5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A demon is summoned to take the soul of a young boy, who has the potential to become a saint. If the demon succeeds, it will open a doorway to Hell, blazing a terrifying trail of destruction, possession and mayhem and destroy humanity. Now the fate of the world hinges on the final outcome of a renegade priest's battle with the soul eating SHADOWBUILDER.
Starring: Michael Rooker, Kevin Zegers, Leslie Hope (I), Shawn Thompson (I), Andrew Jackson (II)Horror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It’s maybe just a little surprising to hear some of the creative staff involved with Bram Stoker’s Shadow Builder talk about how easy it was to get this project approved simply because it had a “Bram Stoker’s” in front of it, a la the even then not all that recent Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Francis Ford Coppola version of the venerable vampire tale had met with somewhat disparate critical reaction upon its release in 1992, but it had gone on to fairly sizable box office (over $200 million by some estimates), and perhaps that data point rather than any perceived shortcomings as outlined by curmudgeonly reviewer types may have tipped the scale for the 1998 film based on what is arguably one of Stoker’s less celebrated properties. Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder traffics in a lot of the same material that has informed any number of "occult" themed films over the years, with a demon unleashed on an at least partially unsuspecting public, all with a surplus of religious imagery supposedly giving the film some kind of imprimatur of "authenticity". (The film's title is spelled variously as either two words or one portmanteau, and also quite often without Stoker's name attached, at least as far as I've been able to discern in doing some background research on the film in preparation for this review. It's perhaps salient to note that Stoker's own source short story is entitled The Shadow Builder.) With a "villain" that is largely consigned to being a puff of black smoke, Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder arguably feels more like a second rate Stephen King property, and that aspect is perhaps only reinforced by a kind of rural small town setting where the "everyday" folks are ignorant enough of the epochal dangers surrounding them to become unwitting victims.
Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the MVD Rewind Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. MVD hasn't provided a ton of technical information on the release, stating only that this is a "High Definition. . .presentation of the main feature". One of the kind of peculiar things I noticed is what almost looks like stair stepping a couple of times, starting with some of the production mastheads and opening credits, but also occasionally afflicting supposedly straight lines in the actual presentation. (There's some noticeable wobble in some of the credits as well.) The element utilized for the transfer looks a bit faded to my eyes, with the palette regularly skewed toward brown. The dowdiness of the colors is probably only exacerbated by the fact that a lot of the film takes place in near darkness, as befits its title. In brighter lighting, things warm up considerably, and there is decent to very good fine detail on display in these moments. The grain field is fairly heavy quite a bit of the time (again, probably exacerbated by how dark so much of the film is), and occasionally can look a little coarse and unnatural (see screenshot 19 for one example). There is some occasional age related wear and tear on display, some of which (like white flecks) is probably more noticeable due to the overall darkness of the film, but there's nothing that I personally found overly distracting. My hunch is fans of the film will probably be pleased and maybe even excited by this release, since it does offer a generally organic appearance that has obvously not been digitally tweaked to within an inch of its life, but I still recommend a perusal of the screenshots accompanying this review.
Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 track that capably supports the film's dialogue, effects and moody score by Eckart Seeber. The effects accompanying the early "appearances" of the Shadow Builder are vivid if a little hokey sounding, and a couple of more explosive moments may arguably sound just a little anemic, but on the whole this track offers a nicely full midrange and there are no issues with age related problems like distortion or dropouts.
Perhaps ironically, Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder may ultimately be less controversial than Coppola's Dracula simply because the Stoker source is less well known. The film has some really interesting elements, but it tends to waste some of them in needless detours and a structure that may not really work up much momentum. Fans of the film are encouraged to carefully parse the screenshots accompanying this review to see what they think of the video presentation. Audio is fine, and the supplementary package is quite enjoyable, for those considering a purchase.
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