Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Don't Knock Twice Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 25, 2017

The overcrowded paranormal ghost story film gets a breath of fresh air with the release of Don't Knock Twice, Welsh auteur Caradog James's third feature and followup to his sci-fi thriller, The Machine (2013). James takes a bunch of conventions in the genre and reworks them to fit a story that is simultaneously classical and contemporary. Although Don't Knock Twice is not the most novel horror thriller, it displays flashes of originality that makes it a fairly memorable, highly cinematic experience. The narrative immediately establishes a mother/daughter chasm and then uses a supernatural episode to bring them back together with the prospect of leading to a possible reconciliation. Jess (Katee Sackhoff) is a recovered drug addict who signed over her daughter, Chloe (Lucy Boynton), to social care nine years ago. Jess seems fully rehabilitated and is married to Ben (Richard Mylan), a banker. The couple lives in a posh mansion in Wales that is very spacious but undecorative on the inside. Jess works in a nearby chapel as a sculptress molding religious icons and uses mysterious Tira (Pooneh Hajimohammadi) and her baby as models. Jess has hopes that Chloe may want to come and live there so the two of them can get to know each other again. However, Chloe has become an independent, strong-willed young lady who pleads that she just isn't ready. (She also doesn't appear to care for the aloof Ben.) After leaving the house, Chloe and her friend, Danny (Jordan Bolger), take a walk that evening and discuss a disturbing case in which a condemned woman took her own life after being blamed for the murders of local kids, including the boy, Michael Flowers (Callum Griffiths).

Screenwriters Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler (who co-wrote Howl [2015]) have stated that they wanted to revive the nineteenth-century British game of knock-and-run and that is precisely what Danny does at the former residence of Mary Aminov (Ania Marson). According to legend, the first knock awakens the deceased from her bed and the second completely raises her spirit from the dead. After Danny knocks, an apparition appears in the bedroom windowpane. Chloe and Danny flee but when the two later attempt to reconnect on Skype, something otherworldly happens on Danny's apartment level and the poor fellow is blasted through his door. Chloe is vexed over what happened to her friend but she encounters her own strange disturbance. Scared and desperate, Chloe moves into Jess and Ben's large abode where things continue to go bump in the night. Jess also experiences visions or nightmares of this haunting specter that relates to the Aminov case. She calls in Detective Boardman (Nick Moran) to re-investigate the case but he claims it's closed. As it turns out, Boardman is more involved with both Aminov and the kids than Jess and Chloe initially suspect.

Chloe confronts her mother.

As film historian Kim Newman and other critics have noted, Don't Knock Twice conjures the figure of Baba Yaga, an old witch that emanates from Eastern European folklore. Chloe has a theory that a resuscitated Mary Aminov is a reincarnate of the Baba Yaga legend and prints out sketches from the Internet to show her mother. Actors Pascale Wilson and Javier Botet do a fine job of inhabiting "Ginger" and "Ginger Special," the names of ghouls that originate from the knock-and-run prank that Danny (and Chloe) set off. The ghost scenes work well in the film but are undercut by some hesitancy on James's part. A series of scenes in Don't Knock Twice build up suspense but James sometimes takes a quick detour to wrap them up. He maybe wasn't completely confident in the script, which could explain why the narrative becomes fractured in places. In spite of this disjointedness, the movie gets an acoustical boost from James Edward Barker and Steve Moore's creepy score. Although the musical effect of hearing knives clang together is a staple of the genre, the composers also produce some high-pitched synth drones that would make Vangelis proud. Moore previously scored Cub and his work on Don't Knock Twice makes a fine companion.

Don't Knock Twice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Already available on Blu-ray in Germany and Australia (and soon to be released in France), Don't Knock Twice comes to US BD courtesy of Shout! Factory's imprint, Scream Factory. The movie appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of about 2.40:1 on this DVD/BD-25 combo. The main feature receives an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer with a mean bitrate of 24996 kbps and a total bitrate 30.83 Mbps for the whole disc. The movie is quite dark and when James uses light in the interiors, he usually opts for a cold, icy tone that befits the picture's gothic palette. (See Screenshot #s 1, 2, 9, 14, and 15.) Black levels are crisp with no traces of crush. While the image looks stunning, I did notice a tiny bit of aliasing on the windowpanes of Jess's mansion as well as some edge enhancement in other shots. These minor blemishes don't diminish a near-perfect presentation.

Twelve chapter stops are encoded for the main feature.

Don't Knock Twice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2317 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master 2.0 Audio Stereo (1631 kbps, 24-bit). The 5.1 mix is the one to listen to as it encapsulates a lively, theater-like soundscape that makes one feel like s/he is with the characters. Dialogue has crystal clarity and enunciation is easy to pick out. The aforementioned score gives the satellite speakers quite a workout. Special mention should also be made of sound effects editor Jon Salmon-Joyce and the film's sound mixers whose outstanding work is on display. The 5.1 mix could have sounded even richer and more dynamic had Shout! maxed out the bitrate and dropped the superfluous stereo downsample.

Shout! has made available English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Don't Knock Twice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind Closed Doors: Inside Don't Knock Twice (13:30, 1080p) - a pretty standard making-of featurette that includes interviews with actors Katee Sackhoff, Nick Moran, producer John Giwa-Amu, director Caradog James, screenwriters Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler, producer Claire Moorsom, actress Lucy Boynton, actors Jordan Bolger, Javier Botet, and VFX supervisor Christian Lett. It's good that Shout! incorporated comments from several cast/crew but it would have been better had they presented the full unabridged interviews with each along with a "Play All" option. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:44, 1080p) - an original trailer for Don't Knock Twice. Presented in 2.40:1 with DTS-HD MA 2.0 sound. In English, not subtitled.

• Previews - three bonus trailers of IFC Midnight titles. Évolution (2015), The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Beyond the Gates load before the main menu. The previews can be skipped.

Don't Knock Twice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Don't Knock Twice features very nice performances from its cast and some exemplary work from the sound design and music teams. If you enjoyed The Babadook (2014), Candyman (1992), and/or The Orphanage (2007), this supernatural horror thriller should be right up your alley. Shout! Factory delivers a nearly flawless transfer and a pulsating sound track. Extras are skimpy but the Blu-ray comes RECOMMENDED.