Extremity Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Extremity Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 14, 2018

“Extremity” uses the culture of extreme haunts to inform its screenplay. These establishments aren’t regular haunted houses, but something much more personal, requiring those interested in pushing their fear factor to the limit to sign away their lives to achieve it in the hands of strangers. It’s a subject that’s ripe for a cinematic rendering, but “Extremity” doesn’t go very far in terms of understanding what drives the daily business of such a back alley enterprise, preferring to take on therapy, not terror, when it comes to the ins and outs of an extreme haunt.

Allison (Dana Christina) is a troubled young woman who’s finally ready to confront her numerous demons by visiting Perdition, a secretive extreme haunt run by Bob (Chad Rook) and his minions. Ready for action in a decrepit building, Allison and fellow thrill-seeker Zachary (Dylan Sloane) are quickly overwhelmed by Bob’s masked thugs, soon subjected to numerous torture situations, with the hired goons attempting to break customer spirit and release the bottled aguish inside. Trouble is, Allison is layered with guilt and grief, and she doesn’t shatter easily, forcing Bob to rethink his strategy, moving on to more aggressive scares and bodily harm to reach into Allison, who’s at the haunt despite protests from her therapist, Dr. Nichols (Chantal Perron).

Perdition is largely housed inside an abandoned building, offering the brave a chance to test themselves with a haunted house experience that reaches out and grabs the customer, quite literally. However, “Extremity” isn’t supplying a look at an average evening for the business, submitting Allison for the slaughter, and she’s fully stocked with mental illness brought on by abuse from her father and troubles with her girlfriend, leaving her cold to the world. Her belief is that Perdition and its extreme ways might cure her difficulties with life, a self-diagnosis Dr. Nichols wisely disagrees with. But she refuses to stop, submitting herself to a lengthy interview process for Perdition, which is staffed by those who love to torment, including veteran Phil (J. LaRose). Admittedly, there’s initial surprise with the screenplay’s unusual direction, which breaks up Allison’s evening with flashbacks to times with her menacing father and frustrated girlfriend, creating a puzzle of dysfunction and fear that’s meant to form the primary vein of suspense in “Extremity.”

Generating a profile for Allison is commendable, but it doesn’t translate to scares, keeping “Extremity” more of a drama than a genre offering, which might irritate some viewers lured into a sit by the cover art’s rendering of a gruesome skull. Instead of terror, director Anthony DiBlasi tries to navigate the sickness within Allison, focusing on her frigidity, which is put to the test in a peep booth setting, with Perdition staff demanding masturbation in exchange for Zachary’s safe passage through the challenge. Other torture time is scheduled, detailing Allison’s experience with waterboarding and placement inside a coffin, stroking her intense claustrophobia, and there’s a chase through the compound, where Allison and Zachary are pursed by a furious dog.

The other side of “Perdition” concerns the staff of the extreme haunt, with the muscle unhappy with limitations, finding some pushing for more dangerous stunts. Bob has his own issues at home, struggling with a broken marriage and unpaid bills. Again, scares are minimal during the movie, as DiBlasi is more interested in the daily drudgery of those enduring the haunt and those putting it on, with editing largely more of a suggestion than a reality. The production to striving to keep things grounded, preferring personality over power, and that doesn’t result in a terribly exciting picture.

Extremity Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Extremity" deals with an extreme haunt, and these establishments love to play with lighting and color, giving DeBlasi plenty of inspiration for the look of the film. The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation is saturated with hues at times, entering deep red rooms and illuminating screen information with aggressive black light. The viewing experience is reasonably protected from disruption, also keeping skintones natural to balance out the heightened reality of the haunt. Detail is satisfactory, best when picking up on porous close-ups and set visits, giving grimy backgrounds evocative texture. Costuming also maintains fibrous qualities. Delineation holds steady. Some mild banding is detected.

Extremity Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix tries to support "Extremity" with a detail-oriented track, keeping circular with atmospherics to highlight changes in location and coldness of rooms. Dialogue exchanges preserve their panic and therapeutic reflection, remaining free of distortion. More animated horror adventures carry louder acts of survival and suffering. Scoring delivers a thick synth flood, keeping weight and placement to best backdrop the unfolding nightmare. Sound effects are pronounced to maintain genre standards.

Extremity Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Extreme Talk" (28:27, HD) is an extended conversation between director Anthony DiBlasi and "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" helmer, Jon Schnitzer. The men have a friendly relationship, carrying on a loose discussion of "Extremity," examining production origins and DiBlasi's research into the subject of extreme haunts, coming across plenty of weirdness to help detail his movie. The pair cover casting, with the lead actress, Dana Christina, handed the role the day before shooting began, and DiBlasi shares his experiences testing out a few of the torture methods, including waterboarding. The duo shares a special twins-speak when it comes to haunted house references, leaving newcomers in the dark, but enthusiasm is there, with DiBlasi detailing his intent for a specific audience, trying to honor the extreme haunt hobby.

• Behind the Scenes (7:26, HD) is not as in-depth as anticipated, only spending a short amount of time on set with the special effects team as they help shoot a key face-peeling gag. The rest of the run time is devoted to raw footage, showcasing blown takes and actor prep.

• "A Tribute to Simon Sayce" (4:50, HD) is a brief highlight reel of mask creation from the late designer, who shows off his work on "Extremity," walking viewers through a demo of a skull mask, also displaying a few of his creations for the film.

• Deleted Scenes (4:55, HD) explore more horror with a forced feeding for Allison, interview time with Phil and the Japanese reporters, a special meeting between villains, and a phone call from Dr. Nichols to Bob, trying to prevent Allison from gaining access to Perdition.

• "Extreme Haunts" (2:00, HD) collects footage of dangerous scare zones DiBlasi shot for "Extremity."

• "Fatal Bleeding" provides two clips (:42, 1:41) from the Jack Rabe short film, which is featured in "Extremity."

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:55, HD) is included.

Extremity Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard to penalize "Extremity" when it's trying to be something strange in a genre filled with the familiar. However, there's not enough invention or polish to give the endeavor its intended edge. It's professionally photographed and scored, and some gory scenes provide necessary shock value, but the material often heads in the wrong direction, focusing on tedious asides when there should be more about Perdition and its working parts. It's a psychological study masquerading as a horror film, and that balance proves to be too much for DiBlasi to handle with care.