6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Johnny Petrie learns on his 18th birthday that he was adopted after inheriting a farm in Maine. Eager to start a new life, Johnny leaves home so he can began afresh in this "new" dwelling. However, Johnny soon discovers that the farm, which has been abandoned for eighteen years since his natural family died, harbors a horrifying history about the deaths of said natural family.
Starring: Jesse James (I), Magda Apanowicz, Bill Moseley, Geraldine Hughes, Noah FleissHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
See if any of this sounds familiar: an innocent baby is the sole survivor of a horrific family massacre. The tot is adopted by someone who keeps the child’s history a secret from him, for their own selfish reasons. Nevertheless, upon reaching the age of 18, the kid, who believes that his adoptive parent is his real parent, gets a phone call out of the blue alerting him that he’s inherited a large estate, something that confuses the heck out of the teen. Against his parent’s wishes, he decides to go check out his windfall, meeting an antsy attorney who seems really motivated to get the estate dealt with as quickly as possible. The kid, against advice to the contrary, decides to stay at what is revealed to be his family manse, and all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile the young man has to contend with all sorts of nefarious townsfolk who consider him the unwanted survivor of a long ago horror that has colored their entire community in unexpected ways. If you were to simply substitute a female for a male in the main character category, as well as make the parental units two rather than solo, you’d have a more or less accurate recounting of the largely lamentable Texas Chainsaw 3D (as well as a number of other, somewhat related, horror enterprises). Dead Souls doesn’t even have the gimmick of 3D going for it (for whatever that’s worth), and while it has some decently spooky moments in the early going, it devolves into such ludicrousness by its third act that many will probably assume it’s meant to be a horror parody rather than the genuine article. The film is the product of two Connecticut buddies who are just starting their careers in feature film (they’ve done a bunch of shorts together, and evidently have a couple of previous features dating back to 2008), and while there are certain elements that work okay, if not fantastically, in this enterprise, it has a slapdash, film school quality about it that keeps the proceedings at a decidedly less than optimal level. The funniest thing here is that the screenplay was based on a novel by one Michael Laimo, whose surname according to the commentary track on this Blu-ray is pronounced lame-o. ‘Nuff said?
Dead Souls is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory's imprint Scream Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This digitally shot feature exhibits both the pluses and minuses typical of this format. The image is often crystal clear, though kind of flat and textureless, with decently robust color (many scenes have been intentionally desaturated). The exterior shots have nice depth of field and director Colin Theys and DP Adrian Correia do some nice focus pulling that increases that aspect in several establishing shots. The biggest issue I personally had with this high definition presentation was a significant lack of shadow detail. Lots of this film plays out in darkened or dimly lit scenes, as is so typical of horror films, but in this case it's sometimes next to impossible to make out exactly what's happening. That may have been an intentional choice to up the viewer's anxiety level, but it can also be a frustrating experience after a while.
Dead Souls perhaps unexpectedly has both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track as well as DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo offering. The 5.1 track is wonderfully immersive most of the time, with lots of discrete channelization of foley effects. The ubiquitous crow caws are placed around the soundfield to often spooky effect, and once we get into the main farmhouse sequences, LFE abounds and there are a lot of "startle" moments that dot the soundscape. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and fidelity is excellent. Dynamic range is quite wide.
Dead Souls is an obviously derivative piece that actually starts out fairly well but soon careens downhill to pretty ridiculous depths. Director Theys has a good eye, and many of the scenes here are framed very well, with appropriately spooky undertones, but the screenplay is so clunky after a while that it actually may provoke giggles rather than scares. Horror fans will be able to predict just about every turn this film takes long before the film itself gets there. Maybe Dead End would have been a better title. Nevertheless, this Blu-ray offers really good video and audio quality, for those who are considering adding this to their collections.
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Quella villa accanto al cimitero
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Unrated Director's Cut
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