Mayhem Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Mayhem Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 28, 2019

Steven Yeun is no stranger to blood, guts, and gore. The popular Walking Dead alum spent part of that show's very first episode caked in zombie viscera and was frequently thereafter subjected to a regular deluge thereof, not that that makes him special next to his co-stars who were often slathered in the same. Still, one could even say he has an eye for it. With that said, it's no surprise to see Yeun in a movie like Mayhem, Director Joe Lynch's (Everly) gory Horror-Comedy about a lawyer working his way to the top, literally and metaphorically, battling the obstacles standing in his way. When chaos breaks out in the building, his push to the top floor is driven by uncontrollable madness but also an innate determination to unseat those whose injustices keep the working men and women down in the name of more cash in their bank accounts.

The terrifying ID7 virus renders its victims helpless in restraining primal inhibitions and brings out their most carnal, basic instincts. It’s been dubbed the “Red Eye” virus for the trademark single-eye coloration that accompanies it. The CDC believes the virus can be contained with proper quarantine measures, which essentially means sealing off the infected and waiting out the virus’ lifespan. And while ID7 isn’t deadly per se, it can drive those infected to kill, and brutally so. A recent legal precedent has freed an infected person from paying the price for murder while under the disease’s influence, a landmark ruling that might only increase the already high odds of bloodshed amongst a group of infected. Derek Cho (Steven Yeun) is a young lawyer working his way up the ladder at his firm. When he’s framed for bungling work for a major corporate client, he’s fired. But before he can be escorted from the building, the ID7 virus strikes. Derek seizes the opportunity to work his way back up the building to seek out revenge on his boss (Steven Brand) while accompanied by a disgruntled client named Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving) who is herself not particularly pleased with the people at the top of the firm’s food chain.

Mayhem is desperate to weave sharp, bitting commentary into a violently over-the-top corporate-view take on base human instincts and carnal desires. The film doesn't always work in that light, playing as much as a fantasy as it does a corporate critique in the guise of gruesomeness, almost like an outlet for writer Matias Caruso to get pen-and-paper revenge on the people responsible for past pains, people who sit atop the food chain. The picture takes a look at one character's literal and metaphorical ascension to the top, infected by a "rage" virus that gives him the courage to take matters into his own hands in a targeted attack on the corporate ladder rather than engage in the more carnal acts of random sex and violence that seem to be infecting everyone else. The film doesn't properly explain why Derek, and those around him, can find focus on a task while others just seem to be milling about, engaged in violence for violence's sake or sex for sex's sake when the main players are in it for a reason. It's almost like the virus brings clarity to Derek instead of the foggy, uncontrollable urges and motives that deteriorate everyone else to some level of primal instinct. The background chaos usually falls to the wayside, anyway, allowing for interesting visuals and nothing else playing behind the more focused story of revenge that drives the narrative.

Yeun is good in the lead, playing a man who is not just an unwilling participant in random carnage and satisfying a carnal bloodlust but rather playing a man broken by the realities of his workplace while under the influence of the ID7 virus, producing an amplified psychosis through which he’s capable of maintaining mission clarity and an understanding of the “real world” pitfalls that have led him to carry out his vengeful ascent to the top floor. It’s an interesting little concept that allows real, not imagined, workplace release. The virus essentially becomes a violent means of righting wrongs for Derek, and for those in his way, a simple double-down on who they are without the red eye. Judgment does not seem clouded, for the most part, for the infected individuals on whom the film focuses. If anything, the virus seems to give them a heightened clarity of who they are and what they want, just with an extra charge in their step and a bloodlust in their eyes. That they are still aware that they will enjoy immunity from their actions means that the virus hasn’t entirely wiped their consciences clean for the period of time they’re infected. It’s a fairly liberal and flowing definition for the virus and the film moves the goalposts as necessary to tell the story, but Mayhem ultimately just asks audience to go with it and enjoy the ride, even if that means any satire necessarily gets lost in the insanity.

Mayhem Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mayhem was digitally photographed at a resolution of 4K and finished at 2K. That translates to a fairly nice, but occasionally problematic, 1080p transfer. The image is clearly on a lower digital rung than more highly budgeted and sophisticated Hollywood productions. The picture is less than arresting but more than capable, presenting clearly defined fine-point details across the board, whether considering natural skin details, applied blood and bruise makeup, clothing, and office space odds and ends. The image lacks the intricate precision and fine-tooth texturing the best digital sources yield, but for a movie made of madness and quickly moving parts the picture more than satisfies. Colors are handled well, with blood the obvious standout. The various office backdrops usually offer little of interest, and it seems that the production designers deliberately left backgrounds fairly bland and without spirited color to allow blood, skin, and key objects like a yellow nail gun to stand apart from the spartan scenery. The picture does suffer through occasional bursts of banding, the odd example of aliasing, and a little macroblocking, but such don't egregiously interfere even when present.

Mayhem Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mayhem's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is all kinds of intense and invigorating. It's complimentary to the movie's comical carnage, the nearly incessant beats seemingly leading warped minds and capable bodies to bloodthirsty slaughter. There's rarely a dull moment. The track is fluid and never shy about making full use of every speaker available to it, flinging discrete effects here and there, marching stage-traversing elements seamlessly through various portions of the listening area, and finding a well-rounded balance between music, chaotic sound effects, and dialogue. Bass is prominent throughout, solidifying the more weighty crashes and clashes and slams as blunt instruments are used to bludgeon various people, as scissors stab through a hand into a table, as a nail gun zips its lethal projectiles across a room and into a sword or inches off the floor and millimeters from a face. Combat and chaos are the film's sonic signatures, and the track relentlessly immerses the listener into the mayhem. Light support atmospherics give impressive shape to those few minutes of respite, and dialogue presented at relatively normal levels during brief moments of downtime or tense, blood-soaked negotiations between characters never strays from the center, loses clarity, or flubs prioritization. The track is madness and madly fun.

Mayhem Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mayhem's Blu-ray release contains a couple of featurettes and a technical audio commentary track. No DVD or digital copies are included. The release does ship with an embossed slipcover.

• Creating Mayhem: The Making of the Film (1080p, 11:55): A plot recap is followed by character explorations, Joe Lynch's fears for the final film, the qualities the cast brought to the film, shooting in Serbia, cast and crew's experiences in real-world offices, and more.
• The Collected Works of Derek Cho (1080p, 1:26): A closer look at some of Derek's artwork seen in the film.
• Audio Commentary: Director Joe Lynch, Director of Photography Steve Gainer, and Editor Josh Ethier sound like they are being broadcast on AM radio but nevertheless offer a well spoken and insightful track that breaks down various scenes, unearths technical details, covers influences, praises actors, and unpacks the story and themes.

Mayhem Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mayhem has a few plot twists and turns up its sleeve but the picture is mostly a straightforward blood gusher without much purpose to its name, despite clear efforts to the contrary. Everything is set up with chaos in mind, and the story feels like an excuse to play with bloody workplace fantasy rather than shape a compelling narrative against contemporary corporate hierarchy. Yeun is good in the lead and capably carries the film, even when the script lacks the clarity and polish it really needs to be a more effective message delivery system. RLJE's Blu-ray delivers generally good video, an impressive lossless soundtrack, and a few extras. Worth a look.