5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A group of university students are invited by their parapsychology professor to investigate a haunted house for the weekend.
Starring: Mike Coleman, Terry Comer, Carol Carlberg-Snyder, Paul Steger, Gilio GherardiniHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (448 kbps)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
1990’s “Fatal Exam” (which was shot in 1985) is writer/director Jack Snyder’s pass at a haunted house movie, working with the bare minimum of production support to create what appears to be a horror/mystery feature. It’s Snyder’s helming debut, and it really shows throughout the endeavor, which takes a basic premise of spooky events set inside a remote house and somehow believes that viewers need 114 minutes of screen time to make it from one end of the story to the other. “Fatal Exam” is a sleeping pill, and it’s very odd to see the production deny its inert reality, marching forward with a sluggish arrangement of staring contests and enormous exposition dumps. 114 minutes, people. Bring a pillow.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a new 2K scan of the original 16mm camera negative. Some wear and tear is encountered during the viewing experience, with scratches and speckling visible, along with assorted discolorations and jumpy frames. Nothing outrageous. Detail reaches as far as the original cinematography allows, surveying casual clothes and facial reactions with a decent amount of clarity. Housing interiors are also open for study, along with a few trips outside, which provide acceptable dimension. Colors are appealing, doing well with primaries on costuming and demonic reds. Greenery is crisp. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is heavy but film-like.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix handles as well as it possibly could. The feature wasn't created with the finest equipment, offering defined dubbing on dialogue exchanges, along with a few muddier passages. Scoring supports with a clear synth sound. Mild hiss is present throughout, and an audio dropout/total silence is found at the 69:50 mark for a few seconds, which seems like Snyder just didn't have anything around to fill the moment.
If one must endure "Fatal Exam," skip to the final 15 minutes, where the picture actually starts to get something going with demonic plans, violent encounters, and the use of limited-but-nifty stop-motion animation to bring evil to life. This kind of fun should be found throughout the entire movie, but the endeavor doesn't have the energy to deliver that level of horror excitement.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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