5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Two escaped brothers track down the people who sentenced them to death row, including a doctor and the judge. But when they get to the D.A. and his family they have an especially lengthy revenge plot in mind for them.
Starring: Kyle Richards, Wendell Wellman, John PutchHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Gary Winick (who passed away in 2011) was never a consistent filmmaker, but he found his way into the Hollywood machine, delivering entertainment offerings such as “Charlotte’s Web,” “Letters to Juliet,” “Bride Wars,” and his best endeavor, “13 Going on 30.” He was a vanilla helmer working with simplistic screenplays, but it wasn’t always that way for Winick. He started his career in exploitation, following the career path of many by focusing on the sellable power of horror. 1989’s “Curfew” is Winick’s directorial debut, and he takes on the basics in awful business with this “Funny Games” and “Cape Fear”-style exercise in revenge and torture, pitting a family held hostage against captors who have a little more on their mind than standard criminal activity. “Curfew” is crudely constructed and performed, but that seems to be what Winick is going for, sustaining the aesthetic of drive-in cinema to the late 1980s, though he’s not seasoned enough to deliver enough shocks and suspense, making the viewing experience more wearisome than worrisome.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Curfew" is sourced from a 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive. There's some level of softness to the viewing experience, but the grungy details of the production still emerge, highlighting wounds, tattered clothing, and facial wear and tear as torturous acts arrive. Household decoration is appreciable, even with limited lighting, and exteriors retain depth. Colors are satisfactory, highlighting period costuming (including Stephanie's light blue acid washed miniskirt and pink top), and diner lighting brings out livelier hues. Home invasion sequences register colder, broken up by displays of red blood. Delineation is acceptable, losing nothing to solidification. Grain is heavy but film- like. Source is in decent condition, with some light scratches and visible reel changes.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides an acceptable understanding of dialogue exchange, working with the feature's limited budget and technical expertise. Emotional offerings aren't shrill. Scoring selections support as necessary, balancing a synth sound with violent activity. Sound effects register as intended.
Winick has moments of aggression and intimidation to develop, but there's not a lot of suspense to "Curfew." The screenplay is often caught in speech mode with Ray, and the supporting players are a collection of unlikable knuckleheads, almost justifying the villains and their plans for punishment (the football boys are real no-means-yes fiends). Winick doesn't provide snappy thriller moments, trapped in the inherent ugliness of the material, which is primarily focused on people suffering for 90 minutes. The helmer doesn't have the budget for style, keeping the endeavor rudimentary with average performances that can't break away from the banality of the writing. "Curfew" plays like material created in the 1970s that has to deal with genre demands of the 1980s, and Winick just doesn't have the experience to make something special out of a whole mess of ickiness.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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