Bio-Dead
(2009/E1 DVD)/The Dead & The Damned
(2010/Inception DVD)/George A. Romero
presents Deadtime Stories – Volume 1 (2009/Millennium DVD)/Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010/Anchor
Bay Blu-ray)/Matrimony (2007/Palisades
Tartan Blu-ray)/The Reef (2010/Image
Blu-ray)/Supernatural: The Anime Series
(2011/Warner Blu-ray)
Picture:
C/C/C/C+/B/B-/B- Sound: C+/C/C+/B-/B-/B-/B- Extras: C/C-/D/D/C+/C-/C Main Programs: C/C-/C/D/B-/C-/C
Our
latest round of Horror genre releases includes some familiar names and some new
ones.
Stephen
J. Hadden’s Bio-Dead (2009) may be
yet another biological crisis film in the mode of Romero’s original The Crazies (reviewed on Blu-ray
elsewhere on this site), but it can be interesting to watch at times as it is
the first horror feature in a while that had some interesting ambition
considering its low budget. The makers
seem to enjoy the genre and know their way around it somewhat, making this one
of the few such indie releases in a while I could see genre fans still talking
about in a sea of glutted such releases.
Instead of just bio-zombies, we get a super killer creature. Too bad they could not have come up with
more, as this could have been a pleasant surprise. Extras include Cast/Crew Interviews, feature
length Audio Commentary track and Behind-The-Scenes footage.
Rene
Perez’s The Dead & The Damned
(2010) desperately wants to combine the Western (which it barely does well)
with zombie genre (Jonah Hex comic books have done this better) with one zombie
cowboy looking a bit too much like Marilyn Manson. A plague hits the West and this is the
result? Though it has a few nice things
going for it, the makers are way too far from making any of this begin to work
and it is a bore. A trailer is the only
extra.
George A. Romero presents Deadtime
Stories – Volume 1 (2009)
continues the filmmaker’s association with the anthology format that includes
past projects like Creepshow, Tales Of the Darkside and even The Dark Half. Though details on this project are sketchy
(is it a TV series, a series of telefilms with three stories at a time), the
stories included here are Valley Of the
Shadow, Wet and House Call, but they all rely too much
on make-up effects (still better than silly digital work, but not by much) and
are more about being graphic and gross than actually offering much in the way
of suspense or anything that we would consider memorable. Romero is only introducing these from an
analog TV on a stack of unplugged analog TVs.
Previews are the only extra.
Intentionally
goofy silliness from Roger Corman, Jay Andrews’ Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010) offers some bad digital effects, a
bad script, a boring would-be comedy and one of David Carradine’s last
performances. A telefilm meant to make a
few cynical bucks, it is the worst of the releases here and shows Corman has
not made anything fun since the early 1980s because he could care less at this
point. You should do the same and avoid
this, unless you want to see Carradine. Extras
include a feature length Audio Commentary track by Corman & the director
(whose real name is Jay Wynorski; we can see why he did not use his real name)
and a Trailer.
The best
release here is Teng Huatao’s Matrimony
that features a cover (see above) that suggests the Chinese production is an outright
Horror romp, but it is really a sort of love story set in the earlier to mid
part of the 20th Century and is more in the Swayze Ghost/Meet Joe Black mode than torture porn or zombies. This love triangle has a filmmaking young
man’s girlfriend hit by a car dead while she is riding her bike in the
city. Years later, he is about to marry
another young lady when the ghost of the first one returns, visiting her
successor to begin with. Slightly comic,
he is still partly in love with the dead gal and she is an unsettled spirit.
Though we
have seen some of this genre-wise, what I liked about the film was its setting,
the acting, the look & feel of the film, some of the character development
and how realized this is versus so many films in the genre of late. Though not a masterwork, it is smarter and
more competent than most. Fans will want
to definitely take a look. Extras
include trailers and interview segments.
The
Australian production The Reef (2010)
was written and directed by Andrew Traucki who wants to mix the idea of people
being abandoned at seas with its dangers, though these are friends who do not
turn on each other (no Knife In The
Water here) but have to hold against the elements. It has a raw sense of itself which can be
watchable, but this only goes so far, even with the fine performances and Great Barrier Reef location. I hope to see all involved in other projects
to see them fare better, but this is far form the best Australian cinema I have
seen lately, though you could (if you are not ready to fall asleep) take a look
for yourself. Don’t expect too
much. Extras include the Shooting With Sharks making of
featurette and a trailer.
Finally
we have Supernatural: The Anime Series,
a mixed animated version of the highly overrated live action TV series with
live action stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles dubbing themselves for the
U.S. English track and their Japanese voice dubbers doing their voice for this
mixed attempt to extend the played-out TV series into a cartoon show in the
Anime style. 22 episodes are here over
two Blu-ray discs and it is not awful, but let’s face it, it does not have much
top live up to and lands up being bland.
In addition, the actual animation is like a half-baked imitator of the
best Anime. Extras include episode
intros and general series introductions by Ackles and Padalecki, interviews
with voice cast & crew and Making Of Supernatural:
The Anime Series featurette presented in two parts. Definitely for fans only, if that.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Dinocroc
is the weakest of the four Blu-ray presentations with obvious digital work,
motion blur and a generally softer presentation than expected, while the same
type of animated frame on Supernatural
has some good color and detail, but is stylized to be soft in some shots and
looks plain weak in others. Akira has nothing to worry about. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Reef is the only scope
frame among the seven releases here and looks just a tad better than Dinocroc or Supernatural, but the picture performance winner is Matrimony with its 1080p 1.85 X 1
digital High Definition offering some great depth, detail, color range and
clarity in its best shots. The Video
Black can be limited and even has some crush at times, while the print can have
some minor debris, but it is easily the most successful disc here and the only
one that qualifies as pure cinema. All
three DVDs have anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 presentations and all are
softer than usual with motion blur, weak color and general softness that does
not help any of them.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Reef is a good recording for all of its location recording, but
lacks a consistent soundfield and is sometimes quiet on purpose, while the same
type of track in English on Supernatural
also disappoints as it seems weak and almost lossy, confirmed by the lossy
Dolby 2.0 Japanese Stereo on each show proving this was not a major lossless
audio production. Dinocroc has Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that is about on par with the others,
but the mix also has a lacking soundfield and is made for TV, so Corman and
company did not try much more. The Matrimony Blu-ray only has lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1, but it has the best soundmix of all seven releases here and it is
too bad a lossless option was not available.
It also has Dolby 2.0 Stereo that is not as good. The three DVDs also have lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 mixes at best, but none are as good and Damned is the poorest with its low budget, barely stereo sound
being spread very thin.
- Nicholas Sheffo
