5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
By day Abby Russell is a dedicated nurse, someone you wouldn't hesitate to trust your life with. But by night, her real work begins...using her smoldering sexuality she lures cheating men to their brutal deaths and exposes them for who they really are. When a younger nurse starts to suspect Abby's actions and compromises her master plan, Abby must find a way to outsmart her long enough to bring the cheater you'd least expect to justice.
Starring: Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, Judd Nelson, Corbin Bleu, Boris KodjoeHorror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Nurse 3D certainly isn’t a terminal case, but it ends up being on life support quite a bit of the time. Writer- director Doug Aarniokoski starts his film with a brief textual prelude giving the viewer supposed facts about the high number of serial killers who ply their trade (or at least their hobby) as medical professionals. That enticing setup then segues into a scene narrated by Abby (Paz de la Huerta), a nurse by day who moonlights as a vigilante at night, preying on cheating married men. The opening scene of Nurse 3D is actually fun and frightening in equal measure, as a scantily clad and unabashedly seductive Abby makes her way through a cacophonous nightclub, easily reeling in a smarmy guy who pockets his wedding ring before siding up to the voluptuous woman. Abby and the guy exit to the roof of the building where she “distracts” him (on her knees, if you need a hint) while she quickly slices through his femoral artery, ultimately pushing him over the edge, where of course, in true 3D horror film fashion, he ends up getting impaled on an ornate spiked metal fence several stories below. So far, so good—at least insofar as these types of movies go. But then instead of following through on this at least marginally promising premise, Aarniokoski takes a kind of weird left turn into Single White Female territory by having Abby become preternaturally obsessed with one of the new nurses at All Saints Hospital, a comely young blonde named Danni (Katrina Bowden). Abby has been mentoring Danni as she worked as a kind of novice at the facility, but now she’s a full fledged nurse (given her nursing pin by an uncredited Kathleen Turner, believe it or not, an actress who could have cut one mean swath in a role like Abby back in the day), even if she’s not particularly well equipped emotionally to handle the stress of the job. Abby’s interest in Danni isn’t purely professional in any case, as quickly becomes apparent, and in fact the central part of Nurse 3D really doesn’t have much to do with the removal of cheating husbands, instead focusing on Abby’s increasingly desperate attempts to get Danni to accept her as—well, what, really? A girlfriend? A friend with benefits? An occasional lesbian fling? A bi-curious stopgap when Danni’s paramedic boyfriend Steve (Corbin Bleu) isn’t available? It’s not exactly clear, which is one reason Nurse 3D never quite erupts into the adrenaline drenched horror outing it might have with tighter and more focused scripting.
Nurse 3D is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with both MVC (3D) and AVC (2D) encoded 1080p
transfers in 2.41:1.
Aarniokoski and cinematographer Boris Mojsovski actually defy horror tropes by casting the bulk of this film in brightly lit
(even fluorescently lit) environments, which helps to offer a sharp and clear picture. Contrast is generally quite good,
though some scenes (notably Danni's nighttime assignation with Steve) are bathed in quite a bit of murkiness, leaving
shadow detail levels on the low side. Close-ups reveal excellent fine detail and colors are vivid and accurate looking.
The 3D presentation is almost as good as the general video appearance. Aarniokoski discusses some of the added
CGI elements that he hoped would up the dimensionality of the piece (like light fixtures in the opening sequence), but really
the best depth is accomplished with more mundane approaches like simply placing a piece of furniture or a character in the
foreground while the main action plays further back in the frame, creating an instant sense of depth. Perhaps surprisingly,
some of the hokier effects, including a couple during a scene where Abby decides to give Dr. Morris a taste of his own
medicine (sorry), which has the murderous nurse aiming various surgical implements directly at the viewer, are okay looking
but not overly dimensional.
Nurse 3D's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is enjoyably boisterous courtesy of a couple of throbbing nightclub scenes as well as the big splatter-fest that culminates the film, but it's also curiously restrained at other times, notably the omnipresent narration and quieter dialogue scenes. Fidelity is excellent, however, and some of the crowded hospital scenes have excellent directionality with regard to ambient environmental effects.
Nurse 3D isn't as bad as it could have been, but similarly it's not nearly as good as it should have been. This should have been a bloody black comedy, but with de la Huerta's weirdly dissociative performance, it becomes the cinematic equivalent of watching paint dry. There are a number of fun touches here, though, and the supporting cast is colorful. Aarniokoski is a director to keep an eye on, for he certainly has an assured visual sense, but he needs a stronger writer (and, remember, he co-wrote Nurse 3D) to hang all that technique on. Genre enthusiasts and 3D buffs will probably find enough here to enjoy, and the technical presentation is excellent.
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