8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Matt and Shelby, a couple from Los Angeles, leave the city and move into a mysterious house in North Carolina, where strange things begin to occur.
Starring: Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Denis O'Hare, Jessica Lange, Frances ConroyHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 26% |
Psychological thriller | 20% |
Erotic | 18% |
Period | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: DTS 5.1
BDInfo verified. German track is also (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, German, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
It may be a toss up for some viewers as to which is the more unexpected development in this sixth season of the anthology series American
Horror Story, the use of “dramatic reenactment” text cards or the appearance of noted historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. American Horror
Story has literally been all over the place in its previous seasons, but this season, subtitled Roanoke, shares certain elements with
previous seasons, including the expected return of what has amounted to a large repertory cast which assumes different roles as the settings
change. The most salient similarity to other years of American Horror Story is the fact that this year deals once again with a haunted
property, much in the same vein as American Horror Story: The Complete First Season (which retroactively was given the sobriquet Murder House,
an appellation which may be even more applicable to Roanoke’s setting). One of the odder elements in this season, and one which isn’t
really given any context within the confines of the actual presentation, is that Roanoke exploits a “reality television” approach, supposedly
offering snippets of a show called My Roanoke Nightmare, which offers those aforementioned “dramatic reenactments” of a series of
supernatural events afflicting an interracial couple who move to North Carolina after having had an unfortunate incident affect them in Los
Angeles.
That gives this season a whole “meta” angle which is only upped as the season progresses, with the “real life” characters offering interstitial
interviews as the reality television show documents the scary happenings, which then gives way to a whole new layer of occurrences involving the
actors portraying the real life characters. Got that? It’s a little clunky at times, and I’m frankly not sure if the first person confessionals do much
more than interrupt the story flow, and as such American Horror Story: Roanoke may not have quite the visceral intensity of some
previous seasons of the series.
Since this is an anthology series, there’s obviously not a throughline linking various seasons, but for those who want to see where this often
interesting show has been in its previous years, our reviews of the prior seasons can be accessed by clicking on the following links:
American Horror Story:
The
Complete First Season Blu-ray review
American Horror Story: Asylum Blu-ray
review
American Horror Story: Coven Blu-ray
review
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Blu-
ray review
American Horror Story: Hotel Blu-ray
review
American Horror Story: Roanoke is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As with virtually all the previous seasons of this often quite visually arresting series, this season utilizes a number of different techniques to tweak the image, but generally speaking, while there's a certain heterogeneity in appearance that is almost this series' hallmark by this point, this is another sharp and well defined offering despite the various imagistic bells and whistles. There's a certain drabness to a lot of the interstitial interview sequences, moments where the only pops of color tend to be in the clothing the participants are wearing, but the reenactments in the first half of the season offer some rather evocative imagery, including a lot of ghostly shots of the old farm that the Millers buy. Fine detail in these "reenactments" tends to be quite good, at least when lighting regimens allow, but as the ghosts of the past become more prevalent, there's a tendency toward yellow grading that slightly diminishes fine detail levels, especially since lighting in many of these scenes is minimal at best. The second half of the series, which is when the whole "meta" aspect takes on an almost gonzo level of interconnectedness, has a somewhat more naturalistic palette, something that perhaps only ups the ante in some of the carnage that occurs.
American Horror Story: Roanoke features another extremely effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. As has been the series' audio hallmark, well placed discrete channelization allows for some extremely spooky moments in the farmhouse, when things like the "pitter patter" of little (?) feet pan creepily through the soundstage even when nothing can be clearly seen. In an early sequence when Matt confronts some sort of (again unseen) assailant outside, there's some fantastic panning action as huge objects come hurtling out of the darkness toward him. Some of the larger scenes involving apparitions from the past also include excellent surround activity courtesy of the large number of people in the frame. As should be expected, some of the interstitial interview segments are fairly static sounding, anchored front and center, as frankly a lot of the dialogue even in the "dramatic reenactments" tends to be.
I almost think American Horror Story: Roanoke would have been more effective had it started at about the halfway point and then backtracked to pick up some of the data points that are doled out in the first half of the season. The whole reality television artifice that informs this season is more artfully handled once the show actually gets away from My Roanoke Nightmare. In fact, a certain amount of patience is needed, since the whole opening gambit is merely getting things in place for what amounts to the real story, once the Millers' tale has supposedly already been told. As is typical of this series, production elements are first rate, and the large cast is as uniformly excellent as they have tended to be in years past. This particular season wasn't quite as involving for me as some of the previous ones were, but technical merits continue to be strong, and with caveats noted, American Horror Story: Roanoke comes Recommended.
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