6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.
Starring: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Tony Todd, Roby AttalHorror | 100% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS:X
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
DD 2.0 = Late night listening track
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Chances are very few if any of you coming to this review have heard of, let alone actually seen, a couple of films I reviewed over the past couple of years, but I couldn’t help but think that someone associated with Hell Fest may have stumbled across either The Devil's Carnival or its kinda sorta follow up Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival somewhere along the line, since Hell Fest has more than a few elements in common with those two films. All three films feature what amount to theme parks inhabited by what appear to be denizens of “down under” (not that one, the place with the big horned guy), and all three feature a somewhat lurid lighting design that tends to bathe things in weird, almost hallucinogenic, tones of orange, blue, green and red. All three films also offer a glut of characters in outlandish makeup and/or costumes, often as "employees" of their respective parks. Hell Fest is more in the “slasher” mode (rut?) than either of The Devil’s Carnival films, but for those who are fans of this particular film, I suggest checking out the two previous outings to see if you can see the same similarities that I did. Hell Fest has some undeniable scares, and it’s frequently kind of unsettlingly moodly, but it’s also awfully formulaic a lot of the time, including its proffering of a masked slayer whose real face is never seen and who is known as The Other (not this one, and, yes, I’m joking).
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.
Hell Fest is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. While a member has uploaded data suggesting
this was finished at a 2K DI, I have found no authoritative data to confirm that, for whatever that's worth (I don't consider the "real or fake 4K"
website a source of authoritative information, since no provenance for the data there is included). That said, Hell Fest really looks quite good
in 4K, with Dolby Vision really adding to the already weirdly hallucinogenic colors that are on display due to both lighting and grading choices. The
palette is beautifully suffused throughout this presentation, and some of the reds and oranges especially are almost incredibly vivid. Shadow detail is
at least marginally improved in several extremely dark scenes, and fine detail enjoys some noticeable upticks. The admittedly slight banding issues I
noticed in the 1080p version are ameliorated, though there are still passing splotches of blues and purples that show up now and again. Interestingly,
this version makes more apparent some digital tweaking in terms of "grain" that looks like it was added to some scenes, offering a somewhat grittier
appearance at times than in the 1080p version.
While the 4K UHD version of Hell Fest offers the same great sounding DTS:X track that the 1080 Blu-ray does, I had a rather odd thing happen
with this disc which may just be a "ghost in the machine", but which I'll mention here in case anyone else has it happen (which might indicate an
authoring issue). Though the disc defaults to the DTS:X audio option at boot up, when I started playing the film, I was kind of surprised to see "Dolby
Surround" on my Oppo display, and even more troublingly, there was no audio whatsoever. I tried stopping the film and restarting it (several times,
actually), all with the same result. Even going into the audio menu (where DTS:X was clearly the chosen format) did nothing. Only when I went into
the audio menu, and "reselected" the Dolby 2.0 track, then went back to the DTS:X track as a choice did things finally right themselves.
Even before the visual part of the film actually begins, Hell Fest's DTS:X track is a neatly immersive experience, as a glut of voices kind of
overlap and hover in an almost dreamlike way. Once the film begins, and especially once the characters get to Hell Fest, things perk up
considerably, with the raucous sounds of the carnival almost never ceasing to spill into the surround channels, and with some nicely goofy sound
effects like a guillotine offing one character delivering considerable vertical punch as it travels downward. There are some pretty rote uses of both
score and LFE accompanying jump cuts to up the angst ante, but even how hackneyed some of these elements are, from a purely sonic perspective
they're forceful and impeccably rendered. Dialogue is also delivered cleanly and clearly on this enjoyable if arguably pretty trite sounding track.
One thing I didn't mention about either of The Devil's Carnival films is that they both are ostensibly musicals, though my hunch is very few are going to come away from either film humming any tunes from them. While Hell Fest obviously doesn't go that particular route, I couldn't help but wonder if it had featured a little bit more of a winking attitude, especially since it wants to play on the whole dialectic between "real" and "fake" scares, it might have achieved a little bit more distinction. It's obvious the filmmakers are attempting to create a new franchise villain with The Other. He's seen in one mask in the opening vignette, and another one for the bulk of the film, and toward the end a little cabinet containing a whole host of other Other masks is displayed, but unless you're instinctively frightened by a menacing guy in a blue hoody, The Other may not have horror film legs, as they say. This is an okay enough time killer (slashed or otherwise), but it never really amounts to more than a passable diversion. Technical merits are first rate on this 4K UHD version for those considering a purchase.
2019
2016
After Dark Horrorfest
2006
2013
Limited Edition
2009
Hatchet IV
2017
Collector's Edition
1981
2012
2015
2015
1990
Unrated Director's Cut
2009
2019
2018
Limited Edition of 2,000 copies
1983
Un gatto nel cervello | Glow in the Dark Cover & Mini Portrait of Lucio Fulci Limited Edition to 3000
1990
Unrated Theatrical and Rated Versions
2013
Quella villa accanto al cimitero
1981
Collector's Edition
2005
2017