Beast
(2022/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)/Black
Water
(2008/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Hansan:
Rising Dragon
(2022/Well Go Blu-ray)/Premutos:
The Fallen Angel
(1997/Unearthed)/Satan's
Little Helper
(2004/Synapse/both MVD Blu-ray)/The
Spore
(2004/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
B+ & C+/B-/B+/B+/C+/B- Sound: B+ & C+/B-/C+/B+/B-/B-
Extras: B/C+/B/C+/B/C+ Films: B/B/B/C/C-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Black
Water
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K & Blu-ray players
and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for more horror thrillers and one that sounds like it, but is not...
Idris
Elba stars in Beast
(2022), which is an Africa set film where a man and his two daughters
go to Africa in this beautifully shot and produced thriller from
Universal. Having lost their mother to cancer, going to Africa where
she lived at a time, makes this trip particularly important to the
two teenaged girls and their father Elba (who was in the midst of a
divorce with their mother before she died), who tries to make the
best of a tricky situation. Once there, they end up encountering
Lions on several occasions, but eventually end up prisoner to a
particular beastly one: putting their lives at great risk.
The
film also stars Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley, Leah Jeffries, and Mel
Jarnson.
Beast
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
Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. Also includes is a
lesser quality, anamorphically enhanced standard definition DVD that
leaves much to be desired, but is fine and of a high standard for the
aged format. The soundtrack is fantastic and really helps make the
film look epic. The cinematography and editing is also top notch in
this production. The only weak link is the look of some of the
digital lions, which appear a bit fake looking at times, but what are
you going to do. It's not the 1970s where films like Day
of the Animals
(reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) took risks by actually
filming with real animals in potentially dangerous scenarios!
Special
Features (pet the press release):
DELETED
SCENE: Watch an exclusive unreleased scene from Beast
MAN
VS. LION: THE FINAL BATTLE: Go inside the epic final battle between
Nate and the beast himself as Director Baltasar Kormakur, star Idris
Elba, and key members of the VFX team walk us through putting it all
together.
CREATING
THE BEAST: The vicious title character of Beast is no ordinary lion.
He's bigger, he's meaner, and he's got an axe to grind against
humanity. Sit down with director Baltasar Kormákur as he explains
what he envisioned for The Beast.
MAKING
IT REAL: THE WOUNDS: Sit down with prosthetics supervisor Clinton
Smith and prosthetic assistant Daleen Badenhorst as they walk us
through all the gory details of creating realistic looking slices,
gashes, and tears caused by a massive, predatory lion.
FILMING
IN THE BEAST'S TERRITORY: Visit Limpopo South Africa where the cast
and crew of BEAST travelled to capture all the vistas, planes, and
mountains of Africa authentically on film.
FAMILY
BOND: THE CAST OF THE BEAST: Meet the family at the heart of this
story as director Baltasar Kormakur and cast members Idris Elba,
Iyana Halley, and Leah Jeffries take us inside their characters'
journeys as they come together and heal in the direst of
circumstances.
and
A LION'S PRIDE: Learn the tragic truth of lion poaching with this
factual piece that takes viewers inside the fight to protect the big
game of Africa.
Beast
is a good film and has some smart filmmaking despite a few cheesy
digital lions.
Black
Water
(2007) is
an effective Australian killer crocodile thriller based on true
events and that takes place with minimal characters in one primary
location. The film follows a man, his girlfriend, and her sister who
leave home to go on a cross country trip. When they go out on a boat
to check out a reserve, they end up attacked by a huge croc that has
a taste for human flesh. The first act of the film has some pretty
strong character development before the croc comes out to play, and
the film doesn't take itself too seriously and actually crafts a
story that isn't completely predictable.
The
film stars Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenbould,
and Fiona Press.
It
is presented in 1.78 X 1, 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with
a fair bit of grain in the image that is apparently when viewing on a
4K resolution TV, that can be a bit distracting at times, and a few
shots that look a bit soft, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix is not bad. Otherwise, the presentation is up to
standards.
Special
Features include:
Audio
Commentary with filmmakers Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich
The
Making of BLACK WATER
Deleted
Scenes / Theatrical Trailer
Black
Water
is a fun watch and quite well made.
Before
The
Admiral: Roaring Currents,
Hansan:
Rising Dragon
(2022) is
about the Battle of Hansando. The year is 1592, Admiral Yi faces off
against the Japanese armada. Outnumbered, out gunned and already
fighting a losing war, Admiral Yi is tasked in stopping the Japanese
Navy. The Japanese only fear is Admiral Yi's 'Geobukseon' the Dragon
headed ship a heavy armored battleship built for ramming.
Admiral
Yi is asked to the impossible, to stop the Japanese Navy, if they
fail Japan will not only takeover Korea but invade China as well.
Both Admirals have spies in each other's camps, finding weakness,
secrets, enemy tactics and tracking their movements. The Korean's
one advantage is their 'turtle ship', heavily armored ships with a
dragonhead battering ram at the bow, however they are slow. Yi must
come up with new tactics, the crane formation but it requires them to
bait out the Japanese ships to attack. In the end, it begins a new
era of battling on the high seas and having a 'fortress on the sea.'
This
was an early historical fiction of early naval battles. It plays out
more like it's an Admiral's job is to predict and counter attack the
enemy forces. The difference between good and evil is do you fight
for your country or do you fight to protect it's people?
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is a pretty
vivid and impressive HD shoot and presentation, but the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is a little off and uneven
at times and I was a little disappointed. Extras
include character highlights, secrets of makeup, staff commentary and
trailers.
Olaf
Ittenbach's Premutos:
The Fallen Angel
(1997) gets a deluxe release on disc from Unearthed films that also
includes the CD soundtrack. The wild gore soaked German horror film
isn't for the church going crowd, and instead is a nightmarish decent
to Hell and back.
Premutos
is the first of the fallen Angels, even before Lucifer. His goal is
to rule the realms of the living and the dead. According to ancient
scripture, his son should pave the way for him to return. A young
man begins to suffer from visionary flashbacks of the past lives he
lived. On his father's birthday, a case containing an old book is
found in their garden, which was hidden by a Warlock in 1943. When
the young man touches with the book, he mutates into a monster and
soon awakens an army of zombies, ready to bring back the fallen Angel
Premutos!
Premutos:
The Fallen Angel
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and German DTS-HD
Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) and German LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
with English subtitles. There is the original dubbed English version
on the disc as well as the German language mix based on your personal
preference.
Special
Features:
Making
of Featurettes
Olaf
Ittenbach - The Early Years
Photo
Gallery
Trailers
and
a Soundtrack CD.
Satan's
Little Helper
(2004) is
a horror comedy or sorts with a confused identity. It feels like a
young adult horror movie in some respects (a little harder than
Goosebumps
and more in like with a Creepshow
one-off), and then it goes into scenes with pretty graphic violence
(with some iffy effects at times), and then sort of tries to be a
comedy too. This mix didn't really work.
The
film is about a kid whose obsessed with a video game called Satan's
Little Helper to an annoying degree and he's even dressed up like
Satan for Halloween. After his older sister (whose he's in love
with) comes home from college with a boyfriend to spend time with the
boy and his kooky Mother (played by Amanda Plummer (Pulp
Fiction)).
The little boy runs off and comes across a real life serial killer
wearing a devil-type mask and costume. The little boy thinks it's
all a game and joins up with this serial killer on actual murder
sprees. From here, the movie just gets sillier and sillier and the
realism goes out the window. Parts of the film are kind of cute
whilst others are groan inducing.
The
film stars Alexander Brickel, Katheryn Winnick, Stephen Graham,
Amanda Plummer, & Wass Stevens and is written and directed by
Jeff Lieberman (Squirm,
Blue
Sunshine).
Satan's
Little Helper
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a lossless,
English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo mix. Other all, the
transfer isn't the sharpest and some shots have obviously been zoomed
in during post and appear compressed. Seeing at this was made in the
awkward year when digital filmmaking was still in growing pains and
this was made independently, it's passable. The shots of the video
game, which the film cuts to in full screen several times, is
laughable and horrible dated. They would've done better to give the
game a 8-bit original Nintendo look than the half assed animation
they went with.
Special
Features:
Fully
uncut presentation of the film
Audio
Commentary from Director Jeff Lieberman
Vintage
Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
The
Devil in the Details: Making Satan's
Little Helper
Mr.
Satan's Neighborhood:
A Tour of the Filming Locations with Director Jeff Lieberman
and
a Promotional Trailer.
Satan's
Little Helper
needed a kid that's more lovable and relatable than this little brat
as its central character. The concept would've likely been better
suited as a short film or something in an anthology akin to Creepshow
than being a full feature.
The
Spore
(2021) is
an interesting virus based horror thriller that tips the hat at
classic Romero films like Romero's The
Crazies,
but seems to be missing something at its core. The film starts out
with a contaminated area that's been overrun by a sort of mutating
fungus and a lone man in a bio-hazard suit comes in contact with a
contaminated zombie in a tent. From there, the film intersects off
into various stories that revolve around this contamination. The
concept is pretty strong and for the budget the film has some decent
effects, but the characters aren't too intriguing and some aspects
feel a bit amateur despite a shiny exterior.
The
film stars Jeannie Jefferies, Haley Heslip, and Peter Tell and is
directed by Matt Cunningham.
The
film is presented in anamorphically enhanced, standard definition on
DVD disc with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby
Digital mix. The transfer leaves much to be desired when watching on
a high resolution TV, but is fine for the format. The overpowering
electronic soundtrack of the movie helps create an unnerving
atmosphere.
Special
Features:
Filmmakers
Commentary
Making
of Featurette
Random
Acts of Filmmaking Featurette
and
a Trailer.
The
Spore
isn't a terrible low budget horror film and has a decent enough
concept, but maybe needed some more likable and engaging characters
set against its virus ridden backdrop.
To
order the
Black
Water
Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Ricky Chiang (Hansan)
and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
