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