Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Lost After Dark Blu-ray Movie Review

Just lost.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 28, 2015

Lost After Dark isn't an homage to 80s Horror films but rather a lifeless regurgitation of them. It's an imitator rather than an innovator, a movie that exists to replicate a style rather than revere it. The entire film is a near painful reminder of all of the 80s Slasher movie flaws, of all the wrongs the good ones make joyously right. Rather than try and work around them with a wink and a nod to their greater importance in the genre, the film chooses to make them the centerpiece. And it's not like Lost After Dark is the first to go the iffy homage route. Movies like Hatchet and Muck have done it before. Hatchet goes about its business without being so obvious about what it is, blazing its own path while respecting the genre rather than just dumping every last bit of tried fan service into the blender. Muck is the worst kind of copycat drivel there is, a film that lacks spirit, cohesion, and identity amidst the regurgitation. Lost After Dark is much better than Muck, even if they share some of the attributes, but it's also much closer to that clunker than it is to superior fare like Hatchet in terms of how well, or not, it succeeds beyond embracing type.

They're lost and it's after dark.

Lost After Dark, quite unlike its title, is a beacon of every genre trope in the book. There's the collected group of teenagers whose hormones, craving for alcohol, and nose for weed know no bounds. They've all come together to go on a secret getaway and are well on their way to their destination, cruising along in a stolen school bus, until it breaks down in the dead of night and in the middle of nowhere. There's the shy girl (Kendra Leigh Timmins), the chubby guy (Jesse Camacho), a Rocker gal (Eve Harlow) some jocks (Justin Kelly, Stephan James, Alexander Calvert), and a few cheerleader types (Sarah Fisher, Elise Gatien, Lanie McAuley). The film makes ample time for scenes in which some sound is heard -- a twig snaps, bushes are rustled -- after which everyone stops and stares, declares it to be nothing, and goes about their business in the shadow of a dilapidated house that looks decayed and sits behind a bullet-riddled mailbox. According to local legend -- which isn't just The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Wrong Turn, pinky swear -- the house is home to some messed up family with a thirst for blood and, surprise, the group comes to be stalked by WWE's Luke Harper, or at least one of his relatives, in "Junior Joad" (Mark Wiebe).

There's really no sense of character or story here. The characters are immediately replaceable and forgettable with the usual variety of individuals who always seem to appear as Horror fodder types. Lost After Dark does practically nothing with them beyond mix up the order viewers expect to see them killed, which is one of the movie's few real saving graces and, oddly, one of the only ways in which it strays from 80s Horror convention. But then the second half becomes nothing more than the usual chase scenes with the characters split off in pairs, generally, and sneaking around the grounds in hopes that the killer has turned his attention to another group instead. Death scenes aren't particularly creative, either -- a pitchfork through the gut, bashing a head against a tree -- and one isn't seen due to a "missing reel" gag that cuts away just as a character, whose foot has been caught in a bear trap, is about to be on the wrong end of some grizzly death. The adults are little more than fan service, too, focusing on a father (David Lipper) who may remind viewers of Deputy Dewey from Scream and an assistant principal (Robert Patrick) who, ignoring his full head of hair, recalls Back to the Future's Principal Strickland.

If there's one area where the movie shines, it's in its production design. The film oozes 80s authenticity, nailing the clothes, the hair, the makeup, everything. In a way, it's nice to return to the land of teenager Horror movies that don't rely on cell phone bits and other modern day crutches and conveniences but instead leave the characters to their own devices, their own (usually poor) instincts to survive. The film is almost hopelessly dark and gray, leaving much of it hard to really discover, but what bits the audience can see of the house and all of the freakish stuff inside of it is enough to satisfy, even if, again, things like body parts and meat hooks aren't exactly innovative. Junior Joad is as straightforward a killer as they come in terms of looks and performance on the field of slaughter, but the character is suitably menacing and makes good use of the various tools at his disposal. Lost After Dark does attempt to tack on a deeper backstory in the final minutes, but it falls relatively flat hot on the heels of something of a hot mess of lame 80s regurgitation that, at the end of the day, does accomplish what it sets out to do: recreate the decade in Horror right down to its most generic essence.

Lost After Dark Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lost After Dark doesn't just play like an 80s Horror movie, it tries to look like one, too, showcasing a rough and worn drive-in quality. It's nowhere near as artificially decayed as the Grindhouse films, but Lost After Dark does see its fair share of manufactured speckles and debris throughout, particularly at scene transitions but obvious throughout to be sure. Otherwise, it looks very good. The image enjoys a filmic quality to it with a light grain structure apparent throughout. Details are sharp and precise with nicely defined skin and clothing textures readily apparent in the brighter opening act. The early scenes reveal some nice, but lightly faded (and deliberately so), colors, including a yellow dress, red bedroom accents, and orange lockers inside the school. After the first act, the movie transitions to a near constant state of black and gray where colors are reduced to a bare minimum vitality and the dreary and dreadful hues take command, and again with some deliberate fading, which is very obvious in black levels. Outside of the intentional wear, there doesn't appear to be any other issues at play: no banding, no noise, no macroblocking. Considering its rough-by-nature look, it's tough to find any real flaws with this transfer.

Lost After Dark Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lost After Dark slashes onto Blu-ray with a solid Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue is the front-and-center element here, and everything from piercing screams to hushed whispers play with confident clarity and center-front placement. Ambient effects are nicely supportive and well defined, including those false alarm (or are they?) creepy elements or some heavier details that come into play as the teens explore the house or run for their lives. More innocuous, common details like an idling bus engine prove effortlessly realistic. General thumps and slashes and gushing blood and other gory sound details are nicely presented, too, with good gushy definition to seeping blood and ripping flesh. Music is well defined with quality spacing across the stage. A barrage of gunfire and other effects near the end are the most aggressive and dominant the track has to offer, producing a high yield heft to an otherwise straightforward genre listen.

Lost After Dark Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Lost After Dark contains no supplemental content.

Lost After Dark Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kudos to the Lost After Dark team for trying. As an old school mindless Slasher the movie satisfies very basic requirements, but the entire picture is one giant wink-and-nod rather than its own entity with those qualities interwoven into its unique essence. It lacks subtlety and precision, instead bludgeoning the audience with a regurgitation of the simplest elements 80's genre fare ever produced. It just tries too darn hard, never achieves anything other than copycat silliness, and feels more like bottom-feeding drivel rather than spunky homage as a result. Anchor Bay's featureless Blu-ray at least presents the movie very well, with a rock-solid transfer and a strong audio track. Rent it.