6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
Starring: Ron Lea, Graham Greene, Michael Hogan (II), Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman, Tia SmithDrama | 100% |
Western | 5% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.44:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.
All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind of
what?". But the release also comes with a front cover sobriquet
proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that
regard, this set
begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days
Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding
light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice named
Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define
the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I
know it when I see it. . ."
Clearcut is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.44:1. Severin's insert booklet states this was "restored in 4K from a 35mm answer print". While a negative source would have no doubt been preferred, the results here are actually quite appealing, though contrast is a bit murky and darker scenes in particular have some inconsistent black levels. While arguably a bit too dark overall, the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review show some undeniable strengths in terms of palette reproduction, and in close-ups at least, detail levels are quite inviting. A lot of the cinematography in this film is breathtaking in that often mist encapsulated way that those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are used to experiencing, and there's a cool teal grading to some of the forest material that I found evocative.
Clearcut is somewhat of an outlier in the All the Haunts Be Ours collection in that both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 option are offered. Truth be told, while the surround track has noticeably more energy in the low end, it's really not as immersive as I expected it to be, and as often tends to be the case with stereo versions, there are certain elements, noticeably most of the dialogue and many of the ambient environmental effects, that sounded better prioritized in the 2.0 track. One way or the other, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
- The Ballad of Crowfoot (HD; 10:30)
- Audio Commentary for The Ballad of Crowfoot with Kevin Howes and Lawrence Dunn
- You Are on Indian Land (HD; 37:02)
- Consume (HD; 20:07)
Clearcut probably won't sit well with those who see the planet's resources as there (and theirs) for the taking, and the film is admittedly not all that subtle, despite ostensibly offering a bit of ambiguity about what exactly is going on. This is in some ways the most "contemporary" feeling film in the All the Haunts Be Ours set, and if for nothing else, it stands as a testament to the ongoing fascination with the naturalistic elements which are often seen to be a part of folk horror. Technical merits are generally solid, and this disc has some outstanding supplemental material. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Kladivo na čarodějnice / Witches' Hammer / The Witch Hunt
1969
1970
Il demonio
1963
2021
Лептирица | The She-Butterfly | Limited Edition
1973
1974
1993
1988
1988
1970
She-wolf
1983
1983
De dødes tjern
1958
1989
1981
1987
Temnye vody
1993
Вий / Spirit of Evil
1967
2013
1963