Citadel
(Umbrella Region B Import Blu-ray)/The
Demented (Anchor
Bay Blu-ray w/DVD)/Would You Rather (IFC/MPI Blu-ray/all
2012)
Picture:
C+/B- & C/B- Sound: B/B- & C+/B- Extras: C/D/C- Main Programs: C/C-/D
PLEASE NOTE: The Citadel Region B Blu-ray import only available from Umbrella Entertainment,
go to the link below and order.
Now for
our latest look at horror thrillers that tried to do something new with
something old and landed up being bad…
Ciaran
Foy’s Citadel has the potential of being
the film it was trying to be, 28 Days
Later, but makes some wrong turns in doing this and eventually overplays
its hand. An Irish production shot on a
handheld HD camera, but trying desperately not to look it, features Tommy
(Aneurin Barnard) is a father and has serious agoraphobia. That in itself would not make life easy, but
when he and his family get attacked in their dark neighborhood by a gang of
what seems like killer children, things get even more desperate and worse,
leaving Tommy to have to fight for survival.
Then the
plot twists start kicking in, a mix of the familiar and possibly interesting
until one too many plot twists undermine any suspense or intensity as the
screenplay gets silly and ruins what could have been a minor genre classic. The title refers to a big, dark building that
no one wants to go to, but is the key to supposedly solving the crisis, but the
script’s own crisis ruins that one.
Having all these good actors you have hardly ever seen helps things,
even with the occasionally derivative bits.
Instead, we land up with a curio for fans only that sadly misses the
mark.
Extras
include a Trailer, half-hour Foy interview, 10 minutes Barnard interview and
Making Of featurette Citadel: Inside The
Fear, lasting 18 minutes.
Christopher
Roosevelt’s The Demented is even
more familiar in being about yet another group of young people who go out in
the middle of nowhere to have fun and party.
The first twist is that they have money and friends, so instead of going
to a camp site or something as cheap, they go to a nice house and for a while,
the good times roll. However, a
terrorist attack (oh boy…) has happened nearby (sounds like a serious version
of the Oscilloscope release It’s A
Disaster, a comedy with the same set up and more laid-back people.
Here, the
result is more zombies and an obsession by the makers to be the millionth
release to imitate George Romero and think they are doing something
original. No such luck. This runs a long 92 minutes, comes from the
producers of the unnecessary remakes of I Spit On our Grave and could have
tired to be original by the second half, but could care less. You should too.
There are
no extras.
Finally
we have, last and least, David Guy Levi’s Would
You Rather which tries to mix a stuck-in-a movie with torture porn and a
touch of reality TV (and their lame would-be game show variants) by having
people at a fancy dinner, but not to eat.
Instead, they are bullied and terrorized into making choices that are
not real choices, as all the attendees are in need of money to help themselves
or others. Call it ‘hunger games for
idiots’ on a low budget and definitely call it stupid.
The 93
endless minutes are cynical, flat, dull, predictable, offensive, offensively
bad, a waste (including John Heard, who deserves better) and Brittany Snow (who
co-produced) is the lead in need of help for a very sick brother (a new reason
to endorse national health care) and the film never questions the economic
conditions that would even make a scenario like this possible, one that people
willing voted for. Why ignore that
horror for this stupid distraction?
Hmmm.
This
critic would rather see a real thriller, so skip it and don’t even stick this
one in a doggie bag!
Extras
include a Poster Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer and feature-length audio
commentary track (yawn) with Director Levi and writer (ha!) Steffen
Schlachtenhaufer.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Citadel and Rather are
definitely digital shoots, but Citadel
has purposely degraded its image (shot on a RED ONE camera) to the point that
they could have shot it on lower definition.
Director of Photography Tim Fleming makes it murky, greenish, dark and
flatish, but that is not necessarily the equivalent of moody, atmospheric and
cinematic. Some shots are actually not
bad, but the degrading of the fidelity quickly becomes a spoof of itself. Rather
is better, but still lacks detail and depth throughout, making it as boring
as its shots tends to be dull and static. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Demented has the same
issues as Rather, but not to the
same extent and has some better shots, so it narrowly has the best playback of
all and its anamorphically enhanced DVD version is the softest and poorest
performer here, as expected.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Citadel (misidentified on the package as Dolby Digital) is has some
quiet moments and a few dialogue-based moments, but has some original ideas
about sound design and offers a decent, consistent mix that is the default
highlight of any of these releases. I
just wish the image and script were up to the sound. Rather
has a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that is even more towards the
front channels and like the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 on Demented is less impressive and inspired throughout. Demented also has a DVD with lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 that is the poorest mix here, as expected.
To order
the Citadel Umbrella Region B import
Blu-ray, go to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo