7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Horror | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
1999’s “Duck! The Carbine High Massacre” is meant to be a provocative effort. Its entire existence is based around its potential to offend people, with director/stars William Hellfire and Joey Smack doing whatever they can to call attention to themselves. The feature looks to recreate the events of the Columbine High School Massacre, with the production proudly declaring in an opening card that it relished the chance to “do it first,” beating other companies to the punch. Hellfire and Smack certainly have speed (the endeavor was released six months after the real-world incident), but filmmaking polish is not on their list of accomplishments. Using video equipment, amateur actors, and limited locations, Hellfire and Smack end up with an impossibly dull picture that’s solely out to exploit a dire situation, and it can’t even do that convincingly. “Duck! The Carbine High Massacre” is like a terrible school play one is forced to sit through because their kid is in it, dealing with an assortment of moviemakers who are just trying to finish the project in a hurry, not perfect it.
"Duck! The Carbine High Massacre" is listed as a "new transfer of the director's cut from the original S-VHS master tapes." The AVC encoded image (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation isn't pretty, but that's the general idea here, with the no-budget production offering low-res visuals. Age is present, with some points of damage, but the overall look of the feature remains in line with tape-based technology, offering a softer viewing experience that doesn't include any fine detail. Colors are basic, offering washed out primaries on costuming and school decoration. Skintones are reasonably natural. Delineation struggles with deeper blacks on clothing.
The 2.0 LPCM mix also wrestles with the technical limitations of the production. Dialogue exchanges are frequently very quiet (some actors enjoy yelling their lines, which helps), with a few lines lost when soundtrack selections are introduced. Music isn't precise, but aggressive musicianship is understood, along with screamed vocals. Sound effects are basic.
Smack and Hellfire save their no-budget carnage for the final act, trying to reach their finale with some dreamlike additions and detours into broad comedy. They also save a few jabs for the media, depicted here as excitable types lustfully reporting on human misery. Of course, Hellfire and Smack are doing the same thing with this endeavor, but forethought isn't a priority here, with the movie simply existing as a way to exploit disaster, not to understand it in any meaningful way. "Duck! The Carbine High Massacre" is too crudely made to take seriously, as simple technical challenges tend to stymie the production, and it's not entirely clear if Smack and Hellfire are trying to replicate a national tragedy that took innocent lives or make a Farrelly Brothers comedy with commercial VHS equipment. Either way, the feature doesn't connect as Z-grade entertainment or an insightful study of hallway horrors. It's just schlock from two filmmakers hungry for attention, selling their slapdash work with all the grace of a "First!" post in a comments section.
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