Halloween
(1978/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Shark
Night (2011/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: B+/C- Main Programs: B+/C-
PLEASE NOTE: This Halloween Blu-ray is Region Free, plays on all Blu-ray players
worldwide (save the PAL low def TV ads) and can be ordered from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the
review.
These new
Blu-ray releases are here as the new year arrives.
John
Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) has
been finally issued years later in Australia
as a Region Free Import Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment, but it has long
been an infamous U.S.
Blu-ray release you can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6153/Halloween+(1978/Anchor+Bay+Blu-ray
This is
almost the same disc with the same extras, but the image has aged badly and we
get a change in the sound. While the U.S. Blu-ray
has PCM 5.1 mix, this edition replaces that with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix that
may be ever so slightly more refined and less distorted. That may not be enough to go out of your way
to get this edition, but diehard collectors will want to have it and it will
likely be the best way the film sounds until the owners spend money on a new 4K
or 6K transfer that gets the color schemes correct and more new technology
(lossless mixing) could even clean the sound up a tad more.
David R.
Ellis’ Shark Night (2011) is an
attempt by the director of the first of many idiotic Final Destination films to do his answer to Jaws, but it is not even as fun as the recent Piranha 3D (reviewed elsewhere on this site) as yet another group
of young adults make the mistake of enjoying sex, nature and go into the
water. Joel David Moore and (as a police
officer) Donal Logue were the only actors I recognized, but as much as I did
not like this predictable, silly romp, the actors had chemistry for a change
and the script did not have hatred and contempt for them wishing they were dead
upon arrival as most such releases have offered since the torture porn cycle
arrived. However, the digital work is
silly, they cannot find anything new to do and a corruption subplot does not
work and is no match for the underrated Barracuda
(also reviewed on this site). See it for
chuckles if you are a really, really big fan of this kind of thing.
So you
would think the 1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC @ 22 MBPS digital High Definition image
transfer on Shark would look better
than a film from 1978 in a questionable print (33 years ago) but it is on the
soft side, has its share of motion blur and never develops much of a memorable
look, which is often a hallmark of killer fish movies. I can say that the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix was better, but not perfect and nothing special save that it
is well recorded enough and warm, but nothing to write home about. The combination is good if not great. Extras include a Digital Copy for PC and PC
portable devices and four short featurettes on the production.
As noted
above, you can order the Halloween import
exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
