Child of God Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Child of God Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 27, 2014

Alfred Hitchcock’s immortal Psycho depicted madness masquerading as an almost banal normalcy. James Franco’s City of God presents something of an inverse of that proposition, detailing as it does the precipitous descent into madness of a character allegedly based on Ed Gein, the same monster who inspired Robert Bloch's Norman Bates. In Child of God Lester Ballard (Scott Haze) is a man who seemingly devolves into an almost atavistic state and indulges in all manner of horrifying activities, including (but certainly not limited to) necrophilia. Despite these “peculiarities,” Ballard is, in the famous phrase culled from the source novel by Cormac McCarthy, still “a child of God much like yourself, perhaps.” McCarthy’s thesis may strike some as outlandish, especially given the explicit nature of Franco’s filmic adaptation.

James Franco has been disparaged as self indulgent and lionized as being a true Renaissance Man. Child of God will probably provide fodder for both camps. There’s no denying the overly precious qualities of this film despite its brutal subject matter, but that very brutal tone is itself perhaps testament to Franco’s artistic courage. There’s no denying that however disturbing Child of God is (and it is very disturbing), it’s anchored by an absolutely unforgettable performance by Scott Haze. Lester may be the walking definition of a train wreck, but as brought to life by Haze, he's similarly impossible not to stare at.

Child of God Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Chlld of God is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a curiously flat and sometimes soft looking transfer, one that is done no favors by Franco's self-conscious directing style, which often places foreground objects completely out focus, with other elements supposedly calling our attention in the background. The palette here is intentionally muted to the point that one might wonder why Franco chose to even film in color. Many of the darker sequences have little to no shadow detail, and in fact it's quite hard to make out what's happening in several of the darkest moments. Even brighter lit sequences don't look especially sharp (focus pulling seems to be an ongoing challenge). There is some good depth of field in some of the exterior scenes, and the appearance here certainly adds to the bleak, hopeless quality that suffuses the film. There are no issues with artifacts.

Child of God Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While fidelity is excellent on Child of God's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, surround activity is negligible. The film benefits from good use of ambient environmental effects, but there's very little here that offers much in the way of sonic "wow". On the plus side, there are no issues with things like damage or dropouts to worry about.

Child of God Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:49)

Child of God Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even Franco's fan base may have a hard time slogging through this extremely disturbing depiction of a man descending into a kind of feral viciousness. Haze is amazing in the lead role, but the film is overly stylized and my hunch is most folks will finish it feeling slightly dirty, if indeed they finish it at all.