7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A successful rock lyricist becomes romantically involved with a girl he picks up hitchhiking only to learn that she is only fourteen. Her parents take action against him.
Starring: Alison Elliott (I), James Aubrey, Debbie Linden, Mark Burns (I), Juliet HarmerDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM 2.0
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The concept of the meet cute takes a creepy turn in “Home Before Midnight.” When we meet our lead characters, Ginny is hitchhiking down a quiet road, soon stopped by Mike, who’s driving along in his car. He offers her a lift, she naturally hesitates, concerned with the prospect of riding with a single man. Mike, in his infinite wisdom, cracks a rape joke to lighten the mood. Ginny responds not with a crescent kick to the throat, but with a laugh, and quickly slips into the car. This is true love, folks, at least the 1979 British kind from director Pete Walker, who attempts to step away from his routine of terror films to make a sensitive drama about the trials and tribulations of romancing an underage girl. In a way, Walker remains in the horror genre, but instead of displaying blood and guts, “Home Before Midnight” traffics in lies and urges, asking the audience to judge these characters alongside the rest of their community.
The AVC encoded image (1.66:1 aspect ratio) presentation is extremely soft, with inconsistent cinematography unable to settle on a specific look for the feature. Fine detail is difficult to capture, often lost in the gauzy display (which gives off a slight ghosting effect during certain shots), but some minor textures remain. The BD is working uphill here, and it manages to fine a satisfactory range of clarity, good with exploitation elements and period décor. Colors are in place, looking healthy with cherry lips and ruddy skintones, while greenery and disco neon also find balance. Blacks are acceptable. The print is in rough shape at times, with speckling and damage detected.
The 2.0 LPCM mix isn't strong, and while the listening event is teeming with soundtrack cuts and heated dialogue, the track doesn't have the desired clarity to meet the film's demands. Hiss is present and music is pronounced, periodically smothering dialogue exchanges, demanding a little volume riding to help navigate the trouble spots. Accents are on the thick side and highs are a tad shrill, making some aggressive dramatics hard on the ears. It's not an impossible mix to follow, with emotionality present and musical moods set, but it takes some work to endure everything at once, as opposed to a more comforting, layered effect.
"Home Before Midnight" has its engaging moments, with satisfactory performances from Aubrey and Elliott creating a respectable tug of war mood of accusation and surrender. And Walker does manage a participatory moment or two during Mike's discovery of Ginny's true age, forcing viewers to yell at the screen when the character decides to ditch common sense and continue bedding his dewy piece of jail bait. The picture sets lofty dramatic goals for itself, perhaps a bit too far out of Walker's range as a filmmaker, but even when "Home Before Midnight" insists on banality, it remains just engaging enough to keep watching the downfall of these two dim characters.
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