trent tracks him down to the town of Hobb's End, New Hampshire which is a fictional creation of Cane, as such reality and fiction begin to blur in horrifying ways.

     In the Mouth of Madness is the third in what has become known as Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy after The Thing, and Prince of Darkness, and especially feels like a spiritual successor to Prince of Darkness. The film is notably a tonal adaptation of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, in the sense that it doesn't adapt the work of Lovecraft, but it channels the atmosphere of paranoid cosmic unease of a Lovecraft work.  When In the Mouth of Madness was released it was frequently, and unfortunately disparaged by fans, however, I'd rate it among the director's best work. The performances across the board, are fantastic, the effects work by Greg Nicotero and crew are outstanding, and the creepy paranoid vibe truly outstanding.

     Scream Factory presents In the Mouth of Madness in a splendid 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that preserves the OAR of the film.  This transfer is quite nice, but is only an incremental upgrade from the prior Blu, detail is excellent, blacks are solid, and colors are stable. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA track in English. Sound is crisp, clear, and well balanced with no obvious issues.  Extras include 2 commentary tracks featuring director Carpenter, we also get a Horror's Hallowed Ground that shows off the film's locations. There are interviews with Julie Carmen, Greg Nicotero, vintage behind the scene stuff, including stuff provided by Nicotero, trailers and more.

The Film (5/5)

Audio/Video (4/5)

Extras (4/5)

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Someone's Watching Me

Director - John Carpenter

Cast-Lauren Hutton, Adrienne Barbeau

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald


    Leigh Michaels (Lauren Hutton) is a live TV director who moved to L.A. from NYC to get away from a bad relationship. She moves into a modern high-rise apartment where the previous tenant she would find out commit suicide. Soon after moving in she begins to get disturbing phone calls, and receives presents from a company called Excursions Unlimited. As time passes the calls become more threatening, and disturbing, and she finds a stalker/killer on her tail.

   One of my favorite things is watching a new-to-me film by a long time favorite director. This film, a made for TV film made in the same year as Halloween (1978) and released the month after Carpenter's genre-making masterpiece was apparently the only John Carpenter film I had left to see, and fortunately it was quite a solid one. The film is obviously not a film that Carpenter had total control over, as such it appears he appeared to decide to have fun with his influences and inspirations with it taking elements from Rear Window, Mario Bava's The Telephone (Black Sabbath), Coppola's The Conversation, and remixing them in a way that is distinctly Carpenter.

     Further, he writes a series of strong female characters including a lesbian character for Adrienne Barbeau that plays against type in the early 70's, as this was made for TV at a time when there were few channels, and was going to be seen by a huge audience this was a big deal. The film is extremely well-directed by Carpenter both in it's wide 1:85:1 form and the compromised for TV 1:33:1 form (he obviously shot for both), with tight POV shots, and a nice roaming camera that helps elicit an effective atmosphere for the film. The score is not done by Carpenter (Sadly), but it works for the film.

     The film is presented in both 1:85:1 and 1:33:1 in a 1080p transfer. It looks quite solid, with deep blacks, a solid grain structure, accurate flesh tones, and solid color reproduction, though it should be said colors here are mostly neutral tones, and so there isn't much to go on. There is some softness throughout, but that's the nature of the production. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track that sounds solid with no issues. Extras include a commentary by Amanda Reyes, a piece on John Carpenter and TV Promos.

The Film (4/5)

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

Extras (2.5/5)

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Memoirs of an Invisible Man

Director - John Carpenter

Cast-Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Memoirs of an Invisible Man stars Chevy Chase as Nick Halloway a business man who finds himself in the middle of an accident that turns him into the titular invisible man.   After this he finds himself on the run from  David Jenkins, a government agent played by Sam Neill, who wants Halloway for the government's personal use.  As he tries to evade the government he gets help from Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah), to try and figure out the depth of his strange invisibility issue.

    Memoirs of an Invisible Man is a film I had seen a total of one time. I knew this was a film that John Carpenter was not fond of, as he did not include his name above the title as he has done above every single film that he has worked on besides this.  The reasoning for this, is that he had come into the film late in the game after Ivan Reitman had quit the project, and didn't feel more than a hired hand. That being said the director did want to work on a classic Universal-style monster previously, and this project allowed him the ability to do so.

     Unfortunately, he did so at a compromise, so while the film has some interesting touches from Carpenter from such as his style to some of the writing, one can feel Chevy Chase's star power all over this one especially in the overuse of voice over, to over explain details that could have been left unexplained.  Memoirs of an Invisible Man, is not the train wreck I remember it to be, and I'll probably offer it another revisit in the future, but it is certainly the beginning of John Carpenter's decline through in the case of this film it feels like the decline was forced on him.

     Scream presents Memoirs of an Invisible Man in a 2:35:1 based on a 2k scan and looks quite good. The mix of practical FX, and digital holds up quite well, detail is solid as is the color reproduction. Grain is kept in check and is quite natural. Audio is a DTS-HD MA track in English and resolves quite well. I did not detect any issues. Extras include outtakes, TV spots, an FX featurette, and a trailer.



The Film (3/5)

Audio/Video (4/5)

Extras (2/5)

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The Unborn

Director - Rodman Flender

Cast-Brooke Adams, James Karen

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Virginia Marshall (Brooke Adams) is a young woman who is desperate to have a child. As such she decides to undergo experimental treatments with a strange doctor, who apparently is trying to create super-mutant-fetuses with mutant sperm.  While pregnant things start getting weird for Virginia, and she tries to figure out what's going on and why.

    I will say I think Rodman Flender's work is oddly underrated in the genre, this is obviously because he directed 3 films one of which is a sequel to Leprechaun (one of the better ones in that terrible franchise), but I always felt that the films he did in the horror genre showed extreme promise. The Unborn takes a Rosemary's Baby premise and updates it with a scientific bent, and gives the character a more feminist slant for the 90's. We also get some solid practical FX that are really gross and fun, but it's not wall to wall, and well utilized here, especially in the film's third act.

    Scream presents The Unborn in a solid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. Everything looks fantastic here with colors looking solid, and detail being fairly accurate. Audio is English with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track everything here sounds quite nice, and without issue.  Extras include a much-needed Rodman Flender commentary and theatrical trailer.

 

The Film (4/5)

Audio/Video (4/5)

Extras (2/5)

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Return of the Living Dead II

Director - Ken Wiederhorn

Cast-James Karen, Thom Matthews

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

     I guess it can be said the 2-4-5- Trioxin filled Easter Eggs from the first Return of the Living Dead were not the only ones circulating in the U.S. in the 1980's, and during a routine transport of another shipment of them one of them gets lost during a "typical army fuckup". This canister comes into the possession Jesse and Billy, and soon after the dead start to rise. The duo plus, their friends, family, and others must stand up against the new zombie invasion (with some familiar  faces from the first film) in order to survive.

   Return of the Living Dead II is fun. I'll just get that out of the way. Similar to  when Vestron Video released C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. on Blu-ray a few years back I found out that my preconceived memories of a film don't hold up against a modern viewing with a more open mind. Is Return of the Living Dead II basically a cheaper more comedic rehash of the first film? Basically, yes. But it's a cheap, ridiculous, occasionally violent zombie film, and having watched Return of the Living Dead at least once a year for 25 years it was a welcome change of pace.

      Oddly, when watching this film I noticed the name Ken Wiederhorn attached to it, so my mind didn't go right back to the first Return of the Living Dead, but to another zombie masterpiece,  the Peter Cushing starring Shock Waves. Of course, this couldn't be more different than that, and I would not expect them to be close in tone at all. But I was still surprised to see his name attached to it.

    The real film that called out to me though was Lamberto Bava's Demons II. Demons has an ending that could have easily been followed up on, but rather, they rehashed the first film, with a slightly different tone, location, and soundtrack while casting a few similar faces in different parts. The film is a lesser entity, but still fun, and that is basically what we have here. If you don't try to compare the two, then this one stands up as a great fun time.

    Scream presents Return of the Living Dead II in a very solid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite nice with solid detail, excellent colors, and solid blacks. Audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in English again with no discernible issues. Extras include 3 distinct and interesting commentary tracks include 2 new ones. A featurette which interviews director Wiederhorn, and a look back at the film.

The Film (3.5/5)

Audio/Video (4/5)

Extras (4/5)

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Brainscan

Director - John Flynn

Cast-Edward Furlong, Frank Langella

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Michael is a PC game obsessed teenager who just landed himself a good one, a PC CD-ROM (wow it's been a long time since I've typed that phrase) game that allows him to brutally kill people in the confines of a virtual environment, and obviously not feel any guilt since it's all virtual. Of course, after his first session, he finds that that the murders and torture he thought was virtual, actually happened in reality, and were perpetrated on his behalf by the villainous cyber-villain the Trickster, who forces him to keep playing the game.

    I sort of remember a period around the launch of Windows 95, where suddenly the Home PC became a thing that everyone needed to have AOL became trendy, and everyone was connecting to the Internet for the first time en masse. Cinema of course, would start capitalizing on this trend, and create films like The Lawnmower Man and Hackers to deal with the trend du jour. Obviously, the people who wrote these were not professionals, and so wrote them from a high-level perspective, and as such films like Brainscan do not hold up well on a technology level. That being said there is no need for accuracy in fictional genre films on every or any subject, as such as a trashy time capsule Brainscan ends up being a decently fun time. The Trickster is a decent villain in an age when the last decades horror villains were overused, "dead", and in need of some new blood. As Brainscan was not the great success the studio wanted we never got a 2nd Trickster film, but Brainscan is decent time capsule to a horror trend that almost was.

   Scream Factory presents Brainscan in a 1:78:1 1080p transfer. This one might have come from a dated master, as there is no mention of a new scan, but it looks solid. There is some minor softness, but detail is fine, it looks natural, color reproduction is largely accurate, and overall the whole thing is quire decent. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in English. Extras include a commentary with the director's assistant (I don't think I've seen that before), multiple interviews with  actors, FX artist Steve Johnson, the composer of the score, and more. There is also a deleted scene, BTS footage, trailers, and TV spots.

The Film (3/5)

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

Extras (4/5)

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The Changeling

Director - Peter Medak

Cast-George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald



    George C. Scott stars as John Russell a composer and professor who moves to Seattle into a huge mansion a few months after the shocking death of his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, this mansion was not the place to go to recover, as it immediately reveals itself to be haunted with loud thumping sounds, windows that break, and more.  John begins to research the house, including having a seance, and doing whatever he can to find to reach back into its dark history. What he will find reaches up to a very prominent and powerful Senator who will do anything to keep him quiet.

    The Changeling is one of the most effective haunted house thrillers ever made, if not the finest. It shows a great deal of restraint, especially early on in the film, choosing to instead deal with atmosphere, and the melancholy emotional state of its characters most notably Russell who is still in mourning for his wife and daughter, and finds himself losing himself into the history of the house.  Of course, in the third act the horror is ramped up considerably, and the scares the film is truly known for become quite obvious. The performances across the board are excellent, with not one cast members out of place or less then fantastic. And aside from the Ruling Class director Peter  Medak has never been better than he was here.

   Severin presents The Changeling in a 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. This one is a thing of beauty. It has a gorgeous natural grain structure, especially in the film's darker moments.  Detail is excellent, as is color reproduction. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in English.  Everything from the score to the dialogue sounds crisp here with zero issue. Extras include a commentary with Medak and producer Joel B. Michaels moderated by Severin's David Gregory. We also get featurettes on the back story of the Changeling, and interviews with the music arranger, the art director, Mick Garris, a piece called the Psychotronic Tourist, trailers, TV spots and more.

The Film (5/5)

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

Extras (4/5)

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Song of Solomon

Director - Stephen Biro

Cast-Jessica Cameron, Gene Palubicki

Country of Origin-U.S.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Mary (Jessica Cameron) finds herself possessed by an unnaturally powerful demon in the wake of her Father's suicide. The Catholic Church doesn't question the possession and attempts immediately to exorcise the demons with multiple waves of priests trying and failing to stand up to the demonic entity that has taken control of Mary's body.  

    The Song of Solomon is the third film in Unearthed Film's American Guinea Pig series (With the fourth film Sacrifice coming soon), and the 2nd to be directed by Unearthed head honcho Stephen Biro. Some fans might question how an exorcism film might fit into the Guinea Pig canon, but this is a series that seems to be mostly known for its shocking and popular first 2 Japanese entries the Devil's Experiment and Flower of Flesh and Blood, and less known for the anything goes weirdness of the latter entries like He Never Dies and (my personal favorite) Mermaid in a Manhole. As such, I have always viewed the Guinea Pig series as a springboard template for weird, and shocking films with amazing gore, and Biro brings just that.

    Song of Solomon basically is the filet mignon of an Exorcist-style film. All the goods none of the fat. This film hits the ground running with an over-the-top suicide sequence, and then keeps it going with the 3 Exorcism sequences which are completely and utterly insane to watch. Of course, Song of Solomon is not just a splatter film, and there is some hidden reserves of depth in the screenplay that hint at a greater mythology underneath the hood. These same elements could be felt in Biro's screenplay for Bouquet of Guts and Gore which showed a deeper criminal conspiracy beyond the table-splicing splatter of that film.  Song of Solomon is not perfect, however, and while the performances are solid, there are moments where one feels that the dialogue is supposed to serious, and comes off comic, or vice versa, but overall it's a strong entry in the series, and one of the most powerful indie horror entries I've seen in quite some time.

    Unearthed presents Song of Solomon in a solid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. The transfer is mostly crisp and clear, but adheres to a modern digital look. Therefore it looks accurate to the native look of the film. Colors are nicely reproduced, blacks are deep, and there wasn't much in the way of issues I could find here. Audio is handled by a Dolby Digital 2.0 track and came through clearly. Extrac included 2 commentaries, interviews, out takes, BTS footage, galleries, and more.

 

The Film (4/5)

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

Extras (4/5)

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What Have They Done to Your Daughters?

Director - Massimo Dallamano

Cast-Giovanna Ralli, Claudio Cassinelli

Country of Origin- Italy

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

    An anonymous 15 year old girl is found hung in an attic. It is at first thought to be a suicide, it is soon to be a murder, and the girl part of a child prostitution ring.  Inspector's Valentini (Mario Adorf) and Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli) begin to undertake the investigation. Meanwhile, a murderer in leather and a motorcycle helmet continues to dispatch more victims.

    What Have They Done to Your Daughters? is the 2nd part of what can be considered a Schoolgirls-in-Peril trilogy with the first being the iconic What Have They Done to Solange?, and the third being Red Rings of Fear. The first 2 were directed by Massimo Dallamano, the third was written by the director (but revised before shooting), but would not be directed by him as he died in a car wreck before production could occur. What Have They Done to Your Daughter's is almost a perfect amalgam of the classic giallo template with the poliziotteschi. The film is lead by 2 cop characters, and holds a certain cynical attitude toward police. It also features a pretty awesome chase sequence that is less typical of a giallo and more of a poliziotteschi attribute. The film has a quite sleazy vibe that seems to be a trademark of this trilogy (this is my first viewing of Daughters, I have seen the other 2). There is decent splatter throughout, and a nicely twisting plot sure to keep giallo fans pleased.

   Arrow presents What Have They Done to Your Daughters? in a 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. The Blu-ray looks splendid with excellent detail, natural grain, and really no issues I could discern. Audio is Italian with an LPCM mono track, the score comes through nicely with no apparent issue.  Extras include another commentary by Troy Howarth, an excellent video essay by Kat Ellinger, an interview with the film's composer, and editor. Hardcore footage, shot and left unused, trailers, and galleries.

 

The Film (4/5)

Audio/Video (4/5)

Extras (3.5/5)

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Tideland

Director - Terry Gilliam

Cast-Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Tilly

Country of Origin- U.S./Canada/U.K.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

    Tideland stars Jodelle Ferland as Jeliza-Rose, a young girl who moves to a rural country farm house with her Father (Jeff Bridges) after the death of her Mother (Jennifer Tilly). Unfortunately, her Father was an addict, and could not put his vices away, and soon finds himself dead of an overdose.  This causes Jeliza-Rose to live life on her own without help, or food, just with the corpse of her Dad, and her collection of Barbie heads to keep her company, that is until she meets Dicken (Brendan Fletcher), and Dell (Janet McTeer) a brother and sister, that also, are not the best of help.

    Tideland really pissed people off when it came out.  That was pretty awesome. After the Brothers Grimm I was hoping for something more Gilliam-esque with Tideland, and I personally got it.  This film is a truly shocking affair that puts a little girl into a Southern gothic film detailing the after effects of heroin abuse, but rather then focus on the effects of the drug, we see the mental decline of a child as she lacks the ability to understand the dark depths of her situation, and rather decides to treat it with endless wonder instead of a frightening predicament.  Gilliam's imagery, is of course, brilliant, and the film is paced well beginning to end, creating a film that is always compelling, even if it is very difficult to watch (As it should be). Tideland went under the radar for most people, and with this Blu-ray from Arrow Video I think it's time for the film to get a second chance.

    Arrow presents the film in a splendid 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. The Blu-ray looks and sounds crisp, colorful, and well detailed.  Audio is handled by  a DTS 5.1 track in English, everything here sounds fine with no apparent issues. Extras include an introduction by Gilliam, a making of documentary, a commentary by Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni, Deleted Scenes, B-Roll footage, and MORE.

 

The Film (4/5)

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

Extras (3.5/5)

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Shadowbuilder

Director - Jamie Dixon

Cast-Leslie Hope, Michael Rooker

Country of Origin- U.S./Canada

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    OK, so this one is about a group of Satanists who go to a small town, conjure a demon, and try to use it to kill 6 people, take their souls, and use said souls, to capture a little boy destined to a Saint, because if they get him then the little boy will be able to open the doorway to Hell, and lead on the apocalypse. The only one who can stop this is Father Vassey (Michael Rooker, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), a gun-toting priest Heaven-bent on ending the madness.

    OK, so 2 things. This film is very 90's, and very ridiculous. As such it is very very entertaining. The cast spearheaded by Rooker is solid, the FX are all right for the most part.  I honestly had a lot more fun with this one than I suspected I'd have with a film than is only pseudo-adapted from a Bram Stoker story, and looks like it went straight to 90's Pay Per View.   It is decently paced, and is a solidly entertaining little time waster.

    MVD Rewind's transfer is not perfect, but it will suffice. It is a 1:85:1 1080p track that preserves the OAR. It's kind of murky at times with an overabundance of grain, detail is decent, not reference material, but obviously the best this one has ever looked. Audio is a PCM 2.0 track in English and is equally serviceable. Extras include a director commentary, making of,  multiple featurettes, and a trailer.

The Film (3/5)

Audio/Video (3/5)

Extras (3.5/5)

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Village of the Damned

Director - Wolf Rilla

Cast-George Sanders, Barbara Shelley

Country of Origin- U.K.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

  

    One day in the village of Midwich the town undergoes a mysterious event. No one can enter or leave the town without feeling a sense of feeling paralyzed or unconsciousness and within a few hours all fertile women become pregnant. These pregnant women come to term quite rapidly, and spawn children who are quite alike, larger then normal heads, blond, larger eyes, and they share a collective mind, and the ability to enact control things with said mind.  

    A Professor who interacts with the children from birth, Gordon Zellaby works to figure out what occurred that night,  what these children are, the depths of their power, and what they represent. He also is their teacher, and lone representative to the outside. Unfortunately, the children also represent an apparent danger, and a rash of suicides and accidents are shown not to be quite what they seem, as they have occurred only to people who have crossed the children. Of course, Professor Zellaby with the help of his brother in law a military official have to work to figure out how to deal with the children, but with great difficulty, as the children  can always read their minds.

   Village of the Damned is one of the great British horror films of the 60's. It is a film whose imagery is so iconic that even those who haven't seen the film will find many of its moments absolutely recognizable. The film is just an amazing tight thriller. The film's prologue is short, quick and to the point, and right away gets to the situation with the children in the community, and the horror they're bringing to it. I haven't watched the film in about 20 years, but the film's now famous conclusion (no spoilers) still works wonderfully, and in between the film is one of those horrors that seemingly has no fat to it, and just is a perfect chiller all the way through. The performances from the likes of George Sanders and company are pitch perfect, and the crisp black and white cinematographer is gorgeous and creepy in equal measure.

    Warner Archive brings Village of the Damned to Blu-ray in a splendid  1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that just looks brilliant, detail is excellent as is contrast which is well-balanced. You will not find any issue here. Audio is presented with an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 that also sounded quite crisp, clear and without issue. Extras include a commentary by Steve Haberman.

The Film (5/5)

Audio/Video (5/5)

Extras (1.5/5)

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The Terror

Director - Various

Cast- Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies

Country of Origin- U.S.A.

Discs-1

Reviewer-Scott MacDonald

 

    Honestly, if you tell me that I can get a gothic horror fix in anyway, I will bite. The Terror was described to me as gothic horror on TV, and though I try not to commit much to TV shows as I don't have much time to commit to all the shows that I could potentially watch when the Blu-ray of this show came to my door of this Ridley Scott produced scare-fest came to my door, I had to watch.

   The show is told in a flashback from 4 years after the events it describes. It tells the stories of 2 real life ships the HMS Erebus and the titular Terror. They are trying to find the fabled Northwest Passage which will allow them easier access from the Atlantic to the Pacific. As they approach the Arctic they begin running into Inuit tribes tribes, having issues with the ships getting through the ice, inter-crew issues, and into all this a mysterious monstrous entity.

    The show is subtle and mysterious at times. It is based partly on a true story, and adds supernatural elements to add to the horror of the real life circumstances. While I liked the show, and found some of the imagery amazing on the horror-side,  great at channeling the era, with also touches of the surreal, I also felt that it was bogged down by too many subplots to keep the intensity of the show going. But overall it was an interesting experience, and I look forward to the next series.

    AMC/Lionsgate presents the Terror in a well transferred 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded image that preserves the look of the show. Everything from the colors and detail look solid without issue. Audio is a 7.1 True HD track and sounds quite excellent. Extras include a few BTS featurettes include a piece with Ridley Scott.

 

The Show (4/5)

Audio/Video (5/5)

Extras (2/5)