7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Episodes: <br> <br>1. "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" (Don Coscarelli) <br>2. "Dance of the Dead" (Tobe Hooper) <br>3. "Pick Me Up" (Larry Cohen)
Starring: Angus Scrimm, John DeSantis, Ethan Embry, Ezra Godden, Jay BrazeauHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
I believe anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Volume III of the Showtime series Masters of Horror features three episodes: Don
Coscarelli's Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, Tobe Hooper's Dance of the
Dead, and Larry
Cohen's Pick Me Up. Like Volumes I and II, these episodes are not compiled by original air
date; they are episodes 1, 3, and 11, respectively. I wasn't terribly fond of Volume I, but Volume II
redeemed the series for me. How did Volume III fare? Read on below.
Definitely not the best way to end up.
Starz presents yet another disc in the Masters of Horror series in 1080i, the same way it aired on Showtime. The image across the three episodes, as a whole, fared better than its two predecessors. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road impressed me a great deal. Luscious greens permeate some of the daylight outdoor scenes and the nighttime and darker scenes are excellent. Black levels appear to be spot on throughout this and the other two episodes. One problem that was evident in the first two volumes--skin tones--rears its ugly head once again here, and Incident On and Off a Mountain Road is the primary victim. Skin tones look more natural as the disc progresses, with Pick Me Up looking the best in this regard. Like Incident, Dance of the Dead is an overly dark episode with very few daylight scenes. The episode handles the challenges such a look presents as well as one would expect for a television series. Noise was a minor issue in each episode, but only in the most challenging of scenes. Overall, this is a pleasant transfer that will satisfy most viewers.
Starz has included both a Dolby Digital 5.1 track alongside a PCM uncompressed 5.1 offering. I've said it in every review I have written for this series, but it bears mentioning each time. The opening credits score sounds terrific. Not only does it drown the room in a chilling sonic experience, it's a well-written piece that fits in perfectly with the theme of the series. It's a joy to listen to and it is what I most look forward to when I start a new episode. There are some good effects throughout each episode. I thought Incident sounded the best, if only because there was more activity and ambience to be heard in this episode. Falling rain, thunder, and overlaid popular music sounded great, the latter emanating primarily from the right and left front speakers. I much prefer this to having it come from only the center channel, as is the case with the vast majority of movie soundtracks out there. Pick Me Up featured quite a bit of good, distortion-free bass, as did the club scenes in Dance of the Dead. Dialogue is never an issue throughout the disc, and surrounds are more active than they have been in any of the other volumes of this series. This is the best sonic experience yet on any Masters of Horror Blu-ray discs and rates as respectable.
Masters of Horror Season 1: Volume III sports five audio commentaries: two each for
Incident On and Off a Mountain Road and Dance of the Dead and one for
Pick
Me Up.
First up is a track overlaying Incident On and Off a Mountain Road featuring Don
Coscarelli,
writer Stephen Romano, and DVD producer Perry Martin. The trio goes very in-depth about the
background of securing the rights to Joe Lansdale's original story, the director's fondness for
Lansdale's work, working as part of the Masters of Horror team, and your basic stories
behind the making of the episode. The second track features Coscarelli with author Joe R.
Lansdale.
They discuss the author's roots, changes made to the story for the film, and thoughts about the
meaning of some of the more thought-provoking aspects of the film. Both are fine commentaries
and compliment a great episode well.
Tobe Hooper and Perry Martin appear on the first track featured on Dance of the Dead.
Hooper discusses how he and other "masters of horror" got together to come up with the idea of
the series, working in an anthology, and his thoughts regarding the possibility of a future such as
the one
depicted in the film becoming a reality. Hooper is rather dull, but he provides some good
information that fans of his will enjoy. The second track features writer Richard Christian
Matheson who penned the teleplay for this film. Matheson dives right into the track, discussing
his rewrites to make the story flow better and make more sense. He also breaks the story down
and sometimes falls into the trap of discussing the happenings on screen.
The final commentary track on the disc features director Larry Cohen discussing Pick Me
Up. He seems a little nervous,
but he's very passionate about the film he has made. Interestingly, this is the first film he has
directed that he did not himself write. Cohen discusses the cast and crew, who he thinks we will
see
more of in the future, and some fun anecdotes behind the making of the episode. This is a
good one to listen to.
Masters of Horror Season 1: Volume III is the best of the three volumes released by Starz to date. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road is particularly good, though gore fans will be disappointed as there is little onscreen carnage to be seen here. The same can be said of the other two episodes as well. None were particularly scary but two of the episodes are well worth your time. Audio and video quality are improved over volumes I and II. The inclusion of five commentaries is great, but some other material would have been welcomed. I'm recommending volume III of Masters of Horror as a good starting point to the series.
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Dèmoni 2... l'incubo ritorna | Standard Edition
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Unrated Director's Cut
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Collector's Edition
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