6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein's work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades -- a desperate Hitler's last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.
Starring: Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse, Robert Gwilym, Alexander Mercury, Luke NewberryHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 18% |
Period | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
If Frankenstein's Army had to be categorized with any specificity, you'd have to invent a new amalgamated sub-genre: the practical special effects-driven zombie-robot nazisploitation found footage mad scientist monster movie. (Or P.S.E.D.Z.R.N.F.F.M.S.M.M. for not-so-short.) The elements here are certainly familiar—the resurrected Nazis of Dead Snow, the unethical experimentation of Mary Shelly's original Frankenstein, the shaky cam of Blair Witch and Cloverfield—but they've never been combined in such a particularly deranged way. The film is the work of first-time director Richard Raaphorst, and after viewing Frankenstein's Army, it's no surprise to learn that his career until now was as a storyboard and concept artist. The movie itself is practically a portfolio of creepy monster and set design. Raaphorst's style is vaguely steampunkish, heavy on the melding of flesh and metal, and he amplifies the grimy industrial atmosphere by shooting in a derelict factory outside Prague, transforming its rusty innards into a nightmare workshop for the legendary Dr. Frankenstein's great-grandson, who obsessively toils away at making man-machine hybrids for the Third Reich.
Frankenstein's Army is one of those home video releases where—in a few instances—it's hard to tell what is an intentional part of the image and what may be a shortcoming in the Blu-ray encode. The central conceit, of course, is that this footage was shot at the tail end of WWII on color stock, using a 16mm camera with sync sound. (Forget, for a moment, that color film was rarely used during the war, and that 16mm sync sound wasn't invented until the 1960s.) Because the film was actually shot digitally—with Arri Alexa cameras—grain, frame jitters, light leaks, color fluctuations, and other vintage analog characteristics were liberally applied in post-production to achieve the intended distressed look. Most of this is obvious, but the picture often also seems quite noisy in a way that may suggest a high compression ratio, with thickly spackled noise artifacts visible in darker areas of the image. Because I can't say with any certainty where along the production line this noise was introduced, I'm just going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume it's supposed to be there. Regardless, it's really only noticeable when viewing screenshots or standing close to the screen. From a normal viewing distance, the faux-16mm graininess is reasonably convincing, although the desaturated and sometimes oddly toned color grading is less believable. Appropriately—if 16mm was indeed the intended reference point—sharpness is not the picture's strong suit, but there's certainly enough to high definition clarity here to warrant watching the film on Blu-ray instead of DVD.
Not only does Dimitri's 16mm camera have sync sound, it can apparently capture multi-channel audio as well. Dark Sky Films has given us two audio options here, the default lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix and an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 stereo mix-down. Like the image, the sound design features some post-production distressing to give a vintage feeling—intentional muffling at times, splice pops and crackles, the clicking whir of film running through the camera—but otherwise the audio is quite modern, with a thumping low-end, immersive ambience in just about every scene, directionally accurate effects, and and an assortment of cross-channel movements. It's all very well done, amping up the film's uneasiness with electrical surges, flashing sparks, and other loud industrial noises. Dialogue is easily understood throughout, and the disc includes English SDH and Spanish subtitles—in bright yellow lettering—for those who need or want them.
Coming at us from Dark Sky Films, my pick for underdog Blu-ray release of the week is Frankenstein's Army, a delirious creature feature, with the emphasis on creature. Director Richard Raaphorst has conjured up some nightmarish monsters for his debut film—a drill-mouthed Nazi zombie on razor edged stilts, a brute with circular saws for hands, a scythe-swinging lunatic—and while the slim, Frankenstein-meets-WWII story takes a back seat to the character design, the movie has great energy and a charming, made-by-hand aesthetic that eschews CGI for honest-to-goodness practical effects. For the best viewing results, watch this one with friends and a few drinks. Recommended!
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