Halloween 2010 Blu-rays: Amityville Horror (2005 remake/MGM w/DVD) + Frozen (2010/Anchor Bay) + Invasion
Of The Body Snatchers (1978/MGM w/DVD) + Open Water/Open Water 2 - Adrift (Lionsgate) + The Order (2003/Fox) + Suck
(2009/E1) + 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days (2010/Sony w/DVD)
Picture: B-
& C+/C+/B & C & C-/C & C+/C+/C+/C+
Sound: B-/B/B & C/C & C+/C+/C+/B-
Extras: D/C/B/D/C-/C-/D Films:
D/C/B/D/C-/C-/D
We are
being hit with a huge wave of Horror titles on Blu-ray for the 2010 Halloween
season, so many in fact that the following seven Blu-rays (with eight titles)
are just some of the arrivals and I will not be the only one covering
them. Among them are titles we have
covered before and sadly, only one is any good.
Here they are as follows, including links to previous DVD editions or
related releases:
Amityville Horror (2005 remake/MGM) was an awful
cash-in by the struggling studio to revive a gimmick film that was not too bad
in its time and even had a fun 3-D sequel.
Ironically, MGM issued the original on Blu-ray a while ago, which you
can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7694/The+Amityville+Horror+(1979/MGM+Bl
The
remake by Andrew Douglas is useless, has zero suspense, wastes Ryan Reynolds
& Philip Baker Hall, is trying to modernize a film that was not that good
and was soon to be wiped out by Kubrick’s The
Shining (1980, reviewed elsewhere on this site) as the haunted house film
of the moment and is a total waste. The
1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 37 MBPS digital High Definition is not that good, the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is harsher and more limited than
expected and the anamorphically enhanced DVD with Dolby Digital 5.1 is even
weaker, but has been included for the lame extras, including Deleted Scenes of
no use, an audio commentary by Reynolds & the producers, Photo Gallery, two
featurettes and a Multi-angle On-set bit.
If you must, stick with the original or wait for the 3-D sequel to get
issued unless you can get the import we covered years ago.
Frozen (2010/Anchor Bay) is from the
team of Director Adam Green and Director of Photography Peter Lyons Collister,
who have given us the silly Hatchet
films, as a very average “survival thriller” not unlike the Open Water series (see below); gimmicky
and shallow. Shawn Ashmore (Iceman from
the X-Men films) and some other good
actors are wasted in this tired, formulaic and unintentionally funny “we’re
trapped in the deep snow at a resort” mess.
The big question is, why did the resort close in the middle of snow
season? One of the Saw producers was on this, so you can imagine the logic out the
window and the tired formula that follows and it is nothing new or worth much
of your time. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital
High Definition image is not that good at all, while the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix
is a saving grace of this outing. Four
featurettes, two (!) audio commentaries, a trailer and Deleted Scenes that
would have made no difference are included as extras.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978/MGM) is the underrated
Philip Kaufmann remake of the 1956 classic that remains a very effective
thriller. We covered the new DVD upgrade
with the fourth version (The Invasion
with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig) at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6586/The+Invasion+(2007;+HD-DVD/DVD
This new
version has the same cover as the DVD reissue, but also includes the lame older
DVD flipper edition with a pan & scan version, but you get all the new DVD
extras on the Blu-ray. Best of all, the
1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC @ 37 MBPS digital High Definition is even better than the
improved DVD, better rendering the Video Black, shadow detail and color
overall, bringing this much closer to the way the film looked, while the DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is even warmer and fuller than the upgraded
Dolby Digital 5.1 on the newer DVD. What
a great back catalog title.
Open Water/Open Water 2 - Adrift (Lionsgate) was already dealt
with when we covered the DVD for the lame sequel at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5129/Open+Water+2+%E2%80%93+Adrift
We
(thankfully) never reviewed the first one on DVD and the sequel evaporates as
quickly. The first was 1.85 X 1 by
default and the 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image shows how bad this
really is, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on both are
lame, especially on the first one. The
sequel offers a 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image that is as bad as
its DVD version and both should be skipped.
Lionsgate added feature length audio commentary tracks and two
featurettes and useless Deleted Scenes for the first, while repeating the lame
making of featurette for the second. The
“people trapped in a bad place” cycle is like Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (reviewed elsewhere on this site) for airheads and like Frozen above, to be avoided at all
costs.
The Order (2003) is one of the attempts to
put Heath Ledger in more than just another silly pretty boy role, as he plays a
Catholic Priest battling evil, but it was from the director (the more miss than
hit Brian Helgeland, who has been more of a writer since this tanked) of his
goofiness fest A Knight’s Tale and
is as slight as it is forgettable. Mark
Addy and Peter Weller are also wasted in this film that cannot escape the
shadow of Friedkin’s Exorcist and is
a curio at best. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC
@ 22 MBPS digital High Definition image is weaker than expected despite being
shot on 35mm film and Video Black (along with shadow detail) are major issues
throughout, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is not that
well recorded or rendered here. Extras
include a trailer, Deleted Scenes that would not help and feature length audio
commentary by Helgeland that sadly does not include Ledger.
Suck (2009/E1) wants very badly to be
a cult vampire comedy, but it makes us wonder if we should push for the release
of Clive Donner’s Old Dracula (1974)
instead, as actor-trying-to-direct Rob Stefaniuk about a band who has a female
member disappearing with a vampire. Guess
she took the script! Iggy Pop, Moby,
Henry Rollins, Alice Cooper, Dave Foley, Alex (Rush) Lifeson and Malcolm
McDowell are all wasted here, while the director takes the lead. Grab a box set of the animated Groovie Goolies instead! The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image is weak and looks like it was shot in HD with lots of motion blur and
phony color (some intended) throughout, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix is not very well recorded and the combination can be very trying. Extras include cast/crew interviews, a bad
Music Video, making of featurette and feature length audio commentary with
Stefaniuk and his cameraman, Gregor Hagey.
30 Days Of Night: Dark Days (2010) is our final disc and dud,
an unnecessary remake (or continuation or whatever they want to call it to sell
it) of the highly overrated first film, which we covered on Blu-ray at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6616/30+Days+Of+Night+(Blu-ray)
It is
more of the same predictably tired vampire-mania, with bad showy acting, overly
obvious and overdone make-up, plus bad digital work and zero suspense. The lead (a new actress) leaves the vampires
in Alaska
(insert political joke here!) and finds them in… Los
Angeles! Yes,
they could not go to a cheaper place that might have helped this train wreck,
but the most familiar place of all and it gets dumber and more predictable from
there. Totally useless, this is played
out on arrival, which is why it went straight to video. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image is also very weak and also looks like it was shot in HD with lots of
motion blur and Video Black that has issues, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix is good and somewhat aggressive, if not great, but that is an
improvement over most of the new titles here, which are surprisingly bad in the
audio department. Extras include a
Blu-ray exclusive (the only one in the whole batch!) comic to film piece with
BD Live interactivity, plus you also get two behind the scenes featurettes that
cannot salvage this extremely desperate release.
- Nicholas Sheffo
