6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
After fleeing a backwoods cult, a woman tries to turn her life around by taking a job in a home for special needs adults, only to discover that she must face her dark past to save a down syndrome girl.
Horror | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Actors with Down Syndrome have been appearing in some relatively high profile projects over the past several years, including such performers as Zack Gottsagen in The Peanut Butter Falcon and Jamie Brewer in American Horror Story: Coven. Sometimes these casting choices can at least give the perception of being slightly exploitative, but that frankly may simply be because developmentally disabled actors have obviously not been the norm in either television or film. That said, those with longer memories may recall such series as Life Goes On, which featured Chris Burke in a focal role, even if shows like that have always been the exception rather than the rule. One of the interesting aspects to the often fairly disturbing Dementer is that writer and director Chad Crawford Kinkle has an adult sister named Stephanie who has Down Syndrome, and Chad was long interested in trying to fashion a film featuring his sibling. That ultimately led him to a realization that he might be able to combine a kind of quasi-verite approach including scenes of Stephanie and some other people with Down Syndrome as they went about their daily lives at a Tennessee "skill center" with a more traditional horror narrative involving a woman named Katie (Katie Groshong, one of only a couple of professional actors in this piece). The result is viscerally unsettling, and my hunch is some folks will probably still feel there's just a slight whiff of exploitation suffusing some of the scenes with the disabled people, but Dementer is a rather riveting feature overall, and one that offers another exception to a cinematic rule: namely, that nascent auteurs often experience a so-called "Sophomore Slump". (Kinkle's first film Jug Face is included with this release, and there's a link to a review in the Supplements section, below.)
Dementer is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a tale of two presentational styles, a crisp, almost video-like, look that accompanies most (but kind of strangely, not all) of the "contemporary" moments in and around the skills center, and the flashback material, which is often tweaked and distressed, frequently with what I assume is an intentionally noisy and blurry look that can almost resemble 16mm or maybe even 8mm. You can see some examples of this less clear and well detailed appearance in a number of screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, including those in positions 6, 11, 12 and 14. This conceit is not adhered to strictly, however, and there are a few passing moments in some of the "happening now" sequences that looked at least a bit less sharp than the bulk of the presentation. Some of the flashback material is graded and/or lit pretty aggressively, which can detract from fine detail levels. A few passing moments exhibit very minor banding.
As mentioned above in the main body of the review, one of Dementer's inarguable assets is its sound design, and for that reason I'd strongly recommend choosing the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track over the admittedly fine but simply less immersive LPCM 2.0 track. As Kinkle gets into in some of the supplements, he toyed with already interesting "stems" of score provided by composer Sean Spillane, giving some of the cues a really spooky wafting ambience that is very memorably presented in the surround track. The glut of voices Katie regularly falls prey to also offer some cool surround activity. Dialogue is rendered cleanly for the most part, though some of the skills center participants can be a bit hard to understand. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Audio Commentary by Writer-Director Chad Crawford Kinkle
- Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew
- Audio Commentary by Writer-Director Chad Crawford Kinkle and Critic Chris Hallock
- VHS Movies (1992-1994) (HD; 6:01)
- The Playstation (1995) (HD; 8:53)
- Make-Up (1998) (HD; 17:49)
The fact that American Horror Story has utilized a performer with Down Syndrome in more than one season of its run may have helped to pave the way for Dementer, but I'd argue there may be a bit of a difference, for both good and ill, in terms of using "real life" people with Down Syndrome caught in their everyday lives at a skill center. That gives the depiction of these folks a commendably realistic ambience, but it also may suggest, at least subliminally, some questions as to whether that "story" should have been melded with an at times violent and graphic tale of cults. Still, this is an absolutely audacious attempt that should appeal to horror fans on the hunt for something unusual. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary package very well done. With caveats noted, Recommended.
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