Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Netherworld Blu-ray Movie Review

"There is a place between heaven and hell"... but watching it is more of one than the other.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 3, 2024

Remember the good ol' days of horror? When filmmakers could throw anything at the screen, however bad, however weird, however experimental? When some things would stick and far more things would slide down the wall, flop on the floor, and lay there forgotten until finding VHS cult fame or being lost to the annals of the home video bargain bin? Would horror directors could take their shot and find an audience regardless of how poorly a film was received? Journey back with me to the early '90s, just before VHS would fall into rapid decline, all the way back to 1992, where we find our hero: a little known, far less lovable voodoo-horror romp in the bayou named Netherworld. Heard of it? Neither had I. But oh man, do I remember that hand bursting out of its VHS cover art when I was a kid. How many times did I pass by? Would I have enjoyed it then? Added a guilty pleasure to my 1990s nostalgia list? Or would I have realized then what I know now? That Netherworld is a film best left where it belongs; in my memory as a box sitting on a video rental shelf that my hand hovers over before picking up a better movie instead.

When Corey Thornton (Michael Bendetti, Screwball Hotel, The Taking of Beverly Hills) inherits a mansion and enormous estate deep in the Louisiana bayou, he learns that his father Noah (Robert Sampson, Re-Animator) had plans that stretched beyond this life. With a dark ritual meant to resurrect the senior Thorton that may or may not involve everyone from a black-magic witch named Dolores (Denise Gentile) to brothel workers Mary Magdalane (Alex Datcher, Passenger 57) and Marilyn Monroe (Holly Butler, Crime Story), Noah's creepy lawyer Beauregard (Robert Burr, Return to Salem's Lot), the mansion's caretaker Mrs. Palmer (Anjanette Comer, Blood Feast), Palmer's teen daughter Diane (Holly Floria, Presumed Guilty), a strange swamp resident (George Kelly, JFK, Interview with the Vampire, Forrest Gump) and... a flying stone hand? Netherworld rolls out the weird and unexplained, that's for sure. Directed by David Schmoeller (of Puppet Master fame) and shot by Adolfo Bartoli (The Pit and the Pendulum), the film follows Corey as he discovers the true nature of his father's ritual and the real cost of resurrection. Oh yeah, dear old dad shows up eventually too, looking like Marley from Scrooged. Don't ask. It's a whole thing, and good God will it make you laugh. Not that you're meant to.

Netherworld has all the hallmarks of late-night '90s Cinemax seduction horror, including a naive (i.e. dopey) mark, a femme fatale, voodoo and all the hoodoo a sexy witch will do, low-budget fx (straight out of the School for Lifting Wholesale Style from '80s Horror Classics), mildy bad to horribly bad acting, wince-inducing dialogue, a deliciously synthy score (from Bon Jovi's David Bryan no less), twists and turns you can spot a bayou away, and all the suspicious red herrings and supernatural shenanigans a child of '90s schlock could hope for. Um, and a bathtub where Corey finds himself in a tug of war between Sultry and Sudsy. You'll see. It's not as terrible as it sounds, despite being a rough watch. Taken as a horror comedy, it kinda sorta almost works. But it's clear Schmoeller isn't going for laughs (despite Butler's Marilyn Monroe looking like she stepped right off the Twin Peaks set) and even clearer that, if he is, the cast isn't in on the joke. By the time you realize the filmmakers are haphazardly evoking The Evil Dead II, Angel Heart, Phantasm, Suspiria, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and really the entire genre's kitchen sink, you won't mind so much as you'll start reference spotting; watching for what element will be ripped from what horror flick next. Which turns out to be a bit of fun, actually.

But mine much deeper and you won't dig up a whole lot. Plot holes abound. Questions go completely unanswered. Corey... sigh, frustrates me to no end. A ghostly reunion falls completely and utterly flat. Voodoo scenes wobble and bobble between beautifully spurty gore and nearly bloodless (um) blood rites. An icy sex scene is all kinds of cringey. And the climactic conclusion feels too much like a bunch of college kids staging a botched sacrifice and catacombs battle. For all the talk, there also isn't much to the film's lore or story, leaving too much to the imagination and too little to one's satisfaction. It's decent I suppose, if cheesy camp that isn't trying to be cheesy camp is your thing. (I know you're out there. You frickin' love this stuff and you know it.) I just always find myself bored, disengaged and glancing at my phone. Netherworld has a solid premise and just enough B-movie talent to pull off a great magic trick. But it fumbles the execution one too many times, revealing its magic to be nothing more than mediocre sleight of hand.

Netherworld Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Netherworld is blessed with a rather strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation, remastered from the original camera negative to great effect; a welcome surprise for sure, especially when considering we're talking about a barely known, low-budget '90s pseudo-horror flick released by a distributor with a reputation for less-than-consistent AV quality. Colors are lively and bold, with rich primaries, deep black levels and lovely, mostly lifelike skin tones. Contrast is dialed in nicely too, although if I have any big complaint with the remaster and subsequent Blu-ray transfer it's that the brightest whites crush, swarm with grain that has a gritty artificial appearance, and occasionally result in an obvious edge halo or two. It's not a problem that pops up often, but it mars the otherwise attractive image when it does. Detail, thankfully, doesn't really take much of a hit at all, aside from a scant few soft shots. Any reduction in clarity, though, traces back to the original photography and elements. Fine textures are largely well-resolved and frequently impressive, edges are typically crisp and natural, and shadow delineation is pleasantly revealing. Again, that harsh digitized appearance I mentioned creeps in and makes an eyesore of itself -- you'll know it when you see it -- but it fortunately amounts to a mere handful of significant instances over the course of the entire film. Artifacting and banding seem to be absent, and the vast majority of the grain field has been restored to a handsome state. My only remaining gripe? The film is presented at 1.78:1, despite the remastering of a 1.85:1 negative.

Netherworld Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Full Moon Features has once again chosen to skip lossless audio and utilize a lossy 448kbps Dolby Digitial 5.1 surround track. The resulting mix isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Cheap 1992 horror has a distinct tone and tenor; sometimes with canned, tinny or thin effects and glaring ADR. But so it goes. Netherworld's Dolby track doesn't shrink from the challenge. Prioritization is decent, voices are clean and clear, Bon Jovi's David Bryan's music is given nice representation throughout the soundscape, and the LFE channel throws a bit of welcome though short-lived weight into more ominous sequences. The rear speakers aren't very engaging, nor do they always seem to have a sense of how loud or soft an element should be, and the soundfield struggles to grab hold of you and make an immersive Louisianna that comes to life in your home theater. But again: 1992. Some fans will be disappointed by the lack of a lossless mix. Honestly, though, I doubt it would've helped all that much, other than in offering the absolute best presentation of the film's flawed, dated sound design.

Netherworld Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Netherworld Videozone Behind-the-Scenes (SD, 26 minutes)

• Full Moon Features Trailers

Netherworld Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You could do a whole lot worse when perusing forgotten '90s horror relics than Netherworld. But you could certainly do a whole lot better. Netherworld isn't anything special, cursed with far more problems and flaws than anything that might elevate it to the level of a cult classic. But genre completists will enjoy its remastering here, along with its colorful 1080p video presentation. Its lossy audio and slight supplemental package isn't doing the release any favors, but so it goes.