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Category:    Home > Reviews > Mystery > Thriller > Horror > Drama > Monster > Comedy > Science Fiction > Supernatural > Disturbing Behavior (1998/MGM)/The Kindred (1987/Synapse/both MVD Blu-ray)/Outlander: Season Six (2022/Sony Blu-ray Set)/Poltergeist 4K (1982/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

Disturbing Behavior (1998/MGM)/The Kindred (1987/Synapse/both MVD Blu-ray)/Outlander: Season Six (2022/Sony Blu-ray Set)/Poltergeist 4K (1982/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)



4K Ultra Picture: A- Picture: B-/B+/B/B Sound: B/B+/B/A- Extras: C/B-/C/B Main Programs: C/C+/C/B+



Here's more genre suspense and mostly terror in this new set of releases...



David Nutter's Disturbing Behavior (1998) had the potential to be a very good film and maybe a great one had it been thought out better and worked harder to go deeper into its subject matter, but it gives away too much in the first scene alone and never recovers. We go to a suburb where seeming conforming student keep growing in numbers (Village of The Damned for a new generation, though the school students are older) while they start to do things that no one should be doing.


The idea of a new generation still being Reaganized not long after the era began has its credibility, but the film is not interested in exploring that much, or any kind of class division that even a semi-B movie like Massacre At Central High (recently reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) did a better job of touching upon before getting to its own horrors. I'll add that Bill Clinton being president does not negate the situation much, as the soon-to-arrive events of 9/11 (et al) would prove.


So how are these teens being 'possessed' or the like? Well, this also could have been a strong variant in the original film version of The Stepford Wives (and not its hideous remake) and say something more like X-Files was doing in its early seasons before the first theatrical feature film ruined everything or even the darker episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, making it a little ahead of Stranger Things, but that does not happen here either. This is made more tragic by the young talent here including Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, James Marsden, Ethan Embry and Katharine Isabelle, all moving on to bigger careers, backed by savvy veterans like Bruce Greenwood, Steve Railsback, William Sadler and Susan Hogan. All the more reasons its shortcomings are unfortunate, as the film ages in the oddest ways.


Of course, Nutter can direct and there are some good scenes here, along with an interesting choice of songs that are a little more hit than miss. The makers were ultimately just trying to make some kind of scary film to be scary, but forgot to stick it into a more palpable world. Of course, this kind fo Ira Levin-style story was not dead, as Jordan Peele proved more recently with his hit debut feature horror film, Get Out. That makes Disturbing Behavior a curio no one seemed to know how to give an ending to and that results in one of the saddest near-misses of the last few decades.


The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix seem to repeat the older Blu-ray release, with the color trying to imitate the blue/purple look that X-Files had made popular at the time, which also affected some TV commercials and music videos and it is consistent, while the sound is a still-pretty good soundmix with clear dialogue and both music and sound effects that have an impact. The combination is good, though obviously slightly aged and not 4K, but there are no effects that are majorly dated either.


Extras include a poster in the Blu-ray case, while the discs repeats previous extras including a feature-length audio commentary by Director Nutter, an Original Theatrical Trailer and a bunch of Deleted Scenes, but adds three trailers for other MGM/UA films MVD is issuing or has issued on Blu-ray.



The cult classic The Kindred (1987) gets a new hold on life thanks to the new 4K scan from the original 35mm camera negative, out now thanks to Synapse Films. It is in the same genre as Re-Animator mashed with Carpenter's The Thing and other tongue in cheek '80s horror faire with a sort of Lovecraft-meets-classic-monster-movie vibe. The film shows its budget a bit with some dated special effects, but they still have some charm to them and the story itself is pretty fun and full of surprises. The cast is solid with there being no scream queens or big names attached, and the film itself holds up pretty well.


The film stars Rod Steiger, Kim Hunter, David Allen Brooks, Talia Balsam, Peter Frechette, and Julia Montgomery.


The story centers on a geneticist takes his assistants to his old family home to locate the deadly product of his late mother's revolutionary research into rapid human evolution, the result of which is a creature beyond imagination. As the group encounters this creature, the game of survival begins.


The Kindred is presented in 1080p with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a lossless audio track in English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1. The transfer looks and sounds pretty great. This is my first time seeing the film so I can't compare it to previous releases but it looks and sounds fantastic considering its age and budget, though some good money was spent on latex monster visual effects, a new thing going wide back then.


Special Features:


Audio commentary with directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, moderated by horror journalist Steve Barton


Inhuman Experiments: The Making of "The Kindred", an all-new documentary


A compilation of creature effects artist Michael McCracken, Jr.'s never-before-seen on-set footage


Still gallery and original storyboards


Original theatrical trailer, original video promotional trailer and TV spots



Outlander: Season Six (2022) surprises me by the fact that it is still in production and on the air as a hit, the tale of a modern gal Claire is now so stuck in the past from some kind of time slip, that she has given up any hope of returning to the early 21st Century and settled in the past, well knowing more about what is to happen than she could or would ever dare reveal. We covered the series early on and recently, which you can read more about at the following links:


Season One, Volume One DVD Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13397/Outlander:+Season+One,+Volume+One+(2014/So


Season One, Volume Two Blu-ray Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13801/Outlander:+Season+One,+Volume+Two+(2014+-


Season Two Blu-ray Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14548/Outlander:+Season+Two+(2016/Sony+Blu-ray+Se


Season Five Blu-ray Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15809/Daughters+Of+Darkness+4K+(1971/MVD/Blue+Un


Again, at this point, saying most anything is a spoiler, though some of what is going on is obvious to anyone following the show. It is at least taking its audience and fans seriously, consistent in its look and feel, so even a non-fan like myself can appreciate what they achieved here. It also has some visual moments that do look good, though the show overall does not wow me.


Either way, the show looks and sounds as good as any of the previous set releases. The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image has the same style going back to the debut season and that is not easy, but they did it, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is well done and has a consistent soundfield. It is as professional as expected with clear dialogue throughout as well.


Extras include a Digital Version, while the discs add Two Outlander Untold Scenes

  • A Look into the Animation: Outlander Untold

  • Family Matters: The Ghosts of Trauma

  • Two Blooper Reels

plus EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY AND COLLECTOR'S EDITION BONUS MATERIALS

  • 9 Lives: Claire & Jamie's Shootout

  • Deleted Scenes

  • and Episode Commentaries


Certainly enough for loyal fans and they'll be pleased.



Finally, like Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys (1987) that I just reviewed on 4K, Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist 4K (1982) are both films that were hits in their time and are also considered cult classics at the same time. We have seen many hideous remakes and sequels over the years that we would like to forget about. The new restorations here and pretty jaw dropping - especially with Poltergeist, which features strobing effects that are seen better now and have warnings slapped all over the cover and disc in concern from the studio.


in Poltergeist, a family moves in a haunted home in a suburb that appears to be just a normal house. Learning later that it was built over a cemetery where the only the headstones were removed, the house is in reality a portal to hell. The family does their best to survive against these paranormal entities and soon call in some experts to help when the little girl is taken to the other side. This is the 40th Anniversary Edition of the Steven Spielberg-produced film that stars Craig T. Nelson, Zelda Rubinstein, JoBeth Williams, Oliver Robbins, and Heather O'Rourke.


Poltergeist 4K is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265 codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 (shot on 35mm with the ever-underrated, anamorphic J-D-C Scope lenses) and an audio track in lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes respectively. The strobing effects, more vivid than ever here, add another layer of intensity to many key moments of the film and the newfound details in a lot of darker scenes are more vivid here. Recommended.


Special Features:

They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists documentary

The Making of Poltergeist

and an Original Theatrical Trailer



- Nicholas Sheffo (Behavior, Outlander) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/



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