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
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.
