Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2015

Triskaidekaphobia is one of those five dollar words that means “fear of 13,” something that may come into play the day after this review goes live, Friday the 13th. A different kind of triskaidekaphobia might crop up for watchers of Dark Haul, though probably not in the way the filmmakers intended. This overheated but relentlessly formulaic made for television horror entry begins with an elaborate if hokey setup that takes place a few centuries ago, when a baker’s dozen of births ends with a horrifying “debut” by a monster and its kind of half-monster twin sister. Because there wouldn’t be a film without this tactic, no one thinks to just put these horrifying monsters (and/or half-monsters) out of their misery, and instead a huge multigenerational conspiracy is hatched to keep the pair imprisoned, supposedly forestalling if not outright preventing some kind of undefined Apocalypse.

In current day time, a coterie of “keepers” has come to blows over how to deal with this ungodly duo, but ultimately one camp decides that the monster at least has to go. This side of the plot plays out with an almost funny recurrence of the sister managing to break free, only to be wrangled and brought back into the fold. There are a few scattered scares in Dark Haul, though most of them are the predictably cheap kind that come courtesy of jump cuts. Tom Sizemore is the “name” in the cast, on hand as one of the would be monster killers. He’s suitably hyperbolic, but it’s hard to inject much energy into an enterprise this silly and derivative.

Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dark Haul is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Online data on this film is pretty hard to come by, but this appears to be digitally shot, an assumption which is perhaps supported by the sprinkling of noise that crops up in some of the darker sequences. There has been some requisite color grading, mostly to the yellow side of the spectrum, though detail is generally quite commendable. The image boasts above average clarity and sharpness, but has an overall flat ambience that doesn't provide much in the way of depth.

Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dark Haul features lossless DTS-HD Master Audio tracks in both 2.0 and 5.1. The 5.1 mix offers a much more rambunctious mix, especially in terms of the omnipresent low end, something that is exploited both through sound effects and score cues. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and there are no issues of any kind to report.

Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:45)

Dark Haul Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dark Haul is an unremarkable and unambitious midlevel made for tv movie that manages to deliver a thrill or two, but no real lasting impact. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.