Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

A Dark Song Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson December 10, 2017

A Dark Song is one of the more original films in horror and the supernatural to emerge over the last few years. First-time director Liam Gavin has stated in interviews that he wanted his feature debut to avoid the most common genre tropes of zombies, vampires, and jump scares. While Gavin has produced a dark drama about a black magic invocation ritual known as Abramelin, he is careful not to fall to prey to the temptation of employing an exorcism. A Dark Song is essentially a two-character piece set in a Dublin-based country house where a séance is prolonged over the course of eight months. Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker) is a thirty-something single woman still grieving over the loss of her prepubescent boy Jack. As the film opens, she is leaving her old home and looking to relocate in a Northern Wales manor. She hopes to communicate with her late son through a medium so she starts interviewing occultist candidates beginning with Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram). Joseph has conducted three séances (one successful, the other two not) and doesn't seem interested in Sophia's proposal. Before he boards the train back to London, however, she ups the offer to £80,000 and gives Joseph the clincher: she informs him that it's about making contact with her boy. He agrees and the two move into the country house together. Joseph establishes certain preconditions to ensure that Sophia is "purified" to take on the task at hand. Sophia should have abstained from any sex in the recent past and she claims to have been abstinent. She also must maintain a strict diet and get minimal sleep so she can partake in the rituals at odd hours. Joseph pours a salt border around the large manor so that she will not venture outside.

Gavin establishes a master/servant dialectic in the love/hate relationship between Joseph and Sophia. For at least the first half of the picture, the two have a spiteful collaboration. Joseph is a bald, thickly bearded, bespectacled, and rotund spiritual guide who relishes pushing Sophia around. Initially, Joseph was benevolent at a early stage of the script, according to Gavin. However, the character was rewritten to make Joseph more repugnant and misogynist. At one point, the movie comes dangerously close to making Sophia a slave but the independent lady stands her ground firmly and repudiates her occultist's actions.

Joseph and Sophia hope the gold flakes can summon the spirits of the dead.

A bulk of the narrative is spent with Joseph and Sophia as they attempt to conjure up the spirits so the latter can meet with the Guardian Angel about her son. Joseph is dressed in a spiritual guru's garb as he dictates orders and paints Chinese logograms or another form of hieroglyphics on the back of Sophia. Things are very slow to develop and nothing of any consequence happens but as Joseph reminds his pupil, the black bird hitting itself against the outside window is a sign of imminent contact with the outside world. Joseph tests Sophia to the max even keeping her head below water in the bathtub to determine if she has the will to continue and complete her mission. Gavin's script is highly literate as the viewer gains a lot of knowledge about Abramelin and the steadfast commitment a paranormal explorer and his protégé must maintain to communicate with the dead. The climax and ending to A Dark Song is made up of fairy-tale beauty quite staggering to behold but the message is oversimplified. The resolution deserves something more substantial to match the conceptual challenges and intellectual ambitions the film probes in its first ninety-five minutes.

A Dark Song Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This Blu-ray only edition of A Dark Song arrives courtesy of Scream Factory on a BD-50 and with a slipcover. The movie is shown in the aspect ratio of about 2.40:1, which approximates its intended framing for cinemas. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded disc boasts a standard bitrate of 29.41 Mbps. Although Scream only gives the main feature a mean bitrate of 23213 kbps, there are no compressional artifacts or instances of macro blocking. Skin tones are primarily blanche with an emaciated tone that shows neither Joseph or Sophia has been out getting a tan. As its title implies, A Dark Song is a very dark looking film that befits the ritual scenes that take place almost always during evening hours. The wide open room is primarily lit with candles to illumine the chalk engravings of signs and the two human figures (see Screenshot #s 4 and 16). There is also some sparse daylight filling through the window/curtain: e.g., Sophia's blood-drinking scene in #15. Also check out the black levels around Sophia's candle-lit face (#3). The characters' silhouettes are nearly solid black in #17. The transfer brings out the late summer leaves in #18 and autumnal colors in #19.

Scream has provided its customary twelve chapter selections.

A Dark Song Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Dark Song's sound track options consist of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2746 kbps, 24-bit) and a downconverted DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1638 kbps, 24-bit). I listened to both tracks in their entirety and the 5.1 theatrical mix is definitely the preferred choice. The 2.0 relegates dialogue, music, and f/x to the three front speakers. There is some nice separation between individual sounds that are accented over others. The 5.1 track makes much wider use of the sound field. For example, the chugging and whoosh of the train produces some good echoes. Futher, the hard knocks on Sophia's door makes some reverberations along the front and in the rears. Composer Ray Harman's scoring for somber strings, percussion, and gong yields some deep bass and excellent depth. The musical textures remind me of James Newton Howard's work for Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). Dialogue in A Dark Song is generally crisp but you'll want to activate the optional English SDH for at least some scenes in the first fifty minutes to glean the Welsh accents.

Spanish subtitles are also available for convenient access through the menu or via remote.

A Dark Song Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Each EPK interview on the disc contains a black screen with generic questions before the filmmaker or actor replies. The queries pertain to how they became involved on A Dark Song, what they think the movie is about, the characters' relationships, and their favorite horror film. The talking heads are intercut with behind-the-scenes footage. All bonus materials are presented in English and are not subtitled.

• Interview with Director Liam Gavin (3:47, 1080p)

• Interview with Actor Steve Oram (6:32, 1080p)

• Interview with Actress Catherine Walker (9:06, 1080p)

• Interview with Director of Photography Cathal Watters (6:43, 1080p)

• Deleted Scenes (9:59, 1080p) - eight scenes omitted from the final cut (including the original ending) are presented in 2.40:1 with DTS-HD MA 2.0 sound. A scene title or description of the excised scene precedes each.

• Storyboards (14:01, 1080p) - scrolling storyboards for the movie that illustrate pre-shot sketches containing screen directions and annotations for the scenes.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:17, 1080p) - IFC Midnight's trailer for A Dark Song includes quotes from critics who likely saw it a festival. It's presented in 2.40:1 with DTS-HD MA 2.0 sound.

• Previews - trailers for House on Willow Street (1:59), The Devil's Candy (2:14), and The Axe Murders of Villisca (1:50).

A Dark Song Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Dark Song has a cultish feel about it that should appeal to a specialized audience. It's not enjoyable entertainment but darker material that is to be admired and appreciated from a distance. It took me two full viewings to discover what the film is really about and connect all the dots. You can watch it late at night but not when you're tired. Scream Factory delivers a nearly impeccable transfer and outstanding uncompressed audio on the 5.1 mix. There is a small helping of extras but a commentary track with Liam Gavin, Steve Oram, and Catherine Walker would have been most coveted on the disc. Still, a VERY SOLID RECOMMENDATION for A Dark Song.