Captives Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.5

Captives Blu-ray Movie Review

Captives is the follow-up feature film by filmmaker Gary P. Cohen after his debut Video Violence became a video- store success upon release in 1987. Expanding on his filmmaking horizon, Cohen brings viewers more low-fi home-made filmmaking with an independent production. The film was first given a small release as a local regional oddity on video store shelves because of distribution by Majestic Home Video but the version that surfaced was released under an alternate title as “Mama’s Home” and was not the director’s cut.

Forgotten and thought lost in time by regional horror fans, it was a long time before the director’s cut version resurfaced. Now available by Terror Vision, Captives is presented in the director’s cut version. Produced by Ray Clark, Captives is a lost film of the video store era.

Nikki Pellaggio (Jackie Neill) was sentenced to prison for a crime that she never committed. After serving serious time in prison, Nikki is released and decides to set forth for revenge with her brothers Paulie (Neil Cerbone) and Chick (Art Neill) by her side. The goal is to seek revenge against her ex, former husband Barry Epstein (Gary P. Cohen). Nikki exposes Barry’s family to the horrors of the crimes Barry committed.  Now Ellen Epstein (Lisa Cohen), Estelle Epstein (Linda Herman), and the rest of the family see the horror-show.

The performances have a low-fi charm to them even though the acting isn’t of the highest caliber. The performances aren’t as refined or notable as one would find with professional actors (who have more skill, experience, and methods). The performances are all from actors who feel unfamiliar with acting and filmmaking (the regional and low-budget nature of the performances is obvious from the film’s opening). Even so, there is a certain charm from some of the performances – it’s obvious these performances are from actors enjoying their roles (even hamming it up).

The special make up effects work by Mark Dolson and Mark Kwaitek is decent for a low-fi independent film. The horror element often seems to take a backseat to a thriller-vibe with the hostages and the make-up effects only occasionally comes into play. Still, the effort is decent enough for a indie film production.

The score by Gordon Ovsiew (Video Violence, Video Violence 2) isn’t particularly great but it works as solid background music for such a low-budget regional film. One gets the sense that everything was home-made, including the score. A decent effort given the low-budget constraints.

Written and Directed by Gary P. Cohen (Video Violence), Captives isn’t a long-lost classic by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a low-fi regional horror film and it has a lot of thriller elements at play that are reasonably interesting. The video-store vibe of the film is one reason to check out the film. Captives is certainly bizarre at times and strangely watchable but it isn’t something you’ll regret missing out on either.

Captives Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Terror Vision, Captives is presented in 1080i with an upscale presentation. The film is presented in the original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. The film is upconverted from standard-definition. Presented with a new transfer taken from the original BETA-SP master tapes, the shot on video regional oddity has been given new life by Terror Vision. Even though it's back from the dead, Captives still looks like it might be mummified or certainly in a zombie-state – alive and kicking but barely. The picture-quality is sub-par to say the least. The video transfer looks fuzzy and soft. The presentation lacks the kind of clarity and detail one expects to find with the Blu-ray disc format.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much Terror Vision could do to entirely rectify this aspect – the presentation comes from the original masters and the film was shot on video so it won't ever be something that looks as crisp, detailed, or engaging as modern high-definition horror filmmaking. Underwhelming but faithful to the low-fi filmmaking roots. One could even mistake it for a video, something just dusted off the shelf from a different era of the video-store. It's not a far cry away from a VHS tape, folks.

Captives Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio is presented in English uncompressed PCM 2.0 16 bit. The lossless audio quality is "lossless" so far as it is encoded as such but it sounds rather average and lackluster on the whole. Detail isn't impressive and the track sounds pretty much as one would expect for something taken from the standard-definition video master tapes used to create the presentation. Low-fi, low-key. Not a groundbreaking lossless encode by any stretch of the imagination but to be sure one isn't really missing out on anything, either – the film sounds as it should given the low-fi regional nature of the independent production. One certainly gets the sense of the film coming from the video-store era and the audio track quality reflects that feeling throughout the feature-film presentation.

Captives Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with a beautifully designed o-card slipcover – arguably the nicest part of the package. The slipcover looks great and the artwork makes a solid impression. The artwork underneath the slip is impressive, too. As a package design, it looks excellent – showcasing the great care to packaging that Terror Vision provides with each of their releases. (Terror Vision certainly helps to recreate a great feeling of video-store era nostalgia with their package designs.)

One of the great things about the Blu-ray releases from Terror Vision is that these editions look and feel great when held in hand. One can't help but appreciate the quality of the package presentation and the care given to the designs. This makes Terror Vision stand out as one of the more intriguing boutique labels from an aesthetic perspective – the care and nostalgia for video-store days is hard to deny.

On disc supplements include: 

Audio Commentary

Alternate Cut: Mama's Home (SD, 1:24:03) provides the alternate version with a different title - though it's not the director's preferred cut of the film it is interesting to see this type of supplement provided on the release for archival purposes. This version of the film was first released on home video by means of Majestic Home Video. 

Theatre of Pain: An Interview w/ Gary P. Cohen (HD, 16:33)

In Gary We Trust: An Interview w/ Neil Cerbone (HD, 14:25)

Violence For Video: An Interview w/ Dolson and Kwaitek (HD, 7:47)

2023 Trailer (SD, 00:27)

Captives Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Captives isn't a long-lost classic waiting to be discovered. It's a low-fi, low-budget, little-seen regional horror oddity with thriller elements. The film isn't that interesting in some respects but it also has a passionately over-the-top cast and some low-fi charm that is surprising. You might enjoy the goofy nature of it but you also wouldn't feel as though you missed out on much if you skipped it, either. Terror Vision gives the feature-film a faithful presentation (shot-on-video – so keep expectations in check) and a quality slipcover, package design, and selection of exclusive extras. Fans of the film will certainly want to consider picking it up for their collection.