Boy
Behind The Door
(2020*)/Chabrol:
Twisting The Knife
(The
Swindle
(1997) Color
Of Lies
(1999) Nightcap
(aka Merci
Pour Le Chocolat
(2000) Flower
Of Evil
(2003)/MVD/Arrow Blu-ray Set)/Last
Looks
(2022/*both RLJ Blu-ray)/Long
Night
(2022/Well Go Blu-ray)/Vikings:
Season Six, Volume Two (2021
- 2022/MGM/Warner Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
B+/B/B+/B+/B+ Sound: B+/B-/B+/B+/B+ Extras: C/B/C/B/C+
Main Programs: C+/B-/B/C-/B
Here's
a big new set of thrillers...
The
Boy
Behind The Door
(2020) is
a horror film that feels like it could really happen... or probably
has. It focuses on child abduction at its core as we are introduced
to two young innocent boys who get picked up by a stranger and forced
into a trunk. One of them manages to escape whilst the other one is
put in a room and chained down with a collar around his neck. The
other boy puts two and two together and attempts to free his friend
at any cost. The film has some great moments where tension is built
nicely, there's a few twists and turns, and cool visual clues that
follow the slasher formula effectively. There's one sequence that is
a dead on homage to The
Shining
that's pretty apparent. The twist at the end of the second act is
surprising and one I did not see coming whilst the end was a little
predictable. All in all, the film is effective and does what it sets
out to do.
The
film stars Lonnie Chavis, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Scott Michael
Foster, Micah Hauptman, and Rich Ceraulo Ko. The film is directed by
David Charbonier and Justin Powell.
The
Boy Behind the Door
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1, and an English DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The
cinematography and overall technical filmmaking aspects of the film
are solid throughout and has a studio film look and feel considering
its budget was likely low. The sound mix on the disc is effective
and kept me engaged at least!
Special
Features: Music Video and Bloopers.
A
few months
ago, we covered a Blu-ray box set of Claude Chabrol films dubbed Lies
& Deceit,
which offered five of his films, not all thrillers...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16076/Dalgliesh:+Series+1+(2021/Acorn+DVD+set)/Last
Now
comes a set of four more films that are definitely thrillers, dubbed
Twisting
The Knife,
has arrived and we actually covered all four films in the past. They
include The
Swindle
C+ (aka
RIEN NE VA PLUS, 1997) on DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4169/The+Swindle+(Rien+ne+va+plus,+199
Color
Of Lies
C+ (1999)
in its previous Cohen Media Blu-ray edition
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13001/The+Color+Of+Lies+(1999/Cohen+Bl
Nightcap
B- (aka Merci
Pour Le Chocolat
(2000) on
both Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13048/Cold+In+July+(2014/MPI/IFC+Blu-ray
and
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/93/Merci+Pour+Le+Chocolat
The
Flower Of Evil
B- (2003, DVD)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1053/Flower+Of+Evil
Swindle
is still as poor as I remembered it, Lies
was originally reviewed by another critic and apparently looked and
sounded as good in its older Blu-ray edition, though I liked it much
less than my fellow critic. Nightcap
and Flower
are somewhat better to me, despite dragging out and not always
working. I cannot see or pinpoint any major differences in the case
of the two Cohen Blu-rays versus the new versions here and all but
Lies
are from new 4K transfers.
So
the set is much better-looking overall than the last one, with the
transfers certainly making any older DVD versions obsolete. All four
have
1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition transfers and all
were shot on Fuji full color 35mm negative film, save Nightcap
on Kodak full color 35mm negative film and despite being one of the
new transfers, is the one that is a bit off. The others look fine,
clean, clear, detailed and with a fine color range, but Nightcap
is a shade darker than it should be for some odd reason and I doubt
it is the brand of film used. It is as if someone took a liberty in
remastering they should not have taken.
As
for sound, all four offer uncompressed PCM French 2.0 Stereo sound,
with Flower and Nightcap adding DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 French
lossless mixes as they were originally Dolby Digital 5.1 sound
theatrical releases, though those mixes are not quite as good as the
PCM versions in many parts. Lies
was also a Dolby Digital 5.1 theatrical release, yet there is no 5.1
on the disc here, nor was there on the Cohen Blu-ray, so what
happened to those tracks? Were they just that bad or poor? Save
that film this is the best these films will likely ever sound and as
much as I do not like to admit it, Swindle
is the best-sounding of them all.
Like
the last box set, extras are many and (per the press release) include
a high quality, 80-page collector's booklet of new writing by Sean
Hogan, Brad Stevens, Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze, Alexandra
Heller-Nicholas, and Pamela Hutchinson
Then
each disc adds the following...
DISC
ONE: THE SWINDLE
DISC
TWO: THE COLOR OF LIES
DISC
THREE: NIGHTCAP
DISC
FOUR: THE FLOWER OF EVIL
Tim
Kirkby's Last
Looks
(2022), also known as Waldo,
is an engaging Neo-Noir and a surprisingly fun and interesting film
with top notch performances from Charlie Hunnan, Mel Gibson, Morena
Baccarin, Clancy Brown, and Dominic Monaghan. Set in L.A. and the
outer limits of, the murder-mystery follows a retired but brilliant
Detective Charlie Waldo (Hunnan) who lives with only 100 personal
possessions in a beat up trailer in the middle of the woods.
One
day, his stunning ex girlfriend (Baccarin) shows up at his place with
a new job: to figure out the killer of a murderous crime involving a
movie star (Gibson) and his murdered wife. As Charlie travels to LA
on his beat up bicycle, he starts to peel off the layers of this
mysterious crime, which was likely blackmail, and gets to the bottom
of things whilst meeting a host of interesting characters along the
way. The film reminded me a little bit of The
Big Lebowski
and other Neo-Noirs in its execution, and is definitely worth
checking out if you're a fan of any of the top billed actors!
Last
Looks
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1, and a DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix. The film is nicely shot and
produced with a high production value throughout and some very nice
scenics of Los Angeles that shrouds it in both beauty and mystery.
Special
Features: The Making of Last Looks featurette and an Original
Theatrical Trailer.
Last
Looks
was a real surprise for me and a film that I would recommend to fans
of Neo-Noir, film noir, or murder-mystery films.
The
Long Night
(2022),
starring Scout Taylor Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween
films), is another horror film involving a creepy cult with world
domination plans that stalks an unsuspecting couple who are on a
backwoods vacation to maybe find and meet her absent parents.
Predictable to a fault, The
Long Night
features a main character with a past she doesn't remember, could she
be connected to this cult? Of course she is. Scout Taylor Compton
does what she can with the material, and has yet to prove her full
abilities I feel.
Basically,
the film looks like a music video for a satanic rock band like Ghost
or something of the sort. The film relies heavily on its sound
design, and the photography on the whole isn't terrible. There is
just nothing to this film but weird camera angles, the camera titling
and shots dissolving into each other, and moments of loud noise and
screaming.
The
satanic cult appear in deer head masks (been done a million times)
and just wave their hands like they are using the force or something
and 'control' people. A cheap gimmick. The film is a cross between
You're
Next,
Rosemary's
Baby
and Midsommar
and just feels like it's been done better before. At times when you
think something gruesome is going to happen it usually cuts away and
is aided some weird sound design or creepy music. You could very
easily take this footage and recut it into a three minute music video
with no dialogue and get the same point across.
The
film also stars Nolan Gerard Funk, Jeff Fahey, and Deborah Kara
Unger.
The
Long Night
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35 X 1 and an English
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The sound
design and music is probably the film's best asset and is loud at
times and nicely produced on the whole. The photography is decent
and many night shots are lit in creative ways. The film definitely
had something of a budget, if it wasn't more than a million bucks.
Special
Features:
Audio
commentary by director Rich Ragsdale
Behind
the Scenes featurettes:
The
Birthing
The
Look
The
Score
Short
film: The
Loop
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer
The
Long Night
makes 90 minutes feel long.
And
finally, Vikings:
Season Six, Volume Two (2021
- 2022,)
or the second half of Season 6 of Vikings
lands on 3-disc Blu-ray disc from Warner Bros. The series is very
engaging and has really interesting production and costume design and
really makes you feel like you are a part of that time once you get
sucked into it.
Vikings
mainly centers on Ragnar Lothbrok, who is a text book hero archetype
and much like a show centered around a pre-Mafia, the series tells
the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family.
Believed to be an ancestor to the God Odin, Ragnar continues to break
ground and strength his rule on any who dare oppose him or his
brethren.
Episodes
include King
of Kings, All Change, The Signal, Lost Souls, All of the Sea, The
Straw, The Raft of Medusa, It's Only Magic, The Lord Giveth,
and The
Last Act.
The
episodes are presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with
an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and English
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mixes, which
presents the series uncensored and the way that it was meant to be
seen commercial and network watermark free.
Special
Features:
Exclusive
Bonus Content: The
Epic Worlds of Vikings
Exclusive
Bonus Content: The
Vikings Series Finale:
Audio Commentary with Creator Michael Hirst and Series Star Georgia
Hirst
and
Deleted Scenes
Warner
is also releasing the complete six-season series of Vikings
in a collectible set for those who want to take the journey from the
beginning.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Chabrol) and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/