Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.0

Guest House Blu-ray Movie Review

Where's Kato Kaelin when you really need him?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 8, 2020

In a way, perhaps it’s a good thing that “current events” interceded and kept Guest House from receiving an official theatrical exhibition, as it may have become distressingly clear that the world is probably not clamoring for a “Pauly Shore film”. Shore is back in all of his raucous frat boy fury as Randy Cockfield, a drug addled freeloader who is holed up in the guest cottage behind a house that couple Blake Renner (Mike Castle) and Sarah Masters (Aimee Teegarden) buy as they start preparing to spend the rest of their lives together. The setup of this film is distressingly obvious from the get go — Randy is completely ensconced in his free housing situation, and even the arrival of Blake and Sarah do nothing to change that situation.

Guest House wants to ply some of the same deliberately raunchy comedy that suffused previous Pauly Shore efforts, but Shore doesn't seem particularly engaged in the film, and the "comedy" is decidedly hit or miss (with an emphasis on the latter). Randy's drug use is a recurrent theme, and the film even goes so far as to have him "spike" water that Blake and Sarah consume, supposedly leading to hilarity when their subsequently out of control libidos take over. Even a drug fueled possum enters the fray, in one of the film's more gonzo moments. But Guest House is frequently an exercise in noise and fury signifying nothing, least of all actual laughs.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf had more or less the same unimpressed reaction to Guest House that I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Guest House Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Guest House is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As probably befits what amounts to a straight to video (and/or straight to internet) release, I haven't been able to dredge up any technical data on the shoot, and the IMDb has no information to offer. This was obviously digitally captured and I'm assuming finished at a 2K DI. It's a completely competent if uninspiring looking transfer, one that offers good levels of fine detail in the many well let shots (especially a bunch of the outdoor material). Things do get more than a bit murky in the hellishly red interiors of Randy's domicile, but even there fine detail can be quite appealing in close-ups. There's not a ton of visual "wow" here (aside from the occasionally completely naked female party guest), but what's here looks sharp and well defined, and I noticed no glaring compression anomalies.

Guest House Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Guest House features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that is about as boisterous as you might imagine, especially with regard to a glut of source cues (the last tune under the closing credits is evidently a well known tune that liberally drops the f bomb repeatedly). The thumping source cues as well as some of the out of control party antics that ensue offer good if only occasional engagement of the surround channels, as well as some nice, rumbly LFE at times. Dialogue (such as it is) is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. While there are optional English subtitles available, this is one of the rare Lionsgate Blu-ray releases that I've personally reviewed that has also offered more than just Spanish subtitles in addition to English subtitles.

Guest House Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 11:34)


• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 3:12) has a weird assortment of interviews with people in and out of character, but it does offer some fun looks at the animatronic possum.


• Guest House Trailer (1080p; 2:30)

Guest House Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a pretty sad effort all around, though Shore fans may enjoy seeing Pauly "back in action". This not only plays like a glorified pilot for a sitcom, its technical presentation is kind of television-like as well. That said, technical merits are generally solid, though the supplemental package is pretty slight, for those who are considering a purchase.