6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
Ahab, a man obsessed with exacting a brutal, violent revenge on the man who murdered his dad, joins John, an eager priest, and Twink, a hot-headed street hustler, on an epic quest to find and defeat this mythical monster known as Chris Fuchman AKA The Father's Day Killer.
Starring: Adam Brooks (V), Mackenzie Murdock, Matthew Kennedy (VI), Conor Sweeney (II), Lloyd KaufmanHorror | 100% |
Dark humor | 12% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs, 1 CD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It’s been a running joke for months (or has it been years) at Blu-ray.com’s biweekly staff meetings as we get around to discussing the oft-delayed Troma release Father’s Day. Over and over (and over and over) again, new release dates have been forwarded to us, and like many fans have posted on our threads and elsewhere, it’s just gotten downright silly to even assume that the film would ever be released on Blu-ray. Even a call to Troma’s offices led to a somewhat surreal conversation where I asked if the film was indeed due anytime soon. “Well, of course,” came the somewhat startled reply, to which I obviously immediately countered, “When?” “Well. . .,” and then the sound of virtual crickets. I must admit I actually stated inaccurately at a recent staff meeting, “Let’s face it, this thing is never going to be released,” and so, as if to prove me unquestionably wrong, Troma has of course finally gotten this long delayed product out, albeit evidently in a relatively limited run of 5000 units that may in fact be gobbled up fairly quickly by the film’s rather rabid fan base. Troma has built a reputation on lo-fi fare that makes “typical” lo-fi fare look like big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, and Father’s Day is no exception. Made for the astoundingly miniscule sum of $10,000.00 (and for the most part not looking like it—surprisingly), Father’s Day took the First Place Audience Award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival in 2011. Father’s Day wants to out-Grindhouse Grindhouse, and to a certain degree, it does. It may not have the spit and polish of a Rodriguez or a Tarantino at the helm, but that only adds to the film’s undeniably daffy allure. But let’s be clear: this is a scabrous, profane, disgusting, depraved and twisted little film. It’s also incredibly funny a lot of the time, at least if you can get past the gruesome gore that spills over the camera lens a rather large amount of the time.
Is it intentional irony that the long delayed Father's Day Blu-ray sports an MPEG-2 encode? (We'll talk about the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix below.) Fear not, however: the film's 1.78:1 1080p presentation is surprisingly spry most of the time, especially when the film veers out of the dark and dank corners that it spends so much time in. When we're offered shots in relatively normal lighting, things pop really rather well, with good fine object detail, well saturated color and an overall very clean and clear image. That said, a lot of the film takes place in very dark settings, and much of this outing suffers from very poor shadow detail and even outright crush on more than one occasion. That's probably only going to add to its lo-fi allure for some.
Oh, the angry private messages I received when I deigned not to take the Blu-ray release of Grindhouse too much to task when it was released with "only" a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. But the fact is, that mix was relatively robust and immersive, even if it wasn't in a lossless format. Troma had such problems even getting this release out, I guess it's good news that there's a soundtrack at all, even if it is a standard (and at times fairly anemic sounding) Dolby Digital 2.0 mix. What makes this so disappointing with this film is that there's so much great music used as source cues, not to mention a glut of fantastic sound effects, that most certainly would have been amplified (no pun intended) with a lossless setting, whether that be two or five-plus channels. What's here is okay—there's certainly no damage to report (other than intentional "retro" pops, clicks and jumps), and dynamic range is decently wide, but it will be interesting to see if there's a similar Grindhouse-esque brouhaha raised over this film's lack of lossless audio.
The Blu-ray disc (Disc 1) containing the main feature in high definition also has:
You either get Troma films or you don't, it's pretty much that simple. Those with a love for the intentionally schlocky will have a field day with Father's Day, certainly one of the most grotesque, bizarre films yet in the already odd Troma canon. The saving grace here is the film's rather pointed sense of humor, one that takes aim at everything from film lovers' in-jokes to a number of just flat out goofy sidebars the film indulges in as it seeks to decimate the truly nefarious Chris Fuchman (whoever—or whatever—he/it is). This four disc set has surprisingly good image quality (especially for those who may be wary of an MPEG-2 encode), but its Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is a major disappointment. The copious supplements help to at least partially take up the slack, however. I certainly can't come right out and recommend this title, as it's unabashedly gruesome and intentionally offensive. But for those of you who like Troma offerings—and you know who you are—you'll probably be able to overlook the audio peccadillo and delight in the rest of what this set has to offer.
2013
2013
2012
2014
2012
Collector's Edition
2019
2009
2015
2019
2015
2016
2019
2019
2019
2016
2015
Legions of the Dead
2011
2018
Ahí va el diablo
2012
2014